Page 29
Story: Capture the Rainbow
She heard a brief angry expletive from Joel, but she purposely blocked him out. She had to concentrate only on persuading Skip to give her the jump. She needed that special more desperately than ever now that her stunting would be curtailed entirely within a few months. “I’m not asking any favors. I earned that jump, Skip.”
“And if I give it to you now, everyone in the business is going to wonder if I’m relaxing my own rules about drugs on the job,” Skip said with flinty hardness. “It will look like an actual reward for breaking the rules. How the hell can I do that?”
“You can’t do it,” Joel declared. “There’s no way Kendra’s going to make that jump.”
“Can’t?”Skip drawled softly. “I told you I didn’t like that word. You’re trespassing on my territory, Joel. This is my decision, not yours.”
“You’re wrong. This is very much my territory,” Joel said. “It was crazy enough to consider letting her do it before you knew she was on medication. It’s totally unacceptable now. You said yourself it could mean the difference between life and death.”
“But she said she had only used one pill on one occasion and there was some justification then,” Skip said coolly. “And if I remember correctly, a good deal of the blame rests at your feet. You were being pretty rough on her at the time.”
Joel flinched. “Do you think I don’t know that? Do you think I don’t realize I behaved like a bastard to her?”
“The personal games you and Kendra are playing aren’t my concern,” Skip said. “Except when they interfere with my prerogatives.” He turned to Kendra. “You’re right; you’ve earned the jump.” His lips tightened. “And I can handle any flak I’ll get from the rest of the team. I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone challenge my authority here.”
“You’re going to let me do it?” Kendra said, her face alight with hope.
Skip nodded curtly. “You’ve got it.” He turned away. “Come on, I’ll drive you back to the location. We’re going to spend the rest of the day in my trailer studying the diagram of the stunt, and then we’ll go over the terrain up to the actual jump itself.”
“Damnyou, Skip.” Joel’s voice was so charged with anger that Kendra’s eyes opened wide in shock. “If anything happens to her in that canyon tomorrow, I’ll strangle you with my bare hands.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to her,” Skip said. “I take care of my people. I’ll wait for you in the jeep, Ken.” Then he was striding swiftly away.
Kendra started to follow him, but she was halted by Joel’s iron grip on her wrists. “I said I wanted to talk to you, Kendra. That hasn’t changed.” His gaze remained on Kendra’s face as he said, “If you’ll excuse us, Billie?”
Billie gave Kendra a helpless glance before she shrugged and started for the jeep. “If you need me, just call, Kendra.”
“What does she think I’m going to do, beat you?” Joel asked in a bitter tone. “The idea has a certain merit, but at present all I’m trying to do is keep you from killing yourself. I’d think Billie would understand that.”
“She does,” Kendra said wearily. “She’s just a little overprotective. You know how Billie loves the underdog.”
“Then she should be trying to protect you from yourself and not from me.” His hands tightened even more around her wrists. “That night at Rainbow Keep you hadn’t had too much to drink as you let me think, had you? It was those damn pills you were taking.”
“I don’t really know,” she answered with a shrug. “What difference does it make? It probably was a combination of the two.”
“Terrific,” Joel said ironically. “How stupid can you get? Don’t you know you should never mix drugs and alcohol? You’re lucky you didn’t kill yourself.”
“So it wasn’t very bright of me. Why can’t you just drop it? Nothing irrevocable happened as a result of the mistake I made.”
“Didn’t it?” His lips twisted bitterly. “I think it did.” His expression became even grimmer. “Why didn’t you tell me about your brother? You know I would have let you have any amount of money you needed with no strings attached. Did you think I’d exact some sort of cheap sexual blackmail if you let me help you?” There was a flicker of pain in the depths of his eyes.
She glanced away. “What did you want me to do? Should I have begged you to pity the poor hardworking stuntgirl slaving to support her disabled brother? That’s too corny to be real. Too corny and too degrading. I’ve taken care of Casey ever since the accident and I don’t need charity to care for him now. I pay my own way, Joel.”
“With your blood? With your life, dammit?”
“It’s my life,” she said flippantly, then instantly sobered. It wasn’t only her life now, it was the baby’s! Oh God, she prayed silently, let her make the jump safely tomorrow.
“You won’t listen, will you?” Suddenly the anger and hurt disappeared behind a mask of granite. “Well, you may not think I deserve to be given any say in your life. You’ve made my bit role in your future very clear. But I’m dealing myself in, Kendra. I’m giving you an ultimatum and you’d be wise to believe that I mean it.”
“An ultimatum?”
“I want you to promise not to make that jump tomorrow. I want you to let me give you the money you need for your brother and to finance your training in any other career you select. No strings attached. You don’t even have to see me again if you don’t choose to.” As she began to shake her head, he continued harshly. “I haven’t finished. Now we come to the ultimatum. If youdomake that jump tomorrow, I’ll see that you’re blacklisted on every set in the film world. I think you know I have the power to do it. I’ll pass the word that you’re uncooperative and unreliable, and the drug rumor will do the rest. And I assure you I won’t be as generous about giving you your freedom from me if you force me to do that. I’ll have to find a way to make sure you’re well taken care of and secure, even if it means forcing you to be my mistress.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Kendra whispered.
“Try me,” he said, a reckless smile on his face. “I’ll do whatever I have to do and take as much pleasure as I can for myself along the way. It’s not the role I had in mind for you, but who knows, I might learn to enjoy playing sheik to your captive mistress. It always makes a damn good story line. Maybe it has something going for it.”
“I don’t think you’d find it to your taste,” Kendra said, lifting her chin defiantly. “You’re a little too civilized to appreciate that type of situation.”
“And if I give it to you now, everyone in the business is going to wonder if I’m relaxing my own rules about drugs on the job,” Skip said with flinty hardness. “It will look like an actual reward for breaking the rules. How the hell can I do that?”
“You can’t do it,” Joel declared. “There’s no way Kendra’s going to make that jump.”
“Can’t?”Skip drawled softly. “I told you I didn’t like that word. You’re trespassing on my territory, Joel. This is my decision, not yours.”
“You’re wrong. This is very much my territory,” Joel said. “It was crazy enough to consider letting her do it before you knew she was on medication. It’s totally unacceptable now. You said yourself it could mean the difference between life and death.”
“But she said she had only used one pill on one occasion and there was some justification then,” Skip said coolly. “And if I remember correctly, a good deal of the blame rests at your feet. You were being pretty rough on her at the time.”
Joel flinched. “Do you think I don’t know that? Do you think I don’t realize I behaved like a bastard to her?”
“The personal games you and Kendra are playing aren’t my concern,” Skip said. “Except when they interfere with my prerogatives.” He turned to Kendra. “You’re right; you’ve earned the jump.” His lips tightened. “And I can handle any flak I’ll get from the rest of the team. I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone challenge my authority here.”
“You’re going to let me do it?” Kendra said, her face alight with hope.
Skip nodded curtly. “You’ve got it.” He turned away. “Come on, I’ll drive you back to the location. We’re going to spend the rest of the day in my trailer studying the diagram of the stunt, and then we’ll go over the terrain up to the actual jump itself.”
“Damnyou, Skip.” Joel’s voice was so charged with anger that Kendra’s eyes opened wide in shock. “If anything happens to her in that canyon tomorrow, I’ll strangle you with my bare hands.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to her,” Skip said. “I take care of my people. I’ll wait for you in the jeep, Ken.” Then he was striding swiftly away.
Kendra started to follow him, but she was halted by Joel’s iron grip on her wrists. “I said I wanted to talk to you, Kendra. That hasn’t changed.” His gaze remained on Kendra’s face as he said, “If you’ll excuse us, Billie?”
Billie gave Kendra a helpless glance before she shrugged and started for the jeep. “If you need me, just call, Kendra.”
“What does she think I’m going to do, beat you?” Joel asked in a bitter tone. “The idea has a certain merit, but at present all I’m trying to do is keep you from killing yourself. I’d think Billie would understand that.”
“She does,” Kendra said wearily. “She’s just a little overprotective. You know how Billie loves the underdog.”
“Then she should be trying to protect you from yourself and not from me.” His hands tightened even more around her wrists. “That night at Rainbow Keep you hadn’t had too much to drink as you let me think, had you? It was those damn pills you were taking.”
“I don’t really know,” she answered with a shrug. “What difference does it make? It probably was a combination of the two.”
“Terrific,” Joel said ironically. “How stupid can you get? Don’t you know you should never mix drugs and alcohol? You’re lucky you didn’t kill yourself.”
“So it wasn’t very bright of me. Why can’t you just drop it? Nothing irrevocable happened as a result of the mistake I made.”
“Didn’t it?” His lips twisted bitterly. “I think it did.” His expression became even grimmer. “Why didn’t you tell me about your brother? You know I would have let you have any amount of money you needed with no strings attached. Did you think I’d exact some sort of cheap sexual blackmail if you let me help you?” There was a flicker of pain in the depths of his eyes.
She glanced away. “What did you want me to do? Should I have begged you to pity the poor hardworking stuntgirl slaving to support her disabled brother? That’s too corny to be real. Too corny and too degrading. I’ve taken care of Casey ever since the accident and I don’t need charity to care for him now. I pay my own way, Joel.”
“With your blood? With your life, dammit?”
“It’s my life,” she said flippantly, then instantly sobered. It wasn’t only her life now, it was the baby’s! Oh God, she prayed silently, let her make the jump safely tomorrow.
“You won’t listen, will you?” Suddenly the anger and hurt disappeared behind a mask of granite. “Well, you may not think I deserve to be given any say in your life. You’ve made my bit role in your future very clear. But I’m dealing myself in, Kendra. I’m giving you an ultimatum and you’d be wise to believe that I mean it.”
“An ultimatum?”
“I want you to promise not to make that jump tomorrow. I want you to let me give you the money you need for your brother and to finance your training in any other career you select. No strings attached. You don’t even have to see me again if you don’t choose to.” As she began to shake her head, he continued harshly. “I haven’t finished. Now we come to the ultimatum. If youdomake that jump tomorrow, I’ll see that you’re blacklisted on every set in the film world. I think you know I have the power to do it. I’ll pass the word that you’re uncooperative and unreliable, and the drug rumor will do the rest. And I assure you I won’t be as generous about giving you your freedom from me if you force me to do that. I’ll have to find a way to make sure you’re well taken care of and secure, even if it means forcing you to be my mistress.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Kendra whispered.
“Try me,” he said, a reckless smile on his face. “I’ll do whatever I have to do and take as much pleasure as I can for myself along the way. It’s not the role I had in mind for you, but who knows, I might learn to enjoy playing sheik to your captive mistress. It always makes a damn good story line. Maybe it has something going for it.”
“I don’t think you’d find it to your taste,” Kendra said, lifting her chin defiantly. “You’re a little too civilized to appreciate that type of situation.”