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“She’d be kinda pretty if she actually did anything with herself, but you know . . . it looks like she’s making a statement.”
“One of those.”
Redhead added, “She was nice enough, though. She even thanked me.”
“But they all do. That’s just a way to get you to move along.”
Click. Sounded like a compact or clutch purse closing.
“I know. But I think this might have been different.” There was a pause, then the redhead added, “If I could just get on a hit show like Dragonworld, my God . . .”
Their voices faded away as they left the restroom, the door opening and closing.
Ravinia flushed the toilet, then washed her hands. Nothing like a good clean bathroom. She glanced at her own reflection, plain and dreary compared to the other women who couldn’t have been much older than she. Not that she wanted to be anything like them. Still . . . she saw the smudge on her chin and scrubbed it off, irritated that Rex hadn’t said anything. Then she turned on the hot water and washed her entire face. With a glance at her clothes, she frowned. A few stains, but mainly just wrinkled. Tucking a few wayward wisps of hair into her braid, she admitted to herself that she might need to find that motel Rex had mentioned, after all.
But first she had a job to do—to prove herself, if nothing more.
She slipped out of the restroom and wandered back into the main part of the restaurant where she observed the two women she’d overheard join a table with two guys, twentysomethings in slacks and polo shirts, both on cell phones. They barely acknowledged their dates.
Figured.
Her gaze swung around the room. She didn’t immediately see the woman in white, so she moved into a second room. Bingo! The woman they’d been following was sitting by herself. She, too, was talking rapidly into a cell phone.
Ravinia narrowed her eyes, thinking about her next move. When she flicked a look toward the maître d’s stand, she caught a glimpse of Rex who was apparently asking about a table. Jaw set, he caught her eye and shook his head slowly, warning her off.
She could tell he was pissed.
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Ignoring him, she wended her way through the tables, slowing her steps when she was directly behind the woman in white and making a point of looking around the room as if searching for someone.
“Not that simple,” the woman was saying. “I have a life, you know.” A pause, while a tinny voice spoke, then, “You think I haven’t been thinking about you? One more week. I promise. That’s all or I’ll go crazy. I just have to make sure. I’m meeting him now and we’re just talking. He wants the split to look like it’s both of us. Gotta save face, you know. I’ll see you Tuesday, and we’ll work it all out. Casa del Mar. Be patient.”
“May I help you?” a waiter asked, sneaking up behind Ravinia.
She turned sharply and gave him a look. His hair was medium brown with blond tips and he had dark eyes filled with suspicion. A sneer threatened his lips.
“Just trying to find my father,” she said breezily. “Frank Milo? You know him?”
Still suspicious, he looked her up and down, a line forming between his brows. “I don’t believe I do.”
“You should.” She leaned in and whispered with meaning, “The producer . . .” Straightening before people at other tables keyed into their conversation too closely, she added, “I don’t see him, but if he shows, tell him Natalie was here.”
“Well . . .” he said uncertainly.
Why Natalie might be carrying a backpack and looking like she’d been camping for two weeks was a question Ravinia didn’t want him asking, so she beat feet back to the front door. Rex was nowhere to be seen, so she gave the maître d’ a smile and sailed back outside.
She was debating on what to do next when Rex suddenly reappeared from a side exit.
His lips were compressed as he approached.
Uh-oh.
Grabbing her by the arm, he propelled her away from the front door and kept his voice low. “What the hell were you doing?”
“Investigating,” she said, then quickly added, “She’s here to meet her husband and try to work things out. She said he just wants the split to look like it’s from the two of them. To save face.”
“How do you know this? She was sitting alone.”
