Chapter Three

Jake liked the easy way Seth handled all his questions and saw sensitivity in the man. It annoyed him when Brandt insisted Bethany do the guard dog work this time, but he understood why when told the full details of the case. He thought back to the hard copy file of information and evidence the movie security people FedEx’d to the agency.

Funny he thought, Seth Carbery doesn’t seem like the womanizer he was made out to be in the file.

Bethany finished her coffee as the three of them fell silent.

Seth broke the silence. “You must call me Seth. It would look strange to keep calling me Mister Carbery, especially since Bethany is supposed to be my personal trainer.”

Bethany managed a smile. “That’s true, Seth, okay,” she said, trying his name out.

Jake nodded in agreement. “True. Okay, Seth it is then. We need to go to see Sara Smythe now. Just one more thing—do you feel in danger?”

Seth raised his eyebrows. “I don’t actually. I never have. I thought all along the letters were some kind of practical joke.”

Jake nodded again. “They are very amateurish. Nevertheless, there are no traces of fingerprints or DNA. However, they do have furniture polish traces. Nothing used on the set or in The Village as far as we can ascertain from initial inquiries.”

Seth frowned. “How odd—that’s the extra smell then? You can smell the glue they used to attach the words they cut from magazines. It reminds me of art school projects. Then there’s this other smell—like lavender.” He smiled at them both.

Jake stored that information away in his excellent memory. “Ready, Bethany? Let’s get you in the trailer so you can rest. I’ll follow you around for the rest of the day, Seth.”

Seth sounded surprised, “Really? There’s never been any sign of anyone following up on the threats in the letters and they’ve been arriving for months. I’m going to the gym and then coming home to read the script for tomorrow. Study always helps me with nerves.”

Jake hesitated and then confirmed. “I have to stick with you now, Seth. Sorry. When you get back to your trailer from the gym, I can leave you. I’ll fit you up with panic buttons.”

Seth broke into a huge smile. “Panic buttons?”

Bethany and Jake stood up.

“Please come with us. I know you might find it silly, but now we have been hired for the job, we have to go ahead with it as best we can.”

Seth grinned. “Sure,” he said and stood up too.

They walked over to Sara’s administration trailer. Once inside, Seth sat down in the tiny reception area. A young woman receptionist worked at a laptop on a small desk. She was expecting them, having seen them earlier with Sara, and told them to go through into Sara’s office.

Bethany remained silent as Jake and Sara talked about the assignment. She watched the woman’s expression as she spoke about Seth and noticed the tone of Sara’s voice changed.

Something is going on there. Bethany decided to find out what.

Jake took the key for the trailer assigned to them from Sara and they left her office.