Call the Shots (Swim the Fly #3)(34)

Evelyn sighs, her shoulders deflating. “Okay, fine. You want to know where it came from? Would that make you feel better? All right, then. It was my dad’s. He left it here when he went to live with his mistress and their secret love child. Are you happy now, Sean? That you have an explanation?”

“Jeez. I’m sorry. I had no idea —”

“Forget it,” Evelyn says, stuffing the camera back in the paper bag. “What matters is we have a camera now, right? We might as well make something good out of something bad. Just”— she glances at the front door again —“don’t mention it to my family, okay? They don’t know that I’m lending this to you. And it’ll only bring up bad memories.”

“Yeah. For sure. Definitely.” I reach for the camcorder, knowing that the moment I accept it, my fate will be sealed. But what choice do I have?

Just as my fingertips brush the paper bag, Evelyn suddenly pulls it back like Lucy yanking away Charlie Brown’s football.

“There’s one condition, though,” she says, suddenly dead serious, all signs of the sad little abandoned-by-Daddy girl gone.

“I’m sorry?”

“You can use this camera. But . . .”

I sneak a quick sniff of my palm. “But what?”

“I get to be in the movie.”





ALL THE MUSCLES IN MY SHOULDERS and neck seize up. “Wait a second. I don’t think —”

“And not just any part, either,” she says. “I want to be the leading lady.”

“Okay, first of all, I haven’t even written the script yet, so I don’t even know —”

“Perfect. Just make sure you write a major role for a cute, spunky, clever girl.”

“Do you even know how to act, Evelyn?”

She shrugs. “How hard could it be? I’m really good at pretending.”

“Okay, look,” I say. “It’s vital that we do this as professionally as possible. We’re trying to win a film festival here. I don’t really think that —”

“Fine.” She hugs the brown-bagged camera. “Maybe I’ll just make my own movie with my camera.”

I try to rub some of the tension from my neck. I could so use this as an excuse to break things off with her. I mean, she is basically blackmailing me here. I can hear the words in my head. I don’t think things are going to work out with you and me, Evelyn. I don’t appreciate being coerced. Thank you, but no, thank you.

Except then where does that leave me? Much further away from getting my own room. And with no movie to shoot, what excuse will I have to spend some quality time with Leyna?

“Okay. Fine,” I say through clenched teeth. “I’ll . . . I’ll see what I can do.”

Evelyn smiles and hands over the precious camera. It feels like it weighs about a million pounds.

“Hey, is this your guy?” a deep manly voice calls from behind me.

I turn my head to see a seriously ripped dude — maybe nineteen or twenty — standing in the doorway in a wifebeater and gray-and-white khakis. Here is a person who could kick my ass six ways to Saturn and not even break a sweat.

Evelyn leaps up, causing me and the porch swing to sway. She bounds to the door and grabs the guy’s burly left arm.

“This is my big brother, Nick,” she says, beaming. “He’s a Navy SEAL.” She cups a hand around her mouth and stage-whispers, “He just got back from a secret mission in South America, but we’re not supposed to tell anyone.”

Oh.

Shit.

My stomach knots. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, enter Evelyn’s killing-machine brother.

Nick holds out his massive right hand. “You must be Sean,” he says, his voice all Clint Eastwoody.

I place the camera down, get to my feet, and reach out to take Nick’s massive meat hook.

“Hi,” I squeak.

I fully expect the bones in my fingers to be ground into powder by Nick’s handshake, but he’s surprisingly gentle with his grip. Not to mention his skin is oddly soft and smooth.

“You’re all we’ve been hearing about for the past week,” Nick says, letting go of my hand. “My sister’s totally smitten with you.” He smiles big. “And I can see why. You’re a handsome fella.” He smacks me lightly across the cheek. “And you’ve got a good energy. I can tell; I’ve got a sixth sense about these things.”

“Thanks,” I manage.

“Whatcha got there?” Nick gestures with his square chin toward the porch swing.

“That’s Sean’s new video camera,” Evelyn says, furtively winking at me. “He’s making a movie with his friends. And guess what? He just asked me to be his leading lady. How cool is that?”

Nick cocks a single eyebrow. “That so?”

Oh, crap. He knows she’s lying about the video camera. My throat closes up. “Yeah, well. I mean . . . We’re still writing the script and everything. . . . We haven’t exactly worked out all of the characters yet. . . .”

Evelyn’s jaw starts jumping. She glares at me, her eyes like dagger tips.

“I mean, yeah, though,” I say. “Definitely. Evelyn’s going to be in the film. For sure.”