Fourteen

The sky had darkened, and the wind whipped around. There was a storm brewing and I wanted to get back before the sky unleashed. Pressing the accelerator to the floor, I forced out every inch of get-up-and-go the golf cart possessed, and it wasn’t much. Hopefully, there was enough time for a quick search of Marie’s room before the rain delayed any filming and I was kicked out of the house.

I parked the golf cart then ran into the house, stepping into a scene of chaos. Men and women rushed from one end of Luna’s house to the other. Everyone was moving at top speed, either carrying something or adjusting a light here, a rug there. There were lights set up all around the living room and just past the spiral staircase, railing decorated with lighted garland.

“To the left. No, too far. Not enough.”

“Can you give us a hand?” A security guard stood at the top of the stairs, fighting with plastic sprigs of berries. “The Christmas party scene was moved from tomorrow to tonight.”

“Sure.” Dread filled me. The party scene was when Luna’s character died. If Paul and I were right, Luna was in danger. There wasn’t enough time to find out who killed Marie and was targeting Luna. We had to protect her. “Let me just send a quick message. Let my assistant know what I’m doing.”

After I was done with the decorating, I’d snoop around and find out more about tonight’s scene. With my top half over the banister, I added berries on the banister while the guard ensured I didn’t topple over and handed me the items. For whatever reason, the set people wanted the berries tied around the wooden plats of the railing not just on the top rail.

“How did you get roped into this?” I asked the security guard. I wasn’t the only one leaning over with their derriere almost pointed at the ceiling. There were also three extras being directed how to make the garland camera ready.

“What Luna—”

“Wants she gets.” I finished the statement for him. My arms ached. If I’d had known I’d be halfway up the stairs, leaning over ready to fall headfirst over the rail, I wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to offer my Christmas decorating skills.

Had Luna asked for the change in filming the scenes? I doubted Edward changed it without any input from her. She had a lot of power among the film crew and the community. Anger and something more sinister twisted inside me. The last woman I knew who commanded so much devotion was blackmailing people.

“There’s not much security needed. Not that it was ever needed but…” He flashed a grin. “It’s easy work and the pay’s great. I get to spend all day inside an air-conditioned house.”

“You only work the dayshift.”

“There’s only dayshift.”

I frowned. Why had Luna wanted security during the day and not at night? Nighttime seemed the more appropriate time for security. There weren’t as many people wandering around, and it was easier to commit mayhem and crimes at night than during the day. Was that why? Was Luna responsible for the antics happening at night? The fire. The cat escaping.

Marie’s accident. Dizziness swept through me. I grabbed the railing, pushing myself up. Having all the blood rushing to my head wasn’t a good thing. I needed to think properly. There was something important I was forgetting. Vernon. His job.

“Are all the security personnel taking a leave of absence from their jobs to work on the movie. This job can’t last for long. What is it? Two weeks?”

“A month,” the guy said. “A week before the crew arrived and then a week after. My family owns a farm and the money I’m making here will help tide us over while my wife is on maternity leave.”

“And the others?” I asked.

The friendliness slipped from his face. His brows and mouth drew down. I was pushing it.

“I’m nosy.” I pushed out the first excuse, and very much a truth. “I like knowing what I’m getting myself into and this has turned into a lot more than making crafts.”

The man’s face softened. “I guess this is overwhelming. I can promise you, Carol Lake is usually quiet. It’s why Ms. Carmichael moved here.”

“Why doesn’t anyone call her Mrs. O’Neal?”

“Because she’s her own woman and has never taken the last name of a man.” The guard said almost like he was reciting something he heard over and over.

With as quickly as she married and divorced, there wasn’t much time for a name change. I never officially changed my name from Winters to my deceased ex-husband’s name. Of course, we’d only been married a few weeks before I knew I made a terrible mistake. The best thing about the marriage was gaining a stepdaughter.

“At least she still gets along with one of her exes. Nice of her to hire Vernon as a guard. Kind of an unusual part-time job for an attorney.”

“How do you know that?”

“People talk,” I said, hating myself a little for the lie.

“Don’t let Ms. Carmichael hear you. One thing she doesn’t abide by is gossip about her past.”

There was a screech from down the hall. An outraged Ebenezer. “I should take care of that. That’s my pet.” I rushed off.

There were three doors on each side on the right-hand side of the hallway and just as many to the left. The house was like a mini mansion. A mansion in rural Indiana.

I stood in the hallway, listening for the sounds of my angry pet. He was likely contained in a room while he wasn’t needed and no longer pleased with his accommodations. There was a tap against the bottom of a door on the right-hand side of the hallway. Ebenezer. Squatting down, I opened the door and snagged the little guy before he raced out and created havoc.

A breeze drifted across my skin. I stepped inside. It was a nice sized bedroom with a twin-sized bed, dresser, and a desk. The curtains behind the desk rustled and a small slip of paper danced across the top and fell to the floor. Other papers littered the floor. Christmas lights were hung on the window and a four-foot Christmas tree tucked in the corner was knocked over. Small stuffed beings were on the floor, some under the branches of the tree. In the corner was Ebenezer’s carrier, the top unzipped enough for the critter to squeeze through. In the distance, there were lines of white coming from the sky. The rain would soak everything. Including me and Ebenezer if we didn’t leave soon.

First, there was cleaning up the mess he made. I turned Ebenezer around, so we were face-to-face and fixed a stern-mom gaze on him. “What did you do?”

He wiggled his nose at me. Tucking him against my side in a football hold, I stepped into the room and shut the door, surveying the mess caused by the open window and Ebenezer.

“Stay out of trouble while I clean this mess.” I placed him on the ground and started cleaning. I hoped whatever scene was being filmed in the bedroom was complete because the place was a disaster. The comforter was shoved onto one corner of the bed, and the pillows had been slung onto the floor.

I shut the window before anymore of the papers fell onto the floor and gathered the ones near the desk, placing them back on top in a neat pile. There was a crinkling sound from the corner of the room, near a mini fridge. Ebenezer was gleefully munching away on a piece of paper. Ugh. Not even one minute on the floor and more destruction.

I pulled the small slip of paper from his mouth. The word “Will” was now in my hand. “What did you eat?” I waved the tiny piece of paper at him.

Or at least chewed to bits as shredded paper was all around the room. It looked like it had snowed in the room and it wasn’t like that was meant as part of the scene. This wasn’t the type of movie where snowing indoors was possible.

“You sure were busy.” At least it was only paper. I could reprint everything for them. “You’re lucky if you’re not fired from your first acting job.”

Ebenezer whistled and plopped over, glaring at me with his dark eyes. A guinea pig temper tantrum.

“Paper isn’t on the food pyramid.” I stood, rescuing the other papers from my pet’s teeth. At least Ebenezer left some of them alone.

Quickly, I flipped through the other documents. Half of them were related to movie-victim Luna and the other to real Luna. I sorted the papers into two piles, movie and personal, and stopped halfway through. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea for me to do this. These were Luna’s personal papers. Why were they in a spare bedroom? My gaze caught a name on one of the documents. It was the employment contract between Marie, Second Chance Private Investigations, and Luna. We were right, Luna hadn’t hire Marie as a personal assistance. Was this Marie’s room? Why the Christmas décor?

I flipped my gaze to the window. The open window. Dread crawled across me. Had someone snuck out the window? What had they been looking for? Had they heard me and fled?

Carefully, I tugged out the slip I placed in my pocket and smoothed it out. Will I. I smoothed out the jagged edges. By Lu. Was this the coversheet for Luna’s manuscript? Had Marie accidentally left it behind? Had the person who broke into Ike’s SUV been searching for it?

The rest of it had to be around here somewhere. There was no way Ebenezer ate a whole manuscript. I walked over to Ebenezer and placed him inside his carrier. “Can’t have you eating anything else.”

I knelt on the floor and looked around for more pages. None. I hadn’t missed anything. But where was the sheet that the torn and nibbled scrap came from? Or did Marie only have the cover sheet in her room?

Who had stolen the rest of the document? I approached the window and peered out. Right outside the window was a small roof, a sliver of patch over a portion of the porch, I stared at the dry ground below. Wide enough for someone to stand on to get into or out of the room. The drop to the ground was about twelve foot. Survivable. But with all the cast and crew dashing around, decorating the outside for tonight’s filming, no one could sneak out.

Of course, with everyone decorating, someone could use it as an excuse for why they were climbing or jumping off the roof. I studied all the people on the ground. I recognized Ike, Chef Olivia, and Vernon. Ike and the chef were in an intense conversation, both gestured wildly at a delivery truck parked on the backyard near the kitchen door. Their loud voices carried up to me. The sky had turned an even more ominous shade of gray.

“Ms. Carmichael will lose her mind. Her garden is being destroyed.” Ike pointed at the boxy truck. A few feet away, the sheriff’s car was parked in the shade of a tree.

“He had to park somewhere.” Olivia planted her hands on her hips. “We have to be close to the house, the rain is coming.”

Vernon stood nearby, peering into the truck and ignoring the brewing battle in front of him. Either he knew the enraged man and woman wouldn’t come to blows or he didn’t care. He was more interested in what the people in the truck were delivering.

Olivia continued her rant. “You’re responsible for this. I had no choice but ordering from a local company.”

“I didn’t move the scene up. Edward did.”

“That’s not what my assistant told me. You handed him the changes.” Olivia crossed her arms. “I believe him over you.”

“I thought Ms. Carmichael didn’t eat outside food.”

“She’s not. It’s the props for the cast and crew during the scene. Anything left they can take. She won’t touch what I haven’t made.”

Vernon climbed up the ramp and inspected the trays. A man in a green chef’s coat headed down the ramp.

“The food is fine.” Ike said, voice filled with exasperation either for Olivia or the security guard who seemed more interested in the food delivery than in guarding the premises. “Your assignment is stopping unauthorized vehicles from entering. Like this truck. Not inspecting them once arrived.”

“Just following orders,” Vernon said. A horn blared and a siren blipped on and off as Vernon started down the ramp. He lost his balance and knocked into the guy pushing the cart.

The cart slipped from his grasp and rolled down the ramp, hitting the lip at the bottom and tipping over. The metal cart clanged against the small walking path and food scattered everywhere.

Olivia screamed, an anguished sound, and fell to her knees. Rain splattered the ground and she remained kneeling.

“Sorry about that.” Vernon righted the cart and picked up some items and placed them on the cart. The poor guy from the delivery service gaped at the mess before him.

“Those were for tonight,” Olivia raged at the darkened sky, appearing like she was avoiding looking at Vernon so she didn’t harm the man. “There’s not enough time to replace them. Where will I find more appetizers for tonight’s scene? I only have three hours.”

I felt for the chef. Why the last-minute change when it put the whole production into pandemonium? The original scene for today was the reveal scene, and it was in a building. Unless the shooting was rearranged because part of that scene was outside, and the storm was worsening.

“I’ll fix this,” Vernon said. “I can get chips and dips from the grocery store.”

“Chips and dip. Chips and dip.” Olivia sprang to her feet, hands fisted as she stalked toward him.

Ike jumped in front, blocking the woman from throttling the man.

I backed away from the window and continued my search. In the distance, a bolt of lightning arced from the sky. I found it unusual there wasn’t a dresser in the room. Though, there was the room in the script where the dresser was in the closet and hiding a laundry chute. I opened the doors and on the right-hand side was Marie’s hanging items and the left was her dresser.

A twinkle of light on the floor caught my attention. I squatted down and froze, hand reaching for the object hidden half behind the dresser. It was a stainless steel cup. Reaching over, I tugged one of the dresser drawers open and pulled out an article of clothing. I used the t-shirt to ease out the cup and turned it over, revealing the design. It was Marie’s cup.

My hand shook. How did it get here?

Thunder rumbled and Ebenezer let out a shriek. I turned toward him, and the bedroom door opened. In a moment of panic, I flattened myself to the floor and scurried under the bed, the cup still in my hand. Two sneakered feet tiptoed into the room then eased the door close. Ebenezer squealed.

“Shut up,” a woman’s voice harshly whispered.

A sharp whistle filled the room. Ebenezer decided to up the noise factor.

“You know I can free you too,” once again the voice was harsh.

I fisted my hands.

The papers on the desk rustled. I took a risk and wiggled forward, stretching out enough to peek out. The woman leaning over the desk and pawing through the papers had long blonde hair. A page fluttered to the floor and landed on the carpet near the bed. I scuttled backward, holding my breath. Fingers grazed the carpet and picked it up. A sharp gasp filled the room followed by a crumbling sound.

Shirts and jeans were thrown onto the floor followed by socks and shorts. Whoever was rifling through Marie’s belongings was frantic. Those items belonged to Marie. Paul’s cousin. Anger churned through me. I no longer cared if I was caught. It had to stop.

I crawled from underneath with the t-shirt-wrapped cup still in my hand. I pushed myself to my feet, leaving the bundle on the ground, and prepared to knock the woman down. I’d use any means necessary to stop her from destroying any of Marie’s items. “How dare you!”

The woman gasped and spun around, her hands clutching a slim binder. Katrina.

“How did you—I didn’t hear—” Her gaze flew to the door then returned to me.

“Put that down.” I pointed at the binder. “Carefully.” I added, fearing she’d toss it at my head.

Lightning flashed along the sky, followed closely by a clap of thunder. Katrina dropped the binder to the ground. Using my foot, I brought it toward me, keeping an eye on Katrina in case she decided it was a good time for a quick attack and escape.

“Why are you searching Marie’s room?” I asked.

The woman’s eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms, acting the aggrieved party. “Why are you in here? You don’t belong in this house.”

“And you do?” I snapped. Whenever I was feeling I was being backed against a proverbial wall, I either was angry or stuttering nervous. Right now, I rode on the anger rolling through me.

“I’m Luna’s assistant. I live here. Just like her other assistant did. This will be my room.” There was a ton of anger in her voice when she mentioned Marie, even though she refused to use her name.

“Did Luna offer you this room, if so, you’re clearing it out rather haphazardly. Marie’s family will want her belongings. You’re damaging her items by throwing them all over the place.”

Katrina blushed a deep red. I wasn’t sure if it was from shame or embarrassment, though I hoped it was the former. She dipped her head, staring at the binder still under my foot, and her blonde hair curtained her face. “People are pretending they’re me. I was hoping to find out who.”

“People are pretending they’re you?” I leaned down, eyes on her, and picked up the binder. Was she accusing Marie of stealing her identity? Why would Marie want to be Katrina? “Did you think Marie was stealing your identity?”

“Yes.” Katrina eyed the binder.

She thought Marie was an identity thief. Why? Had she killed Marie? “Why would she want to be you? From what I know, Marie had a great life.”

“She didn’t want to be me. She was telling Luna I wasn’t me.” She snagged the hem of the t-shirt and lifted it. The cup rolled out. There was a strange glint in the woman’s eyes. “What were you planning on doing with this?”

The “crafter” list. Was it a list of women who were possibilities of being Luna’s daughter? I backed up and gripped the binder to wield it as a weapon.

The door slammed against the wall, an accompaniment to another round of lightning and thunder. Katrina let out a yelp and jumped. I edged backwards, still holding onto my makeshift protection. Rain beat against the closed window and raindrops splattered onto the desk from the open one. The wind whipped into the room.

A furious Luna stood in the doorway. “What are you doing in here?”

All of the scary mannerisms and confidence left Katrina in that moment. Her hands shook and she sent a pleading look in my direction, almost like she was begging me to save her. I didn’t know what from. Katrina pointed a shaky finger at Ebenezer. “Getting the pet for you. Ike said he was needed for the next scene.”

“This room was locked. No one was permitted in here. You knew that.” Luna’s eyes narrowed.

“She was in here.” Katrina nodded at me.

Luna’s gaze switched over to me for a brief moment before returning to Katrina who was the main subject of her ire. “Who’s responsible for this mess? I know it wasn’t like this a few hours ago.”

Sorry, buddy, I have no choice. I pointed at Ebenezer. “He’s a little mischief maker. I heard him squealing in here. The carrier wasn’t zipped all the way and he wiggled his way out.”

“Very talented guinea pig. Being able to open up desk drawers and get himself into a locked room.” Luna’s brows quirked up, gaze drifting to the binder I still clutched. “Is he also responsible for putting that in your hand?”

“I think a lot of the items were on the desk. The window blew them onto the floor and Ebenezer believed they were snacks.” I refrained from mentioning Katrina tossing out the items. It was information I felt compelled to hold onto for a bit. There was a thick tension between Luna and Katrina, and I was leery of dropping that tidbit. Katrina had remained quiet, squishing her arms against her side and making herself as small as possible. I tucked the binder under my arm.

Plus, I wanted answers on Katrina’s theory of Marie lying about her and figured she’d share if I didn’t throw her under the bus.

“The window shouldn’t have been opened.” Luna frowned and crossed over to it and peered outside. “I told my staff no one was allowed in this room.”

“Someone else was in here before me,” I said. “The window was opened when I entered. I heard Ebenezer making a fuss and came into the room.”

Slowly, Luna turned and fixed an icy stare on Katrina. “I presume it was you.”

“I told you, Merry was in here first. Ike told me the guinea pig—”

“And when was this?”

“After filming this afternoon’s scene.” Katrina’s voice shook.

“That’s interesting because he’s been busy running errands for me since you weren’t around.”

“Vernon put him in here. He said it wasn’t wise to allow just anyone into your room so the animal shouldn’t be left in there alone.” Katrina was practically pleading for Luna’s understanding. “That’s why I came in here. I thought it was what you wanted.” She stretched out the word you.

I had a feeling she used Ebenezer’s presence the same way I did, as an excuse for being in the room.

“You’ve been having a bit of trouble with the truth, Katrina,” Luna said. “It’s why I requested Chief Quinn stop by and ask you some questions. There are some important things we need to clarify. Like your inability to drive, when you drove yourself here. The chief also looked up your driving record. You have quite the lead foot and get a little aggressive behind the wheel.”

Katrina blanched.

She had lied. Was it so no one suspected she ran Marie off the road?

A smile slowly spread across Luna’s face. “Why do so many forget that I know everything that happens around here? Did you free the cat to get on my good side or to distract Randolph the night of the fire?”

Chief Quinn stepped into the room decked out in full police gear, expression on her face all business. There wasn’t a hint of friendliness in her. Utility belt. Revolver in the holster. One hand slightly over the cuffs attached to the back of the belt. “Ms. Emerson, I have some questions—”

Katrina’s eyes widened, the scary glint returned, gaze scattering around before locking onto me. As Paul stepped into the room, I inched back toward him, knowing it was prudent to put some distance between me and Katrina. The woman was about to snap.

Katrina ran to the window. Without a backward glance, Katrina gripped the frame with one hand and the other still clutching the cup, slung one leg then the other over the sill and jumped.