Shooting on Location (Lisa Chance Cozy Mysteries Book 2)

by Estelle Richards

  Lisa whirled around to stare at Kari in shock. “Deliberate?” she whispered. “What do you mean?”

  Kari smiled enigmatically. “Talk to me later.”

  Gavin shot Kari a nasty look. “We are burning daylight here. And the big shootout starts tomorrow. How can we do that without Tyrone? Do any of these people even know which side of a gun is the business end?”

  Dylan stepped forward. “I do. I grew up with guns.”

  Gavin squinted at him.

  “Hunting. It’s a rural area,” Dylan said.

  “Where’s Sam?” Gavin said, looking around for his first AD. “Get these people moving. We have a movie to shoot.”

  Chapter 6

  When the director called the final “Cut!” of the day, and the first AD handed around the next morning’s call sheets, Lisa was ready to pack up her gear and leave. She surveyed the remains of the food on the craft service table, mentally tallying how much it had been per person. She hoped she hadn’t underbid on the job.

  She was packing things into the trunk of her car when she felt someone come up behind her. Please, don’t let it be Dylan, she thought.

  She turned around and sighed. It was Dylan.

  “Are we still on for tonight?” he said. “For our talk?”

  “I thought I told you I don’t want to talk.” She turned away from him and rearranged some things in the trunk.

  “No, I’m pretty sure you said maybe.” He put a hand on her back, making her flinch and shrug it off.

  “Maybe you should back off, friend,” said a familiar voice.

  She turned around to find Kaden Nicolini leaning on the craft service table, giving her a sultry smile.

  “Hi,” she said, feeling flustered all over again at the star power of his handsome face.

  “Hi, yourself,” he said. He lifted a box she’d packed and set it in the trunk for her. “I hope Gavin didn’t upset you back there. He’s a good filmmaker, but not always an easy person to work for.”

  “I’m fine,” she said. She loaded the last carafe and shut the trunk. “Uh, see you tomorrow.”

  “What are you doing tonight? Want to grab a bite?” he said, moving in a little closer.

  She felt her face get hot even though a chill wind was whipping by.

  Dylan gave him a look. “She’s got plans.”

  “No, I don’t,” she said, throwing a glare at Dylan. “I’d love to grab a bite of you,” she told Kaden. “I mean, with you.”

  He grinned. “I’ll follow you in my Porsche.”

  She got into her little car, ignoring Dylan. Her heart pounded. What was she thinking, agreeing to have dinner with a movie star just because it made her ex mad? She would rather go see Mo and just relax. And what would Mo say when he heard about this? Knowing him, he would be awkward and gentle, like he always was. She hated to think she would give him even a moment’s doubt, though.

  She clenched the wheel, feeling her tires slip again on the slick backroad. She really needed to get those snow tires put on. After the shoot was done and the crew finally went back to Hollywood, she should have a little extra money to put toward things like car maintenance, and the time to do it. She could hardly wait.

  *

  Instead of heading into town, Lisa went for the highway and pulled off at Lola’s Burgers and More. Kaden’s Porsche followed her into the parking lot and pulled up beside her.

  She stepped out of the car, and he rolled down his window and gave her a questioning look.

  “Great burgers, fries, onion rings, and milkshakes,” she said.

  “I was thinking of something a little more intimate,” he said, flashing that movie-star smile.

  She shrugged, although inside she felt a spark of anger that he would expect something intimate right away like that. “I’m going to grab a burger. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

  He winked at her and got out of the car. “After you.”

  They went inside and Lisa felt the room fall into a hush as people noticed Kaden, and then explode with whispering. She rolled her eyes and approached the counter to order her food.

  She grabbed her number and sat at a booth with a window looking out at the highway. Kaden’s order took a few minutes, as the kids at the counter wanted to take selfies with him. When he finished, he came to the booth and made as though to slide in on the same side as her.

  Lisa gripped the edge of the table and held her place on the bench. “I’d like to have the whole bench to myself,” she said.

  She nodded at the bench opposite and, after a moment, he sat down.

  “So, natural blonde?” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

  “Yes.” Lisa looked past him toward the counter, hoping her food would come soon.

  “Can you prove it?”

  “Excuse me?” she said, eyes snapping back to his face.

  His smile was starting to look almost sleazy as he opened his mouth to answer her. But before he could say a word, four teenagers rushed up to the table with phones in their hands.

  “I can’t believe it’s you.”

  “You’re Kaden Nicolini.”

  “We have to get a picture.”

  “Could you take a picture of all of us?”

  That last was said to Lisa, with four phones held out to her.

  “Sure,” she said.

  Kaden posed with the teens while Lisa snapped photos on each phone.

  “Thank you so much!”

  “I’m going to post this right now.”

  “Hashtag hottie. Hashtag yum. Hashtag jealous much.”

  The server brought a tray of food to their table, sweeping the teens away to make their posts. Lisa had a burger and fries. Kaden’s burger was wrapped in lettuce rather than a bun, and he’d skipped the fries and ordered water.

  “Staying away from carbs,” he said. “Got to look ripped.”

  Lisa’s phone chimed with an incoming message. She checked it, hoping it was Mo, but the message was from Annette.

  “Dinner with Kaden Nicolini?!!! OMG!!! So jelly!!!” Annette’s text said.

  Lisa shook her head. She texted back. “Just a bite with a coworker after work. No big deal.”

  A text came right back. “The biggest deal!!! He’s a star!!! Ur so lucky!!!”

  “Miss Popularity. Who’s that?” Kaden said.

  “That’s my employee, Annette. You met her the other day when you wanted to trespass in my apartment,” Lisa said.

  “Nice kid. You should ask her to come to set. Bet she’s never seen a movie being made before.”

  Lisa could picture Annette’s face and how much she would love to visit the set. “Won’t Gavin mind?”

  “I’ll handle Gavin Jump. Text the kid, tell her to come by. Exciting shoot tomorrow.”

  Lisa hesitated but gave in. It would mean the world to Annette. She texted, “Want to come to set with me tomorrow to watch filming? Very early day tho’.”

  A second and a half later her phone chimed with incoming emojis, hearts and smileys and coffee and movie cameras. Lisa lifted the phone to show Kaden.

  “I think that means she wants to go.”

  “I think it does, too.”

  They ate quietly for a few minutes. Lisa was aware of glances from the other tables.

  “Are you scared about the stunts tomorrow?” she said, thinking of the shootout that Gavin had mentioned in his rant.

  “Course not. How could I be scared when I have these guns,” he flexed his arms to show off impressive muscles, “to protect me?”

  “Uh huh.”

  Lisa drank some chocolate milkshake and bit into a French fry and thought how glad she was not to be chasing Hollywood stardom anymore.

  “You’re missing out on some great fries,” she said, dipping another one in ketchup.

  “I take my indulgences elsewhere.” He glanced down at her body in a suggestive way.

  Lisa rolled her eyes and kept eating. She’d met men like Kaden before, men who b
elieved all they had to do to get a woman to go home with them was crook a finger. They never seemed to understand that their obvious assumption of success drove women like her away. Still, she didn’t want to be rude to the star of the movie. She would finish her food quickly and go home.

  Something brushed the side of her leg and Lisa jumped. Kaden grinned at her.

  “Would you please stop that,” she hissed. “I’m not here for that. I just wanted to get away from my ex.”

  His face went cold. “Playing hard to get doesn’t make you seem more attractive,” he said. “Or younger.”

  She threw her burger down on the tray. “I’m not hungry anymore. Have a good night.”

  She rose to leave. He started to get up, too, but an older couple, the woman dragging her reluctant husband from a nearby table, blocked his path.

  “Aren’t you…” the woman started. “I know you. Wait, don’t tell me.”

  Lisa grabbed her milkshake and slipped past the couple, and waved at Kaden.

  “See you on set.”

  She slurped down as much milkshake as she could before she got to the door, then left the glass on a bussing station. The chocolaty goodness bolstered her mood.

  She jumped into her car and turned onto the road into town, carefully merging into traffic and watching for ice on the road.

  What a shame that the handsome movie star had to turn out to be a creep. She thought of how he’d gone right into her personal upstairs apartment at the Folly, and how he assumed that any woman would let him do whatever he wanted. It was like he’d forgotten what it felt like to be told no. The price of stardom, she thought.

  She pulled into the drive at the Folly. Jan had left the porch light on for her. Lisa smiled at her luck in having such good employees.

  She hauled her gear into the kitchen and then slumped on one of the couches in the library and took out her phone. It had been too long since she’d heard Mo’s voice. She called him.

  The call went to voicemail. Disappointed, she left a quick message and went to the kitchen to start on the massive batch of muffins she needed for the next day on set.

  Mama Cat followed her in, purring and rubbing Lisa’s leg. Lisa cast an eye to the catfood dish, but it was full, probably filled by Jan before she left.

  “You’re just here for the affection,” Lisa said, bending down to pet the black and white cat and scratch behind her ears.

  Chapter 7

  Lisa’s alarm went off way too early the following morning. She dressed and hurried down to load the car for her second day bringing food for the craft service table on set. She wished she didn’t need the money, but too late for that. The shoot would only be in town a few more days, and then she could go back to her regular life. Her lovely regular life, hopefully with fewer bounced checks.

  A high-pitched giggle sounded from the end of the driveway. Seconds later, Annette rushed up and hugged Lisa.

  “This is so exciting,” she said.

  Lisa had almost forgotten her invitation to her young employee.

  “Ok, but there are ground rules on a set. No phones. No filming or taking pictures. No talking while they’re shooting. No bothering the actors when they’re prepping for a scene, and definitely not while they’re shooting a scene. Basically, just try to be silently invisible.”

  Annette bounced like a puppy. Lisa pointed at the door. “Help me carry things out and finish loading so we can go.”

  The drive to set went quickly, with Annette chattering about movies and actors and how all her friends were super jealous that she got to go to set.

  “Basically you’re the best boss ever, and I am so lucky, and thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said as they pulled into the parking space by the table.

  Lisa turned off the car and looked Annette in the eye. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re here. But remember the ground rules.”

  “Ok.” Annette reached for the door handle.

  “Where’s your phone?” Lisa said, not trusting that a teen would voluntarily surrender the device that was like an extra limb without prompting.

  Annette sighed and fished it out of her pocket.

  Lisa took it and shook it at her. “These things can cause so much trouble on set! If your phone rings in the middle of a shot, you can get fired. But you’re not working, so I can get fired.”

  “Ok! I’ll put it on silent and I’ll leave it in the car.”

  Annette put the phone in the center console and got out to help unload things with Lisa. The parking area started to fill as Lisa got the table arranged. She put a carafe of coffee and a stack of cups out first, knowing that caffeine-starved zombies would drift from the cars to the table looking for their fix.

  “When will Kaden Nicolini get here?” Annette whispered in Lisa’s ear.

  “The call sheet is in the car, in the center console. But when he gets here, remember, he’s at work. Let him work.”

  Annette nodded and went to check the call sheet. Lisa hoped it hadn’t been a mistake to bring her along. She was a good kid, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get carried away by all the excitement. Lisa looked around at the half-asleep crew members clutching their coffees and chuckled at all the excitement on evidence.

  Gavin Jump walked up to the table and poured himself a coffee. Lisa waited for a nasty remark from the director, but he just took a sip and nodded his approval of the brew.

  Lisa could feel it when Kaden arrived. Waves of excitement radiated from Annette as they watched the handsome actor get out of his car and walk up to the craft service table for a bottled water.

  He flashed his smile at Annette. “You came. Excited to see some movie magic?”

  Annette stared at him for a second before she started babbling about how very excited she was.

  Lisa tried to find a job for Annette to do to distract her, but when she said, “Annette, do you think you could—”

  “Let me give you a tour of set,” Kaden said, cutting Lisa off.

  Annette floated around the table to join him. Lisa watched with consternation.

  “Cute kid.” Kari Ajax had snuck up on her and was standing at the other side of the table with an amused expression on her face.

  “Will she be ok with him?” Lisa said, worrying that he would hit on her minor employee the way he’d hit on her.

  “Don’t worry. Kaden’s a dog, but he’s a dog with a strict Adults Only policy,” Kari said. She topped off her coffee and headed for the wardrobe trailer.

  Her mind at least partially at ease, Lisa busied herself keeping the table stocked. A few minutes later, Annette came back, an excited smile plastered all over her face.

  The shooting day got started. Lisa enjoyed Annette’s enthusiasm. It reminded her of her first time on a movie set. Lisa was ready to leave and get back to the café, but Annette was having so much fun that she thought maybe they could stay until the lunch break.

  Sam, the first AD, came by the table to refill his coffee. The second AD came with him. They hovered by the table, looking at a clipboard.

  “We’ll run into union penalties if we don’t break for lunch on time.”

  “I know that, Jaime, but Gavin wants to get the shot before we break. Just try to keep everything moving.”

  “Ok. I’ll do what I can. But a scene like this should take twice as long to set up. Any less and you’re cutting corners.”

  “Let’s just get it done.”

  Jaime nodded and jogged back to set. Sam studied the clipboard and refilled his coffee before heading back.

  After hearing the first and second ADs talking, Lisa was surprised by how quickly the big shootout scene got underway. She watched Kaden take his place, his wardrobe now torn and bloodied as befit a man making his last stand. Dylan looked her way as he walked by with Ralphie, but she refused to meet his eyes. Gavin called “Action!” and there was yelling and an extended barrage of gunfire. When she thought her ears couldn’t take it any longer, the director called “Cut!” and silence
fell in the little canyon again.

  “Reset! Places!” Sam said.

  People rustled around, getting back to their starting marks.

  “I said reset! Kaden, quit messing around. We’re burning daylight!”

  A few people tittered.

  “Kaden, reset! Kaden! Kaden?” Lisa heard Sam’s voice go from frustrated to worried in a heartbeat.

  People pushed forward to see what had happened. Lisa grabbed Annette’s arm to hold her back from crowding in. They stood on tiptoes and looked.

  Kaden lay on the ground, a pool of blood growing under his torso. He was still breathing, twitching, making eerie little moans. Lisa felt sick. She could tell he was suffering. They were miles from town, over slippery winding roads.

  “Get the medic! Jaime, call 911. Kaden’s been shot.”

  There was a collective intake of breath, and then the set dissolved into pandemonium. Everyone looked around to see who had done it. Lisa saw the crowd widen in a circle around someone. She craned her neck to see what they were looking at.

  “Oh, no,” she whispered.

  Standing in the middle of the crowd was Dylan. He had a look of horror on his face as he looked down at the gun in his hand. He dropped the gun in the snow.

  “It’s not a prop,” he said, his voice cracking. “It’s not a prop. It’s real.”

  Chapter 8

  Lisa didn’t know how long it was before the flashing lights of emergency services arrived. An hour, a week, a year? The whole crew watched as Kaden was loaded onto a stretcher and taken away by ambulance. Lisa wished she had the comfort of Mo’s arm around her, his steadiness to keep her feeling grounded among the madness.

  Toby and Officer Handy were there, the lights on their police cruisers reflecting blue and red on the snowy canyon.

  Officer Handy held her hands up and raised her voice. “We’re going to need statements from everyone. To make this go faster, please have your ID ready when we get to you.”

  Gavin marched up to her, arms folded. “How long is this going to take? Can it wait until we get a little more footage in the can?”

  “Sir, step back.”

  “This is my set. Don’t you tell me to step back.”