Joke and Dagger

by Christy Barritt

  “You’re saying I have an X on me?” Rick asked.

  I nodded. “On your cheek. That scar. It looks like an X. In fact, it must have shown up in some of Bucky’s photos. That’s why you destroyed his camera. You probably threw it out into the ocean, if I had to guess.”

  Rick didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds until, “Why would I go through all this trouble?”

  “I was hoping you’d ask that,” I said. “Easy. Because Alistair has promised you your big break for years. Yet he’s never given it to you. You’ve given him a script that you felt had potential. He promised you the world. Yet he’s still only kept you as a lowly cameraman.”

  Rick scoffed.

  “You wrote A Pirate’s Life, didn’t you? You wanted Alistair to take that on as his next project. He probably even promised you he would.”

  Rick said nothing, which I took as a sign I was correct.

  “You’ve had years and years for this bitterness to develop,” I started. “You wanted to mess with Alistair’s head. At first . . . But when Bucky got in the way, things took a turn for the worse, and you knew you had to take care of things.”

  “You don’t have any proof.” Rick narrowed his eyes. “This is all conjecture.”

  “Maybe it is, but you know I’m telling the truth,” I said. “You’re the one who is behind this. Now, where is Eva? What did she have to do with this?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Cassidy stepped forward. “Rick, I think we should go down to the station to talk.”

  “I think we’re doing fine right here.” Rick’s voice sounded below a growl.

  As she reached for his arm, he quickly withdrew something from his waistband.

  A gun.

  He raised it toward all of us, and his eyes bulged as he said, “Everyone, stand down. This isn’t the way this was supposed to end.”

  Everyone seemed to freeze as we anticipated what would happen next.

  This couldn’t end well.

  Rick had one gun pointed, at times, at all of us.

  But Jackson, Cassidy, and two of her officers had guns pointed at Rick.

  Even if Rick shot one of us, there was no way he was walking out of this alive. He had to know that.

  “Why’d you do this, Rick?” Cassidy asked. “Why’d you resort to murder?”

  His hand shook. “Joey was right. Everyone keeps offering me empty promises, but nothing has come from them. I’ve been working in this industry for twenty years, and this whole time I’ve been waiting for my big break. It’s never come.”

  “So you blame everyone else?” Cassidy asked.

  As she spoke, I scooted backward, away from Rick. Washington saw me and slowly began to scoot back also.

  “It’s hard to see everyone around you prospering while you suffer.”

  “Why are you suffering, Rick?” Cassidy continued.

  I backed up another step until I reached Jackson. He nudged me behind him.

  “I’ve never gotten my big break,” he said. “I haven’t even met the woman of my dreams yet. My whole life has been consumed by this industry, yet it’s done nothing for me except take from me.”

  “You could have gotten out,” I said. “Or tried to do your own film, to make your own way.”

  “You don’t think I thought of that! I did. I did try. It never worked out. Do you even realize how much work I put into this? I try to make things perfect. Yet my life is a mess.”

  “You didn’t have to kill Bucky,” Jackson said.

  “He realized what I was up to and tried to blackmail me. We met in the lighthouse, and . . . I never meant for things to go this far.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t mean for them to go further?” Jackson asked. “As in, blowing up this set while everyone was working?”

  Murmurs sounded around us.

  “It just started with the script.” Ricks’ nostril’s flared. “I wanted to mess with Alistair. But then, once I got on set, everyone started driving me crazy.”

  “So you decided to play on everyone’s weakness,” I finished.

  His eyes lit with surprise. “Exactly. How did you know?”

  I shrugged. “I figured it out. You even made it seem like someone was toying with you, causing your OCD to act up.”

  “Did you send those pirates here also?” Jackson asked.

  He smirked, but it quickly disappeared. “I gave the pirates that treasure map, knowing they’d wander onto the set and mess things up. It was just one more way of putting Alistair in his place. It seemed innocent.”

  Things were falling in place but . . . “The one thing I don’t understand is why things escalated.”

  “No one was supposed to die. It just happened. And then I realized I was probably going to jail anyway. I decided, why not go out with a bang.” Rick held the gun away from himself, flopping his arm to the side and leaving his chest wide open as if inviting death. “Why don’t you just shoot me now?”

  “We don’t want to do that.” Cassidy took a step closer, her voice even and calm as she approached him. “We want to talk this through.”

  “There’s no talking necessary here. It’s already been done.”

  “Where’s Eva?” Cassidy asked.

  “She’s at Alistair’s,” Rick said. “I left her there this morning. I have a camera recording her every move. She’s going crazy. I cut her hair.” He smirked.

  I let out a quick breath. He really was awful. And twisted. And so messed up.

  “Put the gun down, Rick,” Cassidy said.

  I expected him to fight back. To argue.

  Instead, he lowered it to the sand.

  As he did, Cassidy’s officers rushed toward him and slapped handcuffs on his wrists.

  Maybe this was finally over.

  Unlike the movie—which had a twist at the end revealing to the audience it had all been a virtual reality game—this was all real. Too real.

  But at least no one else had gotten hurt.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Two hours later, the cast and crew were packing up.

  This film would be no more.

  Even though I hated the fact that I’d wasted my time with this movie, another part of me was glad it was over and my name would no longer be attached.

  Saying yes to this project had been a mistake. Mostly because saying yes to A Useless Ending to a Hard-Fought Life had been saying no to Jackson and our Happy-Ever-After Ending to a Hard-Sought Love.

  The irony of the name Alistair had given to this film wasn’t lost on me. He’d wanted me to feel useless, hadn’t he? Professional jealousy had led him down a treacherous path.

  The same for Rick. The desire to get ahead had clouded his judgment and eventually had overtaken him.

  If we weren’t careful, dark emotions could ruin us. I’d be wise to keep that in mind also. The moment we thought we were above it was the moment pride stepped in and showed us our true colors.

  I’d also realized with absolute clarity that I didn’t want my life to be useless. I didn’t want my fame to be for my benefit or at the expense of the people I loved. Because I knew myself, I knew it would be something I had to constantly remind myself of.

  As Jackson and I stood on the shore, in the shadow of the lighthouse, I closed my eyes a minute and reviewed everything that had just gone down.

  Each person here on set had been questioned.

  Rick had been arrested.

  Eva had been located at Alistair’s, just as Rick said, and she was now at a local clinic being checked out. Initial reports were that she was shaken but fine.

  My gaze drifted toward a figure trudging across the sand toward Jackson and me. Cassidy. She’d had her work cut out for her this week.

  “Good job, you two,” she said, pausing in front of us. “Thanks for all your help.”

  “No problem,” Jackson said. “I’m just glad we could help before anyone else got hurt.”

  “And if you ever want to leave Nags Head and look fo
r a new job, things are pretty exciting here on our little island.” She flashed a smile.

  Jackson nodded, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve noticed.”

  Cassidy turned to me. “And Joey . . . it was so nice to meet you. I can’t wait to find out what happens with Raven Remington.”

  “I think you’ll like this new season that’s coming up.”

  “I’m sure I will. I wish the two of you the best of luck together. Come back to visit our little island when you have the chance.”

  “We will,” I said.

  With a wave, Cassidy nodded and walked away.

  I turned to Jackson as we stood there on the beach, the ocean waves crashing behind us. The storm still remained offshore, giving us a fabulous show and reminding us of the danger we’d narrowly missed.

  “I guess we have some time together after all.” Jackson’s hands went to my waist, and he pulled me closer.

  “I guess we do.” I let out a breath as a thought hit me. It might be crazy but . . . “We could get married now, you know.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Right now? As in, today?”

  I shrugged, realizing I hadn’t thought any of this through. But maybe this was the solution we’d been looking for. “Yes, today. I mean, we’re here. We have time. Why not?”

  He rubbed my arms and took a step back. Something about his reaction caused me to brace myself for whatever he had to say. I sensed a shift in our conversation—a shift that might not be what I wanted.

  “Part of me wants to say yes,” Jackson started. “I’d love nothing more than to call you my wife. But . . .”

  I held my breath, fearing he’d changed his mind. Or that he needed space. Or that he’d seen the cracks in our relationship, the cracks in me. I’d programmed myself to think that all good things needed to come to an end. And since Jackson seemed too good to be true . . .

  His gaze bore into mine, his eyes orbs of hazel and green that mesmerized me every time. “But Joey. . . when we get married, I don’t want it to be because we had an opening in our schedules. I want it to be purposeful and planned. I want it to be . . . I don’t know. Special, I suppose.”

  His words rolled over me. “I understand.”

  He rubbed my arms, and his voice softened. “That is not a rejection. It’s anything but. You deserve a wedding that screams, ‘Joey.’”

  “Red carpet, flying bullets, stalkers—”

  He chuckled. “No, all the other parts of you. It should be beautiful and fun and full of love. Full of the people who are important to us.” His smile slipped. “I don’t want to start our marriage flippantly, giving it just as little thought as we’d give going to a movie or out to eat. You’re too important to me.”

  Tears rushed to my eyes. “You’re important to me also. I’m sorry if I haven’t shown that.”

  “You have, Joey.”

  I tried to hold the moisture back, but it escaped from my eyes anyway. “Listen, we have next week together. Let’s nail down the date and reserve what we need to reserve. How does that sound?”

  A grin spread across his face. “That sounds fantastic.”

  My heart felt like it could melt into a puddle. “I love you, Jackson Sullivan.”

  “I love you too, Joey. And, the truth is, life will never be normal and boring with you around. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  As he said the words, I reached up to kiss him. A sound in the distance stopped me before I could.

  A vehicle pulled up on scene.

  I grinned as I recognized it.

  The Hot Chicks, Phoebe, and Zane had arrived.

  They must have heard what happened and come to check on us.

  As they surrounded us, cackling about cotton ball diets, how one of the Hot Chicks was crushing on the Lantern Beach mayor, and verbally hashtagging things like #lifeisneverboringwithJoey, I smiled. I was thankful for this crazy community around me—each and every person.

  But most of all for Jackson.

  Also by Christy Barritt:

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  Joey Darling, better known to the world as Raven Remington, detective extraordinaire, is trying to separate herself from her invincible alter ego. She played the spunky character for five years on the hit TV show Relentless, which catapulted her to fame and into the role of Hollywood’s sweetheart. When her marriage falls apart, her finances dwindle to nothing, and her father disappears, Joey finds herself on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, trying to piece together her life away from the limelight. But as people continually mistake her for the character she played on TV, she’s tasked with solving real life crimes . . . even though she’s terrible at it.

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