And then she remembered Parker’s binoculars. She still had them in her pocket, if they hadn’t fallen out. She felt for them. They were still there. She pulled them out and scanned the extras below.
“Cut! Cut!” someone was yelling.
Everyone stopped and looked around confused.
Glad these zombies couldn’t climb trees, Miranda scanned the faces. None of them looked like Audrey.
Maybe she could locate Parker. She swept her lens over the perimeter of the group. Didn’t see him anywhere. Her heart sinking, she did a second pass and a third.
And then something else caught her attention.
No. It couldn’t be.
She focused the binoculars, wiped them on her sleeve, and peered through them again. Sure enough.
Far away along the edge of the set was another row of trailers. Beyond them a grassy hill led to a wide forest stretching toward the west. The last trailer sat off by itself. Beside it stood a woman in the requisite creepy clothing and matted shoulder-length hair.
It was Audrey.
Miranda wouldn’t have been so sure if it weren’t for the person she was looking at.
Walking toward her with his slight limp, and wearing a dark brown suit over his lanky form was Holloway.
How did he get here?
She stuffed the binoculars back into her pocket, scrambled down the tree, and began pushing her way through the teeming extras.
“Where are you going, young lady?” A man in street clothes called after her. Must have been one of the directors.
She turned and bared her teeth at him. “Back off, bud.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Holloway felt more nervous than the first time he’d asked her out on a date.
Audrey stood alongside the trailer wearing a thigh-length nurse’s dress covered with fake blood and dirt. Her pretty blond hair was ratted up to look like it hadn’t been combed in a month. A trickle of blood came from one of her eyes.
It distressed him to see her like this. It’s a movie, he reminded himself. She’s got a part in a movie. She hadn’t been lying about that, after all.
Her hands twitched at her sides. She was nervous, too.
First date nerves.
She took a hesitant step toward him. “Hi, Curt.”
“Hey, babe. It’s good to see you again.” Not “again.” Why did he say “again”?
She frowned and cocked her head in that cute little way of hers. “We haven’t seen each other in three years.”
She was in shock, denial. If she’d watched some other woman get her toe hacked off—
“Sorry I’m late.”
Her frown deepened, the dark makeup magnifying the lines in her forehead, making her look old. “Curt,” she said. “What are you doing here? I’m working.”
“You asked me to come.”
“No, I didn’t.” She took another step toward him.
She didn’t remember calling him? Was she having amnesia? Was that guy named Drew taking advantage of her because of it? He didn’t know. All he knew was he had to get her away from him. Away from this place. Now was the best chance he had. The guy in the black leather jacket was nowhere in sight.
They were alone.
Making his move, he took two steps toward her until he was close enough to touch her. He wanted to, but he didn’t.
“Why don’t we go for a drive?”
She blinked at him as if he had called her a dirty name. “A drive?”
“Yeah, I’ve got my car right over there.” He gestured across the field.
He’d seen Mr. Parker’s silver Mazda parked at the end of the gravel road when he’d come in. He didn’t know how Steele had learned where Audrey would be today, but he bet she was here with Mr. Parker. He was fuming she hadn’t let him know.
But he wasn’t going to let that stop him from his mission.
Suddenly Audrey’s head jerked back. She reached into the bloody pocket of her nurse’s outfit and pulled out a gun. The same one she’d had in the bank.
He should have noticed the bulge in her pocket but it had been camouflaged by the blood and gunk.
Holding the gun in both hands, she pointed it at his heart. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Curt.”
Automatically he raised his hands, but managed a smile. “Hey, take it easy, honey. We don’t have to go right now.”
“Not now. Not ever. Where’s my fifty-thousand dollars?”
The money she’d demanded the other day? Somehow she remembered that. “It’s at the bank. Why don’t we go get it?”
She blinked several times, and her neck twitched as if she had an itch somewhere. What was wrong with her?
Shaking her head, she stepped back, lowering the gun a little. “Oh, no, Curt. I’m not stupid.”
“I didn’t say you were.” Not stupid. She had lost her mind. Something had happened to her and she’d lost her mind. He didn’t know what to do.
“This is your last chance, Curt. I’m done waiting for you to come around.”
“Okay, babe. What do you want me to do?”
Her eyes glowered. For a moment she looked like a real zombie. “I want you dead.”
She raised the gun again.
Instinct took over. Marine instinct. Parker Agency instinct. He grabbed her wrists and shoved her hands up just as the gun went off with a bam.
The blast rang in his ears, making them buzz, but he could hear shouts in the distance. From the corner of his eye he saw cast members and crew running toward them.
Audrey struggled in his grip. “What do you think you’re doing, Curt?”
“I’m saving you.”
He wrenched the gun out of her hands and tossed it under the trailer. Then he bent down to pick her up.
She beat him off with her fists. “Leave me alone. Stop it.”
Another shot whizzed past his head. For a moment Holloway didn’t know where it had come from. Then he saw the man standing at the far end of the trailer holding a pistol. Long scraggily black hair. Black leather jacket and pants. Asian face.
Drew.
He let go of Audrey and reached under his coat for his Sig.
“Don’t move, soldier boy,” the man in black said.
Holloway pulled Audrey behind him and aimed his gun. “Don’t you dare try to hurt her. What have you done to her?”
The man didn’t answer. Holloway saw his gaze flick to a spot behind him. The crowd was getting closer.
He was just about to turn and hustle Audrey away when she kicked him in the shin. Hard.
“Ouch. What are you doing?”
“Get away from me.” She gave him a shove, and he stumbled.
She ran toward Drew. He fired again, and Holloway barely had enough time to roll under the trailer for cover.
He peered out from beneath the vehicle and watched their feet as they ran through the grass. He became aware of a stinging sensation on his arm. He turned his head and saw red on the sleeve of his coat. Blood. The real stuff this time.
He’d been hit.
But Drew was getting away with Audrey. He had to stop them.
He rolled back out from under the trailer, hurried to the far corner for cover, and fired. Missed.
Still running, Drew fired back over his shoulder.
Holloway ducked behind the trailer. The bullet bounced over in the grass somewhere.
He risked another look. They were running over the top of a hill now and there was too little of Drew’s frame for another shot.
He couldn’t let them get away.
He left the cover of the trailer and took off after them. They disappeared over the rise.
He ran as fast as he could, cursing the leg he’d injured.
At the top of the hill, he stopped and took aim again. But they were too far away.
Down below cars and jeeps were parked along a thick row of pines. Drew and Audrey climbed into a camouflage-colored Jeep and drove off down a dirt path into the woods.
Hollo
way stood, his mind whirring, his chest heaving. He had to go after them. He had to get to them. But there was no way he could catch up now.
He turned and saw the crowd of folks had reached the trailer. And at their head was Mr. Parker and Steele.
Now he was in for it.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
With her Beretta drawn, Miranda met Holloway halfway up the hill where she’d finally found him—alone.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she yelled at him between gasps for breath as she holstered her gun.
He didn’t answer. He was out of breath, too.
She looked him over and saw red coming from the upper sleeve of his coat. He was bleeding. “You’ve been hit.”
She’d felt completely helpless watching the altercation while she’d run toward it at breakneck speed.
“I’m okay.” He put away his weapon and waved to the area over the hill behind him. “The guy named Drew drove off with Audrey in a camouflage-colored Jeep just now. We’ve got to get Erskine. The police have got to set up roadblocks.”
Parker came up beside the pair. He was winded as well, his hair was gently mussed, and his expensive suit had lost some of its gleam.
“Unfortunately, Detective,” he said in a stern voice, “we have no cell reception here. I’ve already tried to reach him.”
Miranda held up a hand. She wanted answers. “Holloway, how did you get here?”
“I drove,” he said condescendingly.
“You know what I mean. How did you know about the movie shoot?”
His jaw jutted out with irritation. “Audrey called me.”
“She called you? When?”
“Last night. She asked me to meet her here. How did you and Mr. Parker know about the shoot?”
“Becker got a text from Film Mania Studios yesterday. They confirmed Audrey was on their payroll and said she was scheduled to work today.”
Holloway’s brown eyes blazed. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“Looks like I didn’t have to.” Softening a bit, she touched his arm. “We need to get that looked at.”
He winced a little as he pulled out of her grasp. “I’m fine. Audrey’s handgun is under the trailer.” He pointed at the spot as if he expected her to go under there and get it.
She glanced at Parker and saw he was none too pleased with Holloway’s behavior.
“As I was about to say,” Parker said with his famous calm composure, “the director has gone to his trailer to call the police on the landline the studio had installed.”
“That’s going to take too long, sir.”
He was right. They’d already lost them.
Leaving Parker to deal with Holloway for the moment, Miranda sprinted over to the rise where she’d last seen Drew and Audrey. Shielding her eyes, she peered down the hill. Then using her binoculars, she made out a winding gravel road through the dense trees. No sign of a camouflage-colored jeep. No sign of anyone. But that road had to lead to the sparse residential area to the south. Were Drew and Audrey hiding out in one of those houses?
She couldn’t say, but it would mean more house-to-house canvassing for Erskine and his officers when they got here.
She pressed a hand to her temple, the rage quelling inside her. How dare that creep Drew shoot her detective? Hadn’t he just gotten over an injury? And they’d lost them again. They were right there. Audrey was standing right next to Holloway.
And now she was gone again.
She’d shot at him, too. Like she had at the bank. And she’d lured him here to do it. Why? Did she have a life insurance policy on him? Was she harboring a grudge against him for holding her back on her career? Nothing made sense.
Feeling a headache coming on, Miranda trudged back to the far end of the trailer.
She paced back and forth, plowing through the grassy weeds as she went. Holloway was right. They had to do something. But the director had already called the police. Erskine and his men would show up soon. What else could they do now?
Audrey’s gun.
They should let Erskine process it, but she could verify where it was. Maybe it would have some trace evidence that would help them locate the pair.
She squatted down to peer under the trailer. She didn’t see the gun. It must be at the other end. She rose again and gazed absently at the grass near her feet as her mind raced. Maybe they could get tire tracks from the Jeep. Tire tracks were unique. Maybe they could track down Drew’s whereabouts that way.
As she pondered the idea, a glint of something in the grass caught her eye.
She bent down again to study it.
As she stared, an itchy, tingly sensation went down her spine. It wasn’t from the grass. It was a feeling she’d felt too many times before. And this time it was spot on.
Wedged beneath the tall blades of unmown grass lay a small amber colored bottle. She couldn’t tell if anything was in it.
Don’t touch. Don’t touch, the voice in her head seemed to say.
I know that, she thought, rising again. But she did take out her cell to snap a picture of it before she went to look for Parker.
As she rounded the trailer’s corner, she saw the zombies had caught up to the action. On the doorsteps of the trailer, someone with a first aid kit was looking at Holloway’s arm.
Parker stood at the edge of the throng of worried gray-clad extras who were milling about. He looked like he was trying to calm a man in a loose plaid shirt and jeans with a long ponytail down his back. The man was a head shorter than Parker, but he made up for that by waving his arms over his head.
She caught some of his words. “We’ve lost the light we needed. This is costing money. What are you going to do about that?”
Must be the director.
Obviously irritated with the man, Parker turned his head and caught her eye.
Reading her face, he frowned. “What is it?”
“I need to show you something.”
“Excuse me a moment,” he told the man and followed her back around the trailer.
She pointed downward. “What do you think that is?”
He bent down to peer through the blades of grass. “Some sort of bottle.”
“Do you think Drew or Audrey might have dropped it here?”
“It’s possible. This is where Iwasaki was hiding before he fired his weapon.”
Or maybe one of the two hundred extras had dropped the bottle here.
Parker took a plastic glove and bag from his pocket. He always carried detective gear. After pulling on the glove, he carefully lifted the vial and slipped it into the bag.
He rose, still studying it.
The dark amber bottle had an eye dropper and was half full of an inky liquid.
“I can only imagine what might be in here,” he said somberly.
A shiver went down Miranda’s spine. “Me, too. What do we do with it now?”
Just then the crowd of zombies started to rumble. She peered around the trailer and spied Lieutenant Erskine marching across the field, a uniformed officer on either side.
The director hurried over to Erskine. “I’m so glad you’re here, officers. There’s been a terrible incident.”
“I’ll be with you in a moment.” Erskine strode right past him and up to them. “Parker. Ms. Steele. What seems to be going on?”
Miranda explained about the shooting.
Erskine wasn’t happy. The lines in his face growing deeper, he scowled at the crowd of muddy zombies milling around. They didn’t brighten his mood at all. “I wish you would have informed me you were coming here today.”
Miranda raised her palms. “Well, you know what they say about hindsight.”
With a huff Erskine pointed at the plastic bag Parker was holding. “What’s that you have there?”
“We think one of the suspects might have dropped it,” Miranda said.
Erskine cocked his head and squinted at it. His tight jaw went back and forth. “It will take a week for our people to an
alyze that.” His offhanded way of asking the Parker Agency to do it.
Parker looked to Miranda. Once again, her call. That meant only one thing. Only one person at the Parker Agency who could do a chemical analysis fast. What choice did she have?
She put her hands on her hips and nodded. “Okay. I’ll see if I can call in Fry from vacation.”
Then she marched over to the director to ask to use his landline.
Chapter Thirty
Fry wanted concessions.
Triple pay for coming in on short notice and three extra vacation days—even after Miranda explained the situation and that it was Holloway’s ex they were trying to save.
She caved, hoping Parker would approve the requests.
But after she hung up, she decided Fry was jealous he hadn’t gotten to be on the set of a zombie movie.
The director wanted to get back to work, and Erskine asked for help canvassing the nearby area for the camouflage-colored jeep. Since there was nothing else to do at the office, she used the landline again and called Becker to drive down to the set and pick up the amber bottle in Parker’s plastic bag. She certainly wasn’t going to ask Holloway to do it.
She wasn’t letting him out of her sight.
A production assistant confirmed Audrey had received a paycheck last Friday, but had never cashed it. Erskine’s men questioned the extras who were in the same scenes as Audrey, but nobody knew much about the young woman who went by the name Meg Ryan.
Another officer crawled under the trailer to retrieve Audrey’s handgun. As he bagged and tagged it, Miranda recognized the pink handle from the bank. That bitch had tried to shoot Holloway twice with that gun. If she wasn’t a victim here, Miranda would make sure she paid for that.
Accompanied by a few of Erskine’s officers Miranda and Parker walked down the hill and got a closer look at the trail where the camouflage-colored jeep had disappeared. They found tire tracks in the dirt, and Erskine called CSI out again to take photos and impressions. They followed the trail over the rough terrain through the gnarled trees to where it spilled out onto asphalt. Mud streaks on the road contained more tracks from the jeep to collect and analyze. Drew Iwasaki was making this part easy.
Mind Bender Page 14