“Ms. Alfonso, you are an incorrigible flirt,” observes Sal.
She gets snippy. “Why does everyone criticize me for that? It’s just part of my charm. I imagine that the reason Dana is on the warpath in the library right now is because she thinks that Blaine flirts with me too much.”
Sal replies, “That’s a common complaint about Blaine.”
Annoyed, Susana throws a handful of salt at Sal and some falls on her Miu Miu sandals, still sitting by the bar.
“Sal, don’t you be paranoid about Blaine, too! I’d bet my Miu Mius that my relationship with Blaine is why Dana’s always drunk.”
Susana reaches down and brushes the salt off of her sparkly crystal sandals. As she does, she looks up to see Mark’s Ferrari barreling up the driveway.
Sal observes, “Uh-oh. I hope the grudge match in the library is over before it gets another participant.”
Chapter 29
Mark enters the library to find Dana in a standoff with Blaine. She switches focus and smiles at Mark. “Mark, did you speak to Sal when you came in? Did you have a chance to see the Italian-themed decorations for the party we’re having this evening?”
“No, I came straight into the house. I’m sure it will be lovely. Susana and I are looking forward to it very much.”
Blaine speaks up from across the room, saying what he has been holding back for the past half hour of sparring with his wife. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to be here for the beginning of the party,” he says.
Dana turns and hisses at Blaine. “Let me guess. You have to go back to school to tutor another bimbo?”
“No, I promised to give a speech at North Hollywood High,” he replies.
“I don’t believe you! Where are you really going? I’ve been planning this party for weeks!” Dana screams. “Go ahead! I don’t care. Come home or don’t! I had a life before I married you, and I can ignore you just as easily as you ignore me!”
Blaine does his best to remain calm and begs her to do the same. “Dana, please — control yourself. We have no idea who’s in the house at the moment. There is no need to air our dirty laundry in front of guests or caterers or whoever else might be around. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go change for my speech.”
As Blaine departs the library for upstairs, Dana screams after him. “Ah yes! Dirty laundry! Did you get a peek at Beth’s latest lingerie collection? Probably just a little something she ordered from one of those late-night infomercials. She probably looks trashier than the models in a cut-rate men’s magazine.”
Dana weaves back and forth trying to pour a martini without spilling it. Mark walks over to take the shaker away from her but thinks better of it when he sees her square up. She launches the shaker into a Grecian urn on top of the hutch for a perfect three-point shot. It lands with a clatter.
She jumps up and down at the wild shot and picks up a martini glass. “I can still hit ‘the three.’ Guess I’m not drunk enough yet,” she laughs.
The crash brings Wesley, followed by Carmella, running through the library door.
Wesley, confused and scanning the room for Dana, screams, “Sisssss — uh — Ms. Montgomery! Are you all right?”
Doubled over with laughter, her amusement stops when she spots Carmella. She gives Wesley a quizzical glance when she sees Carmella’s camera, knowing that Wesley never would let a tabloid photographer in the house.
Dana gathers her composure and offers her hand to Carmella. “And who is this lovely creature, Wesley? Another girlfriend? Hello, dahhlling, I’m Dana Montgomery. And you are?”
Carmella, not swayed by the broken glass and general disorder that has overtaken the library, returns the handshake, with aplomb. “How do you do, Ms. Montgomery. My name is Carmella Crayton. I’m here to cover your Pool and Pool event on behalf of the newspaper, Been There, Scene That. My column is ‘Party Me Hearties.’”
Dana’s face perks up with delight. “Oh yes! Joseph Luce called about you. I’m so happy you’ll be joining us. And I’m thrilled to say that we are handling the theme ourselves … not using that twit Paulo that Penelope uses!”
Seeing Wesley’s look of dismay at the state of the library, Dana hustles Wesley and Carmella out the door toward the party. “Wesley, please be a dear and show Ms. Crayton around the grounds. Give her any background she needs on the décor or menu and hopefully she can get some nice pictures.”
Carmella turns to Dana and says quietly, “Just in case Joseph didn’t tell you, I am here to cover the food, the fashion and the décor. There will be no paparazzi-style pictures and no hatchet-job. That’s not the kind of writer that I am.”
Dana’s face lights up as she puts her arm around Carmella. “You know that line from Casablanca about the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Carmella? I think that might be appropriate here.”
Wesley and Carmella walk outside, and Dana shouts after them. “Show her the basketball court. I have a feeling she might like that.”
Carmella laughs, “Not only would I like it, I know what to do on it.”
Wesley and Carmella saunter off toward the basketball court, deep in conversation. He points to various things of interest on the estate as they walk, and she stops to take pictures and make notes.
Dana watches her brother from the front door and smiles. It thrills her to note that for the first time in a long time, he looks genuinely happy.
Chapter 30
There is a knock at the door at Le Coeur Bel. Mark opens the estate’s wide front door to see Detectives Lucienne Wilde and Frank Lawshé.
Mark looks startled. “Luci! Frank! Nice to see you … I think. Is there a reason that the LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department are here? Is the party setup making too much noise?”
Frank says, “Hello, Mark. No, noise complaints would be handled by an officer, not detectives.”
Mark looks relieved, then concerned. “Something else then?”
Dana glides toward the door and calls out to the detectives. “Don’t mind him. I haven’t had a chance to tell him yet. Come in, you two. It’s wonderful to see you.” She turns to Frank with a smile and says, “Tell me how you’ve been, Frank. I hope your family will be here this evening?”
“Doing well, doing well, thank you,” Frank says, lighting up the foyer with his smile. “I think they’ll all be here, but you might know better than I.”
Dana glances at Mark and he follows her gaze to the library. He excuses himself and hustles away from the detectives, going back into the library to scoop any remaining tranquilizers back into the bottle and dump the glasses and vodka bottle into the trash. Popping the last olive into his mouth, he waves Lucienne and Frank in from the foyer.
“Hey guys. Why not come in and get comfy? Is this business or pleasure?” asks Mark.
Dana corrects him. “Mark, dear. Don’t be rude. I’m sure this is a social call. Remember, Lucienne’s mom is my best friend. Why shouldn’t she drop by?” Dana’s face turns to panic. “Nothing has happened to Ches, has it?” she questions Lucienne.
Lucienne reassures Dana. “No, no. Uncle James sent us over to do some pre-party surveillance, if that’s okay with you. We’ll change to appropriate party clothes before the festivities start so that we’ll blend in.”
Mark looks confused. “What on earth is going on? The chief of police thinks that it’s necessary to have you babysit our party?”
Frank explains, “I believe you lost fifty-thousand dollars’ worth of items at your last event, and the thieves seem to be getting more aggressive. Several recent upscale parties have had expensive thefts while the parties were going on. The stolen items were worth over a million dollars at some of the crime scenes and were not noticed until everyone had left.”
Lucienne continues, “Uncle James thought that since our families were going to be attending the party that we would fit in as guests and be able to keep an eye on anything suspicious.”
Dana giggles as she observes Lucienne’s no-nonsense detective attire. “Are
you sure that James thought you would blend in? I can lend you something with more of a party flair, if you would like.”
Frank suppresses a laugh, and Lucienne kicks him in the shin.
“Ouch!” he cries out. “Good thing you’re wearing rubber-soled flats or I’d be in real trouble.” Lucienne shoots him a stern look with a hint of a smile, then turns her attention back to Dana.
“No thank you, Dana. Mom sent me well-prepared. I have an entire new wardrobe in Frank’s car.”
Frank laughs and says to Lucienne, “Warn me next time that Francesca is shopping for you, and I won’t drive the Bugatti. I’ll rent a semi-truck with more storage.”
“Ha! Very funny,” Lucienne says, ignoring Dana for a moment to focus her ire on Frank. “What kind of police officer drives a Bugatti Chiron, anyway? You do surveillance in that thing? I’m sure nobody in this town notices a three-million-dollar car watching them. Are we going to eat cheeseburgers in it during stakeouts? Aren’t you worried about the grease dripping onto your fine leather seats?”
“I have an LASD Chevrolet Equinox for work. I just thought the Bugatti would blend in better with the other cars tonight.”
Lucienne sighs, “Yeah, whatever.” Turning back to Dana, she says, “Sorry about that. I guess I’m dreading tonight. I’m not my sister, as you well know, Dana. The thought of doing serious detective work in stilettos holds no appeal to me at all.”
Frank elbows Lucienne lightly and interjects, “That being said, we will do a fabulous job. The only thing people are leaving here with tonight are their swag bags.”
“I can show you around, if you’d like,” offers Mark. “Wesley is busy giving Carmella Crayton a tour of the house and grounds.”
Frank misunderstands the name and is impressed. “That’s incredible! I thought they had a game tonight.”
Lucienne clarifies, “Carmella. Not Carmelo. She’s Carmelo’s daughter and the chief’s niece. She’s a reporter.”
Frank’s face falls. “Drat. No pointers then.”
Lucienne replies, “I wouldn’t say that. She was being scouted by the WNBA, but she blew out her knee making the winning shot at the Final Four.”
“Wilde! I had no idea there was this other side to you!” replies Frank. “Maybe tonight won’t be the snoozefest I was anticipating.” He pauses and turns to Dana. “No offense, Dana. I’m sure the party will be lovely. It’s Wilde, here, that seems a little bland as a date.”
Lucienne shoots Frank an incredulous look, and says, “Hey!” He chuckles in her face and turns to Dana and says, “If you’re interested in switching dates for the evening, Dana, just let me know. You’re never boring!”
Dana blushes while Lucienne elbows Frank. “First of all, please stop hitting on the hostess. I don’t know what they teach you in the Sheriff’s Department, but it’s inappropriate. Secondly, this is not a date. This is an assignment. Do not confuse the two. If we ever went out on a date, I guarantee that you would know the difference.”
Dana smiles as she notices some growing sparks between the two detectives. “Thank you, Frank. If I am short an escort this evening, I shall accept your kind offer.” Then she turns to her son and says, “Mark, dear. If you don’t mind, I’m sure Lucienne would like to check everything out before she changes clothes.”
Lucienne dons a baseball cap and sunglasses and picks up some headphones. “When I go outside, I’ll be as incognito as I can.”
Mark offers to help with her cover story. “No worries, Luci. I know the caterers. If anyone asks, I’ll just tell them you’re there for the sound check.” The three exit the house for the direction of the party tables.
Chapter 31
Blaine returns to the library, picks up his briefcase and passes Dana on his way to the door. Dana pulls at his sleeve, “Are you really doing this? We have guests coming at six o’clock!”
“And I have a speech to give and a workshop to teach,” he replies.
“Well, you had better be home by the time the guests arrive!”
“What are you worried about? You’ll still be getting ready by the time I come home. Go shoe shopping or something,” he snorts as he pushes past her and walks out the door. “And do try to sober up before you embarrass us in front of our friends and the press.” He slams the door behind him.
Crushed, Dana looks around for her martini glass. She finds it on the table by the pier mirror. She stares at a montage of faces looking back at her.
The first face she sees is her own from a lifetime ago … the girl that held tightly to her brother’s hand as they got off of a bus to freedom from a neglected childhood.
The image in the mirror cycles through all of Dana’s incarnations: Dana as an ingenue, an extra, in her first lead role, the day she married Daniel, and when Mark was born. Finally, it lands on Dana’s current age (which will remain unknown as long as she can still draw breath). She mentally counts each and every wrinkle and wonders if “younger Dana” would approve of her current life.
Pain crosses Dana’s face as she remembers her youthful self. Her parents blamed their children for their financial strain. She hears her mother telling her again that she wished they had never been born. Dana shudders as she recalls the neglect that forced the big sister to be both mother and father to Wesley, and how she spirited him away one night after pawning her only cherished possession, her grandmother’s necklace, for bus fare.
In the mirror, Dana sees the sad expression of the elderly pawnbroker who saw the bruises on her and West’s crying faces and agreed not to sell the necklace for a year, despite his thirty-day policy.
As those horrible memories flood her brain, Dana vows silently for the millionth time that her son never will feel unloved. That one prevailing thought brings back the “emotional armor” that she wears to protect her son from her own past.
Staring straight into the mirror now, Dana allows herself a little smile as the reflection of the “nobody from nowhere” is replaced once again by legendary star, Dana Montgomery.
Minutes pass as she stands frozen in front of the mirror, wrestling her demons into submission by remembering the kindnesses in her life. She remembers the pitying faces of the rich women for whom she cleaned house who realized that little West would have no Christmas presents. She remembers one of them insisting that she must take the envelope with her “Christmas bonus.” The day before Christmas, she was in possession of something she never had seen in her life … five hundred dollars.
She sees “little West” in the reflection as she asked him what he wanted for Christmas since she had so much unexpected money, and the boy’s reply of “I want you to get Grandma’s necklace back.” Dana realized that West wanted to take care of her as much as she did of him.
Dana breaks into tears as she also remembers being so afraid that her parents would find out where she and West were that the two of them made a five-day roundtrip bus trip back to the pawn shop to retrieve her cherished jewelry rather than giving the pawnbroker a shipping address.
Dana is weeping so loudly that she does not hear the knock on the front door. She is snapped back to the present by a loud crash outside the door. The door swings open to reveal Francesca, covered in dirt and waving a key around after turning over a flowerpot to find it.
Confused, Dana leans against the wall. “Ches? What on earth?”
“I was leaving the Polo Lounge when Blaine’s car flew by and ran a red light making a left onto Beverly. I thought something might be wrong, so I decided to check on you. You were crying so loudly that I heard you through that huge door! Why didn’t you answer? I thought Blaine might have hurt you!”
“No, he hasn’t killed me yet. Give him a little more time,” Dana murmurs. Jogged out of her trance, she says, “Wait! He was actually going to The Valley to give a speech? I thought for sure he was off to see one of his bimbos.”
Francesca sighs and heads for the kitchen. “You’ve got to be kidding. I dumped a flowerpot onto perfectly good Hermes to save you
and he’s giving a speech? Remind me to send him a bill for a new outfit.” She looks down woefully at her ensemble and heads for the kitchen. “I’ll be right back.” Dana wanders into the library.
The front door opens again. Wesley seems torn between his delight at escorting Carmella around the estate and his irritation at the dirt from the flowerpot scattered by the door.
Wesley excuses himself to get something to clean up the mess and runs into Francesca who is returning from the kitchen with a broom.
In the library, Dana reaches out to Carmella. “Carmella, dear, I’m in here. Did you get all of the pre-party photos that you needed?” she asks.
“Yes, thank you. I had a chance to speak with your party planner, Beth Luker, and the man who owns the catering company, Sal Caggiano. Both were quite talkative.”
“Of course, they were. They are both in the beginning stages of their acting careers. I’m sure they will appreciate any publicity you can give them, especially if you spell their names correctly,” says Dana.
“I definitely will. I understand that you chose the Pool and Pool Party theme and the Italian decorations,” notes Carmella
“I did indeed. We’re starting at six o’clock so the swimmers can get a bit of sun, and the pool is heated so they can swim later if they want. The cabanas are set up so they can get dressed for dinner, and we’ll have hairdressers and stylists on hand for the people who want to change after swimming. I’ve had a dance floor installed, and there is an area set aside for a jazz band. So, Carmella, what do you think so far?” asks Dana.
Hearing the name “Carmella,” Francesca joins them from the library, broom still in hand. “Carmella? Carmella Crayton? For Heaven’s sake, give me a hug! I haven’t seen you since graduation! Rena told me you were moving out here. She and James are thrilled! Oh wait! Hug me on the side without the dirt,” Francesca says, pointing at her clothes.
The Case of the Stained Stilettos Page 12