Page 76 of Blood Stone

Chapter Sixteen

The storm blew out at sunset, which was a startling, stunning vista of reds, pinks, oranges and yellows that had Kate and her director of photography sprinting to capture B-roll footage that could be used later, perhaps.

Kate called for filming to start at ten p.m. Garrett presented himself on-set as per the new strategies they had hammered out that afternoon, while the storm battered the trailer, and into the night, once Nial and Sebastian were finished with Gunther.

Gunther had given up nothing, but Nial had not expected him to open up easily, and he had not wasted too much time and effort digging for the truth. Sebastian had driven the man into San Francisco and dumped him, relatively unharmed, before returning to the site with new server components to repair the damage he had caused.

“It doesn’t matter who Gunther was with, or even if he was working solo. The fact that he was here at all means we’re not alone out here,” Nial had emphasized more than once. “We can’t assume that anything we do goes unobserved, now. The plan is working. We need to take up our posts and stay alert.”

So Garrett returned to his assigned position by Kate’s side, reluctance dogging his every step.

She was busy setting up the first scene of the night, so she merely raised her brow as he unfolded the chair that was his and sat in it. “Gracing us with your presence, huh?”

“Figured things needed to get back to normal.” He tried for a casual tone and almost succeeded.

Kate let him get away with it. “Normal sounds good,” she agreed, her tone as fake casual as his and turned away, her attention already pulled by something else.

He looked around. There were perhaps a dozen witnesses to their stiff exchange. He tried to settle into the chair more comfortably and pretend he was relaxed. He watched the bustle around him. Even in just over a week, his education into the processes of shooting a movie had taken a mega-leap and he could name and describe most of what everyone was doing on the set, even if he couldn’t tell if they were doing it well, or not.

His phone vibrated against his chest and he pulled it out.

@DoveAngel. I’m very pleased to have you back.

He looked around. She was nowhere in sight.

His smile after that was quite genuine.

* * * * *

Filming went spectacularly well. It was as if the delays and the storm had been all their bad luck and now they had rolled up and blown away. Patrick was right on top of his game, both physically and with the next scene, a fairly intense emotional scene with Murad’s brother.

Winter stopped by just after three a.m. and crouched by Garrett’s chair and held out a thermos cup. “Coffee,” she said in a voice designed to travel. “I figure you could use some by now.”

“You just earned your bonus,” he said with a sigh and took the mug. From the weight, it felt empty.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

“I won’t jinx anything,” he said. “I’m not an expert, but I’d say it seems to be going well. Kate is smiling. That’s a good sign.”

Nial shifted closer and Winter looked up. “Hi.” It was the polite, neutral expression of co-workers who didn’t know each other well.

“I was wondering if that Terry guy was around.” Nial asked. “The computer guy? Patrick can’t seem to get any email on his laptop at the moment and he wants him to look at his computer.”

“He was just waking up when I left the trailer,” Winter told him. “He had to grab a nap. He had an active day today, getting the server up and running again. It’s been down. Maybe that’s why Mr. Sauvage couldn’t get his email. Terry will be here in a minute. I’m sure he can check out the laptop for you.”

Nial looked over her shoulder. “That’s him now, isn’t it?”

Winter turned to look. So did Garrett. He saw Sebastian climbing out of one of the minivans that did nothing but shuttle cast and crew back and forth between the base camp and wherever the day’s shoot happened to be.

Then he heard a sound he had last heard on the battlefield and it made all the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

The quiet, deep “whoomp” had a peculiar echo. It was muffled by the odd little cough that Nial made and the gasping wheeze that Winter gave.

Garrett turned, feeling time slow down to treacle speed.

“And cut!” Kate called, behind him.

No one else had noticed, he realized. No one had realized.