Page 46 of Broken Empire
Murray cleared his throat. “I’m doing very well, thank you. I was just wondering what’s going on with Pyotr and this supposed change for today’s shoot.”
“Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry I didn’t call you about it. Today has been an absolute nightmare for me, and Pyotr isn’t having the greatest time either, so everything is up in the air. You know how things get around this time of the year with all the holiday parties,” she said. “Anyway, Pyotr couldn’t call you himself because he doesn’t want his voice heard or recorded by anyone due to privacy concerns. You know how he is.”
“I do. A little paranoid, isn’t he?”
Davina let out a tinkling laugh. “Try working for him. You wouldn’t believe some of the hoops I have to jump through,” she said. “Anyway, he’s been having some sort of encryption issue with his emails, so he can’t contact anyone online until his IT staff have sorted out the problem. He asked me to pass on his messages for the time being.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I called Robert Lind and let him know about the specification change, and he said he’d sort something out with one of your junior guys,” Davina said. “I do hope that’s all right with you.”
“It depends on the request,” Murray replied. “What is it?”
“He’s changed his mind about the hair. He originally wanted her to be blonde. I presume that’s done already?”
“Yes, we had one of our girls sort it out this morning.”
“I thought as much, but Pyotr is insisting that she go back to her original brunette color. I know it’s all very last minute, so Robert said he’d send up… Killian, is it? Sorry, I’m terrible with names,” Davina said with another light laugh. She was a surprisingly good actress under pressure, making everything sound casual and real. “Anyway, he said he’d send him up with a basic box dye. Not the most professional method, but it’ll do the job, and it’ll look perfectly fine on tape.”
As she spoke, I lifted the bag to show Murray. It contained a box of brown hair dye, a blow-dryer, a brush, and several clips.
“I see,” Murray said. “Well, that should be fine. Is that all?”
“Yes. Again, I’m so sorry about all the confusion. I should’ve calledyou, not Robert.”
“It’s all right.”
“Thank you, Murray. Always a pleasure speaking to you,” Davina said. “I suppose I’ll see you at the next auction?”
“Yes, of course. See you then.”
I ended the call and slipped my phone back in my pocket. Murray frowned and looked at the bag. “I suppose I could ask the makeup girl to do this, but she hasn’t arrived yet,” he mused, rubbing his chin. “Perhaps we should ask around with the rest of the production staff to see if any of them know how to dye hair.”
“I’ll do it. These box things are pretty easy to use,” I said with a nonchalant air. “I know because I used to date a girl who dyed her hair different colors every week, and she always made me help her.” I paused for a beat and scoffed. “Daughter of a billionaire and too cheap to go to a salon. Go figure.”
Murray’s forehead creased. “Are you sure you can do it?”
“Yeah. It should be done as soon as possible so we have time for the new color to set. If we wait for the makeup girl to get here, it might be too late.”
“That’s true.” Murray sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “All right, come through.”
He waved me into the house and down a dim hallway. We stopped at a closed door, and Murray slipped his hand into his pocket to fish out a key. He lifted it to the lock, but then he dropped his hand and turned to look at me. “Hold on,” he said in a low voice. “This girl… isn’t she a friend of yours? Or something along those lines?”
“It’s Shay Sinclair, right?” I said, schooling my face into a neutral expression.
“Yes, that’s right.”
I lifted one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “I’ve been pretending to date her for a few months now, but we aren’t close.”
Murray’s brows furrowed. “Why would you pretend to date her?”
“She sneaked into a Hellfire initiation ritual and saw the whole thing,” I said. “As the Bellingham chapter president, I had to ensure she wasn’t a threat, so I kept her close to make sure she never told anyone what she saw. But Robert decided it wasn’t enough. He decided that she needed to be dealt with once and for all. Shut her mouth permanently.”
It hadn’t even occurred to me until the words were coming out of my mouth thatthatwas why Robert had taken Shay, but it seemed obvious now. He saw her as a threat and decided to eliminate her… and it was entirely my fault. I was the one who told him about Shay sneaking into the Hellfire ritual, after all.
Murray’s face brightened. “Oh, that’s right. I remember Robert saying something about it when he organized her auction,” he said. He tapped a finger on his chin. “The girl who knew too much. Sounds like the name of a thriller movie, doesn’t it?”
I smiled thinly. “Maybe Pyotr should use that name for her black tape.”
