Page 79 of Secrets in the Deep

“She probably fell and hit her head,” Roscoe scoffed.

“Are you listening to yourself?” Emily barked. “Two of your leading cast members have been in eerily similar situations to that of their characters. Faye ishurt. Do you not care about our safety at all?”

“Of course I care. It’s why I agreed to him and his team being thorns in my side the entire damn time.” The director glared at Ryan. “But if you think I or the studio are stopping production, you’re dead wrong. There is nothing,absolutely nothing, that’s going to stop this film. I’ve worked too damn hard. We’ll all take a couple days off until Faye’s cleared for work, then we’re gettingback on schedule. End of discussion.” Roscoe stormed into the café.

Ryan stepped toward the man, but Connor grabbed him, shaking his head. “Leave him.”

He fought the urge to shake off his friend’s hand and go after the asshole. But Connor was right to stop him. If he hadn’t, Ryan wasn’t sure one hit would be enough.

18

“I’m nervous.”

Emily looked from her own reflection, where the stylist was pulling her hair into a messy ponytail, to Faye beside her. “Me too.”

It was the honest truth. And the fact that no one was stopping this production from going ahead was ridiculous.

Faye angled her body toward Emily, not seeming to care that the stylist had to drop the curl she’d been holding. “First Preston’s chased through the woods, just like his character, then someone hits me from behind, just likemycharacter.”

Ten days had passed since the incident at The Pancake Bar. Faye hadn’t suffered a concussion, but she’d still stayed in the hospital overnight for monitoring. Now she was expected to just get back to work like nothing had happened, even though they had no clue who’d attacked her.

“I know.” Emily swallowed. “Roscoe needs to tell the studio that this has gone too far. Something needs to change, maybe more security. Maybe pausing production until the person responsible is caught.”

“He cares about one man, and one man only—himself.” She scoffed. “There should be a clause in our contracts that if movie killers come to life, we’re allowed to walk away without breaching.” She sighed. “Not that I could even do that. I need this job.”

Emily almost told the other woman that no job was worth her life, but she bit her tongue. She hadn’t been a struggling actress for a long time, so saying anything felt disingenuous. “You really don’t remember anything about what happened in the bathroom?”

Faye shook her head. “I was just walking into the stall. I didn’t even hear someone come in behind me before suddenly everything went black.”

Emily nodded, frustration crawling up her chest. One question was on her mind, the same question that had been there since Faye’s attack…would she be next?

She looked back at her reflection. There were still two SAR guys on set at all times. They’d be okay.

The stylists finished with her and Faye at the same time. Emily had just touched her hand to the doorknob when Faye leaned in close.

“Preston’s scared too.Reallyscared. He dies in the movie.”

Emily let the words sink in for a second before looking at the other woman. “Everyone’s going to be fine. The sheriff’s looking into it. Ryan and his team are watching the set. Everything will be okay.” She had no right to promise that, but with the fear in Faye’s eyes, she had to saysomething.

Faye nodded, looking unconvinced.

Outside, Ryan stood by the trailer opposite, talking to Preston and Zac.

Unfortunately, her mother was the second person she saw. She was closer, standing at the bottom of the trailer steps, clearly waiting for Emily, tablet and pen in hand.

“Emily.” Her mother tapped something on the tablet. “We need to talk about details for your next film.”

“I’ll see you on set.” Faye squeezed her shoulder before walking over to Preston and the guys.

Emily gritted her teeth before heading toward the forest to today’s shooting location. “Mom, I don’t know how to say this in a way you’ll understand, but you don’t work for me anymore. I fired you as my manager.”

“Don’t be silly, that was a little argument.” Her mother matched her step for step. “I’ve booked our flight home for the day after filming concludes. We’ll have one month in California before we make our way to Atlanta to start filmingFlicker Stone. This movie’s going to bebig, Em. Huge budget and costarring alongside Teddy Fallor.”

It was actually unbelievable that, after everything, even telling the woman she was fired, that her mother could just act like nothing had happened between them. She hadn’t so much as apologized to Ryan for accusing him of breaking into her room and attacking her. And the worst part was, Emily knew with every fiber of her being that if Ryan hadn’t had that video evidence proving he’d been at the firehouse when her mother had been attacked, her mom would have done and said anything to ensure he was arrested.

“I’ve arranged for us to fly private. Of course.” Her mother touched something on her tablet. “I’m just looking forward to putting all this Deep River nonsense behind us.”

Emily stopped at the filming location. A dozen people moved around the space, but she gave her mother her full attention. “You actually think I can put everything you’ve done to me behind me?”