Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Alden opened the passenger door for Roz, then walked around and slipped into the low seat and cranked up the Miata.
He left the roof up, sensitive to Roz’s desire to keep her hair tamed, even though it was pinned up in an adorable twist that made him want to undo it and run his fingers through it.
Wasn’t that half the fun in putting it up in the first place?
She was awfully quiet as the gate opened.
“You OK with what just transpired?” he asked as he rolled through and headed south on the beach road.
“What? Sorry, I was just thinking … and yes. You were clear. We report the truth. And we’re not out to make anyone’s life miserable. Unless he killed the guy.”
Alden snorted. “So I’m not the only one who had that thought.”
“I mean, he sounded more annoyed than angry, but he is a good actor.”
“Very good.”
“And he had opportunity—he could have confronted Wayne on Saturday,” Roz went on.
“No idea about him tampering with the vape pen, though. It does seem like two crimes. Tampering seems cold and deliberate, but anyone who spent time with him could’ve found a way to do that.
The thing is, they had no guarantee the vape pen would kill him.
Harm him, certainly. But kill him? Was it mischievous?
Malicious? While hitting him seems like an act of anger. ”
“The vape pen was certainly dangerous. Maybe the saboteur was ticked off that their battery hadn’t exploded yet and wanted to make sure of the thing,” Alden suggested.
“What an indirect way to kill someone. It’s America. They could’ve just shot him.”
Alden barked out a surprised laugh as he paused at a red light. “Sadly true, but you have a point. Even if it was all just a sinister prank gone horribly wrong, it’s a good story, what with all the broken dreams and celebrity connections.”
“And there’s more, don’t you think? I think Wayne was in the business of building up people’s dreams, but I don’t know if he ever intended to make any of them come true.”
“It does seem that way,” Alden agreed, pressing forward as the light changed. “Though Enolia seemed to like him. Maybe Mae did, too. Sheryl more than liked him. And who knows about Nicole Esquivel?”
“All of them women,” Roz noted wryly. “But have they told us everything?”
“They’ve told us very little,” he admitted.
“One thing we know for sure is that he hadn’t delivered on any of his promises.
Or maybe I should say implied promises, based on what Blake said.
How many of his acquaintances wanted him dead?
” They were getting into the more commercial area of hotels and restaurants and tourist emporiums. “Need anything before we head to the movie studio? Coffee? Hamburger? Novelty beach towel?”
She snickered. “Thanks, but I’m good for now. Though maybe we can hit the Milky Way sometime. I’ve been craving their butter pecan ice cream.”
“Funny, I was just thinking we need to go back there.”
She gave him a warm look, and he knew she was remembering that lovely day when he talked her into staying in Comet Cove.
“I should probably work off that Reuben sandwich first,” she said.
“I can think of a few ways to do that.” He shot her an impish grin.
“Ha!” He loved her flustered smile. “We have to work work,” she told him, pulling her laptop from her bag. “I’m going to type up some of these notes while you get us to the studio.”
“Which is where exactly? Other than near the airport.”
“Oh, right.” She picked up his phone where it was plugged into the car’s upgraded electronics and started the navigation.
Alden let her work on her laptop as he wended south and eventually over the inlet bridge (how many times a week did he drive over that bridge?). He drove past the southside neighborhoods, the wildlife preserve and Vesper Lakes Golf Club.
The land started to open up a bit, with patches of scrub pine and palmettos between sprawling lots and industrial-looking businesses. The far south end of Comet Cove still had room for development, though maybe not for long.
What developers giveth, hurricanes taketh away, he mused. Though there was no sense in borrowing trouble.
As they slid past the small airport and its attendant hangars, more warehouses came into view.
Some were kept well, but as they turned west down a poorly paved road, they found a less promising destination: a complex of hulking, weatherbeaten metal structures with an air of abandonment, surrounded by a six-foot-tall chain-link fence.
Alden pulled up outside a double gate, which stood open, padlock and chain dangling from one side. A small sign bore only the street address—no other labels, not Vandershell Studios or whatever it was supposed to be called. And no obvious movie set.
Roz had put away her laptop and stared through the windshield. “Doesn’t look like much.”
“And you want to get a picture.”
“Yeah, since Kai couldn’t make it. He’s been ordered to the golf course.”
“Again.” Alden glanced at her. “Shall we?”
“Might as well. I’m guessing Sebastian is already in there since the gate is open.”
“Why do I feel like I’m entering a scene in a horror movie?” He drove through anyway, tires crunching on gravel.
“I think you have movies on the brain.”
“Can you blame me? I got to touch Blake’s button compass!”
She laughed out loud. “Hey, look—that must be Sebastian.”
As they moved up the drive, a large black SUV came into view, parked by one of the warehouses. And beyond, more structures with a hint of color.
“Could that be the street set he told me about?” she asked with enthusiasm.
“See, I’m not the only one with movies on the brain.”
“Well, it’s cool. Imagine if there really were a movie studio here.”
“And even more starlets underfoot,” he said.
“Not that you would mind. Speaking of, who was that Lexie person? Blake’s girlfriend?”
He stopped the car next to the SUV, turned it off and turned to look at her. “Really? You don’t know? It’s Lexie Wintergarten. She won a supporting actress Oscar last year. And she’s got to be twenty years younger than he is. He’s a lucky guy. She’s talented and beautiful.”
“Really.” Roz smirked at him. “And no, I had no idea.”
“She’s not as beautiful as you.” He leaned in and gave her a tender, lingering kiss, and she sighed. “Ready?” he asked.
Roz blinked and smiled. “Yes.”
He always liked hearing her say yes.
As they climbed out of the car, the SUV engine’s rumble stopped and the driver’s door opened. Sebastian Esquivel stepped out. Or, more accurately, down—the behemoth vehicle was twice the height of Alden’s.
“I see you found it. Behold the Hollywood glamour,” Sebastian said. He was a sturdy guy with dark hair wearing something that looked like a golfing outfit. Alden appreciated the sarcasm.
Roz spoke. “Sebastian, this is Alden Knox. He’s working with me on the story.”
“Nice to meet you,” Alden said. They shook hands, and Sebastian gave him a knowing look. So he’d seen the kiss. Alden didn’t care. If Alden had his way, he and Roz would be making out. Or holding hands and gamboling up and down the beach.
Maybe later. He did have some work ethic.
“Have you started work inside these buildings?” Roz asked while digging her camera out of her bag.
“Work, yes, though it might not be obvious to the eye,” Sebastian said as they walked with him down the gravel road.
He gestured to one of the four warehouses; there were two on each side of the road.
“My crew did a little work on this one to make it structurally sound and started framing out a control booth and adding wiring, but the money I’d budgeted for this phase ran out pretty quick with Wayne not pitching in. Not much to see.”
The closest warehouse looked a little better than the others, but Alden never would’ve guessed it had any work done.
“How did funding work, exactly?” Roz asked, snapping photos.
“We had a contract and an escrow account we were both supposed to contribute to,” Sebastian replied.
“Only he provided the lawyer who was supposed to oversee it, and I think the guy wasn’t totally honest. Because Wayne hadn’t invested his share by the time he died, even though we’d signed the agreement.
I blame myself for taking him at his word. ”
“What happens now that he’s dead?” Alden asked.
“That’s a good question. I need to ask my lawyer to look at the agreement,” Sebastian said. “I know I should’ve paid more attention, but I never foresaw any of this happening—Wayne flaking on me and then him dying.”
They walked on for a minute toward the odd structures before Roz asked, “Is that the movie street you told me about? If the warehouse isn’t interesting, maybe we could see the set.”
“‘Set’ is a strong word. I’ll show you what we’ve got. It’s not much.” The builder led them forward. As they rounded the curve, more of the colorful structures came into view.
They were—houses. Only something wasn’t quite right about them.
They were cute—a cottage with white siding, a two-story brick affair, a yellow stucco bungalow, all with colorful trim—set close together on a paved road.
They looked plucked from an idyllic suburban neighborhood, complete with green lawns (fake grass, Alden thought), pretty landscaping, a sidewalk and mailboxes.
But the paved “street” stopped several feet beyond them on either side.
And a fourth “house” stood half-built, a fraction of facade surrounded by wood framing, with nothing behind it at all.
It became clear as they got closer that the three perfect houses were also illusions, fancy fronts with convincing side walls and partial roofs, if you didn’t look at them from too much of an angle.
With no dressing on the windows, it was easy to peer inside and see that the empty indoor spaces stopped a few feet beyond the front walls.
Sebastian halted in the middle of the paved street. “We had plans to build them out, make real buildings with some interior locations as well as exteriors. Add to the street, maybe make a town square.”
“Like a real backlot,” Alden said. “That’s ambitious.”
Sebastian caught Alden’s skeptical tone. “Like I told Roz, movies aren’t my business. I trusted Wayne. I have no idea if this would’ve worked. If filmmakers would come here.”
Roz seemed fascinated. “These look great, even if you didn’t finish them. We have a lot of beautiful locations in the area, too. I could totally see this working. I mean, if it was ever completed. But I’m not in the biz either.”
“There you go,” Sebastian said. “It’s easy to forget the practicalities. I’m not a creative type, but the idea caught my imagination. Maybe I got in too deep.”
“Mind if I walk around to take some pictures?” she asked.
“Go ahead.” Sebastian waved a hand at the mini street.
So she did, snapping Sebastian talking in front of the structures, getting a few shots from the back to show the illusion. Finally, she asked, “Are there any other sets or locations?”
“This property goes all the way to the lagoon, but we haven’t done much with it yet. There’s a small lake and a wooded area. Both would be great for filming, or so I was told.” Sebastian seemed resigned to his “studio” becoming a ghost town.
Yet Alden could see how he’d been enticed to build this. He, too, could imagine movies shooting here. “We’d love to see the rest.”
“It would involve hiking through the scrub,” Sebastian answered. “I’d rather we didn’t.”
“Oh, well.” Roz stuffed her camera back in her bag. “Too bad we don’t have a drone. We could shoot it from above.”
Sebastian’s face lit up. “I can do you one better. Want to fly over it?”