The backstage world formed a confusing maze. Everywhere she looked, Audra saw ropes, pulleys, people, and acres of sets—some for tonight’s show but others left from previous performances. Mark had sent her off to locate Jim Collins. At the rate she traversed the theatre, she’d be lucky to find her way back to the main stage. Though she’d attended many theatre productions in Indianapolis, she’d never considered everything that happened behind the scenes.
A yelled word carried indistinctly above the din of activity. She paused but couldn’t understand it.
She’d better concentrate and find the missing Mr. Collins.
It didn’t matter that she’d get lost in a heartbeat. She needed to locate him and get back to the million and one other things on her list that must be accomplished before the curtain rose in two hours. At this rate she’d be breathless and still not done.
“Audra.” The word was faint, but she stopped. As she looked around she couldn’t tell who wanted her attention. In fact, she’d left people behind and was surrounded by abandoned sets stacked against the walls.
A footstep echoed off the wood floor. A shiver trembled up her spine. Surely whoever had called her name wouldn’t sneak up on her. She couldn’t let her imagination get overactive.
She took a deep breath and a few steps forward. Something bumped followed by a clatter of something falling. A muffled curse came after, and Audra shuffled behind a curtain. She felt oddly protected in its shadows even though its thick layers prevented her from seeing anything.
Words breezed past her, the voice muffled. “You think you’ll save Audra?”
A thud reached her, followed by a moan. She burrowed deeper into the curtains, praying they hid her and the tips of her shoes. Her heart tripped to a rapid beat until she thought she’d faint.
“This isn’t a script from one of your movies. I’ll get her and I’ll learn what she knows about Rosemary.”
Father, help me.
Rosemary’s killer was on the train. There was no other reason someone would be here, now, mentioning Rosemary. Or did someone want to upset her? She hadn’t hidden her interviews. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what she wanted. Nor figure out how to rattle her.
Audra quivered and waited as the minutes slipped by. After what felt like an eternity, she eased the curtain to one side, half afraid of what she’d find on the other side. Only emptiness stood beyond the curtain. She shook free of the heavy brocade and eased through shadows down the hallway. Ahead a form lay on the floor. She hesitated a moment.
“Ohhhh.” The groan barely reached her.
She slipped forward, slowing again as she neared. In the dim light she could tell it was a man. Based on the dapper outfit, could it be Robert? He moaned again, and she hurried to his side.
“Robert?” She rolled him onto his back. His left eye looked swollen and would need ice if he didn’t want to sport a black eye the rest of the tour. She brushed a strand of hair from his eyes. “Robert, wake up. What happened?”
He opened his eyes and groaned again as they sagged shut.
Why hadn’t she hurried from her hiding place? How seriously injured was he? It looked like just his eye, but what did she know about things like this? “Come on, Robert. We’ve got to get you up.” She added a cajoling tone to her words. “You know Mark’s in the throes of a fit, wondering where his star emcee has gone.”
Robert’s eyelids cracked. He started to push up then sagged back down. “That smarts.”
“I imagine. Can you sit up or should I get someone?”
He groaned again then gingerly touched his cheek. “I need a minute.” He swallowed then seemed to pull reserves of strength from deep inside. “How long until the show starts?”
“About ninety minutes.”
He struggled to a sitting position and closed his eyes again. “I’ll need some aspirin and an ice pack. And a bunch of pancake makeup.”
“Maybe you should see a doctor.”
He started to shake his head then stopped abruptly. “No, the show has to go on.”
“Why were you back here?”
“Following you.”
Audra frowned. “Why would you do that? And that doesn’t explain your bruise or being knocked out.”
“I saw someone following you. Whoever it was didn’t look like they had honorable intentions.” He frowned as if holding something back then staggered to his feet, leaning from left to right like a palm tree swaying in the breeze. “We need to get back to the others.”
“Are you sure you should move?”
“I have to. We’ve got a show. I’m not going to let whoever did this keep me from my job.”
“Then lean on me, and we’ll get something for that eye.”
Robert leaned against Audra’s slight frame. The thought of getting near her had crossed his mind over the last few days, but he’d never imagined it happening like this. His head pounded, and he knew it would take a miracle for him to do his job. Coffee, ice, and aspirin would have to be sufficient. And somehow he had to find a quiet place to tell Audra what had happened. She had to understand she’d been in real danger.
He glanced at her, seeing a cloud shadow her delicate features. “How did you find me?”
“I heard something. After hiding like a ninny, I finally came out and saw you.”
“So much for being a knight in shining armor. I don’t remember them getting knocked around when trying to rescue the damsel.”
“You were trying to protect me?” Audra supported him as a wave of dizziness rolled over him.
“Yes. I saw someone following you with what looked like a gun. Guess I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought. He turned on me and bashed me in the face with a quick hook. I fell down on the job.” Robert straightened, bearing his weight, relieved to find the fog lifting from his mind.
She paled as she searched his face. “Thank you.” He could almost see the kaleidoscope of images that must play in her mind at his words. Pictures that had been impossibilities before her sister’s death. She touched his cheek, her fingers light and cool against his skin. “I’m glad you weren’t hurt more seriously.”
“That makes two of us.” He eased away from her. He needed some distance between them if he was going to stand on his own in an hour. Might as well get started now, no matter how good her soft side against his felt. He tried to shake the thought from his mind. He needed to focus, but his brain felt muddled, and her presence took what little was left and shook it to bits. He slowed his steps before they reached the main stage. “Audra, I’m not sure what’s going on, but be careful. Someone tried to sneak up on you tonight. I’ll stay close, but I’ll have to be onstage.”
She looked at the hive of activity, tugging her lower lip between her teeth in that gesture he’d come to recognize as concern. “I guess I’ll stay close to you, Victoria, and the other gals.”
“Be careful not to wander off on your own, or let Mark send you on an errand by yourself. I don’t like the fact that someone tried to threaten you.”
“I don’t either.” Her fear now held a tinge of annoyance, but that was okay. As long as she took him seriously.
The closer they walked to the main stage, the more the buzz of activity accelerated.
“Where have you kids been?” Mark stormed up to them. His brow knit and his torso thrust forward. “Now is not the time to sneak away. The show starts in seventy minutes.” He cocked his head to the side as if trying to see Robert better in the dim light. “What happened to you?”
Robert opened his mouth, but Audra spoke first. “He ran into someone who was following me. We need to get a steak or something on his eye before it swells shut.”
Mark shook his head. “Let’s get him to Dalia. Maybe she can work some makeup magic. But if your eye swells shut, you’re pulled.” He stomped off. “Of all the lousy timing...”
Robert forced his back to straighten as he followed Audra toward Dalia’s workspace. Curious gazes followed them. “This will be fun to explain.”
“Let’s focus on your eye and the show right now. Later we’ll figure out what happened and what we should say, if anything.”
Another sign his brain had been muddled by the punch. He should have thought of that himself. “Something to drink and some aspirin. That’ll help.”
Dalia swooped up to him. “My, my, my. You go looking for a fight?”
“It came hunting me.”
“Well, let’s see what I can do.” She um-ummed and shook her head. “It’s gonna take some magic to keep you from looking like you fell on the losing end of a bar brawl. Sit.”
Robert collapsed in the folding chair then accepted the glass of water and swallowed the aspirin Audra gave him. He leaned back and allowed Dalia to place a poultice of some sort on his face. It smelled foul but soothed deep into his sore eye.
“Buddy, what did you get into?”
Robert cracked an eye to find Winston standing over him. He licked dry lips, considering what he should say. Like Audra’d said, best to leave things vague. “No time to get into it. Run over the line-up with me again.”
“Whoever did this must have rattled more than your pretty mug.” Winston frowned. “Good thing there’s lots of space between you and most of the audience. You’ll be the bad boy of Hollywood if too many people see you with that shiner.”
“It can’t be too bad yet. Just tell me my face looks swell.”
“Sure.” Winston chuckled wryly, running a hand over his hobo hat.
The next twenty minutes passed in a blur while Winston filled his ear with the agenda. Dalia hovered over him, working on his eye. A soothing coolness spread from his eye to his cheek the longer the poultice stayed in place. Maybe he could hide the damage for one night. Show business didn’t stop for a black eye.
No, what really concerned him was the uncertainty of who had cold-cocked him. The shadows had made it hard to get more than a fleeting image of a large man sneaking up on Audra then rounding on him in an instant. He should have been prepared, hands up to defend. At the least he should have tackled the man first, but he’d hesitated.
Whoever had hit him had packed a wallop. Maybe mystery man had used the gun? He’d said something to Robert as Robert had faded into darkness. Something about Audra. The uncertainty of what had been said ate away at Robert. His sense that he needed to stick close to Audra, protect her from whoever didn’t like her investigation, solidified.
Someone didn’t appreciate Audra’s questions and drive for answers. Robert didn’t like where that reality left him. Someone on the train had something to hide about Rosemary’s murder. While his fellow travelers likely had secrets, he didn’t want to imagine which one had something to do with Rosemary’s death. Now he had no choice.
“Fifteen minutes to curtains.”
The activity outside Dalia’s door pushed to a more frenzied pace.
“Out of my way,” Quincy shouted as he raced by. His shirttail hung out and a layer of pancake makeup waited to be blended on his face.
Robert eased Dalia to the side. “Thanks. This will have to work. Time for me to finish getting ready for the show, and I know others need your help.”
Dalia held him by the shoulders a moment and looked up into his face. She nodded curtly after a moment. “It’ll do. You be careful, Mr. Robert. Find me in the morning and I’ll see what else that eye needs.”
Robert stood, relief coating him that his head didn’t spin. The aspirin must have taken effect, and now he’d manage to emcee the show. He walked to the men’s dressing room, found his clothes waiting on the rack, and pulled on the tuxedo after slipping out of his jacket and pants. It had seemed over the top in Hollywood, but tonight as he slipped on the tuxedo, it looked great. He straightened the bowtie in the mirror and then examined his makeup. In the bright light, all looked fine. If anyone looked too closely, they’d see a shiner developing, but whatever potion Dalia had applied had delayed the effects and would keep the audience from noticing.
Now to protect Audra while keeping the show moving.
If only he knew who on the tour waited in the shadows, poised to harm Audra.