Thirty-One

If Nat didn’t kill Haley, who did? My first thought was Victory. Except Victory was dead and sure as heck didn’t kill himself. So who was left? Not Marina and not Betty. Yet someone else had to have driven that car.

I pulled bits and pieces from my investigation, trying to put them together like a puzzle. Haley’s final word being “rose.” Allie mentioning Haley had to return the car. Victory’s claim that Haley cheated on him with some old dude.

It began to fit together quite neatly, and the completed puzzle looked just like Montgomery Rose.

I’d thought Haley was identifying the window decal, but she could’ve been identifying her killer, especially if he was “some old dude” she’d been messing around with. Of course, you don’t normally call someone you’re smashing by their last name, but I could only imagine that one wouldn’t want to use their final breaths trying to repeat a four-syllable first name. Identifying him just as Rose would be easier. Montgomery’s alibi was that his car was stolen. But what if it wasn’t? Stolen cars weren’t returned. Borrowed cars were.

“You okay?”

Montgomery’s voice sliced through my thoughts. He and Sienna had been staring at me while I’d been in La La Land. “We can fake like you’re driving,” he said. “Just put your foot on the clutch and turn it on.” He smiled as he spoke. It took everything I had to smile back. “Everything will be fine, Day.”

Yes, it would be, as soon as I managed to get Sienna and myself out of there. I was tempted to scream bloody murder but knew it wouldn’t do much good. I hadn’t seen a security guard since we’d come in. The last thing I wanted was to let Montgomery know that I was on to him. And screaming that he was a murderer at the top of my lungs would do just that.

I didn’t want to alert him. Sienna, however, was a different story. “I have to pee,” I said. “What about you, Sienna?”

I figured we could pretend to hit the bathroom and keep walking until we found a guard or two or three. Like me, Sienna always had to pee. “I’m actually good,” she said.

Say what? “You sure?” She nodded. “Come with me anyway. You know us girls can’t go to the ladies’ room on our own.” I smiled for Montgomery’s benefit.

“Sure,” she said. “Let’s just finish this scene first. You can hold it until then, right?”

Just great. Luckily, I thought of another way to get us out of there. “Sure,” I said, then looked at Montgomery. “So are you just doing close-ups?”

“You have a better idea?”

“It might be nice to get a few wide shots. Show we’re actually on the Warner Bros. lot. Sienna and I can sit in the car and pretend like we’re talking while you shoot from like ten feet back.”

Then I could tell her you’re a double murderer, and we could haul serious butt.

“Great idea,” he said. I thought so too. A lifesaving one. “Let’s shoot that after the audition. For now, I’m going to shoot over your shoulder.” He got the camera ready. “Action.”

Sienna leaned into the car, making sure to angle her face so it was still in frame. “Thanks for helping me.”

“Of course,” I said. “You know I love helping you run lines. I was actually thinking about the last time I helped you.”

“This is a bad angle,” Montgomery said.

He got out from behind me. I was tempted to whisper, “He killed Haley,” but figured he might hear. He situated himself so he was standing next to the hood right in front of Sienna. “And action,” he said.

“You do remember the last time we ran lines, right?”

She thought for a moment. We’d been staking out Montgomery’s house because we were sure he was the driver who’d killed Haley. “Yeah, of course. We were—”

I cut her off. I wanted her to know where we were, not Montgomery. “We were right that day. We thought we weren’t, but I realize now we were.”

I stared her dead in the eye. She had to know what I was talking about. She had to. After an eternity, she finally spoke. “Okay.”

She remembered. Thank. You. Now we just needed to leave without alerting Montgomery. “Great. Can we pee now?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said. “When we finish filming.”

Fudge. So much for her remembering.

I glanced at Montgomery. He’d brought the camera down and was just staring at me. We made eye contact. He didn’t even blink.

He knew.

We smiled at each other then, both waiting for whatever came next. My eyes were still on him when I spoke. “Sienna.”

“Yes?”

“Run!!!” I screamed like my life depended on it. And it did. I shoved her out the way and flung the door open. It nailed Montgomery and he went down. Sienna had stumbled back but quickly regained her footing.

I jumped over him and grabbed Sienna, who was staring at Montgomery writhing on the ground. “What did you just do, Dayna?”

“We need to go!” I pulled her, but she was dead weight.

Montgomery moaned from the ground. “Day, what are you doing?”

Sienna bent down. “Are you okay?”

“He killed Haley!” I yelled. “We don’t care if he’s okay.”

I started off, expecting her to follow me. She stayed put. “Did you not hear me, Sienna?”

Montgomery pulled himself into a sitting position. Then he spoke, managing to sound surprised and hurt. “Why would I kill Haley?”

Sienna looked at him. “You didn’t. Nat did.”

I didn’t want to explain myself but didn’t have much choice. “His car’s a stick. She couldn’t have done it.”

“Okay, so someone else did it,” Sienna said. “Not Montgomery. His car was stolen. They didn’t even know each other.”

“Victory said she was cheating on him with some old dude.” I pointed to Montgomery. “Some old dude!”

He sputtered out a laugh and struggled to his knees so he was kneeling. “Now I know you’ve gone crazy. You’ve accused everyone and their mother of killing Haley. Guess it’s my turn.” Sienna placed her hand on his shoulder.

“I was wrong about them but I’m not wrong now,” I said. “He killed her and he killed Victory because Victory knew he killed her. Now he’s going to kill us.”

Sienna looked back and forth between us while I willed her to believe me. “How would he know Victory knew?”

“He probably heard us talking about it. I don’t know. Ask him!”

Montgomery began to laugh. It was the scariest thing I’d ever heard. When he spoke, his voice reeked of sarcasm. “Good lord, you’ve truly lost your mind, Dayna. What do you think happened? Me and this Haley chick were screwing? What, did I somehow convince her to rob famous people?”

It sounded good to me.

He rolled his eyes then but didn’t get up. “Let me guess: I acted as her silent partner. Told her where people lived, explained the best ways to get past gates, what to get. She probably just wanted silly things like shoes and clothes, but I probably showed her how to get big money. Things like Rolexes, cash, and wait, better yet, information.”

I flashed back to Toni’s manager telling us about the failed blackmail attempt. Joseline and Oscar Blue’s places probably housed bigger secrets than naughty pictures of a boyfriend wearing women’s panties. Montgomery was telling the truth, even though he was saying it in a way that made the whole thing seem ridiculous.

“But then, why would I kill her if she was giving me money and sex?”

He looked like he thought I would actually answer. I didn’t say a word, refusing to do him any favors. So he glanced at Sienna, who spoke. “He has a point, Day.”

Realizing she was a lost cause, I turned to him. “If I’m crazy, then prove I am. Let Sienna and me walk out of here. You can even call the police and have me arrested for assault. I’ll happily do my time and apologize. Just let us leave.”

He stared at me for a beat, then smiled that smile of his. “No problem,” he said. “Go.”

I wasn’t expecting that, but I was happy to take it. Afraid not to have him in my sights, I started to move away backward. “Come on, Sienna.”

She hesitated, then turned to follow me. She’d barely taken half a step when he reached out and pulled her legs out from under her. She hit the ground, her forehead making contact with the pavement.

“Oops,” Montgomery said.

Before I could move, he was on her back and had her long black hair wrapped around his right hand. He used her hair to lift her head a few inches from the ground. “One step closer and I’m banging her head against the concrete. Repeatedly.”

I immediately stopped. Sienna was out cold, and the only thing moving was the blood streaming from her forehead. “Don’t kill her! Please!”

“I didn’t want to hurt her. You got her into this.”

And I had. He was the fourth person I’d accused of killing Haley. The first three had all stated how wrong I was. I missed that now. Desperately. “Take me instead. Kill me. Just don’t touch her.”

“What makes you think I won’t kill you both?”

I screamed. Montgomery didn’t even react. He just watched me, hands still using Sienna’s hair as a weapon against her. No one showed up, so I kept on screaming. It lasted until I ran out of breath. When I gulped in air, he smiled. “If a soon-to-be dead girl screams on an empty studio lot, does anyone hear her?”

I hoped so, though I figured he was right. The only people we’d seen were the tour group. Dorothy had mentioned there were twenty minutes until the next group. We’d wasted fifteen of those twenty minutes. I wasn’t sure if we could make it through the last five.

Sienna moaned and I saw her eyes flick open. I tried not to react, but I must have. Still staring at me, Montgomery casually lifted her head and banged it against the pavement again.

I knew then that I couldn’t wait for the tour group. If I couldn’t get Sienna away from him, maybe I could get him away from Sienna. He was about fifteen feet away from me. I screamed again and took off running toward the nearest building. As I turned the corner, I heard footsteps. They sounded like he was moving in fast-forward. I knew he’d be on me within minutes.

I went right then cut left, managing to lose him. I cut left again and found myself in front of a small two-story building with about four doors. I tried them one by one. The third one was unlocked. I stepped inside, hoping for both safety and a phone.

A seven-foot grizzly bear greeted me.

I was in the prop house, where the studio kept all past, present, and future props for their projects. Not a good place to be when you were already scared out your mind. I needed a phone. A real one. Not a prop. I went searching. Luckily, there was just enough light from a window to see where I was going. I stumbled about and found the office. It was next to an impressive collection of knives. I tried to open the door but it was locked. Great.

I moved on to Plan B: find a weapon. I grabbed the biggest, scariest knife I could find. It was straight Rambo, the blades as long as the claws jutting out of Wolverine’s hands and twice as thick.

I touched the tip. Plastic. I pressed it into my arm. The blade disappeared into the handle, making it look like I’d stabbed myself. Much too scary to be real. He’d know it was fake. I put it back.

I heard a muffled scream. Sienna was awake. I knew I needed to get to her before Montgomery did. I grabbed a prop steak knife and ran out the door. I looked left and found him waiting for me.

He was about twenty feet away. Not much of a head start but better than nothing.

I had two options: the yellow brick road or the woods. I chose the latter, kicking off my heels and running for all it was worth. I immediately heard him behind me.

Warner Bros. had gone all-out with its outdoor woods set. Pine trees. Palm trees. Oak trees. It was all there and all real. I made noise every time I stepped on a stray stick or branch. I cursed myself for not going the other way, but I kept going and so did he. I could hear his labored breathing getting closer and closer with each step.

I finally reached a clearing. Safety was within my sight. That’s when he caught up with me. I glanced back in time to see him lunge. I jutted to the left and he hit the ground. He quickly scrambled up, but I was ready for him. “I should have run you over when I had the chance. You were just standing there in the middle of the street. Yapping away to Fab.”

“But you didn’t kill me then. Just like you won’t now.” I hoped I sounded way more confident than I actually was. Facing him, I raised the prop knife. “One step closer and I stab the crap out of you.”

He looked at it and smiled, way too happy to call my bluff. “What set did you get that fake crap from?” he asked.

So much for that plan. He advanced toward me. I was too scared to move. As soon as he got within arm’s distance, he punched me in the stomach. It was the worst pain I’d ever felt. And it pissed me off. I screamed and lunged at him with the knife, forgetting for a moment it was fake.

It hit him right in the chest, a few inches from where his heart would have been if he had one. I figured the plastic would disappear into the handle.

But it didn’t.

We both watched as blood—real blood—began to seep out. I don’t know who was more shocked. Him or me.

I quickly stepped away as his hands went to the knife—the real knife—sticking out his chest. We stared at each other, both wondering what now?

Someone yelled behind me. “That’s right, girl. Show him who’s boss.”

I turned to see a tram filled with tourists watching, more than one taking photos with cell phones. They thought we were part of the show.

“I just knew she was gonna fall like the white chick always does in the horror movies,” another said.

“He fell, though. Nice twist.”

I glanced at the two uniformed employees in the front of the tram. They both stared, shocked, knowing I wasn’t part of the tour show but not knowing what to do. I stumbled toward the tram and grabbed at a tourist filming me. I reached for his phone. He didn’t know what to do so he just handed it to me.

I touched the phone icon and dialed 911. They picked up immediately. “I’m at Warner Bros. There’s been an incident. Two people are injured, one of them a double murderer.”

I hung up and immediately fainted.

My last thought was that I had indeed survived. I was definitely getting that cupcake.