Walker Spirit

by Bernadette Marie

  “That’ll be thirty dollars,” she said looking up at the man.

  He handed her a fifty. “Keep the change. I appreciate you getting me in on such short notice.”

  “Are you sure? It was my pleasure.”

  “Absolutely sure. I’ll make sure to let Pepper know she was right, this was a great place to come,” he said as he turned with a small wave and walked out the front door.

  Audrey dropped down in the chair behind the counter. Her hands shook. And once again, her heart ramped up in her chest.

  Madison walked over to her. “Are you okay? Can I get you some water or something? You’re awfully pale.”

  Audrey sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll be fine. I must’ve just got hot. Give me just a moment.”

  Madison agreed, but watched her as she stood and walked to the back room. Audrey pulled her phone from her bag and looked down at the screen. No text messages, no phone calls. She pressed a hand to her stomach, and it turned just by the thought of the woman’s name. Why was she still on the set? She didn’t trust the woman.

  Audrey tucked the phone back into her bag and took a few deep breaths. She wondered if they’d let her on the set. She took her phone back out and texted Kent. He would be easier to reach. She asked him to leave her a pass, and she’d be there in two hours.

  Luckily, he texted her back quickly. The pass will be waiting for you.

  She tucked the phone back in her bag. Perhaps facing the problem head-on would make it go away.

  27

  The moment Audrey was done with Madison’s hair, she headed toward the set.

  As promised, Kent had a pass for her waiting at the guard station. The guard checked her in and told her where to park. He informed her after that she’d have to check-in with another guard station.

  Luckily, she had been there before, or she might have been completely lost. As she made her way to the guard station, she spotted Black Sabbath being walked by a young man in the lot. The moment the dog saw her, he started for her, tugging at the leash and forcing the man to follow. Audrey knelt down and snuggled the dog.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. He’s a little cooped up right now.”

  “He’s been staying with me an awful lot. I think we have a really good relationship.” She scrubbed behind his ears and then stood up. Holding out her hand, she introduced herself. “I’m Audrey Walker, a friend of Gregory Bishop’s.”

  The man’s eyes grew wide. “Oh,” he said as his voice dipped. “Um,” he stammered some more as he looked at Audrey’s badge. “You’re all checked in?”

  Audrey studied the man and tried to get a feel for his strange behavior. “Yes, Kent Black is my brother-in-law. He arranged for the pass.”

  The man gave her another quick study. “I thought you were someone else. So, which one are you here to see? Kent or Gregory?”

  She smiled coolly at him. “Whichever one is easier to find.”

  The man ran his hand over the back of his neck. “Well, I think that would be Gregory. Kent was busy in his office doing some rewrites I think. It’s been a really busy day.”

  Audrey reached for the leash and took control of the dog. “Can you lead me to Gregory then?” She asked the young man.

  He nodded and started for the door.

  She couldn’t help but wonder who he thought she might be. Maybe the woman she came to confront wasn’t even there. Was it possible Gregory was able to get her thrown out? A little bit of her wished so— hoped so.

  The set was noisy. People moved pieces around, and she noticed that the costume woman was adjusting Sherri Post’s wardrobe. As they walked around the draped walls, she saw Gregory. He was in costume.

  A strange sensation washed over her. He was dressed in a flight suit, that looked as though it had been ripped to shreds. His face was bloodied, and his hair a mess. The sight did something to her. It tore her up a bit. Yet, on the other hand, it was eerily attractive.

  As if he sensed them, Gregory turned and a smile lit his face. He held up a finger to whomever he was talking to and headed directly for them.

  “Dear God, you are a sight for sore eyes.” He lifted his hands to her cheeks and kissed her lips hard.

  Audrey noticed the reaction of the young man that stood next to her. Gregory turned, gave the man a nod, and a moment later he disappeared.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked as he rubbed the dog’s head.

  “I had a busy day. I just felt like coming by. I hope that wasn’t a problem,” she offered, hoping it didn’t seem like a lie.

  “Not a problem to me. Although, if you’re going to stay around, you’ll have to watch me die about four more times.”

  She chuckled. Never in her life did she think a man would say that sentence to her.

  Deciding to poke for some information, she thought she should tell him about her customer today. “I had a walk-in today. A photographer. He said he was part of the movie. I forgot to get his name. He tipped me twenty dollars.”

  Gregory’s eyes widened. “That’s a lot of money for a photographer.”

  “I thought so too. He must’ve had the day off. I don’t see him around.”

  “I can’t even imagine who you’re talking about.” He pointed toward the set where another man was taking still shots. This man had a long ponytail that hung down his back. “He’s the only photographer I know of. But, this crew is huge, I don’t know everybody.”

  She wondered if she should even mention the name Pepper. The man said she had sent him. But, as she didn’t see Pepper anywhere either, perhaps it was better just not to mention it.

  Somebody on the set called Gregory by name. He acknowledged with a nod. “Are you going to stick around? Let me rephrase that. I’d like you to stick around.”

  “I think this could be fun. I know how the book ends. So I know that if I watch you die four times, you’ll come back to life.”

  He brushed his thumb over her cheek and laid another kiss on her lips. “Nothing can take me away from you, doll.” He gave her a wink as he walked back toward the set.

  Audrey found a corner where she could sit down, hold tight to the dog, and watch as Gregory died over and over again. The first time, her eyes welled with tears. By the sixth take, she found that she had to stifle a giggle.

  After the take, the set grew noisy again. Gregory was whisked away, and Audrey sat where she had been for the last two hours. She saw Kent, being directed by the young man she met outside. He gave her a wave and started toward her.

  She stood as he neared, and gave him a warm hug.

  “Kent, this is amazing to watch. I thought the book was good. But watching it come to life— that’s freaking cool.”

  He smiled so wide that she thought perhaps it touched his ears. He pushed up his glasses and then gave his hair a brush to the side with his fingertips. “It is fun, isn’t it? So what are you doing here?”

  She thought about her answer for a moment. This was Kent. There would be no lying to him or even dodging around the truth. He’d been one of the first to warn her to be careful. Maybe he knew all about Pepper Dawson.

  “I had a walk-in today. A man, I never got his name, but he said he was a photographer on the movie.”

  “Good. Part of doing a production in town was to bring more revenue to the area. I’m glad everybody’s using the businesses around town.”

  Audrey bit down on her bottom lip. “While this particular individual was there he said he’d been referred to me. Obviously, I assumed either you or Gregory would have sent him, but he said Pepper sent him.”

  The moment she said the woman’s name, Kent’s eyes flashed that panic she’d seen in them before. She hit something there. All she could hope now was the Kent would spill the information.

  “Pepper? As in the intern, Pepper Dawson?”

  Audrey gave a casual shrug. “I would assume so. Why does that seem to startle you?”

  He shifted his body weight as if to change his body language. “Do I look startl
ed?”

  Audrey nodded. “I know who she is, Kent. I can only assume she sent the man to spy on me. Gregory seems to think she’s the one leaking these private photos and stories of them. I can tell you, I was just trying to get the bottom of it.”

  Kent moved in closer to her. “Gregory had her removed from the set days ago.”

  Gregory hadn’t mentioned that, which upset Audrey. “So then she did send this guy to spy on me.”

  “I’m not comfortable with that. I’m going to make sure Phillip puts some detail on you.”

  “Right, because that won’t scare away my clients.”

  “I’d rather have you alive than working on clients,” Kent said.

  Audrey found that she was gripping tighter to the leash. “You think she’s that big of a threat? You think she’d try to hurt me, or us?”

  “I have no doubt she was the one on your balcony that night. It’s just a hunch, but if I went with my gut, that’s what I think.”

  “But if she got kicked off the movie, wouldn’t she have left town?”

  Kent scratched the back of his head and then tucked his hand into his pocket. “I heard she never got on the plane. They arranged for her travel, and a car to pick her up. But she didn’t go. That leads me to believe she’s still in town.”

  Resigning to the fact that Gregory spent a weekend with a psychopath, Audrey decided perhaps Kent was right. “I’ll call Phillip. Maybe you’re right, and it would be better if I had somebody with me, or if I didn’t go in for a few days.”

  “You’re surrounded by family, Audrey. No one is going to let anybody hurt you. Between your brothers, your sisters, and your cousins, everyone will be around you. But do tell Phillip. I’d feel better if he was around you too.”

  Kent’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it from his pocket. “They need me. Gregory might be a few more hours, are you going to stick around?”

  Even though she was growing bored, she didn’t want to go home. “Yeah, I think I will stick around.”

  “I’m going to have somebody find you some food and some water. Him too,” he said, nodding at the dog. “You let me know when you do leave. I want to make sure Gregory is with you.”

  “I will.”

  Kent reached for her hand and gave it a tight squeeze, then he turned and disappeared.

  Audrey sat down in the chair she’d occupied for hours. Black Sabbath walked over to her and rested his head on her lap. She ran her hand along the length of his back. “You won’t let anyone get to me, will you?” she asked the loyal dog. His answer was in his actions, she decided, as he raised his nose, looked at her, then circled and laid on the floor across her feet.

  28

  Once Gregory’s overdone death had been finalized, he, Audrey, and Black Sabbath headed to the hotel. He didn’t speak to Audrey the entire drive because it had been Kent who told him that her walk-in client had been sent by Pepper.

  He realized, as he drove up to the hotel, he’d been clenching his jaw, he was so angry. Angry at Pepper for pulling such a stunt. Angry at Audrey, for not telling him first-hand what happened.

  She’d been on the phone with Phillip Smythe most of the ride from the set. He was going to have a car drive by her place every half hour. And, because he could hear him speaking so loudly through the phone, had told her he’d be in touch with her family. Gregory assumed that meant there’d be a perimeter of Walkers as well.

  As he pulled the old truck up in front of the hotel and left the keys in the ignition for the valet, he let out a long breath to defuse his anger. His presence in that town was causing a lot of problems for Audrey and her family. None of this would’ve happened had he not been part of this movie. But he couldn’t put it all on himself. There was no way to know this would happen, or that he would have fallen in love. And he did, he did love her.

  He took Audrey’s hand and interlaced her fingers as they walked into the hotel. As they rode the elevator to his floor, she leaned against him in an intimate gesture that told him she trusted him.

  Because he was starving, he ordered up room service. Then, he filled the bathtub with the luxurious samples they had left for him. “You’re going to take a bath, and I’m going to take the dog out. Lock the door. And I will call you on my way back up.”

  He noticed the hesitation in her body, but she never said anything. Pulling her to him, he tipped his lips toward her ear. “They have more security. I will be fine. I know what you’re thinking.”

  Gregory heard the deadbolt lock as he stepped into the hallway with the dog. He walked toward the elevator and pushed the button, saying hello to the security guard who was stationed there. Once inside the elevator, he placed a phone call to his mother. Once he told her what was going on and making her promise to ensure that she took care of herself, he placed a similar call to his brother and his father. He wanted everyone to be safe. He figured his sister was fine in Japan. But he would call her, too, in the morning.

  It had taken a lot of argument, but Audrey finally convinced Gregory that she could drive to work without any problem. She had already heard from Phillip, and he had promised to be at the salon when she got there. Of course, she had Black Sabbath with her, too.

  She wasn’t, however, prepared to see Phillip standing in front of her salon window which had been broken in, and was shattered all over the sidewalk.

  She held tight to the leash, keeping Black Sabbath from the debris. “Dear God, when did this happen?”

  “Not sure. My guess is not too long ago. We didn’t get a call on it yet. But it looked like this when I walked up,” Phillip said adjusting his hat. “I think you’re closed for business today.”

  “Dammit! This has gotten out of hand. I could kill her myself.”

  Phillip rested a hand on her shoulder. “Take it easy. Someone has to have cameras around here. It’d be a good guess that Lydia does,” he said just as Lydia turned the corner and stopped short from stepping on glass.

  “Holy shit!” Lydia looked at the mess on the sidewalk and then at the hole in the front of the salon. “What happened?”

  Phillip took off his hat, gave Lydia a nod, then replaced his hat. “Vandalism. You got video cameras around here?”

  Lydia’s face grew hard as she fisted her hands on her hips. “You know damn good and well I have cameras here, Officer Smythe,” she said his name with a bite. “And, you know I’ll let you see them.”

  Audrey noticed the smile tugging at the corner of Phillip’s lips, but it never did quite surface. “You have some orange parking cones?”

  “You know I have those too.”

  “Why don’t I follow you back to the reception hall. You pull up the footage. I’ll get the cones. We are going to set them out here as we get this cleaned up.” He turned toward Audrey. “You come with us. We’ll go in the back door. Let’s see if they did any more damage.”

  Audrey agreed with a nod, and with her hand tightly wound around the leash, she led Black Sabbath out of harm’s way and toward the reception hall.

  Phillip retrieved the orange cones and set them out front. Then he and Audrey walked through the back door of her salon.

  “I need to call Nichole, quickly. She has clients in about an hour. I’m not supposed to start until ten.”

  Phillip narrowed his eyes at her. “You both will be canceling those appointments,” he said with that demanding tone that she’d grown to loathe. “Nobody’s working here today. You need to call your sisters and Gia and let them know what happened.”

  “You can’t have them close their stores because of this. What if something just happened?”

  “Does that brick belong to this building?” He asked as he pointed to the large red brick that lay in the middle of the floor.

  Audrey let out a groan.

  Phillip nodded. “I didn’t think so. This wasn’t an accident. This wasn’t some act of God. You’ve got a problem on your hands, and it came with Gregory Bishop.”

  “Gregory didn’t do this.”
<
br />   “Didn’t say he did. I’m well aware of that intern, Audrey. She’s missing, and your window is broken. You have a problem.”

  She knew she had a problem, a big one. She just didn’t know how she was supposed to handle it. One thing was for sure. No Walker turned away from a fight. If this was Pepper Dawson who broke her window and sent people stalking her, then Audrey would persevere with her head up. Walkers didn’t get taken down.

  Lydia came through the back door in a hurried rush. “They cut the line to the cameras.”

  Phillip and Audrey turned to look at her.

  Phillip stepped closer to her. “There’s no footage?”

  “If I said they cut the line, then no, there’s no footage.”

  “You didn’t get a face at the beginning when they cut it?”

  “You can’t make anything out of it.”

  “Take me to see it. I’m gonna need to take the tapes too.”

  Lydia snarled at Phillip. “Fine. But make it fast.”

  Lydia walked out of the salon, and Phillip turned back to Audrey. “Call your employee and clients, let them know you’re closed. Lydia was going to call her brother to help you clean up. Make sure the dog doesn’t get hurt. I’ll send a car by every half hour, and you stay with someone.” Audrey took a breath to argue, and Phillip shot up his hand to stop her. “Don’t give me your heroic female crap either. You damn well enough can take care of yourself, and I know that. But I’m not taking any risks,” he said as he turned and walked out of the salon.

  Audrey looked around the room at the mess that had been created. Suddenly the pain of it squeezed her heart. Whoever had done this, it was like a fist in the gut, and she was sure that’s what they were going for. Well, it wasn’t going to stop her. Even if that damn window was boarded up tomorrow, she’d be open. Yeah, Walker spirit. She wasn’t going to get frazzled by this.

  29

  Once the glass had been cleaned up, and the window boarded up, Audrey went about rescheduling her and Nichole’s day. They’d be in full swing by tomorrow.