Kissing Fortune (Man Season) (9 page)

“
Bodey
, you
got an answer for that?”

There was silence behind the camera.

Kiel
’s phone chirped; he flipped it open;
withdrew to a dark corner. Tierney watched him; began to pace again.

“This is getting us nowhere. Apparently
I have ruffled a lot of feathers. But I never meant to harm anyone. I’m no
saint, but I’m no devil, either.” She looked into the camera lens. “We are all
good, and we are all bad. Why can’t we accept that fact about each other and
move on?”

Kiel
motioned for her to come towards
him. Then he directed the security guards to shield the exits.

“What’s up?” she whispered.

“Bear with me, Tierney. I’m afraid
you’re not going to like what I’m about to do.” He kissed her then headed for
the circle of suspects. “Lu
Jiang
, you work as a
wardrobe supervisor at CBS, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“And you have access to all sorts of
costumes, is that correct?”

“I suppose so. I dress the actors in
a popular crime series.”

“So you would easily be able to
borrow, shall we say, a couple of FBI suits with fake badges?”

“No, I wouldn’t. The studio would
fire me if I stole from them.”

“What are you getting at, Fortune?”
Ernie stepped forward, physically protecting his wife from
Kiel
’s stony
glare
.

“Yeah,
Kiel
, you don’t suspect Lu?”

“I never said I did, Tierney. I’m
just asking questions.”

“Well, I don’t like the tone of your
questions,” Ernie spat. “Lu couldn’t hurt a flea.”

“Fine.
But what about
you?”

“Me?” Ernie laughed, nervous.

“Do you visit your wife at the studio
wardrobe department?”

“Of course not.
Why would I?”

Lu
Jiang
seemed upset.

“Do you disagree, Mrs. Saunders?”

“He probably forgot, but Ernie did
visit me several times in the wardrobe department last month. Once, he was
locked in there, by mistake. Don’t you remember, honey?”

“Oh, sure, it was awhile ago so I
guess I did forget.”

“It wasn’t that long ago. Saunders,
did you take those suits and badges?”

“I did not! Tierney probably told you
I was the one who was suspicious of those fake FBI guys in the first place.”

“That’s true,
Kiel
.” Tierney came close; wrapped her
arm around his.

“She told me. She also told me how
those same two jerks showed up at Travers’ yacht, way out in the ocean, not
long after she talked to you.”

“Anybody could have let them know
where she was … her parents, her brother … he’s your best suspect. He was
always jealous of Tierney.”

“Ah, but you see … she didn’t tell
him where she was, or her parents, or anyone else … just you! She thought you
were the only one she could trust. But as it turns out … YOU are the only one
she can’t trust!”

“
Kiel
, no!”
Tierney cried.

Lu
Jiang
glared at her husband; he avoided her eyes. “Ernie, what have you done?”

“Nothing, I swear! You can’t believe
this guy.”

“I knew it, deep down inside, I truly
did. But I wouldn’t let myself think it. I was suspicious when you started
hanging out at the studio, a place you hated. And then a co-worker mentioned
that two suits and some props had gone missing. She was afraid she’d have to
pay for them. I told her I would, that I had misplaced them. What I can’t
understand is why you would want Tierney dead? You love her.”

“You love money more, is that right,
Saunders? You’re in debt, up to your skull! Too many maxed-out credit cards,
too many student loans …”

“Ernie, I thought you always paid
your own way!” Tierney said, trying desperately to hold back a flood of
impending tears. “I admired how you worked and struggled to get what you
wanted.”

“He only worked to pay off the debts.
The house, the loans, the credit cards … I begged him to stop borrowing. I told
him we could sell the house and make do with so much less but he wanted to look
prosperous, to impress people.”

“But I don’t get it … how would
killing me help you? Oh …” she paused, “was it because I said I had named you
in my will?”

“Did you, Tierney?”

“Yeah,
Kiel
, I did. A few months ago I was
feeling really despondent. I actually went so far as to make out a legal will
at my lawyer’s office. In it, I left most of the money I’ve received from the
reality show to Ernie and Lu
Jiang
. It adds up to
quite a lot, thanks to endorsements and all. I had lunch with Ernie that day
and told him all about it. It never would have entered my mind that he’d use
that knowledge to plan my death.”

“But I didn’t!”

“No use denying it, Saunders. I’ve
got video of you stealing the suits and badges, plus …”
Kiel
looked at Tierney, “those two hired
goons have been picked up in
Anaheim
. Probably won’t take much persuading
to get them to talk.”

Ernie bounded for the nearest exit.
Kiel
ran after him; caught his collar and
dragged him back.

“This will never hold up in court!
You’ll see! I’ll be out in an hour! Nobody’s smart enough to pull one over on
me!”

The security men took him away.
Tierney’s tears could not be restrained; they billowed over her cheeks,
spoiling her mascara. Lu
Jiang
hugged her, turned
them both from the staring eyes and camera lenses.

“I’m sorry, Tierney. I knew he was
desperate. But I didn’t know he was capable of murder.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,
Lu. I seem to be a magnet for this kind of crap. I need to do a lot of soul
searching, to figure out why.”

Kiel
put his strong hands on her
shoulders. “It isn’t you, baby. I don’t want you believing that.”

“What else can I believe?”

“That you’re beautiful, and willful,
and those two elements in one body can attract too many of the wrong kind of
people. It isn’t your fault. They can’t generate their own sparkle so they try
to steal some of yours!”

She peered deeply into his cinnamon
eyes; the love in them was unmistakable. She breathed it in; let it fill her
with strength and determination. She faced the camera.

“There you go, people! A would-be
murderer captured right before your eyes! Isn’t the internet amazing?” She
glanced around her. “I’m sorry I had to put the rest of you through that, but
I’m sure you understand.”

Aram
Evans stepped up. “Tierney, can we
all get together at our house, to talk things out?”

“Just the family, sure; but there will
be no Dr. Lenz, or
Istvan
, or cameras!”

“Whatever you say!
We’ll see you there later.”

She blushed as he kissed her cheek.
Her mother did the same. Dennis shrugged at her; the closest thing he’d come to
actually showing her affection in a very long time.

“There’s hope for us yet!” she
sighed.

They all began to leave.
Istvan
stood, looked at her solemnly, realized that there
was nothing between them. He shook her hand and
Kiel
’s in a surprising gesture of
maturity then walked away.

Once they were alone on the set,
Tierney grabbed
Kiel
for a long, loin-stirring kiss.

“Um, keep that up and we’ll be giving
your fans a real show!”

She giggled. “I’m not willing to go
that far to keep you safe. Or am I? But, really, do you think Slater and his
thugs will bother us?”

“I don’t think they’ll want to chance
it.”

“I have a way to make sure,” she
smiled. “
Bodey
, is the feed still live?”

Bodey
Gillette hurried up to her, his
cheeks beet red. “Sure, you want to say something else? Before you do, I want
to tell you that I’m ashamed of my actions. I do care about you, Tierney, but I
had no right to make threats or treat you like a possession. Dr. Lenz is going
to help me sort things out …”

“I’ll bet he is! Just watch your
wallet! Turn on that camera, please?”

He checked the connection, made sure
she was still being seen by millions of people.

“Okay, you’re on!”

Tierney kissed
Kiel
in front of the camera then she
leaned in close. “The emails are ready, Mr. Slater,” she hissed. “It’s your
move.”

Kiel
grinned as she flipped off the
camera and kissed him again.

“What the hell was that about?”
Bodey
wondered.

“Don’t you love it when people get
cryptic?” Tierney smiled.

THE END

I have
four more books you might enjoy. Here are their Amazon pages, descriptions, and
an excerpt from each book. I hope you like them:

A BILLIONAIRE FOR
BREAKFAST -
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2C5WMQ
When
Tess
Jenkins impulsively agreed to join Kylie Preston
on a hunt for billionaire husbands in the Cayman Islands she had no idea what
kind of trouble they’d get into – or that she’d fall head over heels for a
gorgeous beach bum named Angel. But is he all he seems to be, or someone
completely different?

EXCERPT:
There was a screeching
noise just to her left. She turned, holding her heart in shock, as she watched
a black motorcycle fly over her head and land abruptly in a mound of sand. But
where was the driver? She quickly scanned the grassy area beneath the hilltop
road. He was there, lying in a ditch.

Tess
ran to him; began to examine him for
injuries. There weren’t any, but what she saw there disturbed her all the same.
He was insanely handsome, with chin length, naturally blue-black hair, and a
rugged, tanned body that oozed “Come take
me
.
” from every pore. And his eyes –
whoa – when he looked up at her she thought her heart had stopped completely –
they were green with strange flecks of blue that made them glitter like jewels.

“Are you okay?”

“Sure, just a skinned elbow and a
sore bum.
Serves me right for thinking I could make that curve at 100 miles per hour!
I’ve never seen you. What’s your name?”

“
Tess
Jenkins.” She was shy under the heat of his stare. You’d think he had never
seen a girl before.

ADDICTED TO HIM -
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B8EOQ9S
Tegan
St. Clair works in a florist shop in
Burbank
, and
fantasizes about her dream man, Fleet Westcott, the billionaire film producer
who owns the studio across the street, never imagining that she could ever meet
him in real life.

Then Fleet steps out of her dreams and into her bed,
and she is swept up in a passion so electric it leaves scars. But Fleet is a
complicated man, with some dark, dangerous secrets. Can
Tegan
find the courage to save him, even if it means her own life is on the line?