Thrill Me (16 page)

Before he could take the next mental step, his tablet started flashing and beeping. He looked at it and saw the message.

“She's been found,” he yelled. “Alyssa's been found.”

Thirty minutes later, they were back at the HERO offices. Alyssa had been reunited with her family and the volunteers had turned in their equipment. He and Maya walked back toward his truck.

“I'm glad they found her,” Maya said.

“But?”

She shrugged. “That was oddly unsatisfying. I guess I wanted to be in thick of things. I know we helped, but it was kind of a letdown.”

“Since when did you want to be where the action was?”

She laughed. “I don't know. I guess you're having an influence on me. Next thing you know I'll be taking off to remote corners of the globe.” She wrinkled her nose. “Not that there can be corners on the globe, but you know what I mean.”

“I do.”

Come with me.

The words came from somewhere deep inside. He toyed with the idea of saying them, but changed his mind. He'd asked Maya to be with him once and she'd said no. As far as he could tell, there was no reason for her to say yes now.

* * *

M
AYA
MET
M
ADELINE
outside of Paper Moon. “Shelby texted me that she and Destiny are already there.”

Madeline laughed. “You don't think they'll start having fun without us, do you?”

“I hope not.”

The women linked arms and headed toward their destination.

Rather than meet for lunch, several of them had decided to enjoy a girls' night out. While each of them had been to The Man Cave before, they'd never been as a group.

“Think we'll shock the guys when we stroll in?” Maya asked.

Madeline wrinkled her nose. “I wish, but no. Now, if we walked in topless, they'd take notice.”

Maya laughed. “You have an adventurous streak I didn't know about.”

“I'm a lot of cheap talk,” Madeline admitted. “The truth is, I'm pretty traditional at heart. I want to fall in love, settle down, get married and have some kids. You know, normal but not exciting. What about you?”

I want to see the world.
The thought came out of nowhere and surprised Maya. See the world? Since when? Sure, she had her scrapbook, but it had been years since she'd added to it. She'd never been all that interested in the world beyond getting into network news. And she'd left that dream behind when she moved to Fool's Gold.

It was Del's pictures, she thought wistfully, remembering the slide show they'd shown the Saplings. So many interesting and beautiful places. She wanted to see them all.

“It wasn't supposed to be a hard question,” Madeline told her.

“What? Oh, sorry. I got lost in something else. I want to be in love with someone who loves me back,” she said.

“But not home and hearth?”

“That would be nice, but it isn't a requirement.” It had been once, she reminded herself. Until a few weeks ago. Was she figuring out a truth about herself, or was being in love with Del messing with her head? Hard to be sure.

They walked into The Man Cave. There was a life-size statue of a caveman right by the entrance. Several tourists were taking selfies with the statue.

Maya and Madeline walked past them and looked for their friends. They found Shelby and Destiny sitting at a table. Jo was with them.

“Scoping out the competition?” Maya asked with a laugh as they approached.

“No, this is pure fun for me. Will has something going on with a friend of his. So here I am.” She looked around. “It's nice. A good vibe.”

“Wait until the live entertainment,” Shelby said, smiling at her sister-in-law Destiny. “It's going to be amazing.”

Destiny sipped her glass of water. “You're very loyal. I'm nervous. Being nervous isn't a good thing.”

“You'll be fine,” Jo said. “And if you're not, who are we to judge?”

A reasonable sentiment
, Maya thought, not sure it would help Destiny's obvious case of jitters. The venue might be a local bar and the event simply karaoke night, but Maya knew it was more than that for Destiny.

She and her sister had recently signed a record deal with a Nashville label and were set to head to the studio in a few weeks. So she wasn't simply a small-town girl out on a girls' night.

Madeline grabbed Maya's arm. “OMG. I can't breathe! I can't breathe.”

Maya turned to see her friend gesturing frantically with her free hand. Shelby looked up and grinned.

“Well, look at that.”

Maya turned and saw Shep of the search-and-rescue team had walked into The Man Cave with none other than Jonny Blaze.

The action superstar didn't do anything other than accompany a friend to the bar. Even so, conversation momentarily dipped as everyone turned to stare. Most immediately went back to what they'd been doing before. A few tourists pulled out cameras.

“Nice-looking man,” Jo said, her voice very matter-of-fact. “Nothing as good as my Will, but still. Broad shoulders.”

Destiny nodded slowly. “He's taller than I expected.”

“A lot of muscle,” Shelby added.

Maya smiled. “I like his eyes.”

“What is wrong with all of you?” Madeline asked, her voice low and breathy. “It's Jonny Blaze. You can't separate him into parts. He's... He's...”

“You should go say hi,” Maya teased.

Madeline glared at her. “I should not. Speak to him? Are you crazy?”

“Why not?” Destiny asked. “He's just a person.”

“There's no
just
. Don't say just.” Madeline looked away, and then immediately swung her head back. “I can't breathe.”

“If you can talk, you can breathe,” Jo told her. “What's the big deal? Maybe he'd like to meet a local girl. You're single, he's single.”

Madeline put her hands on the table, then rested her head on them. “Kill. Me. Now.”

Maya patted her friend on the back. “You don't want to die before you've slept with him, do you?” she asked teasingly. “Isn't there a song about heaven only being a kiss away?”

Madeline straightened. “Ha, ha. Very funny. I get it. Totally. I'm basing my reaction to him on his looks, how he is in his movies and nothing real. But you know what? I'm okay with that. It's fun. The reason I don't want to meet him is that he might be a jerk. That would spoil everything.”

Shelby grinned. “You're adorable when you go for logic.”

“You are.” Maya hugged her. “For what it's worth, Phoebe says Jonny's actually a very nice man. You sure you don't want to go say hi?”

“I'm sure. Why on earth do I feel this way when I'm around him?” Madeline asked.

“It's the movie-star thing,” Shelby told her. “The power in the tribe. We want to be close to the most powerful tribe member. It means survival. At least it did, you know, back when we still lived in caves. Whoever was the best hunter or soldier got the best lodgings and most food. That meant not dying when...” Her voice trailed off. “What?”

Maya saw they were all staring at Shelby. “You sort of morphed into someone else just then.”

“I know. I sounded so smart.” Shelby grinned. “Felicia comes into the bakery and we talk. She's always interesting. We talked about Jonny Blaze a couple of weeks ago. She finds celebrity fascinating. Not because she cares about them but because of how other people react to them. So she told me about tribes.”

“Gotta love Felicia,” Jo said as their server came up and took their drink orders.

Except for Destiny, they all ordered the special. A martini made with ginger, coconut and a hint of lemon. Maya had a feeling it would go down very easily, which made her glad she was walking home.

After they'd placed their orders, conversation shifted to things happening around town. No one could believe how fast summer had flown by.

“Have you seen the changing leaves up in the mountains?” Destiny asked. “The year is going to be over before we know it.” She turned to Maya. “You and Del would look adorable kissing against a background of red-and-orange leaves,” she joked. “Any more kissing videos planned?”

Maya laughed. “No. We're holding out for the movie release.”

Everyone chuckled. Jo mentioned the upcoming Fall Festival, and Shelby talked about orders at the bakery for Thanksgiving. Maya listened, but in the back of her mind she kept seeing herself kissing Del. They'd looked good together. Right. Funny how she'd never realized her feelings for him before. Maybe the love had become such a part of her, she'd been unable to see it for what it was.

She glanced around at the bar. It was crowded, but in a friendly way. Conversation was pleasant. No one was too drunk or too loud. Jonny Blaze sat at a table with a group of guys, acting like everyone else.

It was the town, she thought. Fool's Gold had a way of sucking people in and changing them for the better. Making them who they were meant to be. Maya was grateful she'd come back.

Back
, she thought as their drinks arrived. Back, not home. Because the restlessness she'd been feeling hadn't gone away. If anything, it was growing inside of her.

She was going to have to figure out the cause, she told herself. And then an antidote. Or at the very least a way to mitigate the need. Because wandering the world wasn't in her future. She was going to settle down here. She could only hope settling down wasn't the same as settling.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

M
AYA
MOVED
THE
cursor quickly across the screen, clicked the left button on the mouse and watched the footage merge seamlessly together. She hit Play, and together she and Del watched the eight seconds become seventeen.

“Add that shot with Priscilla against the sun,” Del suggested. “You know the one?”

“Where she fills the screen.” Maya was already clicking through what they had. She found the clip and added it to the segment, then hit Play again.

“Nice.” He leaned back in his chair. “These are getting better and better.”

As he spoke, he put his arm around her. She was pretty sure the gesture was meant to be friendly. Team-like, even. But just sitting close to him was enough to make her aware of his body right next to hers. She liked being around him, even though he was a big distraction.

“We're getting into our work rhythm,” she said, looking for another clip and adding it. When she hit Play, the camera moved from the elephant to pan across the ranch where Annabelle, a local librarian, stood by her husband. They were only talking, and standing far enough away to practically be background. But there was something about their differences in height, the way he stood protectively close to her, not to mention the sexy angle of his cowboy hat, that added a spark to the otherwise-traditional landscape shot.

“Damn, we're good,” he breathed, then laughed. “Mostly you.”

“I disagree. Without you dazzling the camera, we couldn't connect the shots. Okay, we need twenty-seven more seconds. It's going to be hard to pick what we want to use. Everything is really good.”

The door to the office opened and two men in suits walked in. They were both in their late forties or early fifties. One was short and balding, the other a little taller. Maya knew she'd never seen either of them before.

“Maya Farlow?” the shorter of the two men asked.

Maya nodded slowly, half expecting him to pull out a law enforcement badge and utter the spine-chilling phrase, “I'm going to have to ask you to come with me, ma'am.”

The two men looked at each other, then back at her. The taller one smiled broadly. “I'm Ernesto. This is my business partner, Robert. We're in big trouble and we need some help. Can we bother you for a minute?”

“Of course,” she said, not sure what they could want with her.

Del rose and got two chairs. The men sat by the table.

“We own the Lucky Lady Casino,” Ernesto said. “We've planned an advertising campaign. We're about to film a series of national commercials. Robert and I wrote the commercials with an ad agency and we're shooting this week.”

His partner nodded. “We have the equipment rented, the actors, hair and makeup people, the costumes and perfect weather. The team hired to do the actual filming just told us they weren't going to show up. We're stuck. Can you help?”

Maya processed the information. “You want me to produce your commercials?”

Ernesto nodded. “Direct, create, produce. Whatever you want to call it. We have storyboards and a script. Everything you need.”

It was both intriguing and crazy, she thought. “How did you know to come to me?”

“We didn't. We went to Mayor Marsha. She showed us some of your work.” Robert turned to Del. “We understand you work with Maya, and we want to hire you, too. She said you were a team.”

Just then Maya's cell phone rang. She would have ignored it except she had a feeling she knew who was calling.

“Hello?”

“It's Mayor Marsha, Maya. Are they there?”

“Uh-huh.”

The mayor laughed. “I know it's a lot to take in, but they're a local business and we do help out our own. I spoke to the city council and we're going to release you for a week. That should be enough time, don't you think?”

If she worked twenty-hour days, Maya thought. Still, a national commercial was a big deal. To have that on her résumé would be something.

“Oh, and tell them we want copies of their B-roll. They're going to ask you to get shots of the town and the area. We should be able to put those to good use in our videos, don't you think?”

“I'll make it a condition,” Maya murmured, more than a little impressed that the mayor knew what B-roll was.

“Good luck.”

“Thank you.” She hung up and looked at the men. “That was Mayor Marsha. When would you want us to start?”

The men exchanged a glance.

“Today,” Roberto said. “Now.”

Maya nodded. “Give me a second. Del?”

They stood and walked into the hall. Maya led the way to a second, empty office and went inside. When he followed, she shut the door.

He grinned at her. “Are you excited? That's so great. They want you, Maya.”

“I've never done a commercial,” she admitted, her head spinning. She felt light-headed and shaky, but in a good way. Possibilities crowded her brain. “I don't know what I'm doing.”

“You have great instincts. You can do this.”

“I want to,” she admitted. “It would be great.” She told him about Mayor Marsha wanting access to the B-roll.

“You should get a copy of the footage for your résumé, or whatever you call it.”

“You're right.” She bit her lower lip. “I'm terrified. Can do you do this with me?” Because she would feel better with him along.

“Are you kidding? It's a chance to work with you. Think of what I'll learn. I'm in.”

She stared into his eyes. Loving Del was easy, she thought. Especially at moments like this. He wasn't insulted they hadn't come to him instead of her. His ego wasn't bruised because he knew he was good at what he did. His self-confidence meant he wasn't threatened by her.
A rare trait
, she thought. At least from what she'd seen in her career.

“We only have a week,” she warned him. “It's going to be long days. I'm guessing their advertising agency will hire someone to do the editing. If they do, we won't have control over the final product.”

He put his hands on her shoulders. “What does your gut say?”

“Jump.”

He lightly kissed her. “What was that line from
Titanic
? If you jump, I jump?”

She laughed. “All right, Mr. King of the World. We're about to take a really big leap.”

* * *

F
ORTY
-
EIGHT
HOURS
OF
preproduction wasn't nearly enough, Maya thought, telling herself to breathe. The temporary offices for the commercial production were housed in a large conference room in the Lucky Lady Hotel. She had three computers, a giant screen, the rented equipment, a list of people hired for the shoot and ordering privileges with room service. The latter would be great if she wasn't so nervous that she couldn't eat.

Ernesto walked her through the storyboards for the three commercials they would be shooting. Three commercials in five days. Impossible, but she was going to make it happen. The alternative was telling them no—forcing them to rehire all the equipment, production people and actors. No way that was going to happen.

Editing would take another couple of weeks, but that wasn't her problem. Right now she had to get organized to take advantage of the best hours to shoot outdoors. The indoor shots could be done in the middle of the day and throughout the night.

Del hurried over with several printouts. “Weather,” he said, handing her pages. “Cloudy tomorrow.”

If they'd been alone, she would have kissed him. Because clouds were her friend. Everyone wanted the magic shot. Blue skies or a perfect sunset. Great for B-roll, but when it came to shooting actors, clouds dispersed light. Clouds allowed her more control over her own light and when it came to making the shot look amazing, light ruled.

She returned her attention to the storyboard. “You're missing the call to action.”

Robert and Ernesto looked at each other, then back at her. “Excuse me?”

“The call to action.” She lowered her voice to sound like an announcer.
“Call now and reserve the time of your life.”
She returned her voice to normal. “Whatever it's going to be. You want whoever is watching to do something, right? Not just think, hey, great commercial. You need to show the phone number, the website, offer a discount. Close the sale. Technically, we refer to that as a call to action.”

“She's right,” Ernesto said. He stared at the storyboard. “They're all missing a call to action.”

“We'll fix that,” Robert told her quickly. “Can you still get this done on time?”

“Sure. The call to action will be added during editing. Just be thinking about what you want your message to be.”

The men nodded and left. She and Del returned to the storyboards. Each scene would require setup, filming and then breakdown of the equipment. Time of day was essential for outdoor shots. She'd already prepared a list of B-roll shots she wanted. Once they broke down the storyboard, she could do a detailed schedule, basically hour by hour, for the next five days.

She'd already gone over the equipment. It was good enough to make her both envious and weak at the knees.
Just the lighting
, she thought, wishing her Fool's Gold budget allowed for the extra lights. On the commercial, they would use 3-point lighting, with the primary outdoor shots being filmed in the morning, preferably on a cloudy day.

She had an assortment of lenses for the cameras, tripods, not to mention designated hair and makeup people, along with a wardrobe person.
Just like the real thing
, she thought humorously, thinking how she and Del had made do when filming their stuff.

The commercial would be more complicated. They would be shot in high resolution. She'd already confirmed the commercials would be shown only in the States, which meant NTSC rather than PAL. It had taken five minutes of explaining so Ernesto and Robert understood the difference between formatting for the United States—in NTSC—and formatting for Europe.

“I want to sort through the various shots,” she said. “What we're going to shoot when. With the clouds forecast for tomorrow morning, we'll get some great outdoor footage. Can you look up sunrise time tomorrow? And I'll need the twilight information.”

Del raised his eyebrows. “
Twilight
as in Team Edward and Team Jacob?”

She laughed. “No. Not the movie. How do you know about them?”

“I'm a man of many sides.”

“So I've heard. I need to know what time the morning and evening twilights are. Astronomical, nautical and civil. They'll be earlier than actual sunrise and later than actual sunset.”

“Because it's all about the light?”

“You know it.”

* * *

T
HE
NEXT
MORNING
Del tried to figure out a way to work “astronomical twilight” into a sentence, but didn't think anyone would actually care. Still, the information was interesting. Astronomical twilight was at five twenty-three, when the sun was eighteen degrees below the horizon. It was the moment when the sky first turned light. Civil twilight was when objects became visible to the naked eye. Today that was at six twenty-five. The actual sunrise would occur at six fifty-one.

In terms of the commercial, it meant a 4:00 a.m. start time for the team, with actors ready and in place by six for blocking and walk-throughs.

Controlled chaos didn't begin to describe what was happening on set. Equipment had to be placed and then checked. He and Maya had already blocked out the scene, frame by frame.

She worked quickly and efficiently. There was no attitude, no demanding. She gave her best and it was obvious she expected the same from everyone else. Her style was quiet and controlled, with a confidence that allowed everyone else around her to relax.

He was the only one who knew she'd been too nervous to sleep the night before. He'd seen her shaking when no one else had, but he wasn't going to tell. He admired the hell out of her. Maya had talent, and the ability to make it work. As they'd discussed, she'd jumped and he was right there with her.

The actors appeared—six men and women in their twenties and thirties. They would play happy, romantic couples having a wonderful time at the casino. Later in the day, they would be filming a family of four having fun together by the pool.

He and Maya talked to the actors. He walked them through the actions, demonstrating where their marks were and the pacing of the flow. Maya watched it all through the lens of the camera, nodding as he explained.

“We're fighting the clock,” she said loudly. “Let's start from the top. Couple number one, take your place.”

Del used the stopwatch function on his phone to time the action. The couple did as he'd directed, with the second couple following quickly behind. They ran through it twice more. Del watched closely.

After the third time, he walked over to Maya. “Are you seeing what I'm seeing?” he asked. “Her dress.” He pointed to the actress in a red cocktail dress. “When she turns to the left, the skirt does something funny.”

Maya gave him a quick smile. “Good eye. It's distracting. If she turned to the right, we'd get better flow with how they're moving. Let's try it.”

They made the change and did another walk-through. Maya did a sound check with her audio guy, then called for everyone to get ready.

Del knew the drill. The slate would show the shot name and take number. Quiet was called for on set. Audio went first, then the cameras rolled. The actors got their cue and the filming began.

He watched the action, but he was also keeping tabs on Maya. She ran the show. He was comfortable with that, but he also wanted her to know that she wasn't in this alone. He would be there if she needed him. As a side benefit, he was learning the equivalent of a master's class from her. Information he could use when he started his video series. No more amateur mistakes for him.