Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(48)

“So what do you think of your first film shoot?” They halted as a few dozen extras were called over onto the ‘village’ set, which was sandwiched just a few feet from the ‘church’ set on one side and a battlefield scene on the other. Same big field. Lots of movie backdrop and prop magic.

“There are way more people on set than I expected. Times a hundred at least.”

Yeah, that had surprised him at first, too. “You get used to it. It’s a zoo, but you’ll find everyone has a purpose. It’s more chaos when there’s one person missing in the madness.”

Just then the director’s assistant came sprinting toward them at a mad dash, headset askew, expression overstressed as always. He grinned and began making introductions. “Lia, this is Peggy—”

Peggy gave Lia a quick and apologetic wave, cutting him off. “I’m so sorry to interrupt but we’re in a major time crunch. Thank God you’re here, Hudson. We need you to step in to consult on a scene.”

“What? But none of my actors are even filming today.” Mentally, he ran through the remaining scenes left to make sure.

“The writers made some modifications to this scene in the village. They added one more bout of insurgency to tie into a flashback season for one of the actors later. You don’t need to do any actual choreography. This isn’t a fight scene, but we need you to work with the actor on operating his rifle and defending himself. It’s a rough scene with just some struggling and fighting back so they want to keep things looking instinctive, not rehearsed.”

Hudson nodded. Made sense. “No problem. Just tell me what you guys need.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Peggy ran off to the director’s station, barking out orders into her headset.

As Hudson had discovered, the meek coffee-carrying assistant was a gross misnomer. Peggy ran things on set like a little drill sergeant.

He turned back to Lia. “I’m so sorry. Do you mind me working a bit today? It doesn’t sound like it should be too long, but you never know with these scenes.”

Lia grinned. “Are you kidding? This will be fun.” She nodded over to the cameras. “I think they’re calling you.”

“Hudson, my man. You’re a lifesaver as always.” Charles pulled down his director headset and crouched down to get on eye level with a kid actor who was outfitted exactly right for a civil war insurgent in Myanmar at the time.

Right down to the M16 rifle he was holding.

Instantly, Hudson felt the world shift.

A swift gasping sting pummeled him in his chest like a two-by-four. Every muscle in his body went rigid as his breathing dropped back and begin fading around the edges. Time began blurring in and out at a slow pulse. The tunnel vision and tunnel hearing set in like it always did. That’s what made him the best. He had no ‘flight’ instincts—it was fight or fight all the way. Adrenaline burned through his veins, hummed in a sweeping tide throughout his muscles as one heartbeat passed. Then another.

His hands clenched on empty air.

What the f*ck?

Where the hell was his rifle? The sound of enemy fire was getting closer. He schooled his breathing and took inventory of his surroundings.

But nothing made sense.

People who had no business out here in Afghanistan were standing around calling his name.

Why wouldn’t they shut up? He needed to listen for orders.

He needed to find his goddamn rifle!

And then his eyes locked on the kid.

Wide-eyed, scared. Dirt and tears streaking down his face.

He has a dead man’s switch, Reyes!

Hudson felt his feet rush him out of his hide site.

But for some reason, he didn’t feel like he was moving.

Take the shot!

That order. It didn’t come from his tactical com.

The kid was spinning around in a circle now. Shit, he couldn’t have been more than ten, eleven maybe. When he came to a dead halt, Hudson saw his eyes.

They were looking straight at him.

And absolutely overcome with dread. Fear.

His eyelids drifted closed.

Take. The. Shot.

Hudson felt bile tear up his esophagus as his finger closed around the trigger.

And then all chaos broke out.



*



“HUDSON!” LIA SHOT over to him as he began heaving into the trash can nearest him.

She heard a commotion and saw Fiona materialize out of nowhere, sprinting over barefoot with her scene wardrobe hiked up her legs. At least three people chasing after her with scripts, phones, and bottles of water.

“What happened to him?” Fiona skidded to a stop when another wave of nausea caused Hudson to double over and retch violently into the trash can.

“He must have had something bad at lunch,” lied Lia. They hadn’t eaten since this morning.

“Holy shit, did he eat something on set?”

Lia answered the worried voice without turning around, “No. Nothing on set.”

They all cringed as Hudson clutched his stomach and fell onto the ground, one hand holding onto the trash can like a lifeline.

Lia peeled off her t-shirt and wiped down Hudson’s face gently. “Fiona, can you take him to your first aid station? I’ll handle this scene for him.”

The director-looking guy with the baseball cap and the big headphones around his neck turned to her in surprise. “Do you work with Hudson’s company?”