CHAPTER 54
Jess got to her feet. “ Shit!” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Emily must have told Doug what was happening – or what was supposed to happen. He thinks Afric is here, in bed!”
“Afric?” Doug called again. “Do you think you could let us in?”
Adam pushed Jess towards the bedroom. “Get into bed and hide as much of your face and hair as you can.”
Jess flashed him a horrified look. “What are you going to do? I can’t pretend to be Afric – I don’t even look like her!”
Adam dropped his voice to a furious whisper. “It never stopped you before.”
“That was different!” Jess hissed. “I was in a wedding dress and I was miles away and –”
The doorbell chimed again. “Afric? I’ll have to go and get housekeeping if you can’t –”
“One moment, please!” Adam called loudly. He glared at Jess and pointed to the other room.
Jess glared back but she hurried into the bedroom and closed the door.
Shit! The entrance to the tunnel was destroyed.
It’d be the first thing they’d see if they came in – this was never going to work.
Frantically, she looked around the room until her eye fell on the Victorian privacy screen in the corner. Perfect!
As quietly as possible she started to drag the screen across the room to the fireplace, freezing when she heard voices outside in the sitting room. Crappity crap! Quickly, she dragged the screen into place, making sure that it was close to the fireplace to hide the damage.
Heart pounding, she kicked off her shoes, shoved them under the bed and slipped under the covers, turning on her side away from the door.
She pulled the duvet up to her nose and tucked her hair tightly out of the way.
In an effort to relax, she deliberately took a few deep, slow breaths and closed her eyes.
She tensed when she heard the bedroom door open quietly.
“Please don’t talk loudly,” she heard Adam say in a stage-whisper.
He was warning her. She concentrated on breathing steadily, but she could feel her pulse racing.
“So she’s asleep right now?” It sounded like Doug. And he sounded relieved. Did he believe she was really Afric? It didn’t matter – he seemed happy to play along.
“Seems a bit fucking convenient that she’s asleep, Doctor,” one of the other men said.
There was a doctor? This was getting worse.
“She was vomiting for two days,” Adam said calmly. “I was called out to give her a shot to stop it now. But she’s exhausted and she needs to rest.”
“She can’t just sleep the whole day,” the man said. “The shoot’s already been delayed enough.”
“She’ll need another few hours.” Adam sounded firmer.
Under the covers, Jess dug her nails into her palms and resisted a sudden, nervous urge to laugh.
There was some sighing and muttering. Then Jess heard a third male voice that she presumed was the other producer.
“We’ll give her one more hour. Then we want to see her.”
She thought she could hear the faint creaking of floorboards as they left but she stayed where she was, hardly daring to move.
After a few moments, there was the distinct sound of a door closing, and then someone came back into the room and sat on the bed.
She turned and opened her eyes, releasing a breath when she saw it was Adam.
“You pretended to be a doctor?” She sat up and threw the covers off her.
“Only thing I could think of.” Adam ran a hand through his hair. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine. We need to find Afric.”
“Can I persuade you to see an actual doctor first?”
Jess smiled sweetly. “Nope.”
“Thought as much.” Adam rolled his eyes. “Okay, let’s find Afric. We only have an hour.”