Valise in the Attic (14 page)

Alice laughed. “You certainly make that seem appealing. Let’s sit by the fire in the lobby instead. You never know what we might pick up.”

“Eavesdropping?” Annie asked.

“People watching … ,” Alice answered, “… and maybe some eavesdropping.”

The group around the fireplace in the lobby had grown smaller, but Annie spotted Betty and Pat still there, their heads leaning slightly toward one another as they argued cheerfully about something.

Annie settled into a velvet-covered wing chair close to the fire. The fire snapped and crackled beside her. She watched the flames squirm and dance as the logs slowly turned to coals. In one, the fire seemed to have burrowed into the wood, making red light that looked like dozens of tiny eyes peering out from deep in the log.

“You must really like this inn!”

Betty’s sharp voice made Annie jump and she looked at the older woman, only to find Betty was looking straight at her. “Oh, me?” Annie said. “Actually I’m having a problem at my house, so I’m staying here tonight.”

“A problem?” Betty’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “A gas leak? A raccoon in the attic? Or you forgot to get your chimney swept and lit a fire, and now the whole house is full of smoke!”

“Oh, Betty,” Pat scolded. “What an imagination you have.”

“It wasn’t any of those things,” Annie said. “Are you both enjoying the break in filming?”

Betty harrumphed. “We didn’t get a break. The company filmed a touching scene between that nice boy Logan and his cranky father yesterday. Well, at least they tried to. That Matt Rusher has turned out to be harder to corral than a cat.”

“Really?” Alice said, and the older lady’s eyes turned to her sharply.

“Betty,” Pat said firmly, “we shouldn’t be talking about the talent.”

Betty harrumphed again. “So they can fire me,” she said. “This may be a movie, but the pay isn’t that wonderful. My cousin gets more for painting makeup on dead people for a funeral home in Florida.”

“Betty!” Pat gasped.

“It’s true. My cousin trowels more makeup on those poor dead folks than Vernee there.”

A bright cackle of laughter made Annie turn to see the woman who did such an amazing job of swooping her hair into a smooth twist for the movie. “You do hair and makeup?” Annie asked.

“Magic hands,” Vernee said, holding up her long-fingered hands. “But as for your cousin, Betty, she deserves the money for handling dead folks, in my opinion.”

“Sure, but it seems like a nice retirement job,” Betty said. “They don’t wiggle or complain. And they don’t mess up their wardrobe.” She cut her eyes toward Annie.

Annie felt a faint blush creep over her face.

“Now, don’t go teasing the girl,” Pat said. “She already apologized about the stockings.”

Annie smiled a little. It wasn’t often she was called a “girl” anymore. “I’m sure it can be trying,” she said, “working with so many people and so many different personalities.”

“Mostly celebrities are just like anyone else,” Pat said. “They have good days and bad days. Some are just sweethearts, like that Lariby boy. And some tend to wear their bad mood right out where you can see it. That can happen with anyone.” This time Pat gave a meaningful look at Betty.

“Are you calling me bad tempered?” Betty asked.

“If the grouch fits … .”

Alice burst into laughter at the two women. They were so clearly old friends that anyone could tell that none of the squabbling was real. “So, have you ladies seen anything weird since you got to Stony Point?” Alice asked.

“The weather’s pretty strange,” Vernee said. “One day it’s cold enough to freeze flame, and the next everything’s dripping. How do you get used to it?”

“I’m still working on it,” Annie said, “but I think Alice was wondering if anyone has been behaving oddly.”

The older women looked at each other, and then burst into peals of laughter. It took several minutes for them to calm down. “I’m sorry, dear,” Pat said when she caught her breath. “I don’t mean to laugh at you, but we work in Hollywood. There really isn’t anything we would consider odd behavior anymore.”

“I once knew an actor who absolutely would not go on set unless he was wearing blue boxer shorts,” Betty said. “I had the worst time with wardrobe for that man. But he was sure that if he wore anything but blue boxer shorts, his career would tank.”

“What happened to him?” Alice asked.

Betty grinned at her mischievously. “His career tanked.”

Again the women laughed, though this time Annie and Alice were caught up in it as well.

Finally, the laughter calmed again and Pat looked closely at Alice. “Exactly what kind of weird thing are you interested in?”

“I really don’t know,” Alice admitted. “But we’ve had a very strange past few days.”

“Well of course you have,” Vernee said. “Hollywood has come to town. We’d be disappointed if that didn’t mean weird things for you.”

The other women nodded. Alice and Annie exchanged a glance. No help with the mystery here. Then they both smiled and settled back comfortably in their chairs.

“OK, so tell me,” Alice said. “What other stories of Hollywood weirdness do you have?”

“Oh, honey,” Pat said. “Actors are crazy—just crazy. We used to have this beautiful wood cabinet that we carried all our gloves and scarves in. But the actors absolutely couldn’t pass that thing without knocking on the wood. It was like living next to a giant woodpecker all day long.”

“I was ready to burn that thing,” Betty grumbled.

“We finally had poor Samuel haul it off for us when we were working on
Aliens in the Afterlife
,” Pat said. “I think he sold it at one of those thrift stores he’s so fond of.”

“So you’ve worked with Samuel before?” Annie asked.

“Hollywood is a smaller world than you think,” Vernee chimed in. “We cross paths constantly.”

“He seems like a nice young man,” Annie said.

“He’s a sweetheart,” Pat said, and the other two women nodded.

Alice and Annie passed another hour or so listening to star stories from the three women. Annie was almost glad she’d had to move to Maplehurst Inn for the night; she would never have gotten to spend this much time with these spirited women otherwise.

Finally though, Pat caught Betty nodding off twice and the group broke up to head on to bed. “Well, that wasn’t really productive,” Alice said as they climbed the winding staircase to the second-floor rooms, “but it sure was fun.”

Annie nodded. “I haven’t laughed so much in a while.”

As they stood outside the room, Annie felt a small twinge of nerves. She was actually a little afraid to go into her room. They’d had so many unpleasant surprises lately. She looked at Alice.

“Yeah,” Alice said. “Closed doors can hide so much. Time to be brave.” She thrust her key in the lock and turned it. The door swung open to show the pleasant room exactly as they’d left it. Boots looked up from her warm spot on the window seat and blinked at them.

“Now I just feel silly,” Annie said.

“After the last few days, I think we totally have a right to be silly.”

They bustled around for a bit, slipping into cozy pajamas. Then the same thought hit them again. “I’m not really sleepy yet,” Annie said.

“Want to watch a movie?” Alice asked. She glanced at the clock on the table between the beds. “
Titanic
is on in five minutes. I love that movie.”

“Oh, that would be perfect. Too bad we don’t have popcorn.”

“Who says we don’t?” Alice walked to the closet and picked up her bag. She pulled out an unopened bag of popcorn. “It’s not quite like fresh made, but it’s close.”

“Absolutely perfect,” Annie replied.

Alice poured half the bag of popcorn into the ice bucket and kept the other half for herself. Then they each climbed into bed, pulling the fluffy comforters over their laps and settled in to watch the movie. Soon, Boots gave up her window seat to settle down beside Annie and eat the occasional piece of dropped popcorn.

Annie made it to the end of the popcorn, but after that, she sunk lower and lower in the bed until she nodded off. She dreamt of riding at the prow of a ship with Wayne as the wind blew her hair. Nothing dark or scary crept into the dream in the night, and she woke with a smile still on her lips.

18

When Annie woke, Alice was already up and carrying Boots around, cooing to the cat. “You shouldn’t do that,” Annie said. “Boots is already totally full of herself.”

Alice smiled. “She’s a princess, and she knows it. I called home, and Jim said that film crew called after we left yesterday. We need to be at the library in two hours. Apparently the crew took over their meeting-room spaces to use for wardrobe and such.”

Annie swung her feet over the side of her bed. “Somehow I didn’t picture Jim as an early riser.”

“He’s not,” Alice said laughing. “And he has a colorful vocabulary if you wake him up by letting the phone ring until he gives up and answers it.”

“That, I can believe.” Annie headed into the spacious bathroom for a quick shower. As she passed the counter, she accidentally nudged the small cat bowl with the toe of her slipper. At the scraping sound, Boots rushed into the bathroom and peered into the bowl. Then she glanced up at Annie. “Sorry—accident.”

The cat turned and stalked back out of the room.

Annie finished her preparations as quickly as possible. “I might be a little late to the shoot,” she said. “I need to take Boots home first so we can check out.”

“Let me make a call,” Alice said. She called down to the front desk and had a short chat with Linda Hunter. Finally she smiled and shoved the phone into her pocket. “Linda said not to worry about anything. We can come pick up the stuff after filming today. Hopefully, the whole mystery will be over by then, and you can feel safe taking Boots home.”

“That’s nice of Linda,” Annie said.

“Linda is great,” Alice said, “but I think she also hopes I’ll make another big batch of muffins and coffee cake tonight. So she’s being especially agreeable.”

“Well, your muffins always make me feel very agreeable,” Annie said.

The soft thump of Boots jumping back up on the window seat drew their attention. Alice walked over and pulled open the window curtains. “Look, it’s snowing pretty hard,” she said. “That makes me glad I’m not driving to the shoot.”

“I think I’ll have a nice bowl of oatmeal with fruit and nuts for breakfast,” Annie said. “Maybe it’ll help me stay warm out there.”

“Good plan,” Alice said.

They headed down to the breakfast room and found the oatmeal hot and creamy, and exactly what they wanted on such a snowy day. The breakfast room was bustling with people. Most were finishing up as Annie and Alice walked in.

Annie looked around the room. Even in a casual setting like breakfast, all of the younger members of the crew looked so intense and purposeful. Most of the older people, like the ladies Annie and Alice had so enjoyed chatting with the night before, seemed more relaxed. Annie guessed they’d already climbed the ladder of success to wherever they cared to be and didn’t feel the need for the same fretful intensity. Still, it was interesting to watch.

By the time Annie and Alice paid their bill, the room had emptied out. “Now I feel like we’re going to be fashionably late,” Annie said.

“Not by my watch,” Alice answered. “Remember, we’re just extras. All the real movie people have to be there before us.”

Annie nodded, but it was still disconcerting to be alone in the room after all the energy that had filled the space so recently. Annie and Alice slipped into their coats, scarves, hats, and gloves to prepare for the cold, snowy weather waiting for them.

“I need to run up and get the valise,” Annie said. “I didn’t want to bring it down to breakfast.”

“I’ll wait by the door.”

Annie hurried upstairs and gave Boots a quick pat for luck or comfort. Then she grabbed the valise and hoped the drop would work out this time. Alice’s kidnapping had scared the curiosity right out of her. Now all she wanted was for it to be over.

Annie felt a flood of relief when she saw Alice still standing safely by the front door. When they walked out into the snow, Annie blinked at the icy flakes that floated down to lay on her lashes. “At least it’s not windy,” she said.

“Right. It wouldn’t be very picturesque to film one of our blizzards where it snows sideways,” Alice said as she stepped carefully down the front steps of the inn. The snow was thin on the steps, and it showed signs of someone having been out to clear them—probably several times already.

The sidewalk had more snow compacted by the feet that had gone before. Annie clutched the valise carefully and watched her feet. The snow allowed visibility only a short way ahead, so it was actually just about as clear to simply stare down at the sidewalk. Since they needed to walk straight ahead for a little over a block, all she had to do was avoid wandering out into the street, or veering left and stumbling into one of the storefronts.

“I feel like I stepped into
Little House on the Prairie
,” Alice said. “Should we tie ourselves together?”

Annie laughed and reached out to take Alice’s arm. “We could hold onto each other,” she said. “I don’t see how they can film in this though.”

“Maybe they’re hoping it’ll lighten up a little,” Alice said. “Oh, who’s that?”

Annie looked up and spotted the still figure Alice must have meant. With the snowflakes stinging her eyes, it was difficult for her to tell who the person might be. Who would just stand around outside in this?

They pressed on and Annie was amazed at how long the block seemed to have grown. They passed the movie theater and A Stitch in Time. By then, the shadowy figure had become clearer.

“Good morning, ladies,” Jim Parker said as he stood leaning on his cane not far from the door of The Cup & Saucer.

“What are you doing out here in the snow?” Alice asked. “Are you trying to catch pneumonia?”

Jim laughed, a rumbling sound from deep in his chest. “Sweetheart, it’ll take a lot more than a little snow to kill someone like me.”

Alice just shook her head. “That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing out here.”

“I couldn’t wait another minute to see my best girl,” he said, leaning close to give Alice a kiss on the check, “and her best friend.” And he gave Annie a quick peck as well.

“Well, we have to head over to the library and get suited up for this filming,” Alice said.

“I’ll come with you,” Jim said.

“I don’t know if they’ll let you be an extra since you didn’t fill out the forms,” Annie said.

“That’s OK,” he said. “I’m not really the actor type. But I plan to be nearby. The man who had the nerve to kidnap my girl is close, and I’d like to chat with him.”

Annie was startled again by how fierce Jim could be. She suspected anyone who might think Jim an easy target because of his handicap would quickly learn differently.

They headed on to the library and Annie turned to Jim. “Could you hold this for me until I’m done in wardrobe?” she asked. “I don’t want to draw too many questions about why I’m carrying it, since it’s not part of this shoot.”

“No problem,” Jim said. “I feel better with it in my hands anyway. I’d love the guy to come try to get it early.”

Annie patted his arm. “Don’t go getting in any fights. Alice would never forgive me.”

Jim just smiled. Annie and Alice were hustled off to the women’s wardrobe department. Pat and Betty greeted them with the warm squabbling they’d come to associate with the two women.

“I don’t envy you standing out in that blizzard this morning,” Betty said as she pulled a wool suit out of a rack and handed it to Annie along with some thick stockings and sensible shoes. “We’ll have a coat for you too, but put these on for now.”

“This isn’t a blizzard,” Alice said. “It’s a light snow.”

Betty just rolled her eyes at Alice and rooted through the rack for another outfit.

Today, hair and makeup consisted of twisting their hair up with a few pins and cramming a hat over the result. “Today they won’t be shooting your faces, really,” Vernee told them. “Now just join the crowd in the library lobby. They’ll shoo you outside when they’re ready to film.”

They walked back to the library lobby. With the wool suits and heavy coats and hats, they were a little too warm in the lobby, but Annie knew that would pass quickly once they got outside.

She looked around and spotted Jim, leaning on one of the big display cases. The women walked over to stand with him. Jim tapped the glass case. “These are gorgeous.”

Annie looked through the glass. The case contained a variety of old postcards from across New England. To her, they mostly looked faded and bent. “Gorgeous?” she said.

“They’re history,” he said. “Look, you can see the backs of these. Look at those old stamps and the handwriting. No one writes like that anymore.” He shook his head. “It’s like seeing a little speck from someone’s life. You would be surprised how much American history is built from old letters or postcards, just like these.”

Annie nodded and looked closer at the cards. She squinted to read the cramped writing. The ones that were arranged to show the print were chosen specifically because they said interesting things. On one, a woman was gushing about how she had seen President Kennedy sailing. Another was a card from a woman who was writing from New York City, where she’d gone expecting to meet her sister’s ship—the RMS Titanic.

“Oh,” Annie said softly, “I see what you mean.”

“What are we looking at?” A familiar male voice said from behind her, making Annie jump as she was pulled back from her musing on the past.

“This postcard is about the Titanic,” Annie said, turning to smile at Ian. “A woman waiting on her sister. I wonder if her sister made it home safely.”

“The Titanic?” Alice said. “Hey, we just watched that movie. And speaking of movies, do you think they’re going to be able to film today?”

Ian nodded. “The snow is letting up. But they’ll probably want to get this scene in as few takes as possible. I think they’ll be sending us outside any time now.”

Annie looked up at the mayor and smiled. “How come you’re not wearing a hat.”

Ian shrugged. “Maybe my haircut is old-fashioned enough to pass,” he said, and then he smiled. “Or they ran out of hats.”

His words were followed almost immediately by another voice calling for everyone’s attention. Annie looked up to spot the thin, nervous assistant who clearly was in charge of riding herd over extras for every shoot. She felt badly about always thinking of him as “the nervous guy” and made a mental note to introduce herself to the man before the end of the day.

“Today you’re playing an angry crowd,” the young man shouted from near the library doors. “We don’t want a lot of sound. That will be added in post-production. Instead, as you stand together, just move a lot. Don’t move off your mark, just twist from side to side a little, roll your shoulders, look around a lot. Keep the movements sharp to look angry.” The young man jerked his arms and shoulders, snapping his neck from side to side to show them the kind of movements he wanted. “You don’t need to be in constant motion. We don’t want you to look like you’re having convulsions. Keep the movements small but sharp. OK, let’s see you try it. Bunch up a little here.”

He waved a hand to draw the crowd together. Annie, Alice and Ian stepped away from the display case with the rest. They practiced looking restless, and the young assistant coached them. Finally they must have looked good enough.

“Now we’ll go out to the Town Square,” the young man said. “You’ll see a platform we’ve put up, stand at least fifteen feet back from that. I’ll help you get in place once we get there. Be careful on the steps and in crossing the street. We’ve blocked off traffic, but the pavement is slippery. Ready?”

Annie stepped back over and took the case from Jim.

“Good luck,” he said. “I’ll be close by.”

“Thanks.”

She walked back over to stand by Ian and Alice. As she passed the young assistant on the way out the door, she took care to shield the valise with her body so he wouldn’t see it and ask about why she’d be carrying it in this scene.

Outside, the snow fell in fat flakes that quickly piled up on Annie’s coat sleeves, but the visibility was much better. She could see the Town Square across the street and the platform the assistant had mentioned.

She followed the rest of the crowd across the street, but made sure to hang as close as possible to the edges of the crowd. She didn’t want the kidnapper to have trouble finding her and collecting the valise.

Ian leaned close to her. “Chief Edwards doesn’t like this idea much,” he said. “With the snow and the huge number of people moving around, it’s going to be hard to grab the guy once he goes for the valise. At least visibility has gotten better.”

Annie nodded. She had held the handle of the valise with both hands, keeping it around to the front of her body until Ian took her arm to speak in her ear. She looked from side to side, remembering to keep her movements sharp and agitated like the assistant had asked. Luckily it also gave her a chance to watch for anyone approaching.

She heard someone yell from the edge of the crowd. “Action!”

Annie wondered if the man would dare go for the valise while the cameras were rolling. Wouldn’t he run the risk of being caught on film? She kept looking sharply from side to side.

“More movement,” a voice shouted. “Push a little. Don’t knock anyone over.”

The crowd moved restlessly around her, and it became harder to stay in the back. Annie felt a bump on her elbow and turned to look sharply. No one seemed to be looking at her, and she still held the valise tightly.

She reached up with her free hand to wipe at the snow collecting on her eyelashes. When she put her hand down again, she turned to look at Ian, but the person beside her was a tall woman in a black coat. The woman held up a fist and shook it. For a moment Annie worried about the woman’s glaring anger, but then she remembered they were acting.

Annie looked around, trying to spot Ian’s salt-and-pepper hair in the group around them. With most of the crowd wearing hats, Ian should be relatively easy to spot, she thought, but the crowd was so dense.

Annie took a calming breath. Ian would soon realize she wasn’t beside him, and then he would come to her. Then she jumped when a voice boomed over the crowd. “CUT!”