Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss(57)
“Thank you.”
He smiled. “You already said that.”
“It’s just I’ve felt so alone in this. Like nobody truly thinks it’s a big deal.”
He held up his notebook. “So what about that kid? Aaron. Does he have a reason to sabotage you?”
I thought about it. “This is really sad that it’s come to this.”
“I know.”
“I can’t think of any reason he would. He really does like me. But maybe? I don’t know. What would be his motive?”
“I don’t know.” Donavan nodded once. “I’ll talk to him.”
“I guess everyone needs to be on the suspect list,” I said.
“Well, everyone but me.”
I let out a burst of laughter. “No, you are at the top of the list. Remember, you used to think I was a spoiled, entitled snob.”
“Used to?”
I scrunched my nose at him. “So mean.”
His eyes dropped to the cushion of space I’d put between us when Aaron had knocked. “Who did you think was at the door?” he asked.
“My dad.”
He wrote two more names in the notebook: Aaron and Donavan. Next to his own name he added, revenge for all the math Lacey makes him explain.
I smirked. “I’d want revenge for that, too. I don’t blame you.”
He shut the book. “I have to go. I have to work tonight.”
I looked down at my hands. “Sorry about that, by the way.”
“About what?”
“About showing up at your work and acting . . . I don’t know, however I acted.”
He smiled a little. “You were fine. Just a little demanding.”
I gave a half-hearted laugh. “That’s the quality I would’ve assigned to myself too.”
He stood and lingered for a moment.
I stood too. “Fine, you can go. But let me look at our list one more time. I’m going to hang around and try to talk to a few more people.”
“So demanding.”
I pushed his arm.
He flipped open the book, and I scanned over the names of the suspects we had added. “I’m going to try Phil and Duncan.”
“Who are they?”
“Some of Grant’s security guards. Maybe they’ve seen something.”
“Good idea.”
“Will I see you tomorrow?” I asked.
“Hopefully.” He lifted his hand in a wave and left my trailer.
I stared after him. He was still treating me exactly like a friend. And although I did like him as a friend, it killed me that he didn’t want more.
Dancing Graves
INT. LORD LUCAS’S LAB—NIGHT
SCARLETT overhears EVELIN talking to LORD LUCAS about how Benjamin told her about the cave full of zombies. There had been multiple deaths in the forests lately, and she felt she had to go to the other zombie hunters with the information. Scarlett steps through the window. Evelin screams.
LORD LUCAS
It’s me, darling. Your father.
Scarlett seems to shake off a fog upon seeing her father. She cries out and runs from the mansion.
Twenty-Seven
I walked outside. We were shooting on location the next day, and the set was a hive of activity. The crew was filing out of the studio, carrying equipment and packing it away in open trailers on the other side of the lot. I made my way to the end of the row, where Duncan and Phil stood guard.
“Uh-oh, here comes trouble,” Duncan said when I reached the barrier that led to Grant’s trailer.
“Hi!”
“You want me to radio Grant?”
“No. I wanted to talk to you guys.”
“Really?” Duncan said. “What can we do for you?”
“You two have a pretty good view of my trailer. Have you seen anyone, besides me, of course, go in there?”
“Who don’t we see go in your trailer? It’s like a revolving door.”
“I agree. Anyone who looks suspicious though? Like they shouldn’t be there?”
“Anyone on set would have made it past security up front, so no, it’s all cast or crew. And that tutor of yours.”
“Hmm. What about people going in there a lot when I’m not there?”
“We’re not sure when you’re in there or not.” He looked up as if thinking. “But I’d say your most frequent visitors are probably that tutor kid . . .”
Of course. He was in there all the time.
“The director’s son.”
“Aaron,” I filled in for him. And again, that didn’t surprise me; he was always stocking my fridge and snacks.
“And Faith.”
Faith might have had reason to dislike me because she’d been unsuccessful when she tried out for the movie, but it was also completely expected that she’d be in and out of my trailer. Besides, I just couldn’t picture her trying to sabotage me. I couldn’t picture any of the people I worked with doing that.
“What about Amanda?” Phil added. “I’ve seen her go in quite a bit.”
Of course Amanda had been in my trailer a lot. She was my best friend on set.
“Okay, thanks.” I backed away slowly. That hadn’t helped at all.