Really Dead
Page 28
“I’ve already called them.” Dan waited until James put the phone down. “I called them right after you told me about this meeting and wouldn’t be surprised if a contingent from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force was already downstairs in the lobby. Here’s how it’s going to play out — a crew is going to get me explaining to the police that I think Ted killed one of our production assistants; we’ll save the details about his true identity for the post-finale wrap-up show. I’ll tell the cops that I think Ted’s making a run for it. He is making a run for it, by the way. I told him that you were on to him and suggested that he take one of the speedboats to get off the island until I figured out a way to cover for him. The cops will chase him in their boat — we should be able to talk them into letting us send at least one camera with them. They’ll catch Ted, bring him back here, and then we’ll shoot Winnie explaining how she was out for her run when she thought she saw Ted kill Kate. Imagine Winnie’s surprise, and mine, when the police in Toronto reported that Kate was just fine? Fools! All they had to do was read her info sheet. She clearly wrote twin sister in the family contact section. That reminds me — Winnie!”
The door that Glenn had thought led to a closet opened and Winnie came through it from a connecting room.
“Did you get the rights to that Packham Inn footage? The price will go through the roof once this goes public.”
“I secured them last month.” She walked over to the filing cabinet and opened the bottom drawer. “I probably bought more footage than we’ll need, but we’ll have lots to work with.”
“Excellent.” Dan stood up and straightened his trousers. “Now, gentlemen, shall we go watch it all play out?”
“Actually, Dan,” Winnie reached into the file drawer, slid all the hanging files together at one end of the drawer, pushed something that clicked, and then stood up with two discs in her hands, “there’s been another rewrite.” She walked over to Glenn. “Give these to the police.” She turned and smiled at Dan. “Oops! I forgot to turn the cameras off in here.”
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? I’ll fire your ass!”
“No, Dan, you won’t. Because I’m firing you. Or don’t you remember why we had to move to the States? How many lawsuits were you dodging because of your questionable backend accounting? Three? Four? But they couldn’t touch the company assets once they were all in my name, could they? And, as you told me so often, it wasn’t as if you’d killed someone, it was just a white-collar crime, nothing serious.” She walked right up to Dan and poked him in the chest, hard, with her index finger. “You went too far this time, Dan. I’m directing your finale, and this time the shit’s going to stick to your white collar!” She turned to look at Glenn and James. “What are you waiting for? The police are already on their way to the back dock. Ted’s acting out Dan’s escape script, and he’s added a dramatic twist — he’s got Miss Butler with him.”
A seismic jolt of adrenalin ripped through Glenn’s body. He pushed Dan out of the way, knocking him to the ground. James jumped over Dan and followed Glenn down the hallway.
Glenn punched the down button on the elevator panel.
“Stairs!” James yelled as he ran past the elevator.
Glenn’s legs were longer than James’ and he got to the stairwell first.
“Through the kitchen, third set of doors on the left!” James called out directions as their feet clattered down the metal stairs.
“Sorry,” Glenn called over his shoulder after bumping into a waiter in the kitchen, sending his tray full of glasses flying.
Two men were unloading boxes from the bed of a small pickup truck by the back door of the kitchen. They’d left the engine running.
James pulled himself into the passenger seat just as Glenn slammed his foot onto the accelerator. They both ignored the yelling men they’d left behind.
The truck’s engine roared as Glenn did more off-roading than on-roading between the hotel and the docks. The Butlers could afford to pay to repair the swath of destruction the truck’s tires had made in the landscaping. He had to pump the brakes to get the truck to stop just as the front tires hit the first plank of the dock. Two crew members who were carrying a large metal trunk jumped out of the way — into the water. One of the two blue speedboats was speeding away from the dock. It was easy to spot Ria in the boat, her red hair blowing in the wind contrasted sharply against the blue of the boat. “Fuck!” He ran down the dock and looked at the ignition in the boat’s twin. The keys weren’t in it.
Ray, the special-effects guy, came running down the dock. “Are you trying to kill somebody?”
“We have to get out to that boat. Where are the keys for this one?” Glenn didn’t bothering trying to silence the panic in his voice.
Ray looked out at the boat that was heading for the northern point of the island. “He’s not going anywhere.”
It was then that Glenn noticed the control unit that Ray was holding. “Can you turn him around, bring him back here?”
“Sure, but Dan told me to keep him out there until all the cameras are in position for the police takedown.”
“He’s got my sister!” James’ face was beet red and sweat was streaming down it. “He could hurt her.”
“Then I’ll blow him up. We armed the boat right after Dan called.”
Glenn looked down the shoreline. There were cameramen spaced along the length of the island, all the way to the northern tip. The Butler helicopter swooped over their heads, a cameraman sitting with his legs hanging out the open side door, his camera pointing down at them. The Butler yacht came speeding around the northern end of the island, a camera crew on its front deck. “Directional charge?”
Ray had barely nodded his head when Glenn asked another question. “Which direction?
Ray pointed at the top toggle switch, “This one shoots out the front of the boat,” he pointed at the bottom toggle switch, “this one shoots out the back, and this one,” he turned a small dial, “controls the speed.” The boat started to slow down.
Glenn did what any man would do when watching a show he didn’t want to see — he grabbed the remote control and changed the program. Worst case scenario? He’d blow Ted’s foot off.
ROLL TAIL CREDITS.
PHIL LUNDEN & DAN SHYKOFF
Long term accommodations supplied by:
Her Majesty’s Prison, Tortola
JAMES BUTLER & WINNIFRED PAVLOVICH
Executive Producers — Check-Out Time
Canadian Screen Award: Best Reality Program or Series
CHRIS REGENT
Oscar Nominee
Actor in a Supporting Role
For his portrayal of Terence Gray in Rebecca’s Story
RIA BUTLER & GLENN COOPER
Stay tuned …
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
No writer is an island, even if their story is set in the islands. I couldn’t have written this without the support and help of many people and apologize if any accuracy was washed away by a wave of creativity.
Thank you to the characters who inspired and informed:
John — my best production ever!
Jane — hired for your ability to decipher hieroglyphics, you’ll never be fired from your current position, 1st AD of friendship
Marilyn — for helping me hear a Who
Sandy — you were write (sometimes) and now you have it in writing
Angie (aka Sis) — for being there all the way from Spring to Sitka to Spanish Town
Robyn — for spotting me when I had to bench press the weight of doubt
Lyne — for suggesting that a production memo should grow up to be a book
Arthur Hiller — for encouraging the story of me
Officers Denise and Rich, the armed arm of the family — for answering all of my 911 calls
Germaine Fritz — for sharing her Dream
Gino Russo — for ferries and flight rules
Patrick Darrah, John Hektor, and Mike Twamley — for bringing me up
to speed on Ickys, Avids, and gyros
Rudy Rivas — for making things go BOOM
Amanda Dunning — for giving me PMS
Dr. Susan Kuzmyk — for curling my toes with her severing expertise
Deputy Chief Forensic Pathologist, Ontario, Dr. Toby Rose — for performing a literary post-mortem on a pedal extremity
Sylvia McConnell — for opening the door to Dundurn
And all of the wonderful people on the other side of that door: Kirk Howard, Beth Bruder, Sheila Douglas (who sends the best emails), Margaret Bryant, Synora Van Drine, Caitlyn Stewart, Karen McMullin, James Hatch, the magical Allister Thompson, to name just a few … with a special curtain call for Cheryl Hawley and her gentle red marker
Bob, Brad, and Harry — where’s Barry?
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Copyright © J.E. Forman, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Editor: Cheryl Hawley
Design: Jennifer Scott
Epub Design: Carmen Giraudy
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Forman, J. E.
Really dead [electronic resource] : a Ria Butler mystery / J.E. Forman.
Electronic monograph.
Issued also in print format.
ISBN 978-1-4597-0682-8
I. Title.
PS8611.O765R43 2013 C813’.6 C2013-900777-6
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and Livres Canada Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President
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