14

Things were going well. Aside from one actor walking out onstage without his character’s signature top hat, there hadn’t been a single hiccup.

Whenever he could, Parker made sure to monitor Caroline, but he had to make sure that he did his job. He certainly didn’t want to be the reason the show went poorly.

For the last few minutes of the first act, he actually got pretty laid-back about monitoring her. He was helping one of the actors adjust their wireless microphone pack when he realized he had no idea where Caroline was. He felt his heart skip a beat, but Yuan’s next scene went off without a hitch, so he tried not to worry about it.

During intermission, Parker felt himself begin to relax. Everything had been going according to plan. Yuan was probably right—Caroline wouldn’t sabotage a production she was in.

The second act started, and Parker waited behind the stage-left curtain. The two actors who had been flubbing their lines during rehearsal were on stage, but apparently all that practicing had been worth it. They were both doing fine tonight.

Parker caught something out of place on one of the prop tables—a screwdriver. He picked it up. Did I leave this here? he wondered. No, I haven’t needed to use a screwdriver in weeks.

He looked around for Caroline, but she was nowhere to be found.

Someone probably needed it for something, he figured, sliding into his back pocket. He went back to watching the scene.

The lights went out, and Parker wheeled the tree offstage. Then he grabbed the rocking chair while two other crew members lifted a couch, and they set everything in place for the next scene.

Parker zipped off stage before the lights came up. Just as he did, he caught a quick glimpse of something very wrong.

A giant wood panel above the door wobbled slightly. It had never done that before. Parker knew exactly how it was built—that panel was screwed firmly to the doorframe. That was all it was screwed to, but two other large panels on either side kept it in place. If the middle panel fell, it would fall right onto the actors, and it was large enough to seriously injure someone.

Yuan was standing behind the closed door. She had to enter the scene and deliver a big monologue in just a few moments. Parker rushed over. Maybe he could run a quick fix on the door.

“What are you doing?” Yuan whispered.

“Hang on one second,” he whispered back, kneeling down to check the screws in the doorframe.

“What?”

Parker didn’t answer. He saw exactly what was wrong. The screws were gone—all of them. The second Yuan put any pressure on the door by opening it, the frame would shift and fall, and the giant panel would come collapsing down onto the stage. It was practically a miracle that it hadn’t fallen already.

He wouldn’t have time to put the screws back in. “Don’t open the door,” he whispered to Yuan.

“What?” she fired back in a whisper. “I have to open the door!”

“It’s going to—” He stopped himself. There was no time to explain. He saw the panel wobble again. Caroline was on stage, and Parker could see her stealing glances at the door. She was obviously behind this. She probably thought that the doorframe would be the only thing that would fall over, disrupting Yuan’s scene and throwing Yuan off her game. Caroline didn’t know anything about carpentry. She couldn’t have guessed that what she’d done would actually seriously injure Yuan.

Yuan’s cue was coming up. There was nothing else Parker could do without delaying the scene. Instead, he focused on the panel. He needed to stop it from falling. The doorframe would definitely fall. That was a given. It would be an embarrassing accident, but it wouldn’t put anyone in danger. On the other hand, if the panel fell, it could be a disaster.

Parker had never tried to manipulate something this big with his mind. When he’d built this set piece, he’d used his telekinesis to help, but he’d held the bottom with his arms. He wasn’t even sure he could hold it in place with only his power. He tried to imagine pushing both sides of the panel, pressing it and holding it up. He was concentrating so hard he was actually sweating.

Yuan opened the door. There was an audible gasp from the audience. Just as Parker expected, the doorframe fell forward along with the door itself, landing with a loud crack. The panel wobbled back and forth. Parker strained to hold it, trying to control the wobble.

He could practically feel the weight pressing into his shoulders, but it was working. The panel stayed put.

For a moment, everyone was silent.

Then Parker heard Yuan angrily say to one of the other characters, “Some handyman you are. You said you fixed that door last month.”

The audience laughed. Yuan continued the scene flawlessly while Parker took quick, sharp breaths, desperately working to keep the panel from falling.

He knew Yuan’s monologue was only about two minutes long, but it felt like two hours. When she was done, the lights went down, and the actors rushed offstage.

Parker released his mental grip on the panel and let out a deep breath.

BANG!

The audience gasped again at the sound of the massive piece of wood slamming face down onto the middle of the stage. There was just a second of dead silence before they started murmuring.

Across the stage from Parker, Caroline had both hands covering her mouth. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates. She looked horrified.

That, thought Parker, is definitely the face of someone who’s guilty of sabotage.