Jo Leigh - Coming Soon / Hidden Gems

She looked sharply at Mrs. Geiger, afraid she’d given something away. The woman was upset, distraught. And drunk. The bourbon Dahlia had brought wasn’t her first. Probably wouldn’t be her last. “Did Danny and your husband have an argument? I mean, just before…”

“Argument is putting it lightly. I told that cop that it was Danny who killed him. He didn’t believe me, but that’s because Danny Austen is a movie star.’ Cause he has all that money. But money won’t get him off of a murder charge. Not if I have anything to say about it.” Sheila leaned in, and Mia had to stop herself from turning away from the alcohol on the woman’s breath. “He’s a killer. He thinks I don’t know. But I’ve got pictures.”

“From that night?”

Sheila took a drink, then leaned in once more. Only she stopped as the bar door opened. One of Piper’s assistants, not Lorraine this time, but Viv, was there as an escort to the meeting.

Mrs. Geiger didn’t give Mia a second thought. Grabbing her teacup of bourbon, she left the bar, cursing up a storm.

Mia went back to her station, wishing like crazy she could just go find Bax. Sheila Geiger had the camera! That must mean she was tied to the murder somehow, right? How else would she have gotten the pictures? No, Sheila hadn’t said they were from that night, so she’d better be careful what she told Bax. It was tempting to believe all she’d heard. Easy. Kind of how tempting it was to believe the tabloids.

She knew better. She would report what she’d heard but in a calm, clear way that didn’t reflect her own opinions. It’s what Piper would do.

Privately, however, she could think about what she’d heard. If Mrs. Geiger had the pictures from that night, what would that mean? That she’d killed him? Why would she want her husband dead, though? Sheila didn’t work. Geiger was her meal ticket.

No, it made a lot more sense that this was about Austen’s sex life. There were so many women madly in love with him, with his image, there’s no way his career would stay intact if it was known he slept with men.

And what the heck was up with Mexico? A secret tryst? An affair gone bad?

She got her personal cell and hit Carlane’s speed dial number. Her friend answered on the first ring.

“Have you heard any gossip about Danny Austen being bi?”

Carlane didn’t miss a beat. “What? Who did you see?”

“No one. It might be completely untrue. Have you heard anything?”

“God, no. He’s supposed to be the playboy of the western world.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“That’s it? You’re not even gonna tell me what you know?”

“I don’t know anything. It was a rumor, nothing more. And the person saying it was drunk, so it’s probably nothing.”

“Damn, girl. My heart’s racing. He can’t be gay. It would just break my heart. I told you. All the good ones are married or gay. There’s nothing left for us hetero gals.”

“Don’t panic. Seriously. Oh, wait, one more thing. Did Weinberg ever make a film in Mexico? With Bobbi or Danny or both?”

“Something about that rings a bell. Let me get back to you.”

“I appreciate it, sweetie.”

“Got a call. Talk to you later.”

Mia hung up her phone and slipped it into her pocket. Sheila Geiger had been drunk and devastated. No reason to believe her, not even about the pictures. Although Mia would still tell Bax about their conversation.

She got a little shiver thinking about him. Was it not the most courtly gesture ever to meet her at the subway? He’d looked really good this morning, too. He’d worn dark jeans, an incredible soft, dark-green shirt and a leather jacket to die for.

Oh, man, she was in trouble. She’d worked herself into quite the orgasm last night and all from thinking about the possibilities. It had been so long since she’d had a crush, and this one was major. They had only three months before he was off to Colorado. But three months would be enough, if…

The problem was, did he want there to be something between them? It was hard to tell. She’d thought for sure he’d wanted to stay last night, but he’d walked away without a backward glance.

Maybe he wanted to get together, but since they were working together…

Oh, crap. That was it. He didn’t want to risk the information. She’d basically become his informant. Maybe he thought things would get too messy if they pursued this…thing.

As far as she was concerned there was no cause for concern. They were both sensible and aware, and they both realized that the investigation had to come first. As long as they didn’t get all crazy about things, they could still work together and have a little sex on the side. No harm, no foul.

Or not.

Why, out of all the men she’d met in months, did she find the detective so yummy? It was all wrong, and she’d do herself a big darn favor by forgetting about it. She had enough on her plate with her job, and now helping with the case. It was stupid to think of hooking up with Bax.

Stupid and addictive.

No, no. Mustn’t linger in the land of make-believe. Focus on the work. On the great puzzle to be solved. Yes. The sooner they had the killer in custody, the sooner Detective Milligan would be…well, he’d be something. To find out what, she had to solve the crime. Fast.

“WHAT’S THE GOOD WORD?” Bax asked, fully prepared to hear nothing but bad words from Grunwald, who’d been dutifully following the chain of evidence as Bax was busy being jerked around by celebrities.

“We found some fibers, but nothing that’s going to point to a killer. I’m still waiting on the official autopsy results but we know there wasn’t a fight. Whoever did it came from behind. No defensive wounds.”

“So we still don’t know if it was a man or woman who killed him?”

“We’ll know more once we get more results. I hear from the captain this one’s going to hit the lab fast. What about you? Anyone looking good?”

“Everyone looks good. Too many fish in this barrel. I need to find out about the finances of the picture. How much the actors are getting paid. What kind of arrangements they have with Weinberg. I’m hearing noises that the film company is in trouble, too. So dig up what you can.”

“Yeah, well, Miguel came back and he’s assigned to the desk, so guess what he’s gonna be doing?”

Bax laughed, knowing Miguel hated desk duty worse than anybody. “That’ll teach him to wash his car.”

“Good luck with those movie stars,” Grunwald said.

“Yeah. I’ll check in with you later.” Bax disconnected and put his cell on his belt, wishing he could go back down to that nice little office in the basement of the hotel. He’d lock the door, turn off his phone and sleep until it was time to leave New York.

There was only one thing he’d miss, and it wasn’t finding Geiger’s killer.

An air horn went off down the street, signaling that the director had yelled cut. Most of today’s scenes were being shot in the Hush garage, but they were also blocking part of East 41st Street, which was causing havoc with traffic.

He knew that the city made a fortune from these movie shoots, and that’s why they were so willing to inconvenience the denizens of midtown, but man, what a mess.

Bobbi Tamony had blown him off twice, and that was going to stop right now. He didn’t give a shit about her schedule or her temperament. He’d had it with these prima donnas.

With a curse, he pushed himself off the side of the building. It was just past noon, and if the first assistant director was to be believed, the filming would stop for lunch any minute.

“Bax!”

He turned at the sound of Mia’s voice. All of a sudden he wasn’t so tired. There she was, coming out of the big glass door, rushing toward him in her black tux. The smile on her face put one on his.