Free Ham Bones by Carolyn Haines Page B

enough"
     
    My appetite was completely gone. Everyone in the
cafe had stopped all pretense of eating. Booter and her
table full of DGs watched with unadulterated pleasure.
"I'm not acting. I'm innocent. At least of hurting Renata
in any way."
    "She warned me that you'd deny it. But I have proof."
    That was impossible. There wasn't proof because I hadn't
done anything.
    "What proof?" Tinkie rose and came to stand behind
my shoulder.
    "Ms. Delaney works fast. She's already booked for a
screen test in Hollywood next week, as soon as the play
closes."
    I was as stunned as Millie, Tinkie, and Cece. They all
turned to look at me with varying degrees of amazement.
    "I haven't scheduled any screen test, and even if I had,
it isn't evidence that I killed Renata"
    "You're busted, Ms. Delaney. Paramount Studios. Director Federico Marquez has ordered the test" He acted
as if he held the smoking gun.
    Graf hadn't even bothered to wait for me to agree.
He'd gone on and scheduled my screen test. On the one
hand, it showed his faith in my ability. On the other hand,
it made me look guilty as sin. Denial was the river I chose
to swim. "I can't help what arrangements Graf has made.
I didn't agree to any screen test"
    "Then you're turning it down?" Gabriel asked.
    It was like a tennis match. Heads swiveled from me to
Gabriel and back to me. "I don't know." I spoke firmly.
"Since I didn't know about this screen test, I have to think
about it."
    "Excuse me" Cece picked up her purse that matched her purple suede heels. "I just have the scoop for my next
story. Sarah Booth has screen test."
     
    "You can't print that!" I made a grab for her elbow and
missed.
    "Of course I can, dahling."
    "Cece, I don't know if I'm going to take the test or
not"
    "Of course you will." She smiled at me and winked at
Gabriel. "But even if you don't, it's still a great story."
    She walked out of the cafe with everyone watching.
The door closed and I turned to face Tinkie. "If she prints
that, it'll make me look guilty."
    "You already look guilty," Tinkle said. "That's why we
have to get busy." She handed Millie a twenty and blew
her a kiss. "We'll be back"
    She took my elbow and marched me past Gabriel, who
settled at our empty table. As I walked past the front window, I saw Booter headed for him. If he had any doubts
about my guilt, he wouldn't by the time Booter finished
with him.
    Tinkie headed out of town and I was too depressed to
ask her where we were going. Circumstantial evidence
was piling up around me like kindling around Joan of
Arc. The most solid evidence was the poison found in my
car. I still hadn't figured that one out. How did it get
there? The only poison I'd ever hauled in the roadster involved killing fire ants. That was a far cry from cyanide.
    "Why would Renata tell her brother that you were
going to kill her?" Tinkie didn't look at me as she asked
the question. Her gaze was on the four-lane that headed
north to Memphis.
    "I have no idea." I spoke stiffly.
     
    "Did you threaten her, Sarah Booth?"
    At first the question cut me deeply, but I held myself in
check and thought through my answer. Tinkie knew I had
a temper, and she knew that Renata worked on my control. It wasn't such an unreasonable question to ask. I
might have threatened Renata. "No"
    She glanced at me, and her right hand patted my
shoulder. "I know you didn't kill her, I'm just trying to
get a handle on all of this. You've got to admit, it's strange
that her brother would show up and say she feared that
you were going to hurt her."
    "How do we even know what he says is true. He might
have heard that I was a suspect and decided to add fuel to
the fire. Or maybe he killed her and is using me as a
scapegoat!"
    Tinkie sucked on her bottom lip. It gently popped free
of her teeth in a manner that made men weak with desire.
"I don't think that sounds right. Why would he pick
you?"
    "Maybe Renata bad-mouthed me" That was about a