Page 8 of Wicked Shadows
“There’s nothing more you can do now, Analise. Protect yourself and your family.” Beth disconnected the call after Analise promised to leave the state and remain at her mother’s indefinitely.
“Katrina was fighting with Jax when I left the stage last night. She said he’d put his hands on her, and she threatened to have her husband kick his ass,” Elle said quietly.
“You saw it yourself? You didn’t tell me about this.”
“I saw them fighting. Katrina was about to punch him, and I stopped her because I knew he’d have her blackballed, or at least make her life hell for as long as possible. I told her to handle him the right way instead, so he couldn’t fight back. What if my advice backfired on her somehow and they fired her?”
“What’s the right way?”
“Release proof to the press if the studio execs won’t put a stop to his harassment, then start legal proceedings against all of them. The bad publicity from the scores of women who would come forward would be too much for even their public relations team to bury.”
“Just promise me you’ll be careful. I don’t know what’s going on or where Katrina and Jay are. But you’re a witness, and I don’t want them coming after you. Just finish your scenes and get away from the lot. It has bad juju all around it,” Beth replied, uneasiness filling her tone.
“No argument here. My scenes will be wrapped up in a couple of days, and I’ll be free of Jax Hart until the promotional tour begins.”
The rest of the drive back to their shared apartment was made in silence. Concern for their friend on top of an overly long and draining day left them both too exhausted to carry on a conversation. An hour later, thanks to interstate construction slowing traffic, they arrived at their apartment and retreated to their separate bedrooms. After Elle finished washing before going to bed, the events of the day caught up with her, took over her mind, and kept her awake past the point of fatigue.
She rolled over and grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand. She stared at the list of her favorite contacts for a few seconds before selecting her brother, Jeff. She let it ring a couple of times before realizing how late it was on the East Coast. He answered just before she ended the call.
“Elle? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Jeff answered, his voice thick with both sleep and concern.
“I’m okay, Jeff. I’m sorry—I forgot how late it was there, or I guess, how early. Go back to sleep.”
“I don’t think so, little sis. You don’t call me for no reason, especially not this late even on Pacific Time. So go ahead and tell your big brother what’s bothering you.”
“Something strange is happening on the lot, Jeff. This will sound crazy, and I know it’s big and there are multiple movies filming at once, and—”
“Spit it out already. You can explain it away after you tell me.”
“Over the past few months, more than a couple of women have disappeared from the lot. The last one has me rattled, though. I just talked to Kat yesterday. Kat’s best friend, Analise, called Beth tonight on the way home. She said the studio execs are lying about Kat’s whereabouts. Analise was terrified something bad has happened to her friend. And…” She paused, afraid to speak the words. “I’ve had the eerie feeling someone was watching me a few times after I left the sound stage.”
“Elle, if there’s even the slightest chance something is off, you need to have a bodyguard with you at all times. Don’t take any chances.”
“I’m sure I’m overreacting.”
“And don’t dismiss your gut feelings. I’d rather you have a huge entourage of security guards and be safe than put it off and be sorry later.”
“Okay, Jeff, you’re right. I’ll have Ray contact a couple of bodyguards first thing in the morning.”
“I’m coming out there. I don’t trust your agent to do what he’s supposed to do. Do whatever you have to do to get me full access to the studio lot. You’re not leaving my sight.” Jeff was suddenly wide awake, his unease over the situation at maximum capacity.
“Jeff, you can’t just leave your job to come babysit me because I have the heebie-jeebies. I’m not even sure I can get a full-access pass for you. I’ll make sure Ray does his job, and there are always security guards on the lot,” Elle argued.
“Elle, there may be guards, but that place is huge. There’s no way they can be everywhere at once.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing but my overactive imagination.”
“Your imagination has never been overactive like this before, so stop trying to get rid of me. Do I need to call Mark and have him come down from Paso Robles? He can leave right now and be there in a few hours to keep an eye on you until I get there.”
“No, don’t bother him, or Mom and Dad. I shouldn’t have called you with this. With all the sound stages, there are hundreds of crew members on the lot at any given time. I’ll get a personal bodyguard, and it’ll be fine. I’m sorry I worried you. Go back to sleep, and I’ll call you at a decent hour tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Jeff replied reluctantly. “If I don’t hear from you early in the morning, I’m calling Mark, and I’m booking my flight to LAX.”
Elle laughed softly, glad she had two brothers who would do anything for her. “Fine. I’ll call you twice tomorrow.” Lowering her voice, she added, “Thank you. Good night, Jeff.”
“Good night, Elle.”
