Kissing Fortune (Man Season) (8 page)

“Now,” she whispered hoarsely, “don’t
wait.”

He covered her mouth with his own,
his tongue echoing the moves of their hips. Finally they both hit the sky,
quivering so hard it seemed like the whole world was moving with them.

***

“So, do you think my plan will work?”
Tierney asked as she and
Kiel
wolfed down a pair of Spanish
omelets in the all white kitchen of her beach house.

“I don’t know. It’s tricky. Live TV
and all that. Do you think this guy Weathering will go for it?”

“He’ll go for anything that’ll get
big ratings … and this will!”

“But what if he’s the bad guy?”

“Then he’ll find some way to pin it
on someone else. But he won’t refuse to air the show. Believe me, I know him.
He gets off on high numbers!”

“Let’s do it then!”

She smiled, reached for a phone.

***

It didn’t take long to get everyone
together once they heard Tierney’s voice and were convinced that she was alive.
And Weathering set up a live web broadcast for that evening, getting the word
out to fans on Tierney’s website and
Facebook
page.

Kiel
, wearing some hot designer threads
and a pair of sexy sunglasses eased a rented silver Jaguar into the studio
parking lot and escorted Tierney past the waves of paparazzi. She looked like a
divine scamp in a low cut red mini-dress and matching stilettos, her hair wound
up like an ice cream cone atop her regal head. Her make-up was perfection, her
attitude outwardly
snarky
but inside she was
shivering, fearful, unsure of her plan and every other thing – except
Kiel
. He was the one solid, unwavering
certainty in her life.

The suspects were gathered on a set
built for a local talk show that Weathering produced. When Tierney walked in,
Kiel
examined every face in the room,
could see that
Aram
and Betsy were overwhelmed with joy.

“Look at your parents. Still don’t
think you can trust them?”

She cast a quick glance their way as
they rushed towards her. Betsy swaddled her in nervous arms while
Aram
cleared his throat a dozen times and
kept saying how good it was to have her there. Tierney was a bit overwhelmed
herself but she had to play it cool.

“We’ll talk after the show,” she
assured them.

“Tierney, I know it isn’t the time
for this,” her mother began, “but we want to say we love you. We tried to say
it before in all the wrong ways. I only hope you’ll give us the chance to prove
it to you.”

“Yes, we … we do love you, girl. I’m
sorry I was so self-absorbed. But I guess I took my cue from my own dad. I
should’ve realized I’d wind up as much an ass as he was if I emulated him.”

Tierney sucked in a deep breath,
trying hard to quell an urge to sob.

“Like I said, we’ll talk later. I
want you to meet
Kiel
.”

“Who?”

“She means me.” He stepped forward.
Betsy Evans perked up.

“And who are you?”

“I’m Tierney’s fiancé.”

He shook her hand; she smiled, a bit
breathless.

“Tierney, your taste has improved
immeasurably.”

The cameras were already rolling, had
been since Tierney entered the studio. Bill Weathering was standing in the
corner, salivating. Dennis Evans was nearby, his eyes twitching with hate as he
watched his parents fawning over Tierney.
Bodey
Gillette was helming the main camera; he couldn’t take it, or his own gaze, off
of her.

“I am Tierney’s fiancé!”
Istvan
Rader shouted as he strutted across the set.

“You are not!” Tierney countered.
“Did you ever propose?”

“It was my intention. You know that.
I was only waiting for the proper time.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but that time
passed like six months ago.”

“How can you say that, Tierney, after
all we have meant to each other?” He meandered towards the camera. “You are
breaking my heart.”

Dr. Lenz, a fat, balding man in a
sweaty dark blue suit, stepped over to referee.

“That’s good,
Istvan
,
get those feelings out into the open. Let Tierney know exactly what her actions
are doing to you.”

Istvan
actually brought tears into his
eyes. Tierney was embarrassed, but knew they were false. He had become as good
as a soap opera veteran at wringing out his emotions for the camera.

“Oh, for God’s sake!
You’re not winning any points or
sympathy with that act.”

“It isn’t an act,” Dr. Lenz
announced. “I’ve had
Istvan
in therapy for hours,
Tierney. He was despondent and near suicidal after hearing about your supposed
death. I had to prescribe several drugs to get him to an acceptable level of
calm.”

“Yeah, most of those drugs will just
make him more suicidal. You are a creep, Dr. Lenz!”

She turned her back to them.
Kiel
smiled his approval.

Ernie Saunders and his wife Lu
Jiang
, showed up at the door. The guard wouldn’t let them
in until Tierney waved him away.

“Ernie! What are you guys doing
here?”

“We got an invite from the producer!
Man, I’m glad to see you!”

He squeezed her tight; Lu
Jiang
put on a fake smile but
Kiel
was watching her, nodding to
himself. Plainly, she didn’t like Tierney touching her man.

“I’m happy you both are here. I’m
going to need some more support to get through this thing.”

“Going to be like the final scene in
a
Poirot
mystery, eh?”

“Maybe.
But I’m not clever like him. Could
you help? You were into those stories in school.”

“Sure, what can I do?”

“Watch everyone carefully, and tell
me who has the most hatred for me.”

“I can tell you that right now, sis.
It’s Dennis.”

“Hmm, just what I was thinking.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Tierney.”
Kiel
glanced round at the suspects. “I’ve got some old buddies
doing a bit of digging. They’re going to call me if they find anything
interesting.”

“When did you talk to them?”

“This morning, while you were trying
on dresses.”

“Oh. Well I hope they come up with
something soon. I’m not sure how to proceed.”

“Follow your plan.”

“It seems a lot harder to do that now,
with everybody, and the cameras, staring at me.
Kiel
, I keep worrying about those
Questor
people. Do you think they’re watching us?”

“Baby, they’ve been on our tails
since we hit the marina! I even spied a couple of them near your beach house.”

“Oh, God, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t see any point in scaring
you. But don’t let them affect what you’re doing. Take control of the cameras
and do what you do best!”

“Kind of a dubious compliment, I have
to say. But … here goes!” She began to pace, clicking her heels on the hard
linoleum floor. Then she started talking, loud. “I came back to LA, and
gathered all these people together, for one purpose … to find out who wants me
dead, and why. I will admit to all of you that I’ve never been one to back away
from any experience, good or bad. Maybe I’ve stepped on a few toes, or egos, on
my journey. Most everyone does. It can’t be helped. But I never did one thing
out of spite or sheer meanness. If I have haters, fine, that comes with the
territory.” She took a deep breath, avoiding the others’ eyes. “But this
vendetta against me has to stop. I don’t want innocent bystanders getting hurt.
So … I’m going to weed out my would-be killer here, today.” Gasps and sighs
echoed round the room. “One by one, I will talk to you, and let you air your
grievances …”

Dennis headed for the exit. “I am not
about to be interrogated by you on camera, or anywhere else!”

Kiel
barred his way. “Step back, brother,
nobody’s getting out here until we find the culprit.”

Dennis stared up at
Kiel
; tried acting macho but saw it was
futile and rejoined the group.

“Let’s start with you, Denny,”
Tierney decided as she strode towards him. “You hate me, anyone can see that.
But why?”

“I am not playing this game.”

“Well, I’ll play it for you, boy!”
Aram
Evans shouted. He stepped closer to
them both. “Dennis was our first born, and a son, so naturally, we made him
feel entitled to have everything a wealthy man’s boy could want. We doted on
him, indulged him; spoiled him. You came along and we split our attentions in
two. Dennis was conditioned to be the sun in our universe, so he couldn’t
handle life in the shade. I could see the hatred building in him, so could
Betsy, but we chose to ignore it. Maybe if we had talked to him, to show him,
and you, how much we truly loved you both …”

“Would that have changed things,
Tierney?” Betsy asked with wet eyes.

“It would have, for me. Dennis?”

“I told you, I am not playing your
game!” He was stiff, but shaking, tears near bursting. He seemed like a lost
little boy begging silently to be found.

Tierney suddenly felt extremely
embarrassed and sad. This shouldn’t have been happening on a live broadcast –
they should be alone at their parents’ house, just the four of them, working
their feelings out in private.

She breathed in, strengthened her
resolve. “There are other suspects.
Istvan
, your
father was a demolition expert. He could have trained you to make bombs.”

“You know he didn’t! I told you how
my father would have nothing to do with me once I started practicing the piano!
He thought I was a weak, effeminate fool. I would never intentionally hurt you,
Tierney. Sure, I threw a vodka glass at you, but I was drunk, I didn’t know
what I was doing. I love you.”

Kiel
’s eyes flared at the mention of the
vodka glass. Tierney shrugged. “You love my father’s money. Admit it,
Istvan
.”

He glanced solemnly at the camera. “I
will admit I like the lifestyle it affords me, but I would still love you, if
you were poor. Besides, I have a new deal to star in my own reality show …” Weathering
tried to shush him, unsuccessfully, “don’t worry, she won’t care.”

“What’s it going to be called?”

“The title will be
Istvan
: Playing
For
Keeps
, it’s kind of like
The Bachelor
.”

“And just when did you and Bill
Weathering dream this up?”

“It has been on the table for weeks.
I knew you wouldn’t marry me. And I need a wife to stay in
America
, so I proposed the show idea to Bill
and he agreed.”

“And you hired two goons to kill me
so I couldn’t ruin the deal?”

“No, no, I swear! I would never hurt you!”

“Then maybe it was Bill that hired
the killers. Were my ratings failing, Bill? So you decided to get me out of the
way and give
Istvan
a new show?”

Weathering reluctantly appeared in
front of the camera. “It never crossed my mind, darling. You are my favorite
star. But why don’t you ask
Bodey
if it was him that
hired the killers? He’s real good with explosives. I had him work up a bunch of
blasts for a sci-fi movie I’m producing. And I know how he feels about you. I
heard him say he’d never let you marry
Istvan
, or any
other man but him.”