“In a heartbeat,” said Jane, trying to sound as if she meant it.
Byron got into the car and drove away, leaving Jane alone with her charge. “All right,” she said. “The plan is very simple. We’re going to go back to your trailer. Everyone thinks you’ve been in there resting after a fainting spell. You’re going to let them go right on thinking that. You’ll do whatever it is you’re supposed to do today, and then tonight we’ll discuss what comes next.”
“So, did I become a vampire because that guy bit me?” Chloe asked as they walked.
“Not entirely,” said Jane.
“Then how did it happen?” the girl said.
“It’s complicated,” Jane replied. “We’ll talk more about it later.”
“And I really am a vampire, right?” said Chloe. “I mean, this isn’t some kind of joke is it? Because if I’m being punked, I’m going to be really pissed off.”
“You’re not being punked,” Jane assured her. “Whatever that is. This is very serious. Although I must tell you, you’re taking it rather well.”
Chloe shrugged. “I played a vampire on High Stakes once,” she said. “You know, that show about vampires who run a casino in Vegas. I’m used to it. Besides, now I never have to worry about turning forty and not getting parts. I’ll always be young and pretty. Sounds like a win-win to me.”
“Be that as it may,” said Jane, “there are a lot of things you’re going to have to learn.”
They were approaching the film site. It was crawling with people, and Jane was hopeful that they might actually get to Chloe’s trailer without being seen. Then, to her horror, she saw approaching them the trio of Julia Baxter, Jessica Abernathy, and Shirley.
“There you are,” Julia said to Chloe. She looked at Jane. “Is she feeling better?”
“I’m fine,” Chloe told the director. “I just fainted or whatever.”
“Come with me,” said Julia, taking the girl by the hand. “We need to get you into hair and makeup. And I want to talk to you about your scene. I think you …”
Her voice trailed off, and Jane found herself faced with Shirley and Jessica. “I’m sorry I had to leave our lunch so precipitously,” she said. “There was a bit of an emergency.”
“So we heard,” said Jessica. “Listen, I spoke with Kelly and Julia, and everything is set. Shirley will work on any changes Julia wants in the script, and you’re free to write that novel I’ve been waiting for.”
“Well, you seem to have it all worked out,” Jane said sharply. Now that Jessica had laid all her cards on the table, Jane no longer felt compelled to adhere as strictly to rules of polite conversation as she normally would. Besides, she intended to call Kelly as soon as she could and straighten things out.
Jessica smiled. “I guess I have,” she said. “Isn’t it wonderful when everything works out for the best?” A chirping sound filled the air, and Jessica reached into her handbag. “Excuse me,” she said as she removed a cellphone. “I need to take this.”
The editor walked off, leaving Jane and Shirley alone. As soon as Jessica was out of earshot Shirley said, “I’m really sorry. I had no idea that Jessica did all of this behind your back. I never would have agreed if I’d known.”
“Oh, it’s all right,” said Jane. “I really didn’t want to work on the script anyway. And she’s right that I need to get this book written. Maybe it really is all for the best.”
“Don’t count on it,” Shirley said.
Jane looked at her, surprised. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Shirley snorted. “Jessica edited my first book,” she said. “I didn’t even have an agent then. I sent the manuscript in blind. Anyway, Jessica bought it. I was so excited. I thought this was going to be my big break.”
“Wasn’t it?” asked Jane. “That book did very well.”
“It did,” Shirley agreed. “And do you know how much I was paid for it?”
Jane didn’t want to ask. She assumed the amount was obscene.
“Five hundred dollars,” Shirley said.
Jane gasped. “But surely the royalties made up for that,” she said.
Shirley shook her head. “It was a work-for-hire contract. No royalties. Jessica told me it’s what all publishers did with first-time authors. What did I know? Until then I’d only ever published in my garden club’s newsletter.”
Jane was appalled. “What did you do when you found out she’d lied to you?”
Shirley shrugged. “I didn’t find out until the book was on the bestseller list and another writer friend asked what I was going to do with all the money coming in. By then the damage was done. But I got myself an agent and a new editor.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you still friends with her?” said Jane.
“Oh, we’re not friends,” Shirley said. “I trust her about as much as I trust a rabid dog. The only reason she hooked me up with this project is because I know a few things she doesn’t want her husband to know about.”
“You’re blackmailing her?” Jane said, thrilled by the prospect.
Shirley laughed. “I prefer to think of it as making her pay for her sins,” she said. “Our deal is that at least once a year she finds me easy work for big money. Working on scripts. Ghosting celebrity bios. Whatever. In return I don’t send her husband a certain set of photographs I had a private detective take of her and someone who isn’t her husband in room 1287 of the London Hilton.”
Jane shook her head.
“I know,” said Shirley. “I’m supposed to channel my anger into my work. Can I help it if I prefer good old-fashioned extortion?”
Jane laughed. “It isn’t that,” she said. “I just can’t believe someone as horrible as she is has a husband.”
This time Shirley laughed along with her. When they were through Jane said, “How come you’re telling me this? Aren’t you afraid of your secret getting out?”
“I can read people,” Shirley said. “You’re one of the good ones. You won’t say anything. Besides, I feel bad taking this job from you. I figure it’s a trade. I take your job, and you have information that could ruin my life. Seems fair to me.”
“As I said, it’s not really important to me,” said Jane. “I just don’t like being bullied, especially by someone who resembles a praying mantis in heels.”
“I can always get you a set of those pictures,” Shirley said, grinning.
“I might just take you up on that someday,” said Jane, watching as Chloe emerged from a trailer and stormed toward the set. “Right now, though, I have to do some babysitting.”
Chapter 18
Keeping an eye on Chloe proved to be more difficult a task than Jane had anticipated. She had assumed that the actress would be before the cameras for most of the day, making it relatively easy to know where she was and what she was doing. However, she had failed to take into account the enormous amount of time between shots when the actors were doing absolutely nothing. Five minutes of acting were followed by half an hour of fussing with hair and makeup, worrying about the angle of the sun, trying to locate wayward assistants (everyone had an assistant, even the assistants), and trying to coordinate the half dozen pedestrians, bicyclists, and dog walkers who were required to move in and out of the frame while the actors spoke their lines.
In short, it was all very tedious, and Jane quickly became bored. This was a disappointment to her, as she’d expected the making of a film to be endlessly thrilling. She said as much to Chloe during one of the breaks, while the two of them sat in Chloe’s trailer and Chloe chain-smoked a pack of Marlboro Lights.
“I know, right?” Chloe said as she lit a new cigarette from the butt of the one she’d just finished. “I thought the same thing about making records. But you know what you do? You stand in this glass box and sing the same line two thousand times. You don’t even sing a whole song at once. You know my song ‘Primitive,’ right?”