Dalborne flashed his perfect smile. “Right again. Though I’d really rather forget those days.”
“You managed to recover. From that childhood trauma and the cold you had last week. There’s been a bug going around. I caught it myself.”
Dalborne nodded. “It’s a nasty one, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely.” Kendra stared at his feet. “You grew up wearing flip-flops, and I’d say you probably still wear them quite a bit when you’re off the clock. I don’t know where you call home, but this seems to indicate you live on or near the beach somewhere.”
Dalborne blinked, staring at her in disbelief. “You’re right about the shoes. And I live in a beach house in Del Mar.”
“Nice neighborhood.”
“Very.” His brows rose quizzically. “So are you going to tell us how you knew all this?”
“By doing something most of the kids here do better than anyone else. I just pay attention.”
“How did you know where I ate breakfast?”
She shrugged. “I smelled your breath. The Breakfast Club Diner serves up a mean plate of huevos rancheros, with a homemade sauce to die for.” She wrinkled her nose. “And that sauce hasn’t changed in twenty years, and it’s on your breath right now.”
The kids loved that.
After the laughter subsided, Kendra continued. “They’re also famous for their orange marmalade muffins. It’s a very distinctive color.”
Dalborne squinted at her. “I didn’t have a muffin.”
“No, but your assistant did.”
The assistant quickly looked down at his shirt and tie.
“Not on your clothes,” she said to the assistant. “There’s a distinctive orange splotch under your right thumbnail.” She turned back to Dalborne. “Your breath and his orange thumb can only mean you guys ate at the Breakfast Club Diner.”
“The newspaper?”
“Your right fingers have newspaper ink on them, meaning you’re left-handed, by the way.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Only one hand is stained, meaning you were probably eating with the other hand. If you were holding the newspaper with your right hand, you were holding your fork with your left. Your dominant hand.”
“How did you know which paper?”
“The San Diego Union doesn’t come off on the hands nearly as much as the Coast Group of neighborhood papers. It’s a pretty safe assumption you were reading the Coast.”
“The fact that I wore braces?”
“Aside from that perfect smile of yours?”
“Thank you.” He smiled again. “Aside from that.”
“You have a habit of breathing in through your teeth. A lot of kids who wore braces do that. And it’s a habit some people carry with them throughout their lives, even if they aren’t aware of it.”
“Trust me, I’m aware of it. Every time I watch replays of myself at debates. It’s that obvious?”
“Not to most people. But I bet a lot of these kids could hear it.”
“Interesting,” he said as he heard sounds of agreement from the audience. “I think I just found my next debate prep team. What else can they hear?”
“A very slight rattle in your chest, a postnasal drip that’s probably a residual effect from your cold. I’m sensitive to it, because I also had it. And they might also hear the sound of your very elegant loafers snapping up against your heel. It’s the same sound someone makes when they wear flip-flops. That says to me you’re probably used to wearing flip-flops more than any other type of shoe.”
Dalborne shook his head. “Incredible. Now I know why the FBI likes you so much.”
“What they like about me is that I just pay attention and can help them do what they do a little better.” Kendra whirled toward Dee. “And paying attention is how I know Delilah Winter didn’t show up at the recording studio night before last and left the crew and musicians waiting for her the entire session. Right, Dee?”
Dee’s eyes widened and her jaw went slack. After a shocked moment, she finally responded. “Yeah, I was on the beach working on writing a new song. Time got away from me. I was in another world.” She added quickly to the audience, “But trust me, I felt really guilty, and I paid overtime to each and every one of the crew. That was very unprofessional of me. So you guys do as I say and not as I do. Okay?” Then her face suddenly lit with a rueful smile. “And be sure and watch your back when you’re doing something bad around Kendra Michaels!”
The kids were clapping and laughing wildly at this sudden sign of naughtiness and vulnerability in the superstar they adored. As well as at the idea that she had been bested by one of their own.
A perfect time to end the performance, Kendra thought. She stepped forward and waved her hand at the audience. Then she bowed low as the applause washed over her. The next moment she jumped down off the rock and tried to escape through the crowd.
But she found Dee in front of her, hurling herself into her arms. “You were terrific! Just what I wanted. Just what they needed. I’m window dressing, but you’re the real thing.” She pushed back and grinned up at Kendra. “Wanna go on the road with me?”
“No, I don’t.” But she had to smile back at Dee. “And that was a dirty trick catching me off guard. What if I’d blown it?”
“You didn’t. I have an instinct about things like that. I knew you were a natural. And how could I resist doing it when I’ve wanted to know how you do all that stuff myself? I knew I wasn’t going to have much more time to find out, so I laid my trap.” She made a face. “But how in hell did you know about that session I missed the other night?”
Kendra smiled. “Jessie told me. She said your manager called her when they were searching for you.”
“That’s cheating.”
“A little. But you deserved it for putting me on the spot.” She paused. “Is anything wrong? You worried a lot of people that night. It’s not like you.”
Dee shrugged. “Yeah, like I told you, time got away. I was really into creating something great with that new song.” She nibbled at her lower lip. “And maybe I wasn’t into anything else that night. With music you can’t do it if you can’t feel it, you know?”
“Sure.” It was only half true. She could understand the artistic problems, but balancing them with the fame and emotional traumas could only be solved by Dee herself. It troubled Kendra that there didn’t seem to be anything she could do to help her. She said lightly, “But you must have been feeling it today. You gave those kids a fantastic show.”
“You helped. It was great fun, wasn’t it?” She gave Kendra another hug and stepped back. She said quietly, “Don’t worry, I’ll do a couple more songs and then I’ll say goodbye to these guys. I’ll be off your hands in an hour and on my way back to L.A. with Jessie. I’ll even promise that we’ll lead all those paparazzi creeps out front away from here. Jessie is terrific at stuff like that.”
“I know she is,” Kendra said hesitantly, her gaze searching Dee’s expression. The last thing she’d wanted to do was to hurt her. “It’s not that we don’t like you and appreciate everything you’ve done for us. You’re a very special person, Dee.”