A Script for Danger (Nancy Drew Diaries #10)(19)

Lali heard her too and shook her head. “Nysa, that’s enough. I won’t let this set turn into a witch hunt. Everyone just needs to focus on work. I assure you, I’m taking this very seriously.”

I noticed that Sal’s expression was particularly stormy, and I figured that he had overheard Nysa’s accusation as well. He stormed off into the night. Although the cinema lights illuminated everything on and around the set, most of the lawn surrounding the inn was shrouded in darkness.

“All right, we’re going to do another take,” Nysa hollered.

“I’m going to follow Sal. I have to find out where he’s sneaking off to,” I whispered to Bess and George.

“Are you sure?” Bess asked worriedly. “Nancy, let us come with you!”

I appreciated her concern, but I knew that the more people, the more noise, and the more likely that Sal would sense something was off. “Thanks, but I have to do this on my own.”

I moved quickly until I was able to identify Sal’s silhouette. He’d avoided the well-lit path that led from the set back to base camp. Instead he walked straight into the woods. I fumbled forward, trying to follow the crunch of his footsteps in the leaves until, all of a sudden, the footsteps stopped.

I tiptoed forward cautiously, scanning the trees for movement, when . . .

“Gotcha!” Sal sprang out from behind a tree, and my heart leaped into my throat.

“Um, hey, Sal,” I said shakily, trying to gather my nerves.

Sal walked around me in a slow circle. “What are you doing out here?”

“I was . . . looking for the bathroom,” I lied.

Sal grunted in response. “I may not be Einstein, but I’m smart enough to know when I’m being followed,” he said. “Did Nysa put you up to this?”

“What are you talking about?”

Sal narrowed his eyes at me. “Trust me, young lady, you don’t want me as an enemy. I’d better not catch you snooping around me again.” He skulked away.

I felt my way out of the woods, trying to wrap my brain around Sal’s words. What did he mean by You don’t want me as an enemy? Was he some kind of hardened criminal?

Nevertheless, he now knew that I had been following him. If he was our culprit, he was going to be even more careful from now on.

When I arrived back on set, the camera was already rolling. Kendall sat firmly planted in her chair, watching the actors closely. She appeared to have recovered from her temper tantrum for the time being. As soon as Nysa screamed, “Cut,” I found George, who was watching from video village.

“Where’s Bess?” I asked. I wanted to tell them both about my unsettling encounter with Sal.

“She’s making new friends.” George pointed to a spot on the lawn, where Bess was huddled with Cora and her camera. “Bess somehow convinced Cora to show her the footage she’s shot so far, so she could look for clues.”

“That’s our Bess,” I said, perking up. Bess has a knack for buddying up to even the prickliest of characters. “How’d she do it?”

“She probably told Cora she could be vice president of the Brian Newsome Fan Club!” George snorted.

“Okay, this is the martini shot, guys!” Nysa called out.

“The what?” I asked.

“That means it’s the last shot of the day,” Raina said. I hadn’t noticed her before, but there she was, planted in front of the monitors.

“Why don’t they just call it the last shot of the day, then?” George asked. “Why make it more complicated? You movie people are nuts.”

Raina shrugged. She looked exhausted.

A few moments later an excited Bess motioned to us. We did our best to remain nonchalant as we dashed over to the dark patch of grass where Bess and Cora sat.

“Guys, look what Cora found!” Bess exclaimed.

Cora held up her camera screen. “Last night after wrap, I was testing out settings for shooting in low light. This might explain how Zo?’s necklace disappeared,” she said quietly.

She pressed play on a video clip that showed the outside of Zo?’s trailer. On the screen, someone in a black cap tiptoed up the stairs and into the trailer, then emerged a few moments later. I squinted at the mysterious person; he or she was clearly taking great care not to be seen.

But Cora paused the video on a single frame in which she had managed to catch the person’s face. It was only for a split second, but that was all we needed to identify her.

Kendall.





CHAPTER EIGHT





Old Frenemies


I DROVE TO THE SET early the next morning, hoping to have a chance to speak to Alex about our suspects. I told George and Bess to come later; I didn’t want Alex to feel overwhelmed. My attempts at cornering Kendall the night before had failed. She had darted back to her hotel as soon as the shoot wrapped.

I parked my car and headed to base camp. Alex wasn’t in the catering tent, so I decided to check his trailer. When I got to the trailer area, there was nobody around, but I noticed that Zo?’s door was ajar.

“Zo??” I called. No answer. I listened at the door; I could hear movement, but according to the call sheet, Zo? wasn’t due on set for another two hours.

I slowly pushed the door open all the way. There was someone inside, but it wasn’t Zo?.