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Chapter 11
The silver-blue Mercedes wheeled to a stop in front of Ivy at the Shore on Ocean Avenue, a hot spot Ravinia had learned was frequented by Hollywood stars. Immediately, the car door opened and the woman Rex was following stepped into the street and handed a valet the keys to her convertible. Tucked inside a tight, white dress that showed lots of cleavage and was stretched around one of the roundest butts Ravinia had ever seen, the woman headed into the restaurant.
Ravinia couldn’t help but stare when she thought about the long dresses Aunt Catherine had fashioned for them. High collars, sleeves to the wrist, hems that swept the wooden floor of the lodge. “Some dress. What’s wrong with her?” She continued to stare even as the door closed behind the woman in white.
“What?” Rex asked.
“Her rear end doesn’t fit the rest of her.”
“Probably butt implants,” Rex said.
“That was a choice?” Ravinia couldn’t believe it.
“I guess.” But he really didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the conversation as he drove slowly past the restaurant. “You know, this would be about the last place for a rendezvous,” he muttered, frowning.
Ravinia agreed. The area was crowded with cars lining the street and pedestrians walking past—women with strollers, joggers, joggers with strollers, and skateboarders. “So where’re you gonna park?”
“There isn’t anywhere,” he said as they circled the block again, not a single spot open. “Maybe I’ll valet my car and stick around a while.” But he scowled as if the idea didn’t appeal to him. “Don’t know if it’s worth it.”
“You gonna follow her in?” Again Ravinia eyed the doors where the woman in the white dress had entered.
“I’m not ready to get that close to her. Don’t want her to remember my face.”
“I could go in,” she offered.
He seemed to come out of a fog and gave a hoot of laughter. “You? You look like a skateboarder.” He shook his head. “No. You’re not going into the Ivy. Look, I shouldn’t have taken you on this stakeout in the first place. It was a mistake and so, this is probably a good time for us to separate. There’s a motel up the street. I don’t think it’s too much money. You could rent a room there.”
“I sleep in the park,” she said, a little wounded at being dismissed. They’d circled around to Ocean again, and she pointed toward the area where she’d camped. “Right over there.”
“No, you don’t,” he said, but she could tell he believed her and was slightly horrified at the thought.
“Sure I do.” She reached for the door handle and hitched her chin in the direction of the Ivy. “So, I’ll just go in and take a look around, see who she’s with.”
“Not a chance. Everybody’ll look at you in there, notice you. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb. First order of surveillance? Fit into your surroundings.”
“What’s her name again?” Ravinia asked as he pulled the car as close as he could to the entrance and a valet appeared with a ticket.
“I never said. That was a choice, too.”
As Rex was talking to the valet, Ravinia opened the car door. Backpack slung over her shoulder, she headed for the front door.
“Hey!” Rex called.
“Gotta use the bathroom,” she said over her shoulder, and breezed her way in and found the ladies’ room. She did draw a few long stares, but she acted like she owned the place and no one stopped her. A good thing as she did, in fact, need to use the facilities.
Pushing open the door, she caught a quick glimpse of two women who were freshening up their makeup. A redhead was applying gloss to extremely full lips. Next to her, a tiny Asian woman in impossibly high platform shoes was turning her head this way and that, surveying her image. They barely gave Ravinia a glance as they were in a deep discussion about the audition process.
“I actually saw Frank Milo and said hi to him!” the redhead said importantly.
“No fucking way. What was the producer doing there?” her friend demanded.
“One of the casting people is his daughter, Natalie.”
“No!”
“Yeah, who knew, right? She’s about my age. Looks way too natural, though. Birkenstocks.”
“Oh.”
