“Veronica’s fall wasn’t an accident. Her line was cut.”

  Chris let out a heavy breath, taking her words in. Anxiety tightened his shoulders. “Cut. But that means…”

  “Someone on the crew has it in for her. And we still don’t know who. The producers and all the crew leads have spent the night trying to hash it out. I can’t believe it. Everyone here was hand-picked by me or someone I trust.”

  “No one else got on set?”

  “No. We’ve checked the guards’ ledger and the security cameras at the door. Unfortunately, even with dozens of cameras around this place, we didn’t have anything on the pole that was supporting the wires where they were cut from. Chris, if I don’t finish that scene today, the whole schedule is shot.”

  “Have the police been brought in?”

  “Of course. They’ve gone over all the evidence and taken reports, but there’s not much to go on yet, so their hands are tied.”

  Nodding, Chris tried to control the tide of anxiety rising within him. “How’s Veronica taking it. You’ve told her, right?”

  “Of course. She’s scared, as expected, but trying to hide it. I need you to help me reassure her. We have to finish this shoot today or we’re doomed.”

  Chris stood up and looked out the small window next to the door. The trailer lot was alive with activity now as the crew rushed around getting ready for the day’s work, even though the sun was just coming up. One of them was trying to hurt Veronica.

  “Keith should be the one you’re talking to.”

  Sam snorted. “Don’t throw that at me. I’m not stupid. Besides, it won’t be Keith up there on that wire with her. I need you, Chris.”

  “What precautions are you taking?”

  “We’ve re-fitted the whole rig, added a second safety line, checked every harness for tampering, and I have guards on everything––that I hired from an independent contractor I trust.”

  Chris nodded. “Let’s go talk to her. But I’m warning you, if it’s going to be too hard on her, you’re going to have to get creative. I won’t have any part of pushing her into something that makes her feel unsafe.”

  “Understood.”

  But when they went to Veronica’s trailer, she wasn’t there. “Dear heavens, I hope she hasn’t bailed on us,” Sam said.

  Chris shook his head. “She wouldn’t do that. Let’s get to set. I’d bet anything she’s there.”

  He wasn’t at all surprised to find that he was right. He was surprised to see her standing so calmly while being strapped into the harness. But despite the way she stood, still and placid, he sensed tension radiating from her. Maybe that’s why her eyes were closed—to allow her to focus her thoughts on something besides what she was about to do.

  “Are you okay with this?” he asked her.

  Her eyes popped open, and for just a moment, he saw panic in her expression. But she took a deep breath and nodded. “This is what I’m getting paid for. And I’ve walked over all of it with the stunt director. We checked it together.” She paused. “And you’ll be up there with me.”

  “Okay, Noodles, let’s do this.”

  “Chris?”

  “Huh?”

  “Call me Curly Top, or I’ll kick you in the teeth.”

  His smile twisted sideways, his emotions torn between humor, respect, and worry. With a salute to acknowledge her request, he turned to get harnessed and wired with a mic. In no time, they were being lifted up into the same position they’d been in yesterday, to pick up where they’d left off. Veronica was unusually solemn and quiet, so Chris watched her expression anxiously. The strength of his admiration nearly overwhelmed him. She was incredible. Courageous. Determined. Passionate. His heartbeat thundered in his ears as the full truth of his feelings hit him. Veronica had been the one to fall yesterday, but he’d been falling for the last couple of weeks now and only just now realized how deeply.

  But he had no idea how this would all shake out. For right now, though, it was enough that he knew. And enough that she needed him. Because she did.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Fine. Let’s get this done.”

  And they did. Because Veronica was a consummate actress. Despite her fear, she turned inward and sank fully into character. In the blink of an eye, as “Action” was called, she became Eden. Take after take, she submerged into the emotional realm of acting. Chris watched, amazed at her ability, while at the same time responding to it instinctively. Working with her, it was impossible not to give his best. And despite the lights, and boom mics, and green-screen sets, and cameras, they drifted apart in another world for moments together, time after time—giving every part of themselves to bring their characters to life. Because what they were creating was bigger than themselves.

  “Cut,” Sam called.

  Chris had lost count of how many takes they’d done but knew that it was likely not as many as Sam would have liked. He was glad she was taking care of Veronica, despite the huge challenge she faced to get this movie done on time.

  As they were lowered to the floor, Veronica was silent, but as soon as her feet touched the floor, she grinned. Her whole face lit up as if every light in the studio was shining on it. “I did it.” Then she leapt at him.

  He caught her in a hug. “You sure did. And you rocked it.”

  Letting her go sooner than he wanted to, he smiled as she stood with her head thrown back, self-satisfied glee on her face, while the stunt crew got her free of the harness. Then she strutted forward. “Let’s go eat some rabbit food, Captain Wonderful. We’re going to need our energy for the chase scene we’re shooting later.”

  Before he could answer, a flash of white caught his attention. Focusing on it, he saw a paper airplane drifting down from the scaffolding, twisting, dipping, swerving…and at last landing just ten feet in front of Veronica. Even as far away as he still was, he could see the writing on it.

  “Don’t touch that,” he called to her. Looking down at the stunt crew that was still unharnessing him, he said, “Get me out of this.”

  “Who’s up there?” Sam called, trying to peer past the bright, blinding lights into the black heights above them.

  While she called for the guards, the crew finally got Chris free. Striding forward, he passed Veronica, who’d frozen like a statue, and picked up the airplane. He unfolded it and stared down at the scrawled words and then read them aloud. “This is Kim’s role. Leave or die.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Veronica paced around Sam’s office and glared at the ugly carpet on the floor. Chris and Sam had whisked her away from the studio as soon as the note had been read. She’d been here in this room ever since with guards at every door and both Chris and Keith watching her as if some ninja was going to jump out of the nonexistent shadows and dispatch her.

  “We can’t just shut down because some lunatic sent me a juvenile threat.”

  “We can,” Chris said. “And we did. You might as well stop worrying yourself to death over it.”

  “I won’t let them stop this film. This is what they want, you know that, right? They want to keep me from playing this part. And one way or another, they are.”

  “But at least you aren’t hurt this way,” Keith said, folding his arms across his chest. “Babe.”

  Veronica glared at him. Did he have to make his attempts at sounding like her boyfriend so half-hearted? “But we’re also not making the movie, sweet thing.”

  The door opened then, drawing Veronica’s attention away from her jailers. “Sam, what’s going on?”

  Sam shrugged and sank into her chair. She looked like she was one cup of coffee away from hitting the floor. “We are just as clueless as we were before.”

  Rob came in behind her and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, and Alan clumped in like a disgruntled child and pulled his tablet out of his backpack.

  “Well, there’s nothing else to do but get right back to it, then.” Veronica swept her eyes around the room as she spoke, trying to judge everyone’s expressions.

  Rob rubbed his forehead. “I don’t see any way around it. Any more delays, and we’ll be bleeding money. If we aren’t up and shooting tomorrow with an accelerated schedule, there won’t be anything left in the budget to do the outdoor shots. And there are weather problems showing up on the fourteen-day forecast. Everything hinges on wrapping up the studio work in two days.”

  Sam groaned. “I don’t even know what to do. I’d pull in her stunt double and shoot wide as much as possible, but I can’t bring myself to ruin the upcoming scenes like that.”

  “And I won’t let you do that,” Veronica burst in, unable to hear another word. “This movie means as much to me, or more, than anybody in this room. And nobody is going to chase me off of it. Do you all hear me? I don’t care about the danger.”

  Nothing but silence filled the space after her words died away. She looked to Sam, who shook her head, and looked over to Rob. He sighed, but only stared back at her. Finally, she looked at Chris, pleading with him to help her. His expression grew pained, as if it physically hurt him to give into her, but he stood up and walked over to her.

  “Are you sure about this? Think about it. We don’t know who this person is. They have unfettered access to you, since we have no idea who they are, and we have no idea how far they’ll take this.”

  “Maybe we just recast,” Alan said.

  Veronica turned to look at him, shocked at the suggestion.

  “We’re two weeks into this shoot. Even if it would be safer for Veronica, we can’t afford to re-shoot.”

  “Seems to me we can’t afford to keep her,” Alan said. “Every day we have delays like this, the closer we get to having to abandon the whole project. Think what that would mean.”

  Rob looked sick; Sam actually turned gray. Veronica held her breath, afraid that if she moved at all, her dreams would shatter to pieces at her feet.

  “I figure, we get an investor in to pay for the extra weeks of production. We can move all the on-location stuff off a few weeks and maybe get better weather anyway.”

  “And where do you plan to pull this investor from?” Rob asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

  Alan shrugged and put his tablet back in his backpack. As he stood and put his arms through the strap, he said, “You’re the producer. I bet you could find some people. Especially if you gave the part to Kim.”

  Veronica felt like a pillar of ash ready to blow away in the slightest breeze. This was happening. They were considering it. She could tell from their faces. And Sam had wanted Kim from the beginning.

  “We can’t do that,” Sam said, but she didn’t sound convinced.

  Chris stepped to Veronica’s side, his strong warm fingers wrapping around her shoulders. “You seem awfully anxious to switch Veronica for Kim,” he said. There was a note in his voice that made him sound far more dangerous than she’d ever heard him.

  But Alan didn’t look intimidated. “I’m just saying what everyone is thinking. This psycho might not go away till he gets what he wants. Or she wants. Whatever. It might be the only way to make this happen. That’s all I’m saying. Take the advice or leave it. It’s not my problem what you do.”

  He left then, leaving a wake of destruction behind him.

  Sam and Rob looked at each other. Veronica watched them, knowing her fate rested on whatever silent communication flowed between them.

  “If you let Veronica go, you lose me too,” Chris said. “That’s final.”

  Keith stood up and walked to stand on the other side of her. He put his arm around her waist, which normally would have made her feel awkward. At the moment, she’d take every offering of support she could get.

  “I’ll walk too,” Keith said.

  Veronica knew immediately that she was safe. She slid an arm around each of their waists and squeezed, overwhelmed with gratitude for their friendship. Sam and Rob might be willing to lose her, but there was no way they’d lose two of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

  “Of course we’re not firing Veronica,” Rob said, just as if his indecision hadn’t been broadcast for all of them to see. “There’s nothing to do but push forward.” He walked toward Veronica and held his hand out. “We’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

  Since her right arm was wrapped around Keith’s back, she quickly moved it to shake Rob’s hand. “I know you will. And I’m safe so far, right?”

  “Yes, you are. And thanks for being a fighter,” he said. “We’ll pull this off yet.”

  It was only when he turned away to confer with Sam and Keith followed him that Veronica realized she and Chris were standing in the middle of the room with their arms around each other. She dropped her other arm quickly and stepped away, ignoring the bereft sensation that came from losing contact with him.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll never forget what you did for me today.”

  “You have nothing to thank me for. I spoke nothing but the truth. And as much as I don’t want you hurt, I can’t stand to see this taken from you either. No matter what it takes, we’re going to make this movie.”

  She nodded and hoped they weren’t tempting fate. “No matter what.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alan’s idea about finding someone else to help finance the movie was a great idea, even though the rest of his suggestions had been bunk. And Chris thought he knew just the guy. As soon as he’d had a chance, he’d called the man who owned the resort he’d once worked at when Kim had “discovered” him. He and Warren Drake were good friends now, and Chris knew he was always looking for good projects for a small production company he’d bought.

  The next two days were unreal—unlike anything Chris had ever seen in any of the seven movies he’d filmed. Extension cords were cut, cameramen tripped over obstacles left in weird places and broke expensive lenses, Keith was locked in the makeup trailer for thirty minutes while a locksmith was called, and Alan’s tablet with the master shot schedule—which was constantly changing due to all the catastrophes—went missing and turned up the next morning in one of the bus trays in the canteen, covered in sausage gravy.

  But despite all the sabotage attempts, Chris was able to push forward because nothing happened to Veronica. He made sure of that. If he wasn’t on set with her or in her trailer keeping an eye on her, then he made sure Keith was. Veronica also called in her manager, Deb, to stay close. The woman proved to be just as watchful and protective as he was—no doubt because she had a lot riding on Veronica’s success with this film. But she also seemed to care about her. Anyone that kept Veronica safe was welcome.

  Two days later, Chris sat eating sandwiches with Veronica while waiting to be called to set again when Sam stormed over and kicked a crate that stood against the wall.

  “What’s wrong?” Veronica asked.

  “Rob called me. All the broken equipment is adding up astronomically. The production is bleeding money again, even though we’re shooting.”

  Chris smiled. “Relax. I’ve got that covered.”

  “Got it covered?” Sam asked. “You aren’t proposing to front the money yourself, are you?”

  “And mansions and fancy cars,” Veronica teased.

  He sent her a look and then said, “I considered it, but too much of my money is tied up in investments. No, I figured we needed someone with very liquid resources, and lots of them. I called my friend Warren Drake.”

  “Warren Drake, the billionaire who owns Salt Fish productions?”

  “That’s him. He told me a few months ago that he was disappointed he didn’t get a bid in on the movie rights for the Fated Series. For him, this is a chance to work on the project after all.”

  “Does Rob know?” Sam asked.

  Chris shrugged. “Apparently not, but he will soon. But we should keep things quiet. Whoever is doing this will only get desperate if they think their attempts to stall things aren’t going to work. Sooner or later, they’re going to slip up, and we’ll catch them. In the meantime, stop worrying about the budget, Sam.”

  “I’ll stop worrying when I get word from Rob. But thanks, Chris. If that works out, it will be exactly the miracle we need around here.”

  As she walked away, he saw Veronica staring down at the bare cement floor with a frown on her face. “What’s wrong, Curly Top?”

  “All of this is because of me, and I hate it. Now someone else is having to dish out a load of cash just to keep us going. And that means the movie is going to have to be a smash to pull a profit. It’s a lot of pressure on everyone.”

  He stood and shifted his chair closer to hers. “Nothing that has happened is your fault.”

  “Maybe not by anything I did, but because of all the baggage I brought with me. I mean, if you hadn’t pushed to have me cast as Eden, they could have found another actress just as good as I am, or better. And it wouldn’t have been someone people hated for breaking up “Kis”. No vindictive fans, no production crises.”

  “Yeah, and if I hadn’t broken up with Kim, there wouldn’t have been a huge scandal and my fans wouldn’t have dumped all their weird hate on you. And maybe, if I hadn’t been an idiot, I never would have gotten tangled up with her in the first place. There are a lot of ifs that would change our current situation, but most of them would have led to us not making this movie together, and that isn’t okay with me. Because when this is done, it’s going to be magic for a lot of people who need it. And a lot of fans are going to be really happy.”

  “There you go, living up to your nickname again, Captain Wonderful.”

  He reached over and tugged on one of her curls until it straightened. When he let it go, it sprang right back up again. “No, just trying to live up to you. Now, dig out some of that resilience I know you have inside you, and let’s get ready to film again.”

  By the time they were done shooting for the day, Chris began to worry because he hadn’t heard anything from either Sam or Warren about a deal going through. He hoped there wasn’t a snag somewhere. Warren seemed enthusiastic about the project, but he also had an overdeveloped sense of caution at times.