Chapter 12
The parking lot in front of the theater had been cordoned off, and tables were scattered all around.
Lights were draped from pole to pole, lighting up the entire area without being a harsh spotlight.
Waiters in black pants and white shirts had already started passing trays.
Rarity and Archer made their way through the crowd.
“Maybe we’re the first ones here?” Rarity asked Archer as they paused at the left edge of the parking lot without finding anyone.
“You give up too easily.” He laughed and moved her so she could see the south side of the lot. There, around three tables, were their friends. “And here we go.”
“I’ve been waiting for you for hours. What happened?” Sam walked toward Rarity, handing her a glass. “You’re at least one round behind. Better get chugging.”
Rarity took the glass. “My chugging days are behind me. Today, it’s all about the sipping.”
“Smart girl,” Archer whispered in her ear. “But if you want, I can be the DW.”
She turned to him, confused. “What’s a DW?”
“Designated walker.” He grinned at her. “I promise to get you home safely.”
“Always the jokester.” Rarity sat at the table with Sam. “So what did we miss?”
“A woman whose film didn’t make the cut has been coming around to all the tables asking us to put in a protest. She said that it’s a patriarchal decision for the awards.” Sam pointed the woman out as she lobbied another table for others to help her protest.
“I thought these awards are based on audience voting. I turned my card in on Wednesday.” Rarity glanced at the list of finalists on a sheet that had been left on each table. “And several of my favorites are on here. Which film was she part of?”
Sam turned away from the rest of the group and lowered her voice. “That really bad one about a meat market. Not a singles club, a real meat market and how we’re killing the planet by eating meat.”
“The one where they rushed the back room, which was spotless, and then complained that someone tipped the place off because there should have been baby lambs in there or something?” Rarity had seen the movie with Archer.
“Yeah, I thought it was a comedy and just in the wrong category, but I guess she feels she’s an investigative reporter trying to blow the lid off the meat producers.
” Sam shrugged. “This next week, they’re doing a second screening of all the movies that got the most votes so they can do awards next Saturday.
There are a few here I’d see again, and there are a few I missed.
Are you and Archer going to tomorrow’s showings?
Can I play third wheel? Drew’s working.”
“Of course you can.” Rarity glanced at Archer. “Are we going tomorrow?”
“I’ve got hikes scheduled so I’m off the hook. You two can do whatever you want. The store’s closed, right?” Archer sipped the wine they’d passed out. “No wonder this is free. It’s really bad.”
“You just have to drink more and then it will taste fine.” Sam stood and grabbed several glasses off the waiter’s tray. She sat down after distributing the new glasses. “So it’s girls’ day at the movies?”
“Sounds like it.” Rarity saw Jane Carey standing by the side of the building. “I’ll be right back.”
She made her way over to Jane. “You look like you hate these things.”
“Guilty as charged. I’d rather be home in my pj’s, watching a movie.
But it’s all part of the gig. Besides, I need to find a new assistant job, so I’m here meeting a few of the up-and-coming guys and giving them my résumé.
It’s all about the connections, right?” Jane sipped her wine.
“And this is horrible. I guess it keeps people from getting drunk since you can’t drink much of it. ”
Rarity smiled, thinking about Sam’s completely opposite observation of the quality of the wine.
“I don’t drink a lot anyway. So, do you still want to pick up Mason’s movie?
We used it for an elementary-age-level discussion on story structure, but it’s ready for someone to pick up.
I don’t know who’s handling his affairs now. ”
“It’s me. I’m on salary with the estate until it all gets settled.
Mason’s attorney called to let me know I’d have a job for the next couple of months, at least. I’m sure he didn’t leave me anything in the will.
” She nodded to a man who’d just walked into the party.
“Sorry, I need to go introduce myself. It might take a few months for me to find a new placement.”
As Rarity went back to the table, she realized Jane hadn’t answered her question. She guessed she’d just keep the movie in an envelope for her at the bookstore to pick up at her leisure.
As they talked, Darby walked in with Marc Billings. They made their way over to the group of tables.
Rarity waved the couple over to their table. “You look amazing, as do you, Marc. I thought you were heading out of town for the next race.”
“I’m not needed for a couple of weeks, so I thought I’d hang around here. Darby says she’s been having some problems with an ex?” Marc had his arm protectively around Darby’s waist.
Rarity shook her head. “We don’t know if it’s an ex or someone we don’t even know about yet. Darby, you need to make sure you’re not alone.”
“I haven’t been alone since that Wednesday night,” Darby confirmed. “Marc called and asked if he could come over yesterday, so we’ve been talking.”
Rarity hoped that Darby hadn’t been alone with the ex-racer. She liked him, but until Drew found out who was doing this, strangers were a problem. “Isn’t that nice?”
Marc chuckled. “Which is mom-speak for just wait until I get you alone, kid. Rarity, I promise, I’ve been a complete gentleman, and other than a little romantic interest in this woman, I’m not a stalker.”
“Says every stalker, ever,” Rarity joked. “Just remember, Marc Billings, I have your address, your Social Security number, and your shoe size. If Darby goes missing, it’s on you.”
“Why would you have my shoe size?” Marc asked, then waved the question away. “I promise, I belong to the good guys’ cartel. Not a dishonest bone in my body.”
“Dude,” Sam called out, her words slurring. “You’re male, so all your bones are dishonest.”
“She might be drunk, but she’s not wrong.” Rarity smiled at Marc. “Anyway, I’m going to stop grilling you so you and Darby can have a nice evening. It was nice to see you again.”
They went over and joined the table where Sam and Drew were sitting. Archer put his arm around her. “What’s going on in your head?”
“I’m just hoping that the fox hasn’t snuck into the chicken coop dressed like Big Bird.”
Archer broke out into laughter. “Now that’s an image. I can even see Marc’s face in the middle of the yellow feathers. He’s a good guy, Rarity. I took him out on a hike a few days ago and he’s solid. At least that’s my opinion.”
“Well, Darby must feel that way as well, so there are two people I trust who trust him.” Rarity sat back down and sipped her wine. “Sam’s right about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Drinking more of this dulls your senses.” She smiled at him. “Want to dance?”
* * *
At home, Archer made them coffee that he brought to Rarity as he came to sit next to her on the couch. A movie played in the background and Killer snored on her lap. “Unless you want something else?”
“No, this is good. It should cut the alcohol from tonight. I hope they will increase the quality of their wine for the closing ceremony next week. Otherwise, I’m going to have to figure out a way to sneak in quality liquor so I don’t have a headache the next morning.
” She snuggled onto the couch. “What do you really think about Marc Billings?”
“He seems nice. He’s quite taken with Darby.” Archer frowned as he sat up and looked at her. “We already had this conversation. Is there something that’s bothering you about the man?”
Rarity shook her head. “No. And that worries me. This whole thing has been weird. Darby’s house gets broken into.
She gets a threatening message. Mason dies, after being handsy with Darby.
Then she gets flowers from a mystery sender.
Except Darby only met Mason the night he died.
She thought he was creepy. So why would someone focus on Darby if they were going to kill Mason? ”
“Or why would someone kill Mason if they’re really focused on Darby? That’s why you’re still worried about Marc. You can’t rule him out for doing all of this.” Archer rubbed his face. “This is too heavy of a conversation for late on Saturday night. Can I come over Monday and make waffles?”
“You don’t have to.” Rarity sat up as well. “We could go get brunch.”
“I like making waffles.” He rubbed his face again.
“You and Sam are going to the movies tomorrow. Hey, make sure you keep your eyes open to see if anyone freaks out when Mason’s name is mentioned.
I’ve got an early morning hike. I’ll call if I get in early so I can come play too.
I work, you play. I’m starting to sense a pattern here. ”
“Shut up,” she said as she tossed a pillow at him.
He kissed her and then stood. “Until Monday, then. Stop worrying about Darby. Drew still has a police car watching the house, and Katie was staying with her tonight. She’s probably already in bed for the night.”
After Archer left, Rarity tried to focus on the house flipping show that Killer liked to watch.
Instead, she went to get her laptop. She could multitask.
She’d looked up Talia and Mason, but not Marc Billings.
She’d thought he’d already been out of town, but seeing him tonight with Darby got her spider senses tingling.
She rolled her eyes at her own pun. “Okay, so making fun of spiders isn’t appropriate.”
Killer ignored her. The people in the show were driving through the countryside. Killer loved going for rides.
Marc Billings had a much more personable social media presence. More like him. Rarity would bet that he did his own posting, not a company or assistant.
He’d posted pictures from the signing last week.
One he’d taken from the stage after asking the audience to smile.
One photo that he must have asked Darby to take of him signing.
And the last one of Darby, moving his books.
The book was the star of the snap, but Darby was clearly in frame and grinning.
A comment hung under that: “Wow, she’s a knockout. ”
Marc had put a thumbs-up on all the comments.
Looking between the different social medias, Marc posted the same thing. He might have a service that did that. Darby had mentioned it to Rarity when she’d complained about having to repost on every social site the bookstore was on.
So she focused on the posts just before and just after Marc’s signing.
He’d made several posts inviting people to come to the signing.
Good author. Then he’d made more posts about the race, adding a short note that he’d be signing his book at the store and when.
Somehow, he’d been social and fun on all the posts, yet still had reminded people about the book signing. It wasn’t a skill everyone had.
So Marc, if he did his own marketing, was skilled in making himself look good.
She was about to give up when she found a comment on an older post. “Stop stalking my sister, loser.” Marc hadn’t liked the comment.
Maybe he hadn’t even seen it. The post was a few months old and the comment was from a couple of weeks ago.
She wrote down the commenter’s name, then went back up to the post.
The post was about a race. The photo showed several women as they fought for the last few feet of the race. The winner had her hands up in victory as she crossed just a few inches before the others.
The caption didn’t look stalkerish. Just a comment on how Tyra McAdams had won the women’s division.
The name sounded familiar, so Rarity wrote it down, then went to look up the race winners here in Sedona.
Tyra had won the women’s division in last weekend’s race too.
And according to her post, she was still here in Sedona and was hiking with a local guide tomorrow. Rarity thought she knew which one.
She set her alarm for six then headed off to bed. She needed to talk to Tyra McAdams and see how she knew Marc. And why her brother would ask Marc to stop stalking her.
Maybe Rarity had just solved one of the mysteries.
As she lay in bed, trying to wind down, she used her phone to look the brother up on Facebook. Rufus also raced bikes. He wasn’t as good as his sister or what Marc had been, but he placed okay. It looked like he had sponsors too. She zoomed in on the picture of him and gasped.
He was the guy who Rarity had thought was a young dad at the booth. The one she’d scared away by asking how old his kids or the kids in his life were. She stared at the photo. So why had Rufus been in her shop, and why had talking to him made him react like that?
Rarity’s first thought was that he had a guilty conscience. He didn’t want anyone to know he’d been in the bookstore’s booth. Had he been checking out Marc’s book? Trying to see how it sold? Or had he been checking out Rarity or one of her staff?
Like Darby?