Poppy Harmon and the Pillow Talk Killer

by Lee Hollis

  Greta tried adopting a motherly tone. “Let’s just calm down, Chase, and—”

  “No! He could have messed up my face, put the whole production, my career, in jeopardy!”

  Trent whispered under his breath next to Poppy, “He’s right about that. His face is his biggest asset. It’s not like he can rely on his acting skills.”

  Poppy resisted the urge to laugh. She raced over to Matt, who was holding a rag over his nose to stop the bleeding and was being attended to by Danika.

  “Are you okay?” Poppy asked.

  Matt nodded.

  “Where’s security?” Greta demanded to know. She then pointed at Matt. “I want him held until the cops get here.”

  “No!” Danika protested. “It wasn’t Matt’s fault. He was just trying to protect me.”

  Chase balked, nostrils flaring. “I can’t believe you’re taking his side, Danika! I was just being playful and this maniac went all Tyson Fury on me!”

  Poppy leaned closer to Danika. “Who is that?”

  “Boxer,” Danika whispered.

  “Who started it, Danika?” Greta asked.

  Danika stood resolutely next to Matt. “Chase started it.”

  “I don’t have to put up with these lies!” Chase bellowed. “I want that guy out of here, or I’m walking!” He then stormed off, kicking the upended lounge chair for emphasis as he left.

  Greta turned to Danika. “What happened?”

  “I came out here to swim some laps, get a little exercise in before I shoot my next scene this afternoon. Chase intercepted me and said he wanted to talk to me.”

  Greta threw her hands up impatiently. “About what?”

  “The same thing he always wants to talk about. Getting in my pants. The more I say no, the more he thinks it’s some kind of challenge. I tried to explain that I don’t think of him that way, but he got aggressive and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get him to stop. That’s when Matt showed up. I had sent him inside to get me a towel, and luckily he was around to come to my rescue. Again.”

  Poppy swelled with pride.

  She thought of Matt as her own son at times.

  “Okay, I’ll call Hal and the studio, give them the full report, see how they want to proceed,” Greta said. “In the meantime, Danika, I think it would be wise if your friend vamoosed so we don’t risk another UFC fight and possible lawsuit.”

  “Wrong,” Danika said looking Greta squarely in the eye.

  “I beg your pardon?” Greta asked, surprised.

  “Matt is part of my security team. I need him here on set with me. In case you’ve forgotten, there’s a crackpot on the loose stalking me. He’s already conned his way onto the set once.”

  “We have plenty of security on this production,” Greta assured her. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “You’re not hearing me, Greta,” Danika said evenly. “I’ve brought in my own people and they have every right to be here. In fact, it’s in my contract. I’d be happy to have my agents and lawyers call you to go over that particular clause with you if you’re unfamiliar with it.”

  Greta fumed, not used to being contradicted.

  “And I will be filing a complaint with SAG about Chase’s unacceptable on-set behavior. He needs to know harassing a co-star has real consequences.”

  And with that, Danika spun around and marched off in a huff, leaving Poppy trying not to smile in front of a chastened Greta Van Damm, who didn’t feel so all-powerful at the moment.

  Chapter 9

  Violet’s grandson Wyatt was resoundingly unimpressed with being on the set of a major motion picture. He had reminded his grandmother, who thought it might be a treat for the boy to see how a real live Hollywood film is made, that if they were shooting a Marvel movie like Dr. Strange or Black Panther, or even a James Bond film, he might be more enthusiastic, but this piffle was an icky sweet romantic comedy based on an ancient film from way back in the 1960s.

  Still, ever optimistic Violet had thought once Wyatt was physically on the set, observing all the action, maybe get to watch an actual scene filmed with two recognizable stars, he might change his mind and get a little more excited. But he didn’t. It was an imposition to be here instead of at his computer playing video games. When Matt had presented Wyatt to Greta Van Damm, she had mistaken him for the child actor playing Poppy’s grandson in the movie. Matt corrected her, explaining that Wyatt was the Desert Flowers tech whiz. She had erupted in derisive laughter. But when Wyatt began to spool off all the oppo research he had gathered on Chase Ehrens after his inappropriate behavior with Danika, Greta stopped howling and shut up to listen.

  Poppy hung back, not quite ready to reveal to Greta that she was, in fact, part of the Desert Flowers team when Danika called a meeting in her suite to discuss the information Wyatt had uncovered. Poppy explained her presence as being there for her friend Danika as moral support.

  Greta stood, arms folded, soaking up the intel as Poppy and Violet sat on a couch while Danika sat in a makeup chair in front of a fully lit mirror while her hairdresser fussed with her mane and Matt stood guard next to her.

  “Back in Idaho, Chase Ehrens didn’t exist. He legally changed it from Alvin Hicks once he got run out of Boise. This is what he used to look like.”

  Wyatt handed Greta his iPad. There was a mug shot of Chase aka Alvin and he looked nothing like the muscular leading man he was today. He was rail thin with sunken cheeks and a bulbous nose, the eyes still popped with color and you could see there was a handsome man beneath all the hard living, but he was nearly unrecognizable.

  “He definitely had his nose done,” Greta noted. “And no doubt joined a gym once he hit town.”

  Wyatt took the iPad back from Greta. “He’s got a long rap sheet back home. Possession of drugs, assault and battery, resisting arrest, I could go on, but you get the picture.”

  Greta raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, how old are you?”

  “I’ll be thirteen next month,” Wyatt said. “I happily accept Amazon gift cards if you’d like to get me a birthday present.”

  Greta cracked a smile. Poppy could tell she liked the kid’s moxie.

  “It’s obvious to us that Alvin came out here to reinvent himself and escape his violent, thuggish past,” Violet piped in. “Isn’t that right, dear?”

  Wyatt nodded. “Yes, Grandma. But you can change your name and even your nose, but you’re still the same person, and it looks like he hasn’t changed all that much.”

  Danika swiveled around in her chair. “I had no idea. . . .”

  “And how did you find out all this information?” Greta asked Wyatt.

  “We don’t reveal our sources and methods at the Desert Flowers Detective Agency,” Wyatt snorted.

  “I see,” Greta said, grinning. “Well, you’ve done a very thorough job. I am duly impressed.”

  “This is why they’re here,” Danika said. “To key us in to this kind of information. And now that we know, I do not feel safe having Chase Ehrens on my set . . . I mean, our set.”

  Greta nodded apprehensively. Firing the male lead this deep into the shoot wasn’t a decision she was keen to make. But Danika was the bigger name, the one carrying the picture, a big reason the movie got green-lit in the first place. And so she had to respect her opinion. “Hal is on his way out here from Bel Air. Let me call him in the car and bring him up to speed.” Greta turned and started out of the room, stopping next to Wyatt and smiling down at him. “Nice work, Scooby-Doo.”

  She left.

  Wyatt glanced around the room, aghast. “Did she just compare me to a dog?”

  Violet rushed over and hugged him. “I’m so proud of you!”

  Wyatt squirmed in her grip. “Grandma, please. Let’s try to maintain a little professionalism in front of the client.”

  Danika burst out laughing. “You are too cute, Wyatt.”

  Wyatt’s face lit up. Although he had tried so hard to give off an air of nonchalance, this hot older girl wi
th millions of Instagram followers had just called him “cute” and that was something he just could not simply ignore.

  Poppy stood up. “I’m in the next scene so I better report to hair and makeup.”

  “I’ll stay here and escort Danika to the set when they’re ready for her,” Matt said.

  Violet put her arm around her grandson. “I’ll drive Wyatt back to school. I told the principal’s office I was signing him out for a doctor’s appointment.”

  “Violet Hogan, you lied?” Poppy gasped.

  “I know, isn’t it terrible? Look what this line of work is doing to me!”

  And then she quickly ushered Wyatt out.

  When Poppy reported to the hair and makeup department, which had been set up in one of the smaller resort rooms, the altercation between Chase Ehrens and Matt Flowers was still the only topic anyone wanted to talk about. Poppy smiled to herself when the women and gay men who were busily applying eyeliner on the actors and rubbing globs of gel through their hair debated who was sexier, Chase or Matt, with most agreeing Matt won hands down.

  By the time they had finished with Poppy, and Timothy showed up to make sure she reported to the pool area set, Poppy got her first look at Hal Greenwood in the flesh. And there was a lot of flesh to take in because he had to be tipping the scale at over three hundred pounds. She had seen him on TV, mostly when watching Oscar ceremonies where his films usually won Best Picture. Poppy thought he might be a bit more appealing in person, but he wasn’t. He was just as sweaty and piggish with pasty white, pockmarked skin and beady, busy eyes that you didn’t really want to make contact with. His short, stout frame was stuffed inside an expensive suit, but with his protruding gut, there was no way he could button the jacket.

  At the moment, he was deep in conference with his wing woman Greta. Poppy assumed Greta was bringing Hal up to speed on the Chase Ehrens situation.

  Chase was oblivious to all of this, and at the moment was doing push-ups near the bar, shirtless, arm muscles straining as his hands pressed down on the floor, his perfectly round butt rising and falling.

  Trent, the director, was huddling with his German cinematographer, and it appeared as if they were close to shooting when Danika and Matt finally wandered in together.

  Poppy noticed Danika’s google-eyed gaze as she looked at Matt, and wondered if this was a good thing that the client appeared to be so besotted by him.

  Finally, Hal broke away from Greta and hustled over near the pool where he could address everyone, stopping briefly to ask Poppy, “Are you the new broad playing Nomi?”

  “Yes, Poppy Harmon.”

  He looked right through her and then turned away.

  Poppy assumed Hal had no reason to waste his time on a wide swath of the female population, presumably those over twenty-five years old. She had read in countless articles that Hal Greenwood was a pig. And he did nothing now to dispel that notion. Being called a “broad” by the dashing helicopter stunt pilot Roy Heller had been mildly titillating. Being called a “broad” by Hal Greenwood, not so much.

  Hal snatched a handkerchief from his back pocket to wipe the perspiration off his brow. “It’s damn hot out here in the desert! I’m melting! How do people live like this?”

  No one answered, assuming his question was rhetorical.

  “I’m serious! It must be horrible in the summer!”

  “It’s a dry heat,” Poppy found herself saying. “People don’t normally sweat so much out here.” She refrained from mentioning that the extra bulk he was carrying around might explain all the perspiration he was sopping up from his face.

  Hal ignored her. “So let me spell it out for you, people! I’m shutting down production for the day!”

  This suddenly got Trent’s attention and he ditched his cinematographer to race over to Hal. “Whatever for?”

  “We’re making some changes and I need some time before we’re ready to move forward again.”

  “I don’t understand,” Trent said, gobsmacked.

  “You don’t have to,” Hal literally spit out. “This is my film and I decide what’s best.”

  “But I’m the director!” Trent protested.

  “You know, France did the Hollywood industry no favors coming up with the auteur theory, making directors believe they’re the king on a movie set, when in reality they’re basically traffic cops!”

  Trent reared back, indignant. But he knew Hal was in one of his mercurial moods and he didn’t have the backbone to stand up to him. Instead, fear in his eyes, he whispered, “Are you firing me?”

  “No!” Hal barked. “I’m not firing you! But don’t tempt me! I’m firing him!”

  Everyone looked over at who Hal was pointing at with his pudgy finger. Chase was just wrapping up his two hundred and fifty push-ups. Sensing something was wrong, he tucked his knees in and sprang to his feet, surprised to find everyone on the set staring at him.

  “What’s going on? Who’s fired?” Chase asked.

  “You are!” Hal bellowed. “Get off my set!”

  Chase’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What?”

  “Sorry, kid, I don’t condone violence of any kind, and I got witnesses who saw you punching out a security guard for no good reason.”

  Chase’s eyes zeroed in on Matt. “He attacked me! I was just having a casual conversation with Danika—”

  “Come on, Chase, you know that’s not true,” Danika scoffed.

  Chase fumed, rage building, ready to explode like Mount Vesuvius, but he fought hard to keep his quick temper in check.

  Hal finished wiping the sweat off his face and then blew his nose into the handkerchief before continuing. “We also received an official SAG complaint about your inappropriate behavior during this shoot, sexually harassing another actor . . .”

  “Really? You of all people are accusing me—?” Chase stopped himself because he knew the power Hal Greenwood wielded in Hollywood.

  But the irony of the statement was not lost on anybody.

  Hal took umbrage at the implication no matter how dead-on accurate it was. “Plus, you’re a lousy actor.”

  That did it.

  Chase could accept the accusations of violent behavior and sexual misconduct, but he would never stand by and allow aspersions to be cast on his acting talent. “I will sue you!”

  Hal guffawed. “I would love that. Do you know how many lawyers work for me? How many lawsuits I’ve fought and won over the years? Go for it, man. I will suck you dry. Now you can walk out of here on your own, or I can have my goons carry you out.”

  The silence on the set was deafening.

  Chase sniffed, wiped his restructured nose, and then stormed off, but not before throwing a threatening look toward Matt, as if they still had unfinished business.

  Trent, still rattled by the whole scene, finally spoke up. “All right, you heard Mr. Greenwood, that’s a wrap for today.”

  The crew began to slowly disperse.

  Poppy hung back as Danika bounced over to Hal, whose chubby face brightened as she approached.

  “Hello, baby girl,” Hal cooed as he embraced Danika, rubbing his meaty hands all over her back. She didn’t flinch because she was obviously working him.

  “I want you to know, Hal, I am behind you one hundred percent on your decision to replace Chase. It was a totally toxic environment with him around.”

  “I want you to be happy, angel face,” Hal said, pulling away, but keeping his hands planted on her hips.

  “Do you have any thoughts on who you might bring in to replace him?”

  Hal shook his head. “Greta’s going to call around to the agencies to see if anyone on our short list is available. We’ll find someone great, trust me.”

  “I trust you, Hal,” Danika said, carefully extricating herself from his grasp. “Are you open to any suggestions?”

  “Of course, honey, you have to work with the guy, so I’d love to hear any ideas you might have?”

  Poppy stepped closer, intrigued.<
br />
  So did Matt.

  “I know it’s crazy, way out of left field, and he doesn’t have a lot of credits, but I know he could pull it off and he already has a lot of fans on this set.”

  Hal was hooked. “Who are we talking about?”

  “Matt,” Danika said.

  “Matt?” Poppy heard herself say out loud.

  “Me?” Matt cried.

  “Who’s Matt?” Hal asked, dumbfounded.

  Danika slid an arm around Matt. “This is Matt.”

  “Your security guard?” Hal asked, confused.

  “Yes. Hear me out. Matt’s also a very good actor. He showed me some of his theatre work on YouTube. He’s perfect! You should at least give him a screen test,” Danika said, not quite insisting but showing her teeth as the film’s true star.

  The blood drained from Trent’s face. He was not exactly on board with this casting prospect as he had been with Poppy taking over the much smaller resort owner role.

  Hal was perplexed as to what to do.

  Poppy could see he didn’t like the idea, but he had just fired his male lead and didn’t want to now alienate his female lead and her millions of Instagram followers so he promised to think about it.

  Poppy whipped her head around toward Matt, who was still in a state of shock, not quite sure what had just happened.

  Poppy, however, was relatively confident what was about to happen. Matt would have to start preparing for his first Hollywood screen test.

  Chapter 10

  There had been absolutely no expectation that Matt would assume the role of Jim Munroe in the Palm Springs Weekend reboot for Netflix. Matt himself had declined Trent’s reluctant invitation to take a screen test three times, explaining that his role on the set was to strictly look after Danika, keep her safe from the stalker who was still out there roaming around, and he should not be distracted in his mission. But Danika had continued to insist. It made sense to her that with Matt in the cast she would feel safer, more secure. Poppy suspected that she had a little crush on him, and knowing he had once been an aspiring actor, Danika wanted to help him out and make him like her more. But to Matt’s credit, he had resisted the urge to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That is until Danika threw down an ultimatum, strongly suggesting that she might terminate the Desert Flowers Detective Agency if she didn’t get what she wanted.