Immortal in Death (In Death #3)(54)

“Look, pal, they’re not my — “

“Dallas!” Mavis squealed it, and leaped dangerously across the room in her fashionable stilts. She caught Eve in a tipsy bear hug that nearly felled them both. “You’re so late. Roarke had to go somewhere, and he said it was all right if Biff and Trina came by. They’ve been dying to meet you. Leonardo will fix you a drink. Oh, Summerset, the goodies are just mag. You’re so sweet.”

“I’m delighted you’re enjoying them.” He beamed at her. There was no other description for the bright, moony look that shot out of his stony face before he faded back into the hall.

“Come on, Dallas, join the party.”

“Mavis, I’ve really got a lot of work — ” But Eve was already being dragged into the parlor.

“Can I get you a drink, Dallas?” Leonardo offered her a sad, puppy dog smile. Eve crumbled.

“Sure. Fine. A glass of wine.”

“Absolutely extraordinary wine. I’m Biff.” The man with the map on his head offered a slim, delicate hand. “It’s an honor to meet Mavis’s champion, Lieutenant Dallas. You’re absolutely right, Leonardo,” he continued with his eyes intense behind the rosy lenses. “The bronze silk is perfect for her.”

“Biff is a fabric expert,” Mavis explained in a voice that continued to bubble and froth. “He’s worked with Leonardo for just ever. They’ve been plotting your trousseau.”

“My — “

“And this is Trina. She’s going to do your hair.”

“She is?” Eve felt the blood drain out of her head and into her feet. “Oh well, I don’t…” Even women with little vanity can panic when faced with a stylist boasting rainbow curls. “I don’t really think — “

“Gratis,” Trina announced in a tone that was the vocal equivalent of rusted iron. “When you clear Mavis, I’m giving you free hair consultations and styling for the rest of your life.” She grabbed a handful of Eve’s hair and squeezed. “Good texture. Good weight. Bad cut.”

“Here’s your wine, Dallas.”

“Thanks.” She needed it. “Listen, it’s nice to meet you, but I’ve got some work I have to get to.”

“Oh, but you can’t.” Mavis latched onto Eve’s arm like a leech. “Everyone’s here to start doing you.”

Now the blood flowed out of her toes. “Doing what to me?”

“We’re all set up upstairs, too. Leonardo’s work space, Trina’s, Biff’s. All the other worker bees will be buzzing around by tomorrow.”

“Bees?” Eve managed. “Buzzing.”

“For the show.” Cold sober, and less likely to assume welcome, Leonardo patted Mavis’s arm to try to restrain her enthusiasm. “Little dove, Dallas might not want the house full of people at this point. I mean…” He dodged around the investigation. “With the wedding so close.”

“But it’s the only way we can be together and finish the designs for the show.” The plea naked in her eyes, Mavis turned back to Eve. “You don’t mind, do you? We won’t be in the way. Leonardo just has so much to do. Some of the designs have to be altered now because… because Jerry Fitzgerald is going to be the headliner.”

“Different coloring,” Biff put in. “Different body type. From Pandora,” he finished, saying the name they had been avoiding.

“Yeah.” Mavis’s smile went bright and fixed. “So it’s a lot of extra work, and Roarke said it was all right. The house is so big and everything. You won’t even know they’re all here.”

People, Eve thought, scurrying in and out. Security nightmares. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. She would.

“I told you it would be all right,” Mavis said, planting a kiss on Leonardo’s chin. “And I promised Roarke I wouldn’t let you bury yourself tonight, Dallas. You’re going to sit back and be pampered. We’re getting pizza.”

“Oh goodie. Mavis — “

“Everything’s working out,” Mavis went on, almost desperately, her fingers tightening on Eve’s arm. “On Channel 75 they were talking about this new lead, and these other murders, a drug connection. I didn’t even know the other people who got whacked. I didn’t even know them, Dallas, so it’s going to come out that it was somebody else. And it’s all going to be over.”

“It’s going to take a little time yet, Mavis.” Eve stopped, felt her heart drop at the flickers of panic in Mavis’s eyes, worked up a smile. “Yeah, it’s all going to be over. Pizza, huh? I could use some.”

“Great. Mag. I’m going to find Summerset and tell him we’re ready for it. Take Dallas up and show her, okay?” She darted out.

“It really lifted her,” Leonardo said quietly. “That news report. She needed a lift. The Blue Squirrel let her go.”

“Let her go?”

“Bastards,” Trina muttered around a canape.

“Management decided it wasn’t in their best interest to have an accused murderer headlining. It shook her bad. I had the idea to take her mind off it this way. I’m sorry, I should have cleared it with you first.”