Teddy Fay watched from the sidelines as Tessa Tweed Bacchetti and Brad Hunter finished up their scene on the soundstage on the Centurion Pictures back lot. Brad was the name above the title, and Tessa a featured actress, but for Teddy’s money, she was playing him off the stage.
Peter and Ben had discovered Tessa when they first started at Centurion Pictures. A young British actress, Tessa had been in town to visit her mother, who was staying with Peter’s father, Stone Barrington, at the time. The boys wangled Tessa a screen test. She photographed well, and read even better, and wound up winning a part.
She also won the heart of Ben Bacchetti, Peter’s best friend and the future head of Centurion Studios. She’d been working steadily ever since, and not just because of her husband’s position. She really was that good.
Teddy enjoyed watching her. Teddy enjoyed most everything about the movies. He liked producing them in his persona of Billy Barnett, and he got a real kick out of playing the villain in his new guise of Mark Weldon. Teddy could shoot people with no repercussions whatsoever. People liked him to do it, as long as he didn’t bump off the hero. As long as he got his retribution in the end.
Teddy understood the premise, but he didn’t entirely buy it. He could envision a script where he wound up killing the hero and getting away. He wondered if he could sell Peter on the idea.
On the movie set, Tessa delivered her last line.
“Cut,” Peter said. “And that’s a new setup. It’s a camera move. Actors, take a break until called, but don’t go far. Our crew is good.”
Tessa sought Teddy out as soon as she was off the set. “Was I all right?”
“You were great.”
“I felt a little off.”
“With you, a little off is sensational.”
“Don’t kid me. I’m serious.”
“So am I. You’re acting rings around the guy. If you ask me, they’ve got the credits flip-flopped.”
Tessa wasn’t up to playful banter. “Listen. Can I talk to you?”
Teddy saw the anxiety in her eyes, but gave no sign. He simply said, “Let’s get a cup of coffee.”
Teddy took Tessa down to the commissary. Actors and crew members filled most of the tables.
“It’s crowded,” Tessa said.
“Sure,” Teddy said. “Everyone can hear us, so no one will bother to listen to us. Come on.”
They got cups of coffee and found an unoccupied table near the back.
Teddy took a gulp of coffee and smiled a huge smile for the benefit of anyone who might be looking their way. “Okay,” he said, “what’s wrong?”
Tessa took a breath. “I’m being blackmailed.”
“What?” Teddy said incredulously.
“At least I think I am.”
“You think you are?”
“I received a letter.”
“With a blackmail demand?”
“No.”
Teddy blinked.
Tessa put up her hands. “I know, I know, I’m telling it badly. I’m upset.”
“What was in the letter?”
“A photo.”
Teddy nodded. “I see. A photo of what?”
Tessa stirred her coffee as if she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “I had a boyfriend at university.”
“I’m shocked. What university?”
“Oxford.”
“Go on. Who was the boyfriend?”
“Nigel Hightower the Third. He looks just like he sounds, the type of boy who’d fit right in at Ascot or the local racquet club.”
“A real Prince Charming.”
“On the surface.”
“Oh?”
“You know how you think you know someone and they turn out to be someone else?”
Teddy smiled. In his twenty years at the CIA, not to mention the years since leaving it, he had found that to be true more often than not. Teddy’s default mode was suspicious.
“Go on,” he said.
“Well, that’s how it was with Nigel. When I was with him, it all seemed so ideal. We were in college, we had no concerns, nothing more to deal with than classes. Only we weren’t in the same fields. I was studying acting, and he was getting a gentleman’s C. Anyway, it was idyllic, and he was so romantic. It never occurred to me he would do such a thing.”
“And what did he do?”
“He filmed me without my knowledge.”
“In bed?”
“Yes.”
“With him?”
She nodded.
“And showed it to people?”
“I don’t think he did. I think he just hung on to it.”
“You never knew about it?”
“I found out. It was one of the reasons we broke up.”
“You didn’t take the tape?”
“He said he destroyed it. I thought he was telling the truth—he was never malicious, just used poor judgment. I should have known better.”
“If he held on to the tape and never showed anyone, what happened?”
“I became famous, or at least I have a career in pictures. I think he couldn’t help bragging he’d once dated a movie star.”
“Oh?”
“I’m assuming he shot his mouth off, got drunk and bragged about the tape.”
“And that’s what the photo is?”
“It was a still from the video. At least that’s what the letter said. They said it was just a sample, they had the whole thing, and if I didn’t want anyone to see the tape, I’d do exactly as they say.”
“Which is?”
“They didn’t tell me yet. I’m to await further instructions.”
“What about the letter?”
“It came through the mail. It was typed. No return address.”
“Do you think it’s your ex-boyfriend who’s doing this?”
“Nigel? No, he wouldn’t. That’s not his style. He’d do something dumb, sure. Something weak and cowardly, like brag to impress someone. But blackmail? I don’t see it.”
“No one’s asked you for money,” Teddy pointed out.
Tessa frowned. “You mean, could this just be his way of coming back into my life?”
“It’s a thought. Is it possible?”
“It seems farfetched. I’m married, after all.”
Teddy smiled. “That’s often not a deal breaker.”
“I’m not ruling it out. I just don’t think it is.”
“Let me ask you this. Did you keep a copy of the tape?”
“No.”
“I’m thinking maybe he gave you the tape, saying it was the original, and you found out later he kept a copy.”
“No, I told you. He said he destroyed it.”
“And he never gave you a copy?”
“No. If there was a copy, I never knew it.”
Teddy frowned.
“What’s the big idea?” Tessa said.
“I’m just trying to figure out how someone could have gotten his hands on it if it wasn’t through Nigel.”
Tessa shook her head. “There’s no way. I swear, I never had a tape.”
Teddy frowned again.
Tessa looked at him with pleading eyes. “So, what can I do?”
Teddy considered. “Where’s the letter?”
“In my purse.”
“Let me have it.”
“You’re going to look at the photo?”
“I don’t need the photo. Just the letter.”
Tessa opened her purse and pulled out the letter. It was in a standard white business-sized envelope. She opened it, took out the photo, and put it back in her purse. She started to take the letter out of the envelope.
“No, the whole thing,” Teddy said. He slipped the letter into his jacket pocket. “Okay, it’s in my hands now. You’ve got a movie to make. Concentrate on that.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Let me worry about that. For the moment, no one’s asked you for anything. The minute they do, you come to me.”