hadn’t turned in yet. There were still lights on all over the camp, and the occasional murmur of voices and laughter drifted up the drive.
It made tonight entirely different from the norm. Usually, the only light came from the moon and stars, the only sounds from crickets and an owl or two. On nights like that, the porch often put her in mind of a perfect movie setting for a first kiss.
Stealing a glance at Nick’s rugged profile, she told herself it was just as well the night seemed less romanticthan usual. Then she tried to ignore the imaginary voice that asked if she was sure she meant that.
He pulled the other chair around to face hers, lowered himself into it and took a swig of beer.
She watched the cords of muscle in his neck, too tired to make herself look away. “So?” she said when he lowered the bottle.
“Okay. We can come at things from three different directions. One, we consider motivation. Two, we decide who our prime suspects are. And three, we keep our eyes and ears open and hope our saboteur makes a mistake. But let’s start with motivation. Why would someone cause trouble? Who would have anything to gain from it?”
“Well, nobody has anything obvious to gain, because everybody working on a film wants it to be a box office smash. And everybody’s stigmatized to one degree or another if it’s a flop.
“I mean, its hardest on the director’s reputation, but it’s a black mark against the actors, too. And when word gets around about which crew members worked on a stinker, they sometimes don’t get offered many jobs for a while.”
“But Jay and Goodie have by far the most to lose.”
Carly nodded. “Jay being Jay, I imagine he’d really hate to be associated with a turkey. And if that’s what it turns out to be, Goodie’s bound to lose a lot of money.”
“Okay, then maybe we should be looking for a motive like revenge. I’ll bet Jay’s alienated a lot of people in the business.”
“I’ll bet he has, too. In fact…” She paused, her pulse skipping a beat as she remembered what Roycehad said earlier. There’d been so much going on, she’d forgotten all about it.
“What?” Nick prompted.
“Royce told me something earlier. A year or so back, Jay had an affair with Sarina Westlake.”
That was enough to make Nick lean forward in his chair. “Really?”
“Uh-huh. And Jay dumped her. At this point, neither she nor Garth has any use for him.”
“Then why on earth are they doing this film with him?”
Carly smiled wearily. “I asked Royce the same question. He said we’re dealing with Hollywood types, and nobody can explain half the stuff they do.”
“You’re sure Royce knows what he’s talking about?”
“He usually does. As far as I know, any gossip he told me last time we worked together was on the money.”
“Then I think we’ve just zoomed in on our prime suspects. Our saboteur could be Garth or Sarina or, most likely, the two of them working together.”
“You really think so? Don’t forget they’d be doing damage to their own reputations.”
“Maybe they figure it’s worth it And it would explain why they agreed to star in the film in the first place.”
“Yes…yes, it would, wouldn’t it.” Carly began to feel better. This detective stuff wasn’t nearly as hard as she’d imagined.
“Unless Goodie’s the target,” Nick said. “And it’s not Jay at all.”
The “better” feeling rapidly dissolved.
“Who would hate Goodie?” Nick pressed. “Aside from his soon to be ex-wife?”
“I don’t know of anyone else,” Carly said slowly. “But what about Barb?”
“Well, she probably would love to get revenge, especially if Royce was right and she isn’t Ms. Stability. But I don’t have the impression she’s Ms. Stupid, either, so I doubt she’d try to hit him in the wallet.”
“No?”
“Uh-uh. If Goodie got into divorce court and proved he’d just lost a bundle on this movie, it would likely reduce her
It made tonight entirely different from the norm. Usually, the only light came from the moon and stars, the only sounds from crickets and an owl or two. On nights like that, the porch often put her in mind of a perfect movie setting for a first kiss.
Stealing a glance at Nick’s rugged profile, she told herself it was just as well the night seemed less romanticthan usual. Then she tried to ignore the imaginary voice that asked if she was sure she meant that.
He pulled the other chair around to face hers, lowered himself into it and took a swig of beer.
She watched the cords of muscle in his neck, too tired to make herself look away. “So?” she said when he lowered the bottle.
“Okay. We can come at things from three different directions. One, we consider motivation. Two, we decide who our prime suspects are. And three, we keep our eyes and ears open and hope our saboteur makes a mistake. But let’s start with motivation. Why would someone cause trouble? Who would have anything to gain from it?”
“Well, nobody has anything obvious to gain, because everybody working on a film wants it to be a box office smash. And everybody’s stigmatized to one degree or another if it’s a flop.
“I mean, its hardest on the director’s reputation, but it’s a black mark against the actors, too. And when word gets around about which crew members worked on a stinker, they sometimes don’t get offered many jobs for a while.”
“But Jay and Goodie have by far the most to lose.”
Carly nodded. “Jay being Jay, I imagine he’d really hate to be associated with a turkey. And if that’s what it turns out to be, Goodie’s bound to lose a lot of money.”
“Okay, then maybe we should be looking for a motive like revenge. I’ll bet Jay’s alienated a lot of people in the business.”
“I’ll bet he has, too. In fact…” She paused, her pulse skipping a beat as she remembered what Roycehad said earlier. There’d been so much going on, she’d forgotten all about it.
“What?” Nick prompted.
“Royce told me something earlier. A year or so back, Jay had an affair with Sarina Westlake.”
That was enough to make Nick lean forward in his chair. “Really?”
“Uh-huh. And Jay dumped her. At this point, neither she nor Garth has any use for him.”
“Then why on earth are they doing this film with him?”
Carly smiled wearily. “I asked Royce the same question. He said we’re dealing with Hollywood types, and nobody can explain half the stuff they do.”
“You’re sure Royce knows what he’s talking about?”
“He usually does. As far as I know, any gossip he told me last time we worked together was on the money.”
“Then I think we’ve just zoomed in on our prime suspects. Our saboteur could be Garth or Sarina or, most likely, the two of them working together.”
“You really think so? Don’t forget they’d be doing damage to their own reputations.”
“Maybe they figure it’s worth it And it would explain why they agreed to star in the film in the first place.”
“Yes…yes, it would, wouldn’t it.” Carly began to feel better. This detective stuff wasn’t nearly as hard as she’d imagined.
“Unless Goodie’s the target,” Nick said. “And it’s not Jay at all.”
The “better” feeling rapidly dissolved.
“Who would hate Goodie?” Nick pressed. “Aside from his soon to be ex-wife?”
“I don’t know of anyone else,” Carly said slowly. “But what about Barb?”
“Well, she probably would love to get revenge, especially if Royce was right and she isn’t Ms. Stability. But I don’t have the impression she’s Ms. Stupid, either, so I doubt she’d try to hit him in the wallet.”
“No?”
“Uh-uh. If Goodie got into divorce court and proved he’d just lost a bundle on this movie, it would likely reduce her
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