The dressing room mirror reflected a tiny grease pencil smudge on the collar of the yellow silk blouse. It was a minor defect, easily overlooked by the studio lights, but it did not belong there.
Kari Ames stood by the wardrobe rack, her fingernail tapping the glass of her tablet with a steady, rhythmic click. She held a thick, square courier envelope made of heavy gray paper.
“This did not come through the mailroom,” Kari said, stepping closer. “A courier left it at the main gate with your name written in black marker.”
Vanna turned from the glass, her hands folding neatly in her lap as she looked at the package. “No return address?”
“None,” Kari said. “The gate guard said the driver did not wait for a signature, he just dropped it and drove off.”
Vanna took the envelope, sliding her finger under the thick glued seal. Inside was a single sheet of paper containing a printed list of John’s commercial building permits in Santa Monica, with three specific entries highlighted in bright yellow ink.
At three in the afternoon, the Santa Monica office smelled of freshly cut Douglas fir and damp concrete. John Donaldson stood by his drafting table, sliding a heavy brass padlock through the latch of his bottom desk drawer.
He turned when the bell above the door rang, his hand automatically brushing a layer of fine yellow sawdust off his jeans.
“You should be at the studio,” John said, his voice low and gravelly.
“The taping ended early,” Vanna said, stepping over a roll of insulation near the door. “I wanted to see how the coastal development bid was coming along.”
John turned the key in the padlock and slid it into his front pocket. “It is just standard county paperwork. A slight delay on the zoning clearance.”
Vanna touched her silver charm bracelet, her finger sliding over the small metal heart. “The county office does not usually send couriers to my dressing room, John. Someone is looking into your permits.”
“They did not send that,” John said, looking out the window at a utility truck backing into the gravel yard. “We have a few minor disputes on the coastal parcel, but nothing we cannot handle.”
