Chapter 26
Evie
The Production Hold
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Skye, dressed as Riley, glanced up at me from the reception desk, an annoyed look on her face.
I shifted my purse on my shoulder and looked behind her. “I’m here to have lunch with my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” She cocked an eyebrow then looked me up and down, her distaste for my appearance clear. We were total opposites, with my all-black ensemble and her orange dress reminiscent of something from the sixties’ sunshine era. “Are you sure you have the right business? This is—”
“Amity Incorporated?” I turned my body and pointed to the large sign behind me. “I’m positive I’m in the right place.”
“Well, I don’t think—” She rose slowly, preparing to ask me to leave.
“Lucy! You’re here!” Sebastian, as Ronny McCoy, entered through a glass door, wearing a dark-gray suit, his hair slicked back.
He strode over and put an arm over my shoulder, pulling me close.
“Riley, this is my girlfriend. I told you she was coming this morning. Did you forget?” He laughed, not catching the tense energy between us.
Skye scowled and then looked down at the stack of papers on her desk. “Must have. Oops.”
“Cut!” Dante called, and we all instantly relaxed.
I stepped out of Sebastian’s hold and turned to Skye. The moment our eyes locked, we burst into laughter. She gave me a fake scowl, scrunching up her nose and pursing her lips.
“Lay off my man, you bitch.”
I raised my fist and shook it like an old man trying to get kids off his lawn. “You’ll have to fight me first.”
Dante came over and gave us notes so we could run the scene again. “Let’s try one with less shade and more...denial. Skye, you’re shocked that Lucy is here and hurt when Sebastian reminds you he has a girlfriend.”
We reset and ran the scene again, and then two more times, changing little things here or there so that Dante and the editors would have things to work with.
We shot until noon and then cut for lunch.
I hurried to my trailer to take a quick nap.
After the livestream last night—and the murder of another man on my list—I’d tried to sleep but overall had been unsuccessful.
By the look of the bags under Sebastian’s eyes when he drove us here a few hours later, I thought he was in the same boat.
I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep, waking up to my alarm an hour later.
I rolled over and stretched, feeling refreshed and prepared for the next six hours. It wasn’t a full sleep but manageable.
I stepped out of my trailer and went to hair and makeup for touch-ups. I was still in my chair, thinking about how it was technically my first murder, but it was the second man off my list, when Dante’s assistant came in, wringing their hands.
“Evie, uh, there are police here. They want to talk to you?”
The breath escaped my lungs, and I raised my eyebrows. Forcing myself to react minimally, I looked at him through the mirror. “What about?”
“They wouldn’t say. Dante said to call your agent.”
“Right, okay.” I pulled out my phone and texted Antoinette, then started to text Sebastian, but I realized that could be incriminating if they wanted to look through my phone at any point.
The makeup artist finished touching up my hair, and I got up, following the assistant to one of the offices, where two policemen in uniform were waiting. One was a tall Black man with a mustache, the other a short but muscular Hispanic man with thick eyebrows. Their faces were grim.
Had someone ratted us out about Dourif? My stomach rolled with nerves as I stared at their serious expressions.
“Hello. I was told you wanted to talk to me?”
“Yes, Miss Reyes. Please sit.” They motioned to the seat on my side of the table.
We sat down. I kept the look of confusion and boredom plastered on my face. I refused to give them anything.
The Hispanic officer, whose name tag said Reyna, spoke first. “We wanted to speak to you today because we are investigating a missing person’s case. Glenn Thornton.”
I raised my brows. Glenn? He’d been dead for over a month now. What had they found?
“Glenn? Did you find him?” I leaned forward.
They exchanged glances. “I’m sorry to inform you that Glenn is dead.”
My mouth fell open, and I covered my face with my hand. “No!”
“Some of his remains were recovered by hikers. He’d been...scattered by scavengers.”
“Scattered?” I gaped. While my surprise was false, my nerves were real. My insides were twisting so tightly it hurt.
“Do you need water?” asked the Black officer with the tag June, offering me a plastic bottle on the table.
Water meant fingerprints.
I shook my head and inhaled deeply. “So, Glenn is gone.”
“Yes,” Officer June said. “And we were told by some of the staff that you two had been dating shortly before he went missing.”
“Dating is an overexaggeration.” I rolled my eyes. “We had drinks one time because he saw me at a bar, and then we flirted and texted some. We had plans to go for dinner, but he went missing before we could.”
Reyna scribbled it all down. “I see. So, you never saw him the day he went missing?”
“What day was that? The last time we spoke, he was helping me move back into my mother’s home. He was going to stay and help me unpack, but then we fought on the way there, so I pulled over and let him out. That was like…over a month ago.”
“You fought? About what?” Officer June leaned over the table. “Where did you leave him?”
They were eating this shit up.
“A few blocks from my house.” I shrugged. “I’d just been cast opposite Sebastian, and he didn’t like that Sebastian was making his...feelings clear. He wanted me to turn the role down, and I said no.”
“Feelings?”
I sighed and sat back, crossing my arms. “I’m sure you’ll see it soon if you haven’t already.
Sebastian and I dated briefly a few years ago, and there were some residual feelings on his side when he saw me on set the first time.
He made that known, and Glenn felt like Sebastian wasn’t respecting him, as Glenn and I had just started talking.
Honestly, it was just one big pissing match between the two. It was dumb.”
“And was Sebastian happy when Glenn went missing?”
“Of course,” I said, pausing. “Just like most of the production team. Honestly, I hate to speak ill of the dead, but it sounds like I dodged a bullet. I’ve never heard anyone say anything pleasant about Glenn, other than his good looks.”
They nodded in unison, as if that was what they’d heard too.
“So, you know Sebastian. Do you think he’s a violent man?”
I laughed. “Sebastian? Maybe to himself. He talks a big game, but I don’t think he did anything to Glenn, if that’s what you’re asking. He didn’t seem to care that he was gone. Just like everyone else. It’s sad he’s dead, but I don’t think Sebastian had anything to do with it.”
“I see. Well, thank you for speaking with us. We’ll let you get back to work.”
I stood and shook their hands. “Of course. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful. I barely knew the guy.” I started out but then paused at the door. “Am I allowed to tell people?”
They looked at each other then nodded.
“That’s fine. Maybe one of them will know something.” Officer Reyna pulled a business card from his pocket and leaned over to give it to me. “If you hear something, give us a call.”
“Sure thing,” I said. Turning slowly, I slid the card into my pocket and did my best to walk out the door with my shoulders high but not cocky. I needed to look aloof, but also confident. I passed Skye on the way and gave her a sympathetic smile.
Her fixed grin fell off her face. “What happened? Is someone dead?”
I nodded. “Glenn.”
“Glenn!” She slapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh, my God.”
“Yep. Good luck.” I patted her on the shoulder.
“Good luck? What does that mean? Am I being investigated? I didn’t do anything.”
“I know that. I didn’t mean anything by it. Just good luck not crying in front of the officers.” I forced a laugh, and she wiped at the tears that had already started.
“Right, I know. I’m a baby sometimes. I didn’t even know the guy. It’s just so sad.”
I left her and returned to set. We needed Skye for the scene, so we shot other things, including some behind-the-scenes videos to post on my channel.
Skye’s interview took longer, presumably because they let her sit there and cry.
She returned with a puffy face and red eyes.
Bryce was next, but we were able to film without him, so we finished our scenes for the day and started toward our trailers to undress and go home.
Word about Glenn had spread fast. Everyone was talking about it in hushed tones.
Bryce caught me as I was leaving. Sebastian was with me. Since he’d driven me here, he had to give me a ride home. “That’s crazy about Glenn, ain’t it? Ripped apart by vultures.”
“Is that what happened?” I leaned over to look at him, feigning shock.
“Well, that’s what I heard.”
We reached the parking lot and stopped in front of our cars.
Bryce took a long drag of his cigarette then winked at Sebastian and me. “Sounds like they bought it. I say, whoever did it? Good for her.”