Teddy scrunched down in the front seat of the Subaru Outback and held a gun to Tessa’s head.
“See that?” he said. “Keep watching.”
The camera mounted in the back of the station wagon shot their POV through the windshield. Across the street, the front door of the bank opened and a man in a suit and tie came down the steps.
“That’s your buddy, isn’t it?” Teddy said. “Trey Verdon. Head teller, vying for assistant manager. I wonder how long it would take him to get it.”
Viveca came out of the bank and followed Trey Verdon down the street.
“The guy seems like a bit of a twit. Did you like him much?”
“Goddamn it,” Tessa said.
Teddy jabbed her with the gun. “And that is what you cannot do. Want him to live? It’s up to you.” He whipped out a cell phone. “I have only to make the call. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Do I have your total cooperation?”
Tessa looked at Teddy, her expression one of trepidation tinged with determination. The tension was palpable.
“And cut!” Peter Barrington yelled. “Camera one, good for picture?” The operator gave him the okay sign. “Camera two? Camera three? All right, we’re going again. Viveca, come in one step sooner or the distance between the two of you is problematic. Do you need a new start cue?”
Viveca smiled. “No, I got it.”
“Okay, good. Check makeup and continuity, let’s go in five.”
Teddy climbed out of the car.
The gofer Dylan spotted him and came over. “Mark. Hey, is Billy Barnett around?”
“Supposed to be, but I haven’t seen him. You need something?”
“No, just concerned. All this publicity, I want him to know we’re behind him.”
Teddy smiled. “It’s the movies, kid. If people aren’t talking about you, you’re doing something wrong.”
“Yeah, but murder?”
“Trust me, no one thinks he did it.”
Teddy headed for the coffee cart. He hadn’t had any sleep and was starting to fade. Luckily the shot Peter had chosen just called for him to be sitting in a car. A more athletic scene might have been iffy.
Teddy dumped milk in his coffee and took a big sip. Down the street he could see the production assistant Dylan. Was the kid’s interest in Billy Barnett normal curiosity, or was it something else?
Teddy no sooner had that thought than the actor playing the head teller Trey Verdon slid in next to him at the coffee urn.
“Hey, Mark. You know what’s up with Billy Barnett? I heard he was released, but now he’s not around?”
Teddy nodded. That was it. Billy Barnett was the main topic of conversation.
Dylan wandered in the direction of Peter’s trailer, hoping to catch the young director on his way back to the set and slip in a casual question about Billy Barnett.
Before he got there, the trailer door opened and Sandy came out.
That took Dylan aback. He hadn’t seen Sandy since the night he’d left him at the hospital. The young production assistant was on crutches with his leg in a full-length cast. He hobbled down the steps, and started for the set.
Sandy’s face lit up when he saw Dylan. “Hey, man, how are you? I wanted to say hi, but you were working when I got here. How’s it going?”
“Fine, fine,” Dylan said. “How’s it going with you?”
“For a guy with a broken leg, not bad. I got three more weeks in this cast, then they take it off and put on another that’s slimmer, trimmer, sportier. The way they tell it, the girls will be all over me.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Peter invited me. How do you like that? He knows I can’t work, but he thought I’d get a kick out of seeing the filming.”
“You were just talking to him?”
“He was just talking to me. He wanted to apologize for not having any time for me, what with Billy getting arrested and all.”
Dylan felt a pang of guilt about pumping Sandy for information, but he had no choice. “Is Billy in there with him?”
“No, but his father is. Peter’s father, Stone Barrington. He’s an attorney, just came out from New York to handle the situation. He’s the one who got Billy out of jail.”
None of this was what Dylan wanted. “But Billy’s not there?”
“Just Peter and his father. His dad was on the phone making dinner reservations at Musso and Frank. Pretty fancy, huh? Reservation for seven.”
“Seven o’clock? That’s pretty early when we’re shooting on location.”
“No, seven people. Stone flew out here with his buddy, who just happens to be, get this, the police commissioner of New York City!”
Dylan looked impressed. “Tell me more.”
Dylan slipped away from Sandy and whipped out his cell phone.
“Billy Barnett is nowhere to be found, but the lawyer who bailed him out is. He happens to be Peter Barrington’s father and is associated with the firm Woodman and Weld in New York. He flew out here on his private jet and brought with him as reinforcement no less than the New York City police commissioner, Dino Bacchetti. He is the father of Ben Bacchetti, the head of the studio. Everyone Barnett knows is a powerhouse. That accounts for how he got out of jail. But I still don’t know how he managed to show up on the set and disappear.”
“Then what good is any of that?” Sylvester snapped.
“Stone Barrington made a reservation for seven at Musso and Frank. I figure that’s Stone Barrington, Dino Bacchetti, their sons and daughters-in-law. The seventh would be Billy Barnett. The reservation’s for eight o’clock. Does that help you any?”
“We’ll see.”