Murder A'la Mode. G. A. McKevett

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СКАЧАТЬ in. You’re going to be late for your audition.”

      A few minutes later, they were following a winding road along the foothills that bordered San Carmelita on the east. Below them and to the west, they could see the little town spread along the coastline, five times as long as it was wide. The ocean was mostly obscured by a haze of winter fog, created by the warm, inland air meeting the cooler sea breezes. As usual, the overcast would burn off by the afternoon, giving way to the famous Southern California golden sunshine.

      “Are you nervous?” Tammy asked as they left the city limits and headed east into a long, deep valley that ran perpendicular to the coast.

      “A little, but not much,” Savannah replied. She reached into her purse and pulled out a compact. Applying a third layer of powder to her nose, she said, “John and Ryan said this audition is more of a formality than anything. Apparently one of the five contestants dropped out at the last minute, and they’re supposed to start filming tonight. John recommended me so highly that they said they’d take me sight unseen.”

      “He and Ryan are friends of the producers, right?”

      “Yes. It’s a husband-and-wife team, Alexander and Tess Jarvis.”

      “I’ve heard of them,” Tammy said. “Aren’t they the head honchos of the Romance Network, that cable channel?”

      “They’re the ones. This show is going to play on their network, which isn’t like being on HBO or Showtime, but still….”

      “It’ll be fun.”

      “It will. Especially with John and Ryan part of the party. John is going to play the butler—or manservant, as they called them back in the olden days. The show has some sort of medieval theme. And Ryan will be the head coachman.”

      Tammy’s lower lip protruded slightly. “I wish I could play some part and hang out with you guys. All I get to do is stay at your house and feed the cats.”

      “Ah, don’t pout. You’ll have fun. Don’t forget; you have to give them their medicine, too.”

      “Gee, I can’t wait. Better check to make sure my tetanus shot is current.”

      Savannah reached over and gave her a sisterly pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. As soon as my foot’s firmly in the door, I’ll see if we can get you in, too.”

      “Really?”

      “Sure. Maybe you can be my scullery maid. You can play Cinderella, and I’ll be one of the ill-tempered stepsisters who’s got all the cool clothes.”

      “Gee, thanks,” Tammy said as she turned off the main highway and drove into a small canyon. The road ran beside a meandering, rock-strewn creek that was lined with ancient, gnarled oaks. Several miles from the ocean, there was no sign of morning haze, only brilliant sunlight that streamed through the oak leaves, dappling the ground beneath the trees in a thousand shades of brown and green. The breeze flowing through the car’s open windows smelled of dust, wild sage, and eucalyptus.

      “We should be just about there,” Savannah said, studying a piece of paper with the map that Tammy had downloaded for her on the Internet. “Right after the curve up there, we should see a road on our right. Ryan says the entrance gates are distinctive.”

      “A distinctive entrance? What’s that supposed to mean?”

      Savannah shrugged. “He wouldn’t elaborate, said we’ll know it when we see it. The place has a name: Blackmoor Castle. Sort of romantic, don’t you think?”

      “Castle?” Tammy thought for a moment. “Wait a second. I think I’ve seen pictures of this place. A few months ago, the Sunday paper had an article about it, and….”

      “And?”

      Shooting Savannah a quick, evasive look, she said, “Uh…it wasn’t a very long article. I don’t remember much about it.”

      “You’re such a lousy liar. Spill it.”

      Tammy cleared her throat. “I think they said something about some eccentric guy from Texas building a mansion that looked like an old castle. He was…you know…into that sort of thing.”

      “Medieval history?”

      Tammy grimaced. “Well, maybe more like…Dracula.”

      “Dracu—?” The word caught in Savannah’s throat because they had rounded the curve and to the right was, indeed, the distinctive entry to Blackmoor Castle. Two enormous marble columns stood on either side of the gravel road, and the pillars were topped with a pair of hideous, snarling gargoyle-like statues. The monster on the left held a dove in its talons and the bird looked as dead as the proverbial duck. His equally evil twin held what appeared to be a squirming cherub in his jagged teeth.

      “Yikes,” Tammy said.

      “Yeah, just charming.” Savannah glanced around…hoping. “Maybe this isn’t it. Maybe…”

      But then she saw the words carved into the marble of the pillar on the left: “Blackmoor Castle.”

      “Wishful thinking,” Tammy muttered.

      “Yeah, well, one could hope. Especially since one is going to have to hang out here for a couple of weeks. Eat, sleep…or try to.”

      “Gargoyles are supposed to scare away evil spirits.”

      Savannah shuddered as they drove past the columns, and she got a close-up look at the beast who was chowing down on the little fat angel. “Yeah, right. These things are so scary-tacky they’d frighten away anything—bad or good. Maybe the rest of the place isn’t so hideous. I mean, we’re supposed to be filming something romantic here, not Frankenstein Meets the Werewolf.”

      As they drove down the gravel road, the Volkswagen stirred up a cloud of dust in its wake, obscuring the grim greeters at the entrance. But new horrors quickly appeared in the form of seven statues that lined the right side of the road.

      At first, the sculptures simply looked like an assortment of oversized human figures wearing hooded robes. But on closer examination, the expressions on the faces of what turned out to be monks were hideously contorted.

      “Boy, that guy looks madder than a wet hen,” Savannah said of the first one.

      “And that one seems to be soused,” Tammy commented.

      The third one had his tongue lolling out and a dirty-old-man leer on his face.

      “Oh, I get it,” Savannah said. “They represent the seven deadly sins. So far we have Rage, Envy, and Lust.”

      “And that one’s got to be Gluttony.” Tammy pointed to the fourth figure, which had a plump face and a rotund tummy.

      His glazed, sated expression reminded Savannah of the look on Dirk’s face after she fed him a rack and a half of her famous barbecued ribs.

      “I don’t think I’ll be taking any moonlight strolls down this road,” Savannah said as they passed Jealousy, Greed, and Sloth. “Not even with Lance on my arm.”

      “Lance СКАЧАТЬ