Genuine Lies

Brandon invariably used the kitchen or the terrace for meals. A day, a week? Two weeks? She pressed a hand to her churning stomach.
    There could be a simple explanation. Maybe Eve had decided to remove the pieces herself. Clinging to that, she went back into the living room to find Brandon and Paul seated, discussing plans for the big night.
    “We’re going to go early,” Brandon told her. “So we can meet some of the guys in the locker room.”
    “That’s great.” She forced a smile. “Listen, why don’t you get yourself a snack, and we’ll deal with your homework a little later?”
    “Okay.” He leapt up and shot Paul another grin. “See you.”
    “You’d better sit down,” Paul advised when they were alone. “You’re white as a sheet.”
    She only nodded. “There are some things missing from the house. I need to call Eve right away.”
    He was up, taking her arm. “What things?”
    “The clock, antique boxes. Things,” she snapped, afraid she would babble. “Valuable things. The tapes—” “What about them?”
    “They’re misfiled. Someone …” She forced herself to take a long, deep breath. “Someone’s been here.” “Show me the tapes.”
    She led the way into the office off the living room. “They’re mixed,” she told him as she opened the drawer. “I always file them alphabetically.”
    After nudging her into the chair, he looked for himself. “You’ve been busy,” he murmured, noting the names and dates. “Any chance you’ve been working late and jumbled them yourself?”
    “Almost none.” She caught his doubtful glance around the disordered room. “Listen, I know how it looks, but the single thing I’m obsessive about is keeping my interviews in precise order. It’s part of my work pattern.”
    He nodded, accepting. “Could Brandon have played with them?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    “I didn’t think so.” His voice was mild, but there was something flickering in his eyes, something dangerous, when he looked at her again. “All right, Julia, is there anything on these tapes you wouldn’t want someone to hear before publication?”
    She hesitated, then shrugged. “Yes.”
    His lips tightened before he closed the drawer. “Obviously you’re not going to expand on that. Are any of the tapes missing?”
    “They’re all there.” A sudden thought had more color washing out of her cheeks. Snatching the tape recorder out of her briefcase, she grabbed a tape at random. A moment later a thin, nasal voice entered the room.
    “My opinion of Eve Benedict? A tremendously talented actress and an enormous pain in the ass.”
    Julia let out a little sigh as she hit stop.
    “Alfred Kinsky,” she explained. “I interviewed himMonday afternoon. He directed Eve in three of her early films.”
    “I know who he is,” Paul said dryly.
    Nodding, she slipped the tape back in its plastic case, but held on to it. “I was afraid someone might have erased the tapes. I’ll still have to check them all, but …” She dragged a hand through her hair, loosening pins. “It wouldn’t make sense. I could always reinterview. I’m not thinking. I’m not thinking,” she said to herself, then put the tape down to press her fingers to her eyes. “Someone came in here to steal. I’ve got to call Eve. And the police.”
    Paul clamped a hand on her wrist as she reached for the phone. “I’ll call her. Relax. Go pour yourself a brandy.”
    She shook her head.
    Paul punched in the number for the main house. “Then pour me one—and leave the bottle out for Eve.”
    However much she might resent the order, it was something to do. Julia was replacing the stopper in the decanter when Paul strode into the living room.
    “She’s on her way. Have you checked your personal things?”
    “My jewelry. A few pieces I have from my mother.” She handed him the snifter. “It’s all there.”
    He swirled the brandy, watching her as he sipped. “It’s absurd for you to feel responsible.”
    She was pacing, couldn’t stop. “You don’t know how I feel.”
    “Julia, I can all but see the thoughts in your head. I’m responsible, she’s thinking. I should have prevented it.” He sipped again. “Don’t these lovely shoulders of yours get tired carrying the problems of the world around?”
    “Back off.”
    “Ah, I keep forgetting. Julia handles the wrath of the world alone.”
    She turned on her heel and marched into the kitchen. He heard her murmur to Brandon, then the slam of