“I’d like to continue this conversation later,’’ he said.

“That sounds ominous.’’

“Not at all.’’

Well that had to be good, right?

“I’d like that,’’ I said.

“Me, too. Very much.’’

As I watched Carlos leave, my heart swelled with something like hope.

_____

I’d taken a seat in the food tent away from the lunch crowd to make some phone calls. I checked in with my boss at Himmarshee Park, to see how the place was surviving without me. Rhonda said, a little too quickly, that everything was going great.

I called my Aunt Jo to check on one of my two cousins named Bubba. This was the Bubba who couldn’t stay out of trouble. He’d gotten out of jail, only to land in the hospital with a broken arm. He flipped his all-terrain vehicle doing donuts on the football field at Glades High.

“You know what a redneck’s last words are, right, Mace?’’ my aunt asked on the phone. “ ‘Hey, y’all … watch this!’ ’’

The fact his mama was cracking jokes told me bad Bubba’s condition wasn’t critical.

By the time we finished chatting, the sun was coming out. The rain was barely a drizzle. I was about to leave the tent when I heard Barbara’s voice, a harsh whisper. She’d cornered Johnny Jaybird in the shadows, away from center stage where Paul still held court.

The assistant director’s head was cocked toward Barbara, who towered over him. Her hands were stuck on her hips, scolding-style. I stepped behind a towering stack of canned sodas to listen in.

“You have no right …’’

“I’m Toby’s manager, Jonathan,’’ she hissed. “I have every right.’’

“This is his personal life, Barbara. It’s none of your business.’’

“That’s the key word, ‘business.’ What you want for him is bad for his business and it’s bad for mine.’’

“That was yesterday’s Hollywood. Things are different today. I just want him to be honest. He should respect who he is.’’

“Oh, grow up! How many action heroes can you count who are out of the closet?’’ Barbara rounded her fist into a goose egg, and shoved it under his nose. “Zero.’’

Johnny Jaybird stumbled back, arms flapping to protect his wounded side. “Maybe Toby doesn’t want to be an action hero.’’

“Toby is too young to know what he wants. It’s my job to tell him. You’re probably just after him for sex anyway.’’

“God, Barbara! He’s a minor.’’ Johnny’s lip curled with disgust. “I’m ‘after him’ to make him stop living a lie. Besides, Toby’s your client, not your slave. There’s still a little thing called freedom, even in Hollywood.’’

She sneered. “Freedom? I don’t think so. Not freedom to be a mega-star as well as a faggot.’’

He absorbed the ugly slur like a slap.

Before he could respond, Barbara stuck her face inches from his. “Keep your faggot hands off him.’’ The words dripped venom. “If you don’t, there will be consequences. Maybe the next person who fires a loaded gun at you will be a better shot.’’

His eyes widened; his mouth dropped open. Johnny’s face showed the shock that surely mirrored my own.

I rapped on the door of the production trailer.

Inside, I could hear Barbara on the phone, but I couldn’t make out the words in her rapid-fire Bostonese. Maybe she was reporting the latest brouhaha on the film set to some Hollywood gossip columnist. I could just imagine the headline:

Cursed Project Director Pummeled by Big Apple Bully.

I figured I’d better intervene before she painted my mama as the Hicksville Hussy who started it all. I banged harder on the side of the trailer.

“Come!’’

As I entered, she looked up, covered the receiver with one hand, and pointed to a chair in the corner. “Sit!’’

What’s next, Roll Over?

Barbara made nice on the phone, saying her goodbyes. It was strange to hear a pleasant tone coming out of her mouth, just like a normal person.

“Mmm-hmm, okay … I’ll be home in time for your father’s funeral, just as soon as the authorities release his body.’’ She reached out and gave a framed photo on her desk a tender stroke. “Give my darling granddaughter a big hug and a kiss.’’

So Barbara had not only been Norman’s wife, she was a mother and a grandmother. For some reason, that surprised me. I hadn’t known Satan’s female twin was capable of human reproduction.

Hanging up, she glared at me. “So, it’s Marsha—the hillbilly offspring; daughter of the town slut. Have you come to apologize for your mother?’’

“Not exactly,’’ I said. “And my name is Mace.’’ I didn’t bother reminding her about the hills.

“What can I do for you, Mace?’’ Barbara made a show of looking at her watch.

No time for a preamble: Good. I sat in a chair in front of her desk and summarized what I’d overheard between her and the assistant director. “It sounded to me like you were threatening him.’’

Her eyes went round, a caricature of innocence. “Me? I don’t make threats, dear.’’

“I know what I heard.’’

“Well then, you must have misunderstood. That can happen when you become involved in things that are none of your business.’’

“Anyone should make it their business to try to stop a crime, or to see that the person who already committed one is caught and punished.’’

She sneered. “Aren’t you the good citizen!’’

“How much do you want to keep Johnny Jaybird away from Toby?’’ I asked. “Enough to plant a loaded gun when you knew they might rehearse that scene? Enough to shoot Johnny yourself ?’’

“Everyone knew Toby had the scene, and he’d definitely rehearse it,’’ she said. “The schedule on a movie set isn’t a secret. As for me ever shooting someone? That’s patently ridiculous. I don’t know one end of a gun from the other.’’

Her tone and her face signaled the line of questioning was closed. She tapped her fingers on the desk, then looked at her watch again. I decided to take a shot at my other suspicion about Barbara. “I hope I’m not keeping you from making your regular phone call.’’

The tapping ceased.

“You know, the call you make to the media to get out information about all the trouble the movie is in.’’

She waited a beat before answering. I monitored her face, but couldn’t detect anything beyond annoyance.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.’’

“My friend and I saw you sitting in your Jaguar in the parking lot, talking on the phone. You made a threat that what you revealed could never be traced back to you.’’

Her expression remained impassive.

“Are you hoping negative publicity will help shut down this project?’’ I asked.

“Now, why would I want that? You must have heard someone else talking to a reporter.’’

“We were looking right at you,’’ I said. “My friend will also say he’s certain it was you.’’

“Ah, friends. One of you lies, and the other swears to it.’’ She shrugged. “Or, maybe you’re the one feeding information to the gossip sheets. And now you’re running around spreading malicious lies about me to deflect the blame. You didn’t happen to have a recording device with you, did you? Some actual evidence that would help prove this unfounded allegation against me?’’

My silence must have given Barbara the answer she was after.

“Didn’t think so.’’ She smirked. “If you want to play in the big girls’ sandbox, Marsha, you should be sure to bring along some big girl toys.’’

“It’s Mace,’’ I said.

“I know.’’

We stared at each other across the desk. The superiority on her face jangled my last nerve. “What do you think that grandbaby of yours would think about how you treat people?’’ I asked cruelly. “Would you like to hear her use the kind of hurtful word that you slung at Johnny Jaybird?’’

Her eyes flicked to the photo on her desk. I saw the chink in her armor.