Danger Zone

by Dee J. Adams

  “No worries. Everything’s fine,” she told him.

  Chapter Nine

  Sweat trickled down Ellie’s back and along the sides of her face as she sat in the tub of the race car. Sun beat down hard as she motored along. Heat and butterflies combined in her stomach and made mush out of her chai tea. No reason for nerves. No reason this stunt wouldn’t go off without a hitch. She eased her grip on the steering wheel as she coasted across the infield.

  So far so good, but then again, she really couldn’t afford to screw this up. The cost of these race cars was astronomical, so botching the job wasn’t an option. After taking countless laps at top speed so Gordon had plenty of footage, she now made her way over the fencing, just as Trace had done when the actual event happened. They’d practiced a few times so Ellie knew exactly where to jump to reach her landing zone. Before bailing out, she’d pull the cord and set the self-detonator. She had five seconds to get clear before the seat blew and the car went up in flames. Plenty of time.

  But, every once in a while she got these weird little premonitions, and she never felt good about them. She’d learned to listen to her gut, so she checked her speed before reaching the tree that marked her ten-second count. Everything right on target. So why did she have such a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach? Why was her heart pounding so hard? Shoving back the apprehension, she focused on the job.

  In ten…she stripped off the headrest pads locking her in and took off her helmet. Seven…shoved the helmet down by her feet. Five…pulled the cord. Fresh adrenaline roared in her veins. Three…climbed out of the tub. And…

  Jump!

  Pressure bit into the top of her foot, got tighter until pain ripped up her leg. Instead of launching from the car, she snapped back and time stopped for a split second as reality hit. She wasn’t clear. She was in trouble. Time sped up and an explosion blew behind her. Heat climbed up her back. She fell hands first to the ground, her body vertical alongside the burning car. The pressure snapped and her legs joined her on the ground.

  She was in one piece but… Shit! No good, no good! She’d blown the shot. They’d have to do it again. She’d cost them two cars instead of one. Unbelievable. Failure hit her harder than a heavyweight champ in the ring. Still, she knew better than to stand up and apologize while cameras were rolling. She crawled toward her landing zone. Stayed low in case any footage of the burning car worked.

  “Fire!” Someone yelled.

  Well, duh, she’d just blown up the freaking car, of course there was a fire. Unless… She glanced at her arm and the material looked funny. Like it was…melting?

  Oh, shit! She was on fire!

  The wig! Save the wig or Rachel would have her head. She flicked off the wig, or what was left of it. Damn. The whole back had gone up in a puff of flame and was still burning. It landed on the cement and looked more like a toasted rat than a former hairpiece. She reached the landing zone on her belly, commando-style. Ashley’s nickname for her, Ellie Belly, always played through her mind at times like these.

  “Down, Elle, down!” Mark yelled.

  But she was already there, spread out and ready to get hit with CO2. The blast came with a cool whoosh across her body. Two guys, each with a different canister, each assigned a different side of her. Before she had a chance to say anything, they had her Nomex race suit sliced and stripped off her and she was in the flame-retardant underwear for the whole world to see. Not that there was anything to see since she was covered from head to toe. Chalk up a demerit from wardrobe too.

  She’d now cost the production an extra car, a wig and a race suit. What a way to start the day.

  Ellie rolled over, still on the ground, gripped her head in both hands and stared—in horror—at the blue sky. “Shit! I can’t believe it.”

  Mark and Brett both kneeled next to her. “You okay?” Mark asked. Sweat trickled down the side of his face. “What happened? Are you hot anywhere? You need another hit?” He stood ready to blast her again.

  “No, I’m fine, I’m fine. I just can’t believe I screwed it up.” She sat up, looked at what was left of the burning car. Another wave of failure crashed in her chest. This ranked right up there as one of the biggest stunts she’d ever done and she’d tanked it.

  “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t that bad. Gordon had enough cameras going. He might be able to use different angles to make it work. Don’t beat yourself up,” Brett said.

  “Shit,” Ellie muttered again. “I’m gonna get fired for this, aren’t I?” She snatched off her protective hoodie. The warm breeze cooled the sweat on her neck.

  “Hell no. Are you kidding me?” Mark said, crouching next to her. “Shit happens, Elle. The important thing is that you’re okay.”

  Ellie shook her head, still shocked that she’d gotten tangled up. “I took the leap and didn’t go anywhere. I think my foot got caught in the seat belt. I snapped back like bungee cord.” Mentioning the word foot had been a bad thing, because until that moment, it hadn’t hurt. Now, a jolt of pain arced up her leg.

  “Yeah, we saw. Your foot okay? You need an ambulance.” Mark lifted his hand to call for a medic.

  “Don’t you dare.” She grabbed his arm and forced it down. “I’m fine. I’m not going to the hospital. Nothing’s broken.” Gingerly, she flexed her foot and wriggled her toes to prove it. Man, did that hurt like a son of a bitch. “No ambulance, no medic.” Her foot throbbed with every beat of her heart. “Maybe some ice.”

  Mark looked down at her foot. The seat belt had obviously cut into her shoe. Her foot wasn’t going to be pretty. He pinned her with a hard gaze. “Do I need to find someone else for tomorrow? Be honest. I don’t want you here if you’re hurt. I need someone I can count on.”

  “You can totally count on me, Mark. I’m fine. A little Advil and ice and I’ll be fine.” She needed the “in” with Trace Bradshaw. Couldn’t afford to lose the job to another stuntwoman. Not when her whole future depended on this gig.

  “Let’s get you back to your trailer and get that ice.” Mark stuck his hand out and pulled her up.

  Pain burst in her foot and rumbled up her leg. Clenching her jaw, she battled the agony as she saw the crowd of people gathering at video village.

  Mark scooped an arm under hers and steadied her. “You sure?” he asked. “I’ll do whatever you want, but I want you to get medical attention if you need it. Be smart, Elle.”

  Thank God Mark wasn’t one of those coordinators who ran roughshod over his crew. He knew she was hurting, but also knew what this job meant to her. “I’m fine, Mark. I promise. It just hurts. C’mon, I’ve got to face God sooner or later.”

  “After you get the ice,” Mark said. “Besides, Gordon loves you. You won’t have to go to him, he’ll come to you.”

  Ellie started moving. She took it slow to disguise the limp. Each step sent a new blossom of pain screaming up to her head.

  A roar of applause erupted and killed the tense silence. Ellie forced a grin. She didn’t deserve applause after she’d botched the stunt. Mark helped her toward the crowd of people eyeing them intently.

  A hundred yards away, Quinn stood frozen, his heart thumping hard. Watching Mark and another stunt guy help Ellie away from the burned-out car, he came close to heaving what little breakfast he’d had. A group of people moved toward them, including the director and Quinn’s sister-in-law and brother.

  Heading to her trailer, Ellie didn’t seem the least bit fazed. If anything, she looked apologetic. Apologetic! This business was severely fucked-up. He may not have known that much about Ellie, but the fact that she was a perfectionist when it came to her job hadn’t escaped him. She’d take full responsibility for catching fire and she’d do whatever needed to be done to make amends, even if it meant doing the stunt again.

  Quinn shook off the two police officers that held him back when he’d started for Ellie.

  “You okay, man?” one cop asked. The rent-a-cops had been at every location. Their jobs ranged from crowd an
d traffic control to security.

  “Yeah. Fine.” Quinn ran a hand through his hair and picked up his cell phone from the ground.

  Hank had called with a report on production and Quinn had walked away from the set to listen. He’d been heading back when the shit hit the fan. After seeing Ellie’s whole back in flames, he’d shot forward like a smoke jumper out of an airplane, ready to douse the fire. The cops had grabbed him and kept him from ruining the almighty shot. Watching those flames shoot off her back had sent him back six months to his own accident. He’d heard the screams in his head just as loud and terrifying as they’d been on that horrible day.

  But Ellie hadn’t screamed at all. Hadn’t done anything but lay facedown in the dirt and wait for her team to douse the fire raging on her back.

  A chill shimmied down Quinn’s spine as he headed for her trailer. He didn’t like her job. Not one part of it. His heart was just settling to a normal rhythm. At the door, he barely spotted her behind a group of people. She sat on the small sofa to the right, holding an ice pack to her foot. Smudges of soot lined her cheek.

  She looked up, gave him a smile. “Hey, Quinn.” She lifted a hand. “I’m fine. Really,” she said, answering his question before he asked. “I know what you’re thinking, but like I told everyone just now, I’m okay.”

  Quinn only managed a nod. Words wouldn’t form on his tongue.

  “Like I was saying,” the director said, “I think you should go to the hospital and get checked out. Just to be safe, Elle. I can’t afford to lose my best stuntwoman.” Quinn couldn’t see his face, but he heard the smile in his tone. He didn’t see how any part of this was anywhere near amusing. “We’ll get one of the PAs to take you to the emergency room.”

  “I can take her.”

  Everyone turned and stared at him. Apparently he could speak after all.

  He cleared his throat. “You guys can keep your PA here and I can take her.” Maybe if he made it sound as if he were doing them a favor…

  “I’m not going to the hospital,” Ellie said. All heads turned back to her. “Put it on the production report that I denied hospital care. It’s a little cut and a big bruise. I’ve suffered worse.”

  “How about we wrap her early,” the stunt coordinator said. “This was the big thing for the day. If she has the rest of today to keep her foot elevated and iced she might be good as new tomorrow.”

  Quinn wasn’t sure he liked this guy. Could anyone here think past the damn movie? Apparently people didn’t matter in Hollywood. The schedule and the almighty dollar called the shots.

  “Fine with me,” the director said. He looked over at his assistant director—Quinn couldn’t remember his name—and made sure that releasing Ellie wouldn’t put him in any kind of trouble shooting-wise. Evidently everything else was a close-up with Julie and Leo so there was no harm in wrapping her early.

  Quinn had to back up and out so everyone could leave. Only a few stunt guys remained, leaving Quinn to loiter at her door like a vagrant hoping for a scrap of food. Or affection.

  “So, good. Case closed.” He heard Ellie say. He peeked in and watched her tip her head in that way she did that made her hair swing in the back. Right now it was still pinned up tight against her scalp.

  The stunt guys turned to leave, but one spun back around. “Oh, shit,” he said. “I forgot about your car.”

  Ellie made a face. “My car?”

  “Remember, we were going to drive back to the studio and I was going to give you a lift home so your car was already there and you could drive Ashley’s car—”

  “Tomorrow for the shoot,” Ellie finished. “Damn, I forgot too.” Ellie shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. My car doesn’t have to be in the shot. It would’ve been nice, but it’s not a big deal. I’ll just switch cars with Ashley tomorrow. I know she’s looking forward to the money. You can use someone else’s car to fill in for mine, right?”

  Mark nodded. “Yeah, that won’t be a problem.” He paused and looked down at her. “You’re sure you’re all right, right?”

  Her smile turned Quinn to rubber and she wasn’t even smiling at him. “Promise. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. No worries,” she said.

  Her room cleared out and Quinn felt like an idiot standing outside. He tapped on the door and stepped up the two big steps and inside. “Hey.”

  “Hi.” Still sitting on her little sofa with her foot in front of her packed in ice and her back straight, she grinned at him as she continued to take pins out of her hair. There seemed to be no less than eight million of them. “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “You’re asking me if everything’s okay?” That almost brought a smile to his face. And he was still too freaked out to smile. But when she looked up at him with all that sunshine and light, he couldn’t really help it. “How about I give you a lift home?”

  “Thanks.” She cocked her head to the side as she reached for more pins. “But we won’t return to this location and it’s too far to come back.”

  “Are you sure you can drive?”

  “I’m sure.” More pins clinked together on the small pine coffee table in front of her. Slowly her hair started falling and Quinn was mesmerized. He remembered the texture, the silky soft feel of it in his fingers. The smell of strawberries came to mind and he didn’t know if it was her shampoo or his imagination. His mouth watered to taste her again, to kiss her until she melted like a ball of wax in his arms and opened for his taking. She stopped fussing with her hair and watched him. “Something else on your mind?”

  What mind? He’d lost all train of thought. “Uh, no. No. Just…you know…making sure you’re okay.” He backed up toward the door, fumbled for the knob. The coolheaded operator he’d once been had disappeared and left a bumbling idiot in his place. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She grinned and began removing more pins. “Absolutely. See you tomorrow.” Her independence, her bravery, her attitude toward life and work amazed him. Nothing fazed her. She was as solid as a rock and unlike anyone he’d ever known…well, with the obvious exception of his sister-in-law.

  Quinn hit the stairs and headed toward his brother, restless and agitated as all hell.

  It had been just over an hour since everyone had left Ellie’s room. Enough time for three applications of ice to her aching foot. She’d stripped off her shoe privately and seen the damage. Not pretty. But it would heal. Having experienced several broken bones she knew her foot wasn’t broken, but it was cut and badly bruised. The ice had helped.

  Ellie opened her trailer door and a wave of heat hit her hard. She slipped her sunglasses on, looked out at the track and down the row of trucks and trailers that lined this side of the infield. It seemed fairly empty as most of the departments were working on set. She had, easily, a seven-minute walk to her car, parked in the farthest lot from the entrance. Wasn’t that always just the case? She dreaded every inch. Loaded with two different bags, a big one with her equipment and weights and smaller one with her normal garbage of what Mark called her “girl things,” she set out for her car. Added to her booty were two bags of ice—enough to get her home. She’d already returned Rachel’s hairpins. Having her hair down had actually relieved a little of the pain…the headache that had been threatening. And she wouldn’t have to deal with bad afternoon traffic. A smooth freeway should have her home in half the amount of time it took to get here this morning.

  Gordon had assured her that someone would call that night and let her know how the dailies looked. He didn’t seem worried about the fall or the mistake. He’d actually liked how realistic it looked. Well, duh. It had been real!

  She’d gone over it in her head a hundred times and still couldn’t believe she’d gotten tied up in the seat belt. She’d done a practice jump with the guys pulling the car and it hadn’t been a problem, but the seat belt hadn’t gotten tangled the way it did during the actual shot. Live and learn. It was stunts like these that taught her and her coworkers what to take into
consideration for the future. Next time, if they decided they had to redo the shot, she’d give herself an extra two seconds to check that the belt was clear.

  Time to suck it up and make the trek to her car. Her foot was nearly numb from the last twenty minutes of ice. But with this heat, that feeling would wear off in a matter of minutes.

  Not to mention the fact she was being watched. It was the same sensation she had before doing a stunt. Knowing all eyes focused on her before she tuned everything out and concentrated on the job.

  All she had to do was walk to her car. And not limp. She didn’t want to give any impression that she was anything but healthy and ready for tomorrow. Maybe once she got home, she’d even have a good cry. She felt one brewing in her chest and in the tightening of her throat. Moving slowly, she took two big steps down and turned to close her door. The last thing she needed was to lose her balance and fall on her ass a second time.

  “Can I help you with that?” Quinn’s low voice sent her heart thudding quicker. God, where had he come from? Maybe it had been his eyes she’d felt watching her.

  She faced him, took the last step to the ground and adjusted the heavy bag on her shoulder. She needed to prove everything was fine. She was not the invalid everyone thought her to be. “I’m okay. Thanks.”

  His reckless smile made silly putty of her insides. “C’mon, let me carry that for you.”

  “I’ve really go—”

  “Nope. Now I’ve got it.” He took her equipment bag and heaved it over his muscular shoulder. His brows quirked over his sunglasses and a grimace lined his forehead. “Jesus, what do you have in here…bricks?”

  She laughed. “Not bricks. Just my equipment. I brought in some weights so I could do some reps between scenes. I guess it was the wrong day for that.”