Joke and Dagger

by Christy Barritt

  “Hello?” Jackson called out again.

  There was still no answer.

  I stepped farther inside, my gaze still surveying everything around me. Alistair did not appear to be here, nor did I see any signs of distress. That was good news, I supposed.

  I paused by his dresser and looked at a script there. A Pirate’s Life was the title.

  Weird. In the section where there should be an author listed, it was blank.

  Was this Alistair’s next movie?

  Jackson opened one of the doors in the distance, I assumed to make sure that Alistair wasn’t hiding out in the space or in trouble. It appeared to be a closet.

  But what I saw inside caused me to blanch.

  It was a pirate costume. One that included a black cloak and mask.

  “A pirate costume?” I mumbled aloud.

  Jackson looked at me, and I could tell by his gaze that he was thinking the same thing I was.

  I thought I knew exactly who the Piranha was.

  It was Alistair.

  He must have worn that costume when he met with Bucky. He had access to this location, giving the opportunity and means.

  But what about motive? Why in the world would Alistair try to sabotage his own movie? That’s what didn’t make sense.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “What are you doing in here?”

  Jackson and I turned to see Alistair standing behind us, staring at us with accusation in his gaze.

  “The bigger question is, what are you doing with this pirate costume?” Jackson asked.

  Alistair’s eyes widened. “You’re going through my things?”

  “We were actually looking for you, afraid that something might have happened and that you were the next victim.” I stared at the producer. “But maybe the better question would be what have you done to everyone else?”

  Alistair gasped and took a step back. “Do you think I am the one behind this? Why would I sabotage my own movie?”

  “That’s a great question,” Jackson said. “Why would you go to such extreme measures?”

  Alistair shook his hand in the air, his breaths seeming to come faster. “You’ve got this all wrong. I would never kill anybody.”

  “Then maybe you need to start explaining,” I said. “Because that’s exactly what it looks like could have happened.”

  My only comfort right now was in knowing that Jackson had his gun drawn. We should be safe. At least, for the moment.

  “Okay, okay.” Alistair raised his hands in the air, still staring at Jackson’s gun. “I think we all just need to slow down a little bit. Yes, I do have a pirate costume in my closet. But that does not mean that I am behind these crimes.”

  “Sit down.” Jackson pointed to the couch with his gun.

  Alistair’s gaze remained on Jackson’s gun, and he did exactly what Jackson told him to do. Only the overly confident producer wasn’t looking so confident right now.

  “You’re the Piranha, aren’t you?” Jackson said.

  I crossed my arms, listening carefully to everything Alistair had to say. I was a little more than curious to know what was going on here.

  “ I . . .” Alistair paused and rubbed his head as if battling within himself. “Okay, yes. I am the Piranha.”

  I didn’t even bother to hold back my gasp. “So you were the one who commissioned those photographs of me?”

  He ran a hand through his hair again, leaving it a frizzy mess. “Yes, okay? It was me.”

  “Why in the world would you do something like this?” Jackson asked.

  Alistair glanced at me, his gaze narrowing. “I was the one that got everything started for you, Joey Darling. And now look at you. You’re bigger than I am. You’ve gone on and made this great name for yourself. You’ve had setback after setback, yet you’ve still risen above it all.”

  “What does this have to do with what’s happening here on the set?” I asked. It still didn’t make sense.

  “I wrote and I am producing this film just for you, Joey. I wanted a role that would humiliate you.”

  My bottom lip dropped open. “Wait, you created Drusilla Fairweather just to make me look bad?”

  Alistair scowled. “Yes, that’s correct. Do you feel better now?”

  “Do I feel better?” I wanted to shriek the words, but I didn’t. “Why in the world would that make me feel better?”

  “Because you’re on to me. You have again proven that you are smarter and more talented than I am.”

  “Let’s take a few steps back here,” Jackson said. “You said you wrote this film just to embarrass Joey? Wouldn’t making Joey look bad only prove to make you look bad also?”

  “No, you don’t understand. I was willing to take that risk.” Alistair’s nostrils flared. “I could make Joey look bad and still have my film be a commercial success. People love these kinds of roles where they see their favorite actors and actresses looking like real people. But there’s one thing I didn’t foresee happening.”

  I crossed my arms as bitterness welled inside me. “Like what?”

  Alistair’s scowl deepened. “I didn’t expect for this article to come out giving you praise for doing such a good job in this role. My whole plan is going to be ruined now.”

  That was just pathetic. I said nothing. What else was there to say?

  “So you called yourself the Piranha, disguised yourself as a pirate, and you approached this Bucky Belching—or Marcus Whiting, I should say,” Jackson said.

  Alistair’s jaw flexed. “Yes, that’s correct. I’d had a couple encounters with Bucky before. I knew he was involved with this pirate community. I told him he should bring his group here, that I’d help sponsor the event.”

  “But Bucky didn’t know that you were the Piranha, did he?” I asked, trying to form a mental picture of what had happened.

  “No, he didn’t. I just told him that I needed to get some shots and I gave him the name of a contact at the National Instigator. He must have decided to do this professional review himself.” He said the word “professional” like it made him want to vomit.

  “And then you killed him,” Jackson said.

  Alistair nearly jumped out of his seat. But when he saw Jackson’s gun, he scooted back down. “No, like I said, I would never kill somebody. I have no idea who did that.”

  “Are you the one who’s been sending these revised scripts?” I asked. “They came from your email. You had access to the script.”

  “No! Why would I?”

  “If you would go as far as to try to ruin one of your actresses, I wouldn’t put that past you either.” Jackson pressed his lips together, obviously unimpressed with Alistair’s juvenile actions.

  “Look,” Alistair said, sweat sprinkled across his forehead. “I know how this appears. I know that I look guilty. That’s why I was going to fire Bucky. I was going to call all of this off. But then it was too late.”

  Jackson stepped closer and nearly growled as he asked, “Where is Eva?”

  Alistair’s cheeks reddened. “I have no idea what happened to her. I am not behind her disappearance. That’s the truth.”

  “Well, there’s one more person you’re going to have to tell this to.” Jackson shook his head, disgust dripping from his gaze. “The police chief.”

  I’d wanted to have a Scooby Doo moment, when the bad guy would own up to everything and explain exactly why he did what he did and how. The final reveal looked so natural when it happened on TV. But, in real life, the moment didn’t appear to be that easy.

  Until Cassidy could get more of the answers she needed, she’d taken Alistair to the police station. As he’d been hauled off the set, he’d screamed at all of us.

  First, he’d claimed his innocence. He’d claimed he would prove he was not behind this. Then he’d yelled at everyone listening that filming should continue without him, that time was money, and that they could not afford to shut down production on the set.

  I had no idea if he was really guilt
y or not, but I hoped that Cassidy might get some answers. However, the one thing I didn’t understand was how Alistair had tied himself up at the house. Was that even possible? I wasn’t sure.

  I was going to leave it to the police chief to find these answers. However, I was still thinking about Eva.

  I assumed Cassidy would send one of her officers over to Alistair’s house to make sure Eva wasn’t there. I had no idea where else she could be. I also assumed that Cassidy had sent somebody to talk to the pirate crew to see if they knew anything.

  But, like I said, I was not involved with this. Even if I wanted to be. I was going to keep myself as focused as a cameraman waiting for the perfect shot.

  Rick cleared his throat as we all stood around stupefied after Alistair’s arrest. “We all need to call it a day. Let’s meet again in the morning, and we’ll see if there are any updates. Until then, I think we could all use a break.”

  No one argued, but most of us were quiet as we walked away.

  I headed to my trailer, changed, and grabbed my phone before stepping back outside to meet Jackson. He took my hand as we headed toward his truck and climbed inside.

  “What a day,” Jackson muttered. “What are you thinking?”

  I shivered in spite of myself. “I just can’t believe Alistair would stoop that low. Do you think he’s a killer?”

  “If somebody is willing to do all those things out of jealousy, then there’s no telling what else he might do.”

  “I’m not Alistair’s biggest fan, but I have a hard time believing he’d kill somebody.”

  “You and I have been involved with enough murders and investigations together to know that it’s not always the person who seems like the killer who is the killer.”

  “You’re right,” I said. “I just don’t like any of this. I should’ve said no to this film, and I should’ve just gone to Nags Head and tried to live a normal life for this two-week break. But, instead, I had to say yes to this movie and land in the middle of another murder.”

  Jackson squeezed my hand. “You were trying to do it as a favor to Alistair. It was a kind gesture. It just didn’t turn out that well.”

  “Thank you for always seeing the best in me. That means a lot.”

  Jackson reached for my face, and his hand gently brushed my cheek and jaw as he gazed at me. “I always want to believe the best in you, Joey.”

  My hands covered his. “What did I do to deserve you?”

  “I ask myself all the time what I did to deserve you.”

  “Then I guess we’re both in a good place if we’re wondering what we did to deserve each other.”

  We shared a smile.

  “I guess we should get back to the house now,” I said. “We still have a whole crew there waiting for us. Hopefully, they were able to have some fun on the island today without us. I still feel a little guilty that I’m not able to spend more time with them.”

  “They knew when they came that you were going to be busy. They just wanted to be with you when they could.”

  “That means a lot to me.” But even as I said the words my mind was still on this investigation. I wanted to know what was going on here. I wanted answers.

  As I sat back and we started down the road, my mind drifted toward the list of numbers that had been in Bucky’s pocket when his body was discovered. What did they mean?

  I had already gone through the most obvious choices. I didn’t believe the numbers were a locker combination or any type of coordinates. But if that’s not what they were, then what did those numbers mean? There had to be a reason Bucky had them in his pocket with my name on them.

  My thoughts turned the numbers over again and again. Maybe we would figure it out sometime. We just needed more time.

  At that moment, my phone buzzed. I’d gotten a text.

  I gaped at what I saw there.

  It was a picture of Eva.

  Someone had cut her hair off.

  Below the photo were the words, “Beauty is only skin deep.”

  I grabbed my phone. I had to call Cassidy. Now.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The first thing I did the next morning was to check my email.

  I felt the blood drain from my face when I saw a new email from “Alistair.” With Jackson sitting beside me at the kitchen table, I clicked on it.

  As suspected, it was a revised script.

  “What’s different?” Jackson asked.

  I scrolled through the pages until I finally came to a stop at the end. I swallowed hard when I realized the alterations. “In this version, everyone in the movie dies at the end during an explosion.”

  “Do you think . . .” I couldn’t finish the question.

  “I wouldn’t put it past the killer to go to extreme measures like this.”

  “Me neither. But if Alistair is in jail, who sent this? Maybe he’s telling the truth and he didn’t alter the script.”

  “You can schedule emails to go out. He could have planned this before he was arrested.”

  That might be correct, but, for some reason, I couldn’t see it.

  I glanced at Jackson, a new plan forming in my mind. “I have an idea.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I think we should try to continue filming today—with or without Alistair. Because this killer is obviously getting desperate. He’s going to strike again. And what better way to catch him than by luring him out.”

  Jackson did his whole jaw-flexing thing before shaking his head. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

  “What do we have to lose?”

  Jackson leveled his gaze with me. “Everything. We have everything to lose.”

  I opened my mouth, wanting to argue. But I couldn’t. Because Jackson was right. If this plan didn’t work, then someone else could die.

  We had a lot to think through.

  But if we arranged it just right, then maybe it would provide us with some answers.

  First, I’d have to talk to Cassidy about it.

  Jackson was talking to Cassidy on the phone as we arrived on the set. I was the last one to get there, it appeared.

  As I watched the cast and crew a moment, I couldn’t help but note that everyone seemed to be moving like zombies. Everyone was dazed. Who could blame them in a situation like this?

  As I continued to scan everyone, I pictured imaginary closeups of each person with background commentary running, as if this situation were a movie instead of real life.

  As the thought entered my mind, I sucked in a breath.

  “What is it?” Jackson put his phone away and turned to me.

  How could I not have seen this before?

  “Jackson . . . tell me if I’m crazy but . . . I think everyone here has been targeted in their own way.”

  A knot formed between his brows. “What do you mean?”

  “Think about it—about everyone’s weakness. Alistair, his weakness is always wanting to be in control, so someone targeted that by taking control away for this movie. Someone knew that changing the script would drive Alistair mad.”

  “Keep going.”

  “Washington. Someone left a six pack outside his door, tempting him to start drinking again in the middle of this tumultuous, stress-inducing situation.”

  “Still listening.” His eyes sparked, as if he thought my theory might be valid.

  “Eva? Vanity. That’s why they cut her hair. Sarah? Money. She has student loans to pay and her livelihood is being threatened right now. Rick? Perfection. Everything about this film is going wrong. Mindy? Making things beautiful. The tips of her makeup brushes were cut.”

  “And you?”

  I swallowed hard. “Danger. I’ve been one of the only ones getting direct threats to my physical well-being.”

  “What about Sai and Brandon?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not sure. I don’t know them well enough yet. But am I going crazy or does that make sense?”

  Jackson’s jaw flexed again. “I
think you might be onto something, Joey. This whole cast and crew have been a target. But why?”

  I shook my head. “That’s a great question. Maybe today will hold some answers.”

  His gaze darkened like he was still uncomfortable with this whole plan. “I talked to Cassidy. She and her team are going to come and provide some extra security here.”

  “Great. What about Alistair? Eva? Any updates?”

  He shook his head. “No, not yet.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I told Rick my thoughts on picking up with the production, and he agreed.

  “I know enough about the film and the direction Alistair wants to go that I think I can act as a temporary director until Alistair is released. I’ve worked with him enough to have a good feel for the way he does things.”

  I stared at him a moment, hardly hearing anything beyond his statement about Alistair’s future.

  “Until Alistair is released?” I repeated. “You don’t think he’s guilty, do you?”

  He shrugged. “Why would he do this? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Does it really make sense for anyone to do this?”

  “Point taken. I don’t know. Maybe Alistair is guilty. Sometimes he does seem like he has a screw loose. Either way, I think we should do what we have to do today. You don’t have much time left, and there are some storms out to sea that could come up this way next week. The more we can get done, the better.”

  “I’ll go get suited up then.” A surge of satisfaction welled in me. Maybe today would be the day we actually got some answers.

  Though I had some reservations about the movie itself, I had to remember that there were other people whose careers were on the line here besides mine. There were people like Sarah who needed this project so they could have a paycheck. Did I want to be the bratty person who dropped out just because I was feeling a little miserable?

  Besides, the net was getting smaller. Washington wasn’t guilty. Alistair was behind bars, and Eva was still missing.