“And I’m trying to maintain a professional relationship.” Which was difficult when Dee was so damn wistful and appealing. “And I am her friend, I just don’t want to have to be the bad guy. She did us a favor the first couple times she came here for interviews with the kids.”
“And you don’t want to tell her to get lost now that all that celebrity bullshit is getting in the way. Well, Dee has to live with it twenty-four seven.” Jessie added bluntly, “You’re too soft. By all means, call in the FBI.”
“I’m calling in Jessie Mercado. Why didn’t you know she was going to show up here today?”
“We don’t live in each other’s pockets. She didn’t mention it. When I phoned her, she told me she didn’t know herself until her car picked her up this morning. It was an impulse. She didn’t even notify her security detail.” Jessie’s lips tightened. “She was halfway to Oceanside before those agents thought to check on why she was late for rehearsal. I’d have fired them if I’d still been heading her security.”
“It was her fault.”
She shook her head. “They had a job to do. Cooperation with a client is nice, but you can never count on it. Though I’ll read her the riot act for being stupid. I taught her better than that.” She glanced soberly at Kendra. “But she really wasn’t being stupid. She’s very smart and canny about what’s going on around her. Sometimes she just has to let go and forget about being Delilah the Superstar. It keeps her sane and all the phoniness at bay. These visits here with the kids have been good for her. She’s only a kid, too, you know.” She made a face. “Not that her mother or all those sycophants around her have ever let her act like one. She’s been a meal ticket since her first Disney Channel show when they found out she could sing.”
“That’s terrible,” Kendra said. “I’m glad she had you for a friend during that time right after her record went platinum.”
“Maybe I wasn’t her friend.” Her lips twisted. “She wanted me to stay with her longer, offered me a fortune to do it. But much as I like her, I could only stand that bullshit pop-star life for so long. Then I set her up with another security head, Colin Parks, and moved on.”
“You were her friend,” Kendra said quietly. “You are her friend. I’ve seen you with her.”
They had come over the hill and suddenly could see the huge crowd of students below surrounding the enormous flat rock where Delilah Winter was sitting, holding her guitar, with one torn-jean-clad leg tucked beneath her. Dewy complexion, tousled red hair, gray-green eyes, and that eager smile as she gazed out at her audience and tried to reach them. She was full of life that lit her entire face with warmth.
Jessie’s lips softened as she looked down at her.
“You’re right, maybe I was her friend.” She started down the hill. “Though how that will turn out after today, we’ll have to see.”
* * *
Dee saw them the minute they got close to the Big Rock. She smiled as she waved enthusiastically at them, then turned to the people in the audience. “Hey guys, two of my old friends have just dropped in. Jessie Mercado is an awesome private investigator who’s usually busy saving not only Hollywood but the entire planet, and Kendra Michaels was once a student here just like you. You all know her story. Blind girl has miracle operation, regains sight, and becomes an FBI superstar.” She gave a mock yawn. “That script has been written a hundred times before, but I guess it’s a classic. But I thought my audience deserved more so I got Kendra to agree to come up here and show you what the shouting was really all about.” Her face was suddenly alive with mischief. “So give her a hand to encourage her to tell us how a kid who had been blind all her life could make those FBI wizards sit up and take notice.”
“What?” Jessie murmured in shock over the wild shouts and applause of Dee’s audience. Her gaze flew to Kendra’s face. “You didn’t do that, did you?”
“Of course I didn’t,” Kendra hissed. She couldn’t believe it, either. “I’m going to kill Dee. Whatever possessed her?”
“She’s always had a puckish sense of humor. And Dee’s so used to show business, she probably thought it was no big deal to put you on the spot in front of hundreds of people.” She suddenly chuckled. “Good Lord, your face!” Her smile was almost as mischievous as Dee’s as she started to applaud. “Maybe look on it as a challenge?”
“Not funny. Talk about tough audiences.”
“Then you’re on your own.”
“Why am I not surprised?” she said grimly. “It’s been that kind of day.” She started to make her way through the crowd toward Big Rock where Dee was sitting.
If anything, the young girl’s smile was even more impish than before as she met Kendra’s eyes. She made a sweeping gesture of welcome and handed her the microphone. “Have a great show, Kendra.”
Kendra gazed blankly down at the mike. What the hell was she supposed to do now?
Well, not freeze or stutter like an idiot.
Look on it as a challenge, Jessie had said.
She smiled and fell silent a moment, thinking.
Then she lifted her eyes to the audience and started to speak. “It wasn’t long ago that this school was in trouble. Serious trouble. It looked like it was going to close forever. But thanks to Delilah Winter, Congressman Dalborne, and a lot of other people, that’s changed. We have hope now.”
The crowd cheered.
“Do your stuff, Kendra!” It was a girl’s voice from the front row. “Do what Delilah said!”
Kendra glanced down to see a fragile-looking child with a broad grin on her face: Ariel Jones, a little blind girl she’d met during her previous case. “Do it!” Ariel was clapping her hands enthusiastically. “Come on! Show us!”
“What a troublemaker you are, Ariel.” Kendra shook her head. “You guys don’t really want me to do a bunch of lame parlor tricks, do you?”
More cheers, more applause. Okay, she’d give them what they wanted. As much as Kendra usually hated performing like a trained monkey, today was different. Of course these kids loved to see what was possible with the hand they’d been dealt.
She turned toward the politician. “Congressman Dalborne, thanks for coming out today.”
“My pleasure.” He stepped toward Kendra and waved to the crowd.
Kendra looked him up and down. “I always like politicians who patronize local businesses. You ate at the Breakfast Club Diner down on North Coast Highway this morning. I hope you enjoyed it.”
He frowned, puzzled. “You saw me there?”
“No. I haven’t been to the BCD in years.”
“Then how…?”
“You read the newspaper while you ate. Not on your phone or a computer, but a paper you probably got from a machine. And it wasn’t the San Diego Union. You went local again. The Coast News, probably.”
Dalborne turned to a bespectacled young aide standing a few yards away. “Curtis, did you tell her…?”
The aide shook his head no.
Kendra paced in front of the congressman’s group for a moment. “You wore braces as a child, didn’t you, sir? You were young. Younger than most kids when they wear braces.”