“Why?”
“Don’t you think she probably assumed you would have watched her show and recognized her on TV?”
“I guess. Probably.”
“So what did she say when you two met?”
“Hello. I mean, she said hello, like she’d never met me before. Or maybe she didn’t remember.”
“Josie, I’ve got to tell you this. I think she remembered you. In fact, this may all be based on circumstantial evidence, but I’ll bet they are taping here because you are here.”
“But why, Sam?”
“I don’t know. But I think we should get busy and find out.”
TWELVE
JOSIE WAS NOT accustomed to anyone other than herself ordering her crew around. But she had to admit that Bobby Valentine was doing a good job of it.
“She is not here. She probably had important personal business to attend to. That’s the key phrase for you all to remember. Courtney had important personal business to attend to. That’s what you say if anyone asks. But nobody, and I mean nobody, is to say anything to the press! Understand? Now we’re going to continue work on the show as though Courtney was still here.”
“And how the hell are we going to do that? Do you have some sort of Courtney dummy that you’re going to lean against the wall to watch us work?” Dottie sneered.
“We have already shot some of Courtney’s cutaways, and we can do interviews without her. You don’t have to worry about that part of it. We know what we’re doing. We do this all the time.”
That got Josie’s attention. “She’s disappeared like this before?”
“Not like this. No, not like this. But Courtney Castle is a very busy woman with many diverse demands on her time. She’s frequently called on to be someplace else while we tape a show, and when that happens, we are required to work around her absence.”
“Really? It’s interesting to know how television works, isn’t it?” Annette asked her colleagues enthusiastically.
Apparently the other women weren’t so impressed. “So what do we do now?” Jill, ignoring Bobby Valentine’s lecture, asked Josie the question.
“Let’s get to work out back,” Josie answered. “If that’s all right with you?” she asked the producer rather sarcastically.
Apparently he didn’t notice or care. “Whatever. I’m going to be in the trailer if anyone needs me. But, remember, no talking to the press!” With those parting words, he turned and left the house.
Jill leaped to her feet and, grabbing an imaginary microphone, said, “Please, no interviews! No interviews!”
Annette joined in, laughing and protesting to a crowd of imaginary paparazzi. “No pictures, please, no pictures!”
“Yeah, as though the press would be interested in the likes of us,” Dottie said.
“Well, let’s get to work,” Josie said, standing and stretching. “Courtney can do her thing and we’ll do ours.”
The women picked up their assorted tool belts and boxes and headed out of the house and toward the bay.
“Am I the only person who thinks it’s a little strange that Courtney has vanished?” Annette asked.
“Hey, she’s not a carpenter. She’s on-air talent. Probably thinks she can do anything she wants to do.” Dottie slung her heavy belt across her shoulder and followed Josie.
“Sure, but still…” That was Annette’s only comment. The intern was sitting on the dock, writing furiously in a spiral notebook. He jumped to his feet and brushed his too-long hair off his forehead. Annette unconsciously mimicked his movement, smiling nervously.
Josie grinned. “Why don’t you see if he… what is his name?… needs anything from us before we start work?”
“I’ll… Oh, you’re asking me to do it?” Annette was flustered by the suggestion.
“Yup.”
“Chad. His name is Chad Henshaw,” Annette said, hurrying down the path to the dock.
“An adolescent crush. Why do you encourage them?” Dottie asked rhetorically.
“I think they’re sweet,” Jill said.
“I do, too. And as long as Annette keeps working, I don’t see what harm it does,” Josie commented.
“God, you’re all romantic fools.” Dottie sneered. “Wake up and smell the coffee, as my dad used to say.”
“What I think is that they’re both young and a summertime romance is appropriate.”
Jill put down her toolbox and looked back at the house. No one could hear them. “Doesn’t anyone else think it’s strange that Courtney has disappeared? I mean, today that producer is acting like it’s normal, but yesterday he was real panicked when she wasn’t around. What happened to all that police interest? What happened to dredging the bay?”
“Heaven knows,” Josie answered slowly. What had happened to dredging the bay? “Listen, you all know what to do and I’d appreciate it if you’d go on without me. I left my phone in the truck. I need to make a few calls.”
“While you’re at it, you might give the lumberyard a nudge about the gutter they should have delivered last week,” Dottie reminded her.
“There’s always something. If it’s not a missing television personality, it’s a missing piece of gutter.” Josie sighed dramatically and started back to her truck. She was pleased to hear chuckling behind her. Courtney’s disappearance was making her nervous. And she was afraid she wasn’t the only one who felt like that. Dottie seemed to be affected and it didn’t surprise her. But she was surprised by how jumpy Jill seemed to be. Of course, Annette was in the midst of summer love. Josie grinned at the memory of Annette’s expression when Chad Henshaw appeared.
The police line was still protecting the work site, but Josie had been allowed to pass through this morning and her truck was parked behind the row of trailers queued at the curb. She grabbed her phone from under the seat and sat down on the runningboard to make her calls. The first one was not to the lumberyard. It was answered on the first ring.
“Sam! Thank heavens you’re there. Do you have a moment?”
Happily enough, he claimed to have as many as she needed.
“Sam, there isn’t any dredging going on! Do you know why? Well, could you find out? Well, I know, but… If you could just make a few calls. Maybe Basil knows something? No, she hasn’t shown up yet. Bobby Valentine says it’s normal. Apparently she’s disappeared like this before. Well, that’s what he claims. And he doesn’t want anyone to talk to the press. What do you think?”
She was silent for more than a few moments while he shared those thoughts with her. “Well, what I think-” She tried to interrupt, but he wasn’t finished.
The gist of Sam’s thoughts was that Josie should go on with her work and ignore anything having to do with Courtney Castle or her disappearance. And that she should be quiet concerning their mutual past.
She frowned and listened to his suggestions. But he wasn’t saying anything surprising and so her attention wandered… to a very interesting conversation that seemed to be taking place right behind her truck.
“… look, you’re not going to be able to keep it quiet forever,” a deep male voice was insisting.
“I’m not talking about forever. I’m talking about now. Right now.” The second speaker was also a man.
“What about her friends? Her family? Her masseuse? Her hairdresser? Her therapist? Won’t they all wonder where she’s gone?”
“Courtney is seeing a therapist?”
“I don’t know. I just assumed-”
“Just because someone is crazy doesn’t mean they’re doing something about it. But that’s not the point. We’ll just tell anyone who calls that she’s not available and that she’ll get back to them.”
“But what happens when she doesn’t?”
“Hey, anyone who knows Courtney knows that she doesn’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about other people. Her not returning a call is par for the course.”
“Yeah, I won’t argue with you about that. The promises she made us, you wouldn’t believe.”