by Alice Sabo
“Oh, I see.” Bunny examined the selection of chutneys. “And she stuck with you all this time?”
“No. She cut me off. Walked away. I didn’t see her for five years. I didn’t know about Thomas until I’d been sober for two years.”
“Good for her,” Bunny said with a tight nod. And the friendliness came back that easily. Asher had learned the hard way that honesty was what most people wanted but didn’t expect of him. No matter how hard he worked at cleaning up his reputation, the dirt still clung.
“Ellie is my oxygen,” Asher said.
Bunny squinted at him. “What does that mean?”
“She keeps me alive. She makes sure I don’t do anything stupid.”
“She runs your life?”
Asher opened his mouth to say yes and realized that was something he had vowed would never happen again. Handing over responsibility had been a major turning point in his descent into addiction. “I don’t. . .”
“I know Ellie,” Bunny said softly. “I’ve done a couple shows that she’s produced. She doesn’t strike me as the type that would have the time to micromanage you.”
“No. I guess not. But I need her. You know, to keep me sorted out.” Asher looked up to see Bunny giving him a critical glare. “Because I get confused.”
“About staying sober?” Bunny asked sharply.
“No. No, I can do that.”
Bunny raised one eyebrow, waiting.
“I. . .it’s. . .like this!” Asher groaned. “I don’t know what you want me to say, but Ellie would understand what you’re asking.”
Bunny shook his head, turning those damning eyes back to the food. “Do not base your relationship on a social crutch.”
A hot wave of panic rushed up the back of Asher’s neck. What had he done now? Was his relationship with Ellie actually just dependency? She was there for him. He didn’t think she ran his life.
“Are you having a meltdown? Because that doesn’t bode well for this film.”
Asher realized he was holding a laden fork in mid-air, lost in thought. “No. I don’t think so. But you hit a nerve. When I was most lost in drugs and booze, I thought people had imprisoned me. But it was me. I had given away every ounce of responsibility. It hadn’t been taken. I promised myself I wouldn’t ever do that again. But now you make it sound like I have.”
“Lord, save me from addictive personalities.” Bunny heaved a great sigh. “Did she tell you to take this job?”
“Yes.”
“Against your will?”
“Are you kidding? I couldn’t sign fast enough. I was scared, but I’m working again. In a real movie.”
“Is she a caretaker or a helpmate?”
Asher stared out the restaurant window, suddenly aware of the soft sitar music playing in the background. He thought about a normal day at home when he wasn’t working. “I do stuff at home. Take care of the kids. I’m a pretty good cook.”
“Does she tell you what to do?”
That made him squirm. “Sometimes. When Denny brings me stuff he thinks I should do, I always ask her about it. If we’re going out somewhere important, I always check with her about clothes.”
“She does have impeccable taste.” Bunny held up the basket with the last papadum. Asher declined. Bunny tipped it on to his plate. “It sounds like you depend on her for her opinion. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you expect her to make your decisions for you, it’ll smother the relationship. Believe me. Been there. On both sides of it, as a matter of fact, before I figured it out.”
Asher thought back over the months since the wedding. He couldn’t say that things had changed that dramatically. They’d both been busy with jobs and the kids. He’d known Ellie for so long, that they fell into old habits. Now he wondered if any of those habits involved him shunting responsibility over to her. “I love her,” Asher said in a small voice.
Bunny gave him a gentle smile. “And she loves you.”
Asher felt an immense sense of relief. It was the first time anyone outside his circle had said something like that. “I don’t think I knew what love really was before. My first three marriages were disasters.”
“Flaming, according to the tabloids,” Bunny added with an amused smile.
“Yeah. I didn’t know what I was doing, but it didn’t stop me from doing it all over again and again.”
“Infatuation can be very flattering,” Bunny said.
There was a sad undertone to his voice that made Asher think he understood those situations all too well. Objectively, Bunny was a very handsome man. He was also a successful professional in a high-octane industry. “When you’re pickled all the time, real emotion isn’t possible,” Asher said.
Bunny pointed a fork at him and nodded emphatically. “Good, you’ve learned that lesson.” He glanced at his watch. “Eat up. I need to get to the shop.”
After lunch, Bunny swung by Kozy Kottages to drop off Asher for his meeting with Oscar. As they pulled into the driveway, Asher saw the sheriff’s car parked in front of his cottage. His hands started sweating, and the back of his neck prickled. It didn’t matter that he was innocent. He always got a little panicky when he saw the cops coming for him. Bunny didn’t delay, leaving Asher standing in the driveway feeling very exposed. The door to Bunny’s cottage opened, and Oscar came out with Sheriff Danson.
“Asher! Right on the dot. I was just telling the Sheriff here that you’d be on time.” Oscar nodded as if he’d said his lines properly, and now it was Asher’s turn.
“What can I do for you, Sheriff?” Asher said obediently.
“We checked around, got a missing person. He’s probably the victim.”
“Oh, God,” Asher groaned. He didn’t want to know who had died such an awful death. He wanted all this business to be over with. The whole point of arriving early was for him to concentrate on getting ready for the film.
“It was one of you folk.” Danson glanced at a notepad. “Brent Ordly.”
“I don’t think I know him,” Asher said slowly. “I haven’t met all of the crew, yet.”
“You were the last person to see him alive. He picked you up at the airport.”
“Oh, the driver? I didn’t know his name. He never introduced himself.” Asher didn’t like being the last person to see someone alive. He had been the last person to see Larissa alive and that had been an especially nasty death. One that had been planned for him, using her to deliver the poisoned pills. If he hadn’t mended bridges with George before that night, he might have been tempted to share in that lethal gift, and he’d be dead, too.
“How well did you know him?” Danson asked, shaking Asher out of his morbid musings.
It was another of those trick questions. He’d already said he didn’t know the man, didn’t he? But Asher knew better than to bandy words with law enforcement. “I didn’t. Only met him when I got here. He picked me up at the airport. We didn’t talk or anything. He was on the phone the whole time arguing with his girlfriend. And he was the one that drove us into the pond. But I’m not the last one to see him alive, Sheriff, you drove him home.” Asher knew as soon as he said it that he shouldn’t have. Danson squinted at him.
“Who was his girlfriend?”
“Um. . .Crystal? I got the feeling she was trying to break up with him.”
Danson made a note. He scowled at Asher, then scowled at Oscar. “That’s all for now.”
Asher watched Danson stalk away with a bad feeling. “He thinks we had something to do with it.”
Oscar gave him a shrug. “We’re the strangers here, perfectly normal to come under suspicion.”
Asher had his doubts. “Oscar, if a bear did it, they wouldn’t be interviewing humans. That means he was murdered.”
Chapter 9
A damp breeze kicked leaves up into a whirlwind on the driveway. Rain started spitting down. Oscar beckoned Asher into his cottage. “That’s for the sheriff to sort out. We have our own work to do.”
For the rest
of the afternoon, Oscar went through the script with Asher and talked through the stunts. Asher couldn’t remember doing this on a previous movie. Maybe it was because Oscar was George’s friend, or maybe it was something he simply couldn’t remember. He had a lot of holes that would never be filled. Mostly he didn’t care about the lost memories. In those days, it would be parties and bad behavior. The less he remembered of that the better. On the other hand, thinking about losing his new memories of Thomas and Sharon scared him sober every time.
“I think we’ll give the stuntman the shot with an arrow on horseback and falling at a full gallop stunt,” Oscar said with a knowing look.
“Absolutely,” Asher agreed.
“Sword fight on horseback?”
“Is it those big two-handed things? They weigh a ton. I’ll need some training if I’m going to be swinging one of them around all day.”
“Haven’t seen the swords, yet,” Oscar said as he made some notes. “Shouldn’t use those on horseback anyway. Way too long. You end up smacking the horse and all hell breaks loose.”
Asher nodded. A vague memory of yelling and horses in a big cloud of dust tickled at the edges of his mind, but he couldn’t latch on to it. “I think I’m going to have to wait until I get back up on a horse to give you an honest answer.”
Oscar made a series of notes before turning back to his list. “Sword fight on the stairs?”
“I think I can handle that one. I was a pretty good fencer at one point.”
Oscar gave him a wary look. “Okay. We’ll make that a maybe.” He paged through his notes. “We’ve got a couple of magical explosions that we’ll wire you for. Have you worked any explosions?”
“Not sober.” Asher felt his face heat up. He didn’t like answering so many questions with those words. His early movies were mostly romantic comedies that hadn’t required any stunts. It wasn’t until they started casting him as pirates and secret agents that he’d begun learning to fight and tumble. By then he’d been dipping into the medicine cabinet a little too often.
Oscar made another note. “Okay, let’s head up to see the wrangler, Ed.”
Asher had heard the rain while they worked, but it didn’t sound as bad as it was. Rain pelted down on them as they ran to Oscar’s truck.
“I hope he’s got an indoor ring,” Asher said as he pushed wet hair off his face. He always wore his hair at least collar length, but hadn’t cut it since he signed for the movie months ago. There was a good chance he’d need long hair, and he preferred his own to an itchy, hot wig. It was below his shoulders now, the longest that he’d ever worn it.
“It’s all indoors,” Oscar said. “A very nice set-up. Rented it from somebody going out of business, I think.” Oscar drove slowly through the downpour. “He’s up the mountain. Not far. Middle of nowhere.” He snorted as they plowed through a huge puddle, a spray of water fanned away from the truck. “It’s been raining like this all week. Thank God we’re not trying to film in it.”
Asher was quiet, letting Oscar concentrate on negotiating the snaking road in the rain. The wipers could barely keep up. As they inched around a tight curve, Asher could see a good thirty feet down into a creek that was undermining the shoulder of the road. There were no guardrails on these skinny roads. The creek was murky and moving fast. Asher planned to make a large donation to the local public works. Maybe they could put up guardrails with his name on them. The trip felt like it lasted for hours, but when he checked the clock on the dashboard, only fifteen minutes had passed.
Oscar drove up a muddy, rutted road to a large complex of modern buildings that had been spruced up with a fresh coat of white paint. They fairly glowed in the dingy light from the storm. Behind the big boxy structures, on a slight rise was a modern house done in log cabin style. Asher followed Oscar in a dash across the puddle-strewn parking lot and into a barn. Ed was waiting for them. He took measure of Asher as they shook hands.
“You’ve ridden before?” Ed asked. There was a seriousness to his face that worried Asher.
“It’s been a long time,” Asher admitted. “I think I need to start from scratch.”
Ed seemed to relax a little at his admission. “Best come and meet Darby.”
Asher expected a person. Darby turned out to be a huge horse with a coat like black satin. “He’s gorgeous,” Asher crooned. As if knowing he was the topic of conversation, the horse swung his head toward Asher. Big dark eyes examined him before Darby snorted and shook his head.
“What do you know about horses?” Ed asked.
“This end bites and that end kicks,” Asher said with a smile. “Should I let him smell me, like a dog?” he asked reaching out a hand, palm up.
“That’ll do.” Ed gave him an approving nod. “Darby’s my leading man. He’s solid, smart and a ham. He’ll work real hard for you if you treat him right.”
“Just tell me what to do,” Asher said.
After a little petting, a carrot and some sweet talk, Ed decided Darby was ready to let Asher mount up. He saddled the big stallion and walked him down the aisle to a horse-sized archway that opened into a huge indoor ring. Ed brought the horse over to a mounting block and gave Asher some preliminaries. Asher was fairly sure he remembered how to get on a horse, but it wouldn’t hurt to hear it again.
After dutifully acknowledging all of Ed instructions, he swung up into the saddle. Darby danced a little. Asher tried to find his seat. Some things felt familiar, but the long drop to the ground was daunting. Darby was a very tall horse. He’d look great on screen. However, sober and aware, being in the saddle was scarier than he remembered.
“Walk him around the ring,” Ed said, giving the horse a slap on the rump.
Asher gave him a nudge and a tug on the reins. In a few steps, it all came back. They walked the ring with no trouble. They cantered, trotted and broke into a full gallop for one circuit. Ed called out directions to turn, to back up, stop, start. When he called them in, Asher was sorry the session was ending, but when he dismounted, he couldn’t believe how sore he was. He had to hold on to the saddle until his legs agreed to support him.
“Well, seems like you might know a thing or two,” Ed admitted.
“I guess it’s that muscle memory thing. All of a sudden, it felt natural. But holy smokes, those muscles hurt.”
Ed gave him an amused smile. “You should ride a little every day. Get used to being in the saddle. We’ve got plenty of time to get you ready.”
“I’d love to, thanks.”
Ed waved them off, but Asher wondered if there was more that he should be doing, like feeding the horse or brushing him. As they headed outside into the gloom of the storm, he whispered to Oscar. “Should I be doing something?”
“Like what?”
“Um, unsaddling Darby?”
Oscar gave him a sharp look that morphed into disbelief. “If you want to spend more time with the horse, talk to Ed. But don’t forget that he is Ed’s property.”
“Right. So I give him back at the end of the day like with the guns, but I’m not expected to clean the guns, because they aren’t mine, and I really don’t know to do it right anyway.”
Oscar frowned at him. “Something like that.”
As they got back in the car, Asher had to admit he was totally out of shape for this exercise. “I’m going to be hurting a lot, aren’t I?”
Oscar snorted. “Wait until Imre gets a hold of you.” They headed back down the mountain in the pouring rain. Oscar drove carefully, taking the sharp curves at a low speed.
Asher was just about to say how well things had gone today when the landslide hit.
Chapter 10
A wave of water surged across the road tugging at their vehicle. The truck slid sideways for two feet and shuddered to a stop. Asher thought it might not be too bad. In the blink of an eye, mud was rushing up and over the hood, and the truck tilted up on two wheels, rumbled for a long second, then rolled.
“Brace yourself!” Oscar yelled as he plant
ed his hands on the ceiling.
Asher wrapped his arms around his head and huddled in his seat. It felt like a roller coaster, the kind that turned upside down, but his fear wasn’t the fun kind. The noise was equally frightening, rocks crunching and the squeal of metal twisting. He was thrown against his seatbelt, first one side, then forward, then the other side. He smashed his arm, grateful that it wasn’t his head. The windows blew out with the next twist of the truck. The airbag burst open when his body was nowhere near it.
They stopped with a neck-jerking abruptness, tipped over on the driver’s side. Mud sluiced in the passenger window, drenching Asher in icy sludge. In the faint light of the storm, Asher could see Oscar hanging limp against his seatbelt, one arm dangling out his broken window. But it was the view out that window that nearly stopped his heart. Nothing. There was nothing but darkness below them.
“Oscar!” Asher yelped as he tried to get some sort of footing on the slippery, tilted floor. Mud flowed in through his window and pooled around his feet which showed him that the truck was angled forward. In the time he’d taken to get his bearing, the slurry pouring in had settled shin deep. They needed to get out before they were cemented in place by the rising mud.
“Oscar!” Asher thought he heard a groan, but it was hard to hear over the pounding of the rain and the rumbling of the rock slide.
He braced himself as best he could before undoing his seat belt, but slid toward Oscar anyway. Leaning back, he grabbed on to the passenger’s window feeling the safety glass crumble away under his hand.
Oscar lifted his head, slowly turning toward Asher. “We gotta get outta here,” he said hoarsely.
“Are you okay?” Asher asked, trying to see if Oscar was hurt.
“I’ll make it. Get out that window.” Oscar waved toward the passenger’s side. He pawed around for a handhold.
Asher offered him the passenger’s shoulder restraint. Oscar wrapped it around his hand before releasing his seatbelt. “Go, go, go,” he barked as he hauled himself across the slanted seats.
