Page 49 of Secrets in the Deep

Her stomach rolled, and she pressed a hand to her belly. It wasn’t just her stomach, though; she’d woken with a throbbing headache, and even the Advil she’d taken didn’t seem to be working.

“Are you okay?”

She jumped as Faye suddenly appeared beside her. “Hey. Yeah, just had one too many vodkas last night. Did you guys end up staying long?”

“No, we left while you were on the dance floor.” She shook her head. “I feel so guilty about Preston.Idropped him here.”

“Guilty?”

“You didn’t hear?” Faye grabbed her arm to stop her. “I just assumed your mother told you.”

“I haven’t spoken to my mom this morning.” She’d even flicked the safety chain when she’d gotten up to pee in the middle of the night, so her mother couldn’t use her key card.

Faye fiddled with the pendant on her bracelet before stepping closer. “Preston had an…episode last night.”

“An episode?”

“He smoked weed.” She rolled her eyes. “I told him to lay off the stuff. He can barely handle alcohol. I assume that’s what caused it.”

“Caused what?”

“He says…” She paused. “Well…he says someone chased him through the woods.”

“What?”

“Yeah. And he said the person was wearing the mask and cloak from the movie and carrying a real knife.”

“Oh, God.”

“It couldn’t have happened. The costume trailer was locked and the costumes were dry. It was raining. The SAR guys found him and brought him back here.”

That had to be the message Ryan got in her room last night. “Is Preston okay?”

“No. He’s pretty shaken.” Faye looked at his trailer. “I might go check on him. He likes to play the tough guy, but we all know he’s a big softie.”

Emily nodded and watched as Faye crossed over to Preston’s trailer. When he opened the door, Faye threw her arms around him.

He was pale, his usual cocky grin nowhere to be seen.

They stepped into the trailer and the door snapped shut.

Jesus. And she’d thought her morning was bad.

Emily moved to her own trailer. Today was clearly going to be a long one. And if Preston wasn’t good either, chances were it would take them both a bit of time to ease into their scene.

Maybe Roscoe would let them have the day off…

Ha. And maybe pigs would fly. Unless they were unconscious and literally couldn’t get out of bed, they were working.

She’d just stepped into her trailer and closed the door when it crashed open again.

“Emily Quinn Madison!”

Too…loud.

“I’ve been calling you all morning!” Her mother crossed her arms. “Not to mention running around all night looking for you.”

“Well, as you can see, I’m fine.”