“Opal almost got hit with a section of lighting rigged up over the stage,” said Odelia.
“You mean like an accident?”
“That was no accident!” said Opal, pounding her desk with her fist. “Did you see anyone up there?”
“No, I didn’t,” Odelia had to admit.
“And where were you?” asked Opal, directing an accusatory glance at Gran.
“Little girls’ room,” said Gran, though I had a sneaking suspicion she’d gone in search of her boy toy instead, for I caught a glimpse of Hank just before we entered Opal’s office.
“You should be out there trying to catch this guy,” said Opal, pacing the room and looking very upset now. She placed a hand on her chest and sat down. “God, I suddenly don’t feel so good. I-I can’t breathe!”
“Here, let me get you some water,” said Odelia, and filled a paper cup at the water cooler located in the corner of the office.
“Oh, maybe I should just put the show on hiatus until this whole thing is resolved,” said Opal as she took a grateful sip. “How can I possibly go on like this?!”
“It could just be an accident,” said Odelia.
“That was no accident. They deliberately intended for that thing to crush me. A couple of inches to the right and that would have been my head. I missed my mark, you see. I always hit my mark but this time I missed it. If I’d hit it I’d be dead right now.” She checked a big clock on the wall. “I need to get back out there. Commercial break will be over soon.” She held Odelia’s gaze with a pleading look. “Please find out who’s behind this? Please, please, please?” And then she was gone, leaving Odelia and Gran reeling.
“Let’s try and find out what happened,” said Odelia.
And then they were gone, too.
“So now what?” said Harriet.
“Now we help Odelia and Gran figure out what happened,” I said.
“I know what happened,” spoke a voice from the door. It was Prunella.
“You do?” I said. “That’s great. Please tell us.”
“A banana,” said Prunella.
I frowned. “A banana?”
“I know bananas are not ordinarily associated with cats but for some reason I suddenly have this incredible craving for a banana. Don’t you?”
“Um… not exactly,” I said. “Though I can see where you’re coming from,” I hastened to add when her face clouded.
“I like bananas,” said Harriet, trying to humor Opal’s cat.
“Where can I find one?” asked Prunella.
“We’ll ask Odelia to get one for you,” I promised. “But she’s a little busy right now—trying to find out who just tried to kill your human.”
The small ginger cat stared at me. “Someone tried to kill my human?”
“Yeah, they tried to drop a big light on top of her head,” said Brutus.
“It’s a miracle they didn’t hit her,” Harriet added.
Prunella frowned. “Um… I hope you won’t think me rude, but who are you?”
“Here we go again,” said Brutus.
“My name is Max,” I said. “Remember? We met in your kitchen last night?”
“Of course,” said Prunella vaguely, though it was obvious she didn’t know us from Adam. “Well, if there’s nothing else I think I’ll take that nap now.” And off she went, presumably in search of a place to take her nap. And possibly a banana, too.
“I don’t like this cloning thing, Max,” said Dooley as we walked out of Opal’s office.
“No, I don’t think I like it very much either,” I said.
“She’s nuts,” was Brutus’s harsh diagnosis. “This cloning screwed up her brain.”
“You guys!” Harriet suddenly exclaimed. We all looked up in alarm. “I just thought of something!”
“What, what?” I asked.
“What if… we are clones, too?”
Chapter 14
“Kurtz is coming over tonight,” Opal announced on the drive back to the house. The talk show hostess had managed to finish her show for the day, but it had obviously taken a lot out of her as she now looked pretty exhausted. Odelia could only imagine how it would feel to be under attack, not knowing where the next hit would be coming from.
They’d had the heavy stage light checked for signs of sabotage but there had been no obvious indications it had been tampered with. Yes, it had somehow disentangled itself from the heavy steel bar holding it up but it was hard to say how this had happened. An oversight on the part of the people rigging it up? Or a faulty bolt that had come loose? Hard to know for sure.
The occupants of the limo were all uncharacteristically quiet as the fancy car ate up the miles, the driver expertly navigating LA’s famously congested highways as he took them back to the house, located in the city’s hills.
It was Opal’s safe haven. The home she returned to every night to recharge her batteries. Where she could be truly herself, unencumbered by the weight of fame and the expectations of a global audience and legions of adoring fans.
“I don’t know how long I can keep on doing this,” she said now, as she leaned back against the headrest, her eyes closed and a deep thought groove dividing her brows.
“You mean…” Odelia began.
“I don’t know if I can keep doing the show with this kind of thing hanging over me all the time.” She opened her eyes and fixed Odelia with surprisingly mellow brown eyes. “You have to find out who’s doing this to me, Odelia. And fast. If by the end of next week this hasn’t been resolved I’m going to tell my bosses at the network I’m done.”
“But you can’t quit,” said Gran, who, in spite of the fact that her affection for Opal had taken a hit, obviously wasn’t prepared to see her show go off the air just yet.
“I can and I will,” said Opal, with the same forcefulness and decisiveness that were a hallmark of her remarkable personality and which had served her well in her meteoric rise to the top of the media landscape. “If this person isn’t caught by next week I’m calling it quits. At least for the time being. I can’t work like this. I can’t sit there interviewing guests knowing any moment something might drop down on my head and that’ll be the end of me.” She paused and frowned. “You know, maybe that’s all this person wants: to make me give up my show.” She cut a glance to Gran. “So you think this could be related to that Jacqueline woman? The one claiming I ruined her business?”
“Could be,” Gran allowed. “Or it could be someone else who feels you didn’t treat them the way they should have been treated. Anyone who appeared on your show and now harbors a grudge.”
“Maybe you could make a list,” Odelia suggested. “A list of people who made threats or filed a complaint with the network against you over the years.”
“Like I told that Jacqueline person, take a number.”
“That many, huh?”
“Honey, you can’t do a show like mine and not make a couple of enemies in the process. There will always be people who don’t like what you have to say about them, and who’ll threaten you with legal action. But you’re probably right. I’ll make you a list.”
“There’s also some members of your staff I would like to interview,” said Odelia. “Like your chauffeur, your cook, your butler—in fact I’d like to talk to all of them.”
“I’ll arrange it,” Opal said, closing her eyes again.
She looked very tired, Odelia thought, and no wonder. As if the pressure of being the most sought-after show host wasn’t enough, this whole thing had come on top of that.
She just wished Chase could assist her. But him being a cop Opal had put her foot down. No police, not even Odelia’s boyfriend or uncle.
“What did you think of the show, by the way?” asked Opal, rubbing her face.
“Oh, it was great,” said Odelia. She had to admit Opal had handled the Miriam interview brilliantly. Miriam’s mother had indeed come on stage, and mother and daughter, after some initial awkwardness—had quickly been on a path to forgiveness by Opal’s gentle nudging, and by the end of the show had even hugged and declared that all was forgiven. And even after the show had ended, they’d sat together for a long time, talking things through and patching up their fraught relationship. It was like a miracle.