Popped

by Carol Higgins Clark

  Regan smiled. “Like you, I’m interested in a lot of different things.”

  “A good way to be.”

  “I think so.” Regan nodded in agreement.

  “I love surprises,” Roscoe said.

  “Surprises?”

  “Yes.” Roscoe sipped his scotch. “I love it when I surprise people. I hate for things to get boring.”

  “Right.” Regan nodded again.

  “I hear you needed to use the ladies’ room.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “It’s right down the hall and around the corner here.”

  “Thank you.”

  Roscoe remained in the doorway.

  He’s trying to psyche me out. And I’m not going to let him. “Thank you so much for having us here tonight. Could I get by, please?” Regan asked sweetly.

  “Of course. See you outside.” He turned and left.

  Regan sighed. She walked out of the room toward the bathroom. The wallpaper in the hallway was gold striped with ornate sconces every few feet. It felt a tad overdone. When she rounded the corner, Victor was standing there.

  “Hi, Regan,” he said.

  “Hi. You waiting for the bathroom?”

  “Yes. I think there are a lot more of them around here, but this is the one the bartender told me to use.”

  The bathroom door opened, and out came Bubbles. “Hello,” she said quickly to Regan as she passed. Victor went into the bathroom and shut the door. Regan leaned against the wall, and two seconds later Sam appeared. Very interesting, Regan thought. Victor and Sam and Bubbles.

  “This place is something, isn’t it?” Sam asked.

  “It sure is.” Regan glanced over at the bookshelf hanging on the wall outside the bathroom. On it were six books. They were all written by her mother. A chill ran through Regan’s body.

  Outside, the hot dogs and hamburgers were sizzling on the grill.

  “Come and get it,” Roscoe cried.

  Salad trimmings were spread out on a large buffet table. Everyone helped themselves and found places at smaller tables on the patio. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of mingling between Team A and Team B. But Danny and Regan sat with Erene and Leo and Bubbles and James.

  “This is such fun, isn’t it?” Bubbles said when she sat down with her plate.

  Now there’s an actress for you, Regan thought. Nobody here is having a good time. Erene, for one, seemed extremely nervous to Regan. What was her problem? Questioning her and Leo about Roscoe and their work proved absolutely fruitless. They refused to talk about Hot Air Cable.

  When the dinner was finished, Roscoe handed out carved sticks to everyone. “These are for your marshmallows,” he explained. Once again he invited everyone to gather around the campfire, which still hadn’t been lit. First there was a speech to hear from Roscoe. James rushed out from the house. “Wait for me,” he yelled, looking for an empty place.

  “Sit over there,” Roscoe ordered. “Between Suzette and Elsa.”

  “Okay.” James squeezed into the small space between the two women. “Excuse me,” he said as his arm brushed Suzette. “Pardon.” He almost fell into Elsa’s lap.

  “I love ballooning,” Roscoe began. “I like the freedom—I hate to be confined—and the adventure. I wanted both teams here to use ballooning in their shows so you could share that freedom and adventure with our viewers. And I want to say that I know you’ve both been very creative in the way you’ve done it.” He raised his glass. “To both teams.”

  They all raised their glasses. “Hear! Hear!”

  “And no matter how it all turns out,” Roscoe continued, “I hope you all will look back on this week with pure pleasure.”

  Yeah, right, Regan thought. Too many of these people’s lives are going to be greatly affected by the outcome this Friday. This is not all fun and games. You might be onto me, Roscoe Parker, but I’m onto you, too. I just need a little more information.

  59

  L uke and Nora were enjoying cocktails with Harry and Linda on their spacious deck facing the snow-covered mountains. The home, decorated in pastel tones with overstuffed couches and chairs, had a real southwestern feel. The large floor-to-ceiling windows brought the desert and mountains inside. It was where Linda had lived until she met Harry ten years ago. Now they spent most of their time in New York but came to Santa Fe as often as possible.

  “This is so wonderful,” Nora said, sighing.

  Linda was a petite blond in her late forties. “I love to paint here,” she said as she cut a piece of cheese, placed it on a cracker, and handed it to Nora. “It’s so peaceful.”

  Harry had salt-and-pepper hair and was in his mid-fifties. “It’s a great place to read manuscripts.”

  “Regan and Jack should visit Santa Fe, don’t you think, Luke?” Nora asked.

  Luke laughed. “Nora, you think Regan and Jack should go everywhere.”

  “Well, they should. They’re perfect together. She’s met enough Mr. Wrongs along the way. She’s finally found the right one.”

  “When Harry and I met, I’d reached the point where I was sure I’d be single forever,” Linda said.

  “You’re so lucky,” Harry said with a smile as he reached over and helped himself to a piece of cheese.

  Linda shook her head and laughed. “So are you, pal.”

  “I know that.”

  “Nora would love to plan a wedding,” Luke said.

  “Luke!”

  “It’s true, isn’t it? I’m telling you. If Regan marries Jack, Nora will invite my two kidnappers and make them guests of honor.”

  “Aren’t they still in jail?” Harry asked.

  “We’ll get them a dispensation for the day,” Luke said and laughed.

  Nora smiled. “Very funny. All I want is for Regan to be happy and safe.”

  “I hope we get to see her on Friday,” Linda said.

  “Well, that’s the plan. They’ll be here Friday morning.”

  “Ballooning with Mars and Jupiter,” Luke drawled.

  “I can’t wait to see that balloon,” Linda said enthusiastically. “I’m telling you, it’s quite a spectacle when all the special shape balloons ascend into the morning sky. People bring their kids. The place is a madhouse. It’s a lot of fun.” She jumped up. “May I refresh your drinks?”

  Harry looked at his watch. “We should probably get going. Our dinner reservation is at eight, and the restaurants are pretty crowded this week with the writer’s conference and the balloon festival.”

  They drove into town to Linda and Harry’s favorite Italian restaurant. The restaurant was simple yet elegant with white stucco walls, votive candles on the tables, and gleaming wood floors. It was crowded but not too noisy. A corner table was reserved for them.

  As they sat down, the always observant Nora turned to Luke and whispered, “Are those the Jupiters?”

  “What?”

  “The hot air balloon couple in the magazine. At the next table.”

  Luke turned and looked at the middle-aged couple. “I think it is.”

  Alice Jupiter glanced back at them.

  “We read about you today in the airline magazine,” Nora called over. “Our daughter is going up in your balloon on Friday morning with the reality show.”

  “Ohhhhh,” they both said, smiling and nodding. “Is she one of the contestants?” Randy Jupiter asked.

  Nora almost passed out at the thought. “No. She’s working with the producer.”

  “Roscoe Parker?”

  “No. Danny Madley.”

  “That’s good. Because that Roscoe Parker is a very unstable man,” Alice said, waving her hand.

  “Unstable?” Nora repeated with dismay.

  “He wanted us to try to scare the passengers.”

  “Scare the passengers?”

  “Yes. He asked us to pretend the balloon was out of control. A video camera will be recording everything, and he wanted to catch the passengers’ reactions on tape.”

  �
�Oh, dear God.” Nora put her hand on Luke’s arm.

  “Oh, but don’t worry,” Alice Mars Jupiter said brightly. “We told him ‘no way.’ My husband and I are both very responsible pilots. We’ll both be up in the balloon to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

  “Thank you.” Nora sank into her chair. Suddenly she didn’t feel like eating.

  “We’ll be at the balloon field Friday morning,” Linda told Alice.

  “Great. Come by when we’re setting up. We’re going to be smack in the middle of the field. The fiesta organizers think our balloon is going to get a load of attention.”

  That’s what I’m afraid of, Nora realized. That is just what I’m afraid of.

  60

  “G ood night, all,” Roscoe yelled as he and Kitty waved at the departing vans. “See you tomorrow.” They turned and headed back into the house, his arm around Kitty’s shoulder. It was like a heart-warming scene from an old movie.

  The vans pulled out onto the dark, lonely road and headed back to the bright lights of town.

  Regan was sitting in the second row of seats, next to Agony and Heartburn.

  “Everyone there seemed pretty normal,” Agony commented.

  Regan looked at her. “You think so?”

  Agony shrugged. “What’s normal these days? It actually covers a broad range.”

  “That’s for sure,” Regan agreed. She looked out the window, feeling frustrated. She was sure Roscoe had something planned. How could she find out what it was? He said he loves to surprise people. I’ll bet. She knew that the collection of her mother’s books on that shelf was no coincidence. And something about that young couple who just got married didn’t ring true. Running into both Sam and Victor by the bathroom at the exact time Bubbles was using the facilities made her wonder. Could one of them have written the threatening note today?

  A thought occurred to Regan. Had anyone checked the website today? She’d be curious to see if there was anything new written about the show. She’d have to ask Danny about that first thing in the morning. He looked tired and worried, and she didn’t want to bother him now. She’d let him get a good night’s sleep.

  The main thing was to keep the production of Love Above Sea Level glued together until Friday. Help Danny put on an entertaining show and then go home, Regan thought. But in the meantime, I don’t intend to let anyone ruin Love Above Sea Level. No matter how hard they try.

  Wednesday, October 8

  61

  E arly Wednesday morning, Regan went to Danny’s suite with a cup of coffee in hand. He had his computer on. They pulled up the Blowing the Lid Off website and found a brief description of the competition between the two shows and pictures of the reality show contestants. They checked the message board to see the comments that people had written in.

  “One of those contestants is going to blow. Just you watch.”

  “Never heard of any of them.”

  “Elsa needs a new haircut.”

  “They’re all strange.”

  “I saw Chip and Vicky at a shopping mall once. They were having a big fight.”

  “I was on the same cheerleading squad as Suzette in grammar school. She has strong legs!”

  “I hope the show makes it to the air. I’d give anything to see Bill lose. He dumped me for Suzette. I’m not surprised his marriage was on the rocks.”

  “Chip and Vicky were my neighbors when they first got married. He was always sitting in his backyard communing with nature. Weird!”

  “Barney looks like a goof. So does Elsa.”

  Regan read the last message. “Charming comments.”

  Danny laughed. “I know. Can you imagine? At least there’s nothing here that’s too bad for our purposes.”

  “Just that one of the contestants will probably blow,” Regan pointed out.

  Danny looked weary. “What can we do?” he asked. “Some people have nothing better to do than write nasty messages. They sit at their computer hundreds of miles away, safe in their anonymity.”

  “I hope you’re right, Danny. But I have something else to tell you.”

  Danny closed his eyes. “What?”

  “I talked to my mother this morning.”

  “And?”

  “My parents ran into the couple who own the wedding cake balloon. They said Roscoe wanted them to deliberately scare us when we go up in the balloon on Friday. He asked them to pretend the balloon was out of control. He knew that it would all be on tape.”

  “Are you kidding?” Danny asked incredulously.

  “Nope. I wish I was.”

  Danny sighed. “I think Roscoe is full of hot air himself. He’s nothing but a blowhard. He’s like a big dopey kid.”

  Regan nodded.

  “Well, time to get started on day three of Love Above Sea Level,” Danny noted with obviously more optimism than he felt.

  Danny and Regan met the others and set off to Hoover Dam, that marvel of modern engineering that kept the lights of Las Vegas blinking. It was thirty miles away. A picnic lunch had been packed. They walked around in the bright sunshine, went into the visitors center, and ate lunch in a parking lot overlooking the massive curved wall that was the dam. It was an impressive sight. The dam held up to 9.2 trillion gallons of water in Lake Mead, a reservoir created when the dam was constructed in the 1930s. The three couples walked hand in hand across the road that crosses the dam at the top. Sam photographed everyone as they crossed the border into Arizona and stood under a big clock that displayed Arizona time, an hour ahead of Nevada.

  “It’s important to enjoy nature together,” Aunt Agony opined as she grabbed Heartburn’s hand and breathed in the clear fresh air.

  After a couple of hours they returned to the studio for another round of questions that the spouses answered separately. Today’s topic centered on the always controversial topic: money.

  “What would you do with the million dollars if you won it?” Agony asked sweetly.

  Each contestant seemed to be taken by surprise with the question.

  Suzette said start a cheerleading camp; Bill said retire.

  Chip said buy a big spread of land; Vicky said she’d seen some nice new condos that she’d love to own.

  Elsa said buy a new house for her mother; Barney said splurge for a few months and then figure it out.

  When Agony called the couples back together, her eyes were glistening. “I’m very disappointed,” she scolded. “None of you mentioned giving any money to friends in need. After all, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Don’t you people have any friends?”

  Regan almost laughed out loud at the looks on all their faces. She was sure that all three couples would be spending their private time tonight pondering all the possible questions Agony might ask them tomorrow. Like the finalists in a beauty pageant the couples would be prepared with a statement about doing good for others—no matter what the question.

  Regan was relieved when Suzette’s and Bill’s names were drawn from the hat for the evening’s dream date. Suzette wouldn’t have been happy if she and Bill had to wait another night. Back to Carlotta’s they went. Suzette seemed to be basking in the undivided attention she and Bill were finally receiving from Agony and Heartburn.

  “When Bill and I first got together,” she said lovingly over shrimp cocktails, “it was at a high school dance. The band was playing ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ and Bill came over and asked me to dance. I was so nervous. It was a slow dance. But the minute Bill put his arms around me, I felt safe. That has always been our song.” Suzette closed her eyes. “And I’ve felt safe ever since.”

  Bill was buttering a piece of bread, nodding his head in agreement.

  “Whenever we have trouble, we play that song and dance in our living room. It brings us back to that magical night,” Suzette continued, her eyes now open and brimming with tears.

  “Do you feel that?” Agony asked Bill.

  Bill’s mouth was stuffed with the warm, delicious Italian bread.

>   “Absolutely,” he tried to say.

  Suzette winced. “Dear,” she reprimanded lightly. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

  “That’s healthy,” Agony said, nodding her head in approval. “That you can correct your spouse in front of other people and he doesn’t freak out. When Heartburn and I first met, I always had to tell him to stop talking with his mouth full. Problem was, he was always in the kitchen cooking, constantly testing the food.” She laughed. “So his mouth was always full. Right, dear?”

  Sitting on the sidelines, Regan thought longingly of PBS.

  62

  T he sitcom group had filmed their opening bit in the balloon at dawn, with the rooster, sheep, and lamb. They had only one take to get it right. Bubbles, Pete, and James were in the balloon that landed in the field. Grandma, Hal, Kimberly, and Jake, reenacting the terror of the farmers in France two hundred years ago, came running out with their pitchforks to stop the aliens from invading their farm.

  Much to Bubbles’s relief, the shoot went well. The rooster never shut up, which made the piece very funny. It would be a great opener for the show. She and her crew returned to the studio to rehearse the final script. Kimberly and Jake were playing a young couple, recently married, who stopped by the family ballooning company to sign up for a sunset ride. After much gnashing of teeth, Noel and Neil had come up with this concept.

  “Truth is stranger than fiction,” Noel said to Neil. “We may as well use it.”

  “You’re right, man.”

  James was still a terrible actor, but there was a glimmer of humor coming through in his line readings. One line he delivered was actually funny. Give him fifty years, and he could actually learn to act, Bubbles thought. She went to bed Wednesday night feeling better than she had in at least a week.

  Maddy and Shep spent the day hanging around the 7’s Hotel, waiting for something to happen. To Maddy’s dismay, all was quiet. No secret dropoffs, no burglaries, nothing. Finally she and Shep went up to the Strip for a little excitement. They had dinner, walked around, and came back.