by Shawn Keys
A woman dressed in leather brushed away her long, dark curls so she could peer through her binoculars more clearly. “So, who’s this?”
“Delivery truck, Ash. Doesn’t seem connected.” Jake used his own binoculars to pick out a few more details.
Ash huffed. “Pick anything up on the audio, Mike?”
“Yeah. Said she’s delivering stationary.”
Ash chewed on that, chewing on one of her curly tresses at the same time. “Zahn’s a sneaky bastard. Could be his doing. Gord? What do you think?”
The last of the group was huddled in the driver’s seat, ready to peel away if they were spotted. “I’d have to ask ‘why’? Zahn has total access to the lot. He has no reason to sneak a truck into the compound.”
Ash narrowed her eyes, suspicious as always. “He’s slippery as an eel, and I’ve never been able to guess his game.”
Gord shrugged. “Alright, then. Do you want to make a move?”
She waved him off. “Not yet. Just take pictures. I want everything right down to the bloody VIN number of that truck in case we have to track it later. Keep sharp everyone.”
* * *
Angelica’s legs swept over her head and traced a circle in the air. Her arms burst like springs. She snapped toward the ground where she landed with the slightly grace of young cat just learning what it could do. For only her third time doing the stunt successfully, landing on the heeled shoes, it was remarkably good.
Zahn leaned against a nearby stage wall, entranced with her. She was flawless in motion; he remembered all the videos he had picked off the net of her dancing. She’d come in fourth on Dance Challenge . Although she hadn’t taken the prize home, a casting director had decided she would be a perfect fit on the set of Grim Tales of Silicon Valley , a weighty drama about the tech capital which had launched her career. Yet for all the videos he’d seen of her, nothing prepared him for seeing her effortless grace up close.
“You’re getting more comfortable each time,” He complimented her, though the warmth in his voice was unmistakable. As she got into the groove, the strain vanished and she began to look the part of the uber-confident spy.
Her breasts heaved delightfully under the lycra suit as she struggled to bring her breathing back under control. Angelica threw her hands in the air in celebration like a gymnast sticking a landing. Her entire face shone with triumph, setting a joyful fire to her aura. “Oh that feels sooo good! You’re a genius, Zahn!”
Trying not to let the praise go to his head, he answered, “I didn’t invent the theory. Thank all the gymnasts of the world who figured out how to jump better.” He let a smile show. “But I’m glad I could point you in the right direction. Would hate to see you cave in.”
She sauntered over to him, the crisp snap of her heels echoing in the wide space built for grand acoustics. “Oh, you’ve definitely saved the scene. I wish I could credit you.”
Zahn waved the thought away. “I’m not in this for the fame. Seeing the film come out right is my reward.”
Angelica quirked her lips into that cute smirk of hers, “See, for me that’s the hardest part of all this. I’m the celebrity in all this, but I know there are hundreds standing in the shadows making this all work. I mean, isn’t that -”
Click. “Fucking unfair.”
The cloud of amusement and attraction Zahn floated in evaporated. The click had been the cocking of a pistol. The female voice had not been Angelica’s, nor anyone else familiar. Zahn turned to see a frazzled woman step out of the shadows. Instantly, Zahn’s instincts kicked in, running through first impressions in an eyeblink. Classic cheekbones. Green eyes that might have been attractive if they weren’t strained red from sleepless nights and stress. She was in the drab blue uniform of a delivery driver, and her hair was frizzy and wild as if she had just torn off a ball cap.
Her hand trembled badly as she pointed the 9mm pistol at Angelica. She wasn’t trembling from the strain of holding the gun. This was all emotional. She was barely holding it together, and Zahn knew that was a bad sign.
Angelica froze, realizing she was the target here. “I don’t… understand. Please, just calm down. I… who…?”
The woman took a bold step forward, raising the pistol aggressively. “Don’t! Ask! That!”
Looking down the loaded barrel silenced the movie star, and Angelica gestured helplessly. Tears stung at the back of her eyes as she stared down death.
Zahn was struck by her bravery. She didn’t beg. Didn’t even whimper. He’d seen arrogant men and brash women faint dead away when caught at the mercy of a killer. He tried to distract the unhinged stalker, “Angelica might know the score, Lady. But I don’t. Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
The frantic woman’s lip curled. “What does it matter, huh? I’m just a forgotten cast-off. You get the part, and I get ditched. You get showered in gold, and I get showered in shit. You fucking ruined my life, and you don’t even know. And if you did, you wouldn’t care! A hundred girls troll the damned casting calls, but not you! Oh no, they plucked you out of nowhere and we all got fucked! ”
Angelica slowly raised her palms up, spread calmly, interposed as if her hands might stop the bullets ready to stab into her. “Please, I didn’t know.”
The delivery woman snarled. “Of course, you didn’t know! Do you think I’m an idiot ?” She rambled on, “That’s what’s wrong with this whole fucking industry! A hundred shattered dreams, and there you stand in the spotlight, accepting awards. They couldn’t let you see that! Oh no! They couldn’t let their darling see the truth! You aren’t the problem. But you’re the symbol of the problem! My name is Dana, you bitch. And I’m here to turn you into a whole different kind of symbol! Now you’re going to pay the price for this whole fucking unfair system! And they are never going to forget!”
Her eyes hardened, and her hand tightened on the pistol grip.
Zahn knew her decision had been made. They were out of time. His thumb tapped the dusk-silver ring wrapped around the third finger of his right hand in precisely the right way.
The background sounds of the world smeared into a drawn-out rasp. Dana’s nostrils flared with violent intent, her skin stretching with agonizing slowness. Her last breath before committing murder dragged on as she summoned her courage to pull the trigger. Angelica’s eyes widened, her sky-blue irises catching the shimmer of the spotlight above one final time. Her blonde ponytail drifted on the air as if caught in syrup.
Zahn darted forward. Time wasn’t fully stopped. The magic of his relic had stretched a single heartbeat into a dozen seconds, but not much more. His hand struck Dana’s outstretched gun, turning it up and away. The first concussive force punctured the air as Dana’s finger closed hard enough on the trigger. A small fireball began to erupt from the tip, blossoming in slow motion into the air.
Relief surged through Zahn as he deflected the bullet path far enough to generate a miss. Knowing the danger wasn’t yet passed, he twisted the pistol further, breaking Dana’s finger and wedging it against the trigger guard. Yanking the gun away from her, Zahn dragged her into an arm bar. Locking her elbow into a painful brace, he finally allowed the magic of his ring to fade.
The reverberating echo of the gun’s crack pounded the set. Angelica sped up to full motion, ducking away instinctively from the ripping sound as the bullet tore the air beside her head. A gasp of shock escaped the star as she found herself so unexpectedly alive!
Zahn leaned into Dana’s arm, making her cry out in pain. She tried to escape, writhing in his grasp. He only bore down harder, driving her to the floor. “Your phone, Angelica! Call 9-1-1!”
Shock gripped her a moment longer. Angelica had been certain she was going to die, and it didn’t seem quite right that she was still breathing. For a stunned second, all she could do was stand there and GLOW!
But then, reality caught up to her. She rushed to her bundle of outside clothes, tossing them frantically about as she searched for her cell. She found it, swip
ed open the lock screen, and rapid dialed the number.
Almost immediately, the strangely calming tone of an operator could be heard, “9-1-1, emergency response. ”
Angelica cried into the phone, “This woman, she’s insane! She has a gun! Send help! Lot B! Visionary Lot B!”
Dana screamed in both pain and anger. “Get off me! Let me go!”
Zahn ignored her, grinding her shoulder into the ground to keep her pinned.
The muted voice on the line said, “Officers are on the way. Stay on the line. Who am I speaking to? ” Professional and calm, the operator tried to keep things from escalating into panic.
Angelica was already dropping the phone back to her clothes. She didn’t end the call, but she couldn’t focus on it any longer. Her disbelieving eyes were zeroed in on Zahn. “Wh… what happened? I’ve… never seen anything like… never seen anyone move that… fast… what was that?”
Zahn tried to brush away her suspicion. He struggled a little more as Dana tried to fight him. “Rope! Angelica, please, can you find something to tie her down? I don’t want to hurt her but -” Just then, Dana threw her whole weight into a last effort to get free. A sickening snnaaap broke the air as her arm kinked in the wrong direction.
Zahn hissed, “Oh hell.” He scrambled to regain the leverage he had lost. Despite what must be excruciating pain, Dana lurched desperately and managed to slip free.
But instead of running, she shrieked incoherently and grasped for the fallen gun .
Zahn dove onto her back, fighting her back into a hold using her other arm. “Angelica, hurry!”
Angelica had listened. Zahn was glad they were on a movie set where ropes and cables and a dozen other similar objects were lying around everywhere. Seconds later, Angelica tossed him some thin electrical cord and he was able to weave it around Dana’s limbs with fast, efficient motions.
Angelica hovered nearby, and then suddenly let out a bubbling if mildly hysterical laugh.
Zahn lay atop Dana, regaining his breath as he finished the last knot. “What’s the matter?”
Angelica giggled again, generated from the whiplash of emotions. “You’re awfully good at tying her up. Where’d you practice that?”
A long pause.
Then, Zahn couldn’t help it. He laughed too. “Someone once told me, if you can’t tie knots, tie lots.” He patted the jumble of wrapped cord binding Dana down.
Angelica laughed helplessly. But the reality of what happened broke through soon enough. A sob wracked her body. Her shoulders heaved, and she collapsed down to her knees as the terror and relief all struck her her in a rush.
Zahn rushed to her side, trusting in his bindings on Dana. He hugged her warmly into his arms.
She tucked her head into the crook of his neck, clutching at him as she cried, “But why ? I don’t understand. I just…she tried to kill me and I don’t understand!”
On and on, she poured it out. The whole thing had happened so fast. Zahn knew her sensibilities were rushing to catch up. There was nothing to do but hold her. A small part of him warned him, I need to leave ! Because sooner or later, she was going to wonder why he wasn’t a wreck. Not even a little. The only way to explain that was from experience. He’d lived through far worse.
But he couldn’t bring himself to leave. He didn’t know her. Not really. He idolized her, but he didn’t know her. But right then, she needed him. He had fantasized more than a few times about holding her in his arms. True, not like this. But that didn’t mean this wasn’t important and very, very real.
He couldn’t bear to leave.
Whatever it cost him.
* * *
Gord tapped the glass of the minivan side window. “There! See? The cops are hauling that woman into an ambulance. That’s the delivery driver. I’d bet my life on it.”
Mike snorted. “We couldn’t see her.”
“So? Who else was on the Lot? Zahn. The starlet girl. And then the driver. That has to be her.”
Ash chewed on her hair and tried to find a hole in the argument. “Probably right. Someone else might have snuck onto the set. We might have missed it. But I don’t think so.”
Gord grew even more animated. “Look! See that burly cop over on the left! What’s he got? That’s a plastic evidence bag!”
Jake’s eagle eyes picked it out. “Pistol. Looks like a 9 mil.”
It was Mike’s turn to laugh. “Knew I heard a gunshot! You owe me twenty bucks, Gord. This woman’s living Ash’s dream if she’s taking pot-shots at Zahn.”
Ash rolled her eyes and didn’t lower herself to reply. Instead, she looked around at the mess of police cars. “She’s the reason for this mess of cop cars. Damn. Figured we might get a chance to sort out what Zahn’s after tonight. Now…” She faded off, then scanned the open grounds in front of the Lot warehouse. “Oh, shit. Where’d he go? Gord?”
“Nah, nothing. Lost him.”
Ash punched the seat cushion. “How does he do that? Slippery as a greased eel. Never fails! I swore he lost me once on an open street in downtown Madrid in the bright sunshine.”
Jake stated the obvious, “To keep coming back here night after night, he must have found a relic.”
Ash glowered at him. “Tell me something I don’t know. But I need to know if it’s the relic he’s found.” She groused a little more, then waved irritably at the road. “Get us out of here. We’ll have to try again tomorrow.”
“Think he’ll be back?” Gord asked.
“Oh, he’ll be back.” Ash clenched her lips in a hard smile. “Whatever happened in there, he didn’t find what he wanted. Next time, maybe we won’t play so nicely. He’ll be back, and we need to be ready.”
* * *
Zahn pulled off the cowl of his invisibility cloak, breaking the enchantment. He looked back down the road, still feeling a little guilty about leaving.
Nor had leaving been his idea. Angelica had come back to herself, and her smile of thanks was something he would treasure. But then she insisted that he had to slip away if he could. Zahn had tried to put her at ease, more than willing to stay and report to the police what happened. No matter what he said, she hadn’t believed him. It was like she was reading right through him. She knew he didn’t want anyone asking why he was there so late at night, and letting him go was her gift.
Zahn shook his head, not quite believing it himself. She had him pegged right. He was worried. He might have saved her life. But he had learned the hard way that a person could go from being a witness to a suspect awfully fast. Not all police were living lie detectors, but if he ran into the wrong one with too much curiosity, he’d lose everything he had been working for.
So, he’d taken Angelica’s gift. She was covering for him. No-one would believe the crazed woman over the movie star. Maybe that was an injustice, but Zahn couldn’t care less. Dana had tried to hurt Angelica, so she deserved anything she got. He was a little guilty about how slipping away also let him escape any uncomfortable questions from Angelica about how he had stopped the insane woman.
Which left Zahn with a decision.
Should he go back?
Oh, he didn’t fear the police. Angelica would lead them off his trail. He didn’t doubt her, not for a second.
Problem was, Lot B was suddenly the hottest spot in Hollywood. A crime scene. Then, once they let the filming team back in, there would be twice as many reporters. Twice as many fans. They’d be swarming over Angelica and the whole cast, trying to get any tidbit of extra information to sell on the evening entertainment news.
He tried to stack up all the reasons not to go back. All the danger.
Who am I kidding ? Of course, I’m going back !
Not just for the treasure.
She’d protected him. There was just no way he wasn’t going to see Angelica one more time. To smile at her from afar. Let her know he was alright. To see her smile back, and know she would be alright.
Oh yeah. He was going back.
Chapter 2
Zahn strolled casually onto the Lot, mingling into the crowd of set workers. He caught sight of one of the lighting technicians. Sam had been a permanent fixture in the studio for over ten years. He was a great source of gossip and answers.
Sidling up to him, Zahn asked, “Either the pancake breakfast came early this year, or something weird is going on.”
Sam barked a laugh. “No such luck. See all the yellow tape? They’ve declared the inner studio as a crime scene.”
Zahn had been ready for that, so he hid his concern easily. If the police looked in every nook and corner in there, they might uncover what he was doing under the stage. His only hope was that his excavation site was far away from where Dana had taken her shot at Angelica. “That sucks. I’ve seen murder scenes locked down for weeks. Are we out of a job for a while?”
Sam snorted. “Maybe in some back-hole town. Do you think the company would let them shut down this Lot for that long?”
Zahn shrugged, purposefully guessing wrong. “Well, if someone died…”
Sam shook his head. “Nah. I heard some of the cops talking. Apparently, a gun was fired but no-one died. Couldn’t grab any of the details. Without a body, they’ll take some photos and we’ll be back on the Lot by tomorrow.”
“So, we’re just standing around for our health?”
Sam clapped him on the back. “Hey, showing up for work is why we don’t get fired! Figure the bosses will cut us loose for the day any second.”
“Thanks.” Zahn meant it. He could see the police officers were not tense. They looked bored, doing the routine work of collecting the small bits of evidence for an official investigation that wasn’t leading into the crime of the century. “Guess we’ll have to catch the details on the news.”
A second later, Angelica’s harried assistant Grace Harker shuffled over to them. Wielding her clipboard filled with all the tasks left to be done, she blew a puff of hair from her face and said quickly, “Mr. Zahn?”
Sam snickered. “Mr. Zahn? Next she’ll be calling me Mr. Sam?”
Zahn ignored him, not about to antagonize Grace over his lack of a last name on any file. He answered, “That’s me.”