Chapter 7 #2
John’s brow stayed furrowed. “Maybe some algae collected. Mark, send a diver to investigate this spot.” Professional divers had been hired as advisers so were already on set.
“How was the scene?” Elise asked sponging water from her hair with the towel.
“Perfect. Your expression was priceless.”
She arched a brow. “So, I was right to do it and not my double?”
“Don’t misunderstand. I knew it would be better with you, but I’m paid to worry about our star. Which is why I’m concerned about what you got tangled in.”
“Then, I’ll let you off the hook.” She gave his arm a squeeze. “We’re done for today, right?”
“Yeah, we killed you off. Your character never surfaces. We may need to do some re-shoots for other scenes but not today. We’ll start on them tomorrow. You have the schedule already.”
“Right.”
She headed toward her trailer. Once she got there, she refused to check her phone to see if Finn called her. He was supposed to be back from the conference today. Instead, she showered and dressed in street clothes.
Then she picked up the phone and buzzed her driver. “I’m ready to go home, Jimmy.”
“I’m down the road. I watched the scene today where you jumped. You were perfect, Ms. Preston.”
“Thank you. See you in a few.” She checked her messages and there was nothing from Finn.
Elise lost her willpower halfway home. “Jimmy, can you take me to Finn’s house on the canal?” Even though he hadn’t called her, she told herself she had every right to go to his house, after they’d made love before he left.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She chided herself all the way there. It was only six p.m. so she couldn’t see if lights were on inside his house. His car would be in his garage. She got out of the limo and headed down the path when she heard laughter coming from the back. She headed there.
And found Finn leaning against the railing laughing. His hair was beautifully windblown and that cute lock fell into his forehead. A woman stood between his legs, which were apart, and he held her by the hips.
Elise gasped.
Finn’s head snapped to the side. He set the woman back from him and crossed to her. “Elise, what are you doing here?”
“What are you doing?”
“Me? I’m entertaining a woman.” But his face had reddened. He knew this was bad.
“You’re on a date? After what happened between us before you left for the conference?”
“Yes. I--”
She slapped his face, said, “You son of a bitch,” and strode away. She stumbled a couple of times before she reached the road and threw herself into the car. “I’m ready to go home, Jimmy.”
“Are you all right?”
“I was…I wasn’t welcome here.”
“I’m sorry.”
She said hoarsely, “Yeah, me too.”
* * *
Because she’d been up so late the night before, Scarlet had little energy when she arrived at the collective the next morning.
But it was her turn to run the bimonthly group meeting so she parked next to a truck displaying Hampton Construction on the side.
Grabbing her package, she headed into her studio, then out the door to the break room area.
She wasn’t surprised to hear commotion on the other side.
She took in the group members who were already seated. “Hey, everybody.”
They greeted her.
She held up a box. “I brought a cake for Finn.” She placed it on the counter adjacent to the table then joined them.
And made small talk until Finn arrived. “Hey, gang.”
They clapped.
Finn rolled his eyes. “I’ve only been away from this place ten days.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Oliver rose and hugged him. These two were the closet friends among them. “We missed you.” He gestured to the counter. “We got a breakfast cake, cinnamon apple, your favorite.”
Scarlet said, “Do you want to have the meeting or the cake first.”
Finn smiled. “Let’s get to the meeting first.”
The two sat with the four others.
Scarlet said, “We have two things to do today. First, we want to catch Finn up on what’s happened since he’s been out.
” She gestured to the other side of the gym area.
“We’ve started the construction for a second coffee/juice area for clients.
The company we hired agreed to do it when we’re closed. You can see the progress later.”
“I’m glad to hear we’re moving ahead with that.”
“They’ll work from 6-11 at night and Sundays.”
Juliet smiled at her. “That’s a great find.”
“Next up,” Scarlet said scanning the whole group.
“We need to talk about hiring security for this collective. We mentioned it right after you got hurt, Finn. But we never decided anything. Then you and Oliver went away. Daisy proposed we hire a security guard for after dark and Sundays. We’ll vote on it today. ”
“I’ll start.” Daisy sat forward in her seat.
“I for one don’t want to be endangered in any way.
I have a kid to raise. And I checked with the police.
The only thing they do after an incident like this is drive into the parking lot a couple of times a night.
And only for a few weeks. Then we’re on our own. So I’m a yes to private security.”
“I have a question.” This from Juliet. “If we have a guard, will he or she carry a gun like the police?”
Heath spoke up. “He’d have to, wouldn’t he?”
“I morally object to guns,” Juliet put in. “But I’m voting yes because I’m scared.”
Daisy said, “We’re all a little scared, Jules.”
“What about the rest of you?”
Oliver said “Yes,” and Heath echoed it.
Finn agreed, too. He zeroed in on Scarlet. “You’re the last one, Scarlet. What do you think?”
Scarlet’s heartbeat sped up. No one had any idea how much she was against this. “I hate guns, too. But I don’t have an alternative. We need armed protection, at least until Finn’s attacker is found.”
“So that’s all of us.” Daisy sighed. “How do we go about this?”
Heath spoke up. “There are security firms in Rockford that provide this service. My office used Kirkland Security when our medical building was bombed. A former Secret Service agent runs the place. I was in on the hiring. We had no more incidents after that and we kept the guard on.”
“Would you take the lead on this, Heath? Maybe pick another one of us to help you. I think we should trust a couple of us to make the decision on who it will be in order to hurry up the process.” She scanned the room. “Does anyone volunteer to work with Heath?”
Oliver said, “I’ll help you.”
“I’m proposing that we let Heath and Oliver hire the guard. No need for all of us to interview one.”
The group voiced a unanimous yes.
“I’m glad this is decided,” Daisy said. “I feel better already.”
“I’m glad, too,” Scarlet added. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”
When no one spoke, Scarlet said, “Then, let us eat cake!”
They headed to the counter.
* * *
Four hours later, an explosion in the Harmony Healing Collective rent the air.
* * *
At one a.m., the six collective members drove into the collective parking lot, joining several police cars, parked at angles, with their lights on and their motors running. Halogen lamps had been set up to flood the space with light.
All six members exited their vehicles.
“If this isn’t a motley crew,” Oliver remarked when they gathered.
The practitioners were in various states of dress.
Heath wore pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved red T-shirt; Finn had on jeans and a green sweatshirt, sneakers with no socks; Oliver himself wore a blue sweatsuit, Daisy a purple one; Juliet a pink yoga outfit, and Scarlet had what appeared to be a red nightgown under a light raincoat.
A plainclothes cop approached them where they’d stood together. “’Evening, everyone. I don’t know all of you but I have the list of the practices here and who runs them.” He held up a clipboard.
“Can we go inside to the lounge were we can sit and see each other?” Scarlet asked.
“I’m afraid not. This is a crime scene and it’s taped off. The bomb squad found incendiary devices in the common area. It went off.”
“Were any of the practice studios affected?” Finn asked.
“There’s a couple of scorched doors. Lightly, though so I don’t think they need to be replaced. Other than that, just some smoke.”
“What can we do?” Heath wanted to know.
“Nothing, now. I thought you’d want to see for yourselves what happened at your place of business. Also, you obviously have to cancel today’s sessions.”
Juliet said, “How long will our studios be off limits?”
“I don’t know. But you all need to be questioned.”
“Together?”
“No. Some of the questions will be personal.”
“Do we have to go down to the station tonight?” Oliver asked.
“No, first thing in the morning, though. You can leave now.”
When the officer walked away, Oliver said, “I live close by. Anybody want to come over and debrief?”
“Nothing to debrief.” Heath’s tone was frustrated. “We don’t know anything.”
“Then for company? I know I won’t sleep.”
The six of them agreed. Even Heath. This was a hell of a development. And ironic. They’d just agreed today to hire a guard for protection.
* * *
Ensconced on Oliver’s comfortable couch, Juliet asked, “Heath, did you get a chance to call Kirkland Security today?”
Heath nodded. “I did. I made an appointment with them for tomorrow. I told them we had an urgent need for a guard.”
“Little did we know how much.” Daisy scowled. “Damn it. We dilly-dallied on this from the day we first talked about it. If we’d hired someone sooner this wouldn’t have happened.”
Juliet said, “I don’t think we need to dwell on that. We should have acted sooner. We didn’t. We have to go forward.”
Finn scowled. “This has got to be the same person who attacked me, right? Or at least he’s connected with my attack.”
“I’d guess.” This from Oliver. And from the others. Except for Scarlet.
“Scarlet, are you all right?” Juliet asked.
“No, I’m upset. I had high hopes for this place.”
“I still do,” Juliet put in. “This doesn’t change anything.”
“We have to hire an armed guard. That changes things for me.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Heath answered. “Lots of places have security. As I said, we have one at my practice in the city. Kirkland Security is booming because people are hiring them.”
“I can’t wait until the appointment with Kirkland tomorrow.” Oliver put in. “We’ll all feel better after we get someone.”
From the looks on their faces, it was obvious that they were all trying hard to believe Oliver’s comment.