Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 08 - Foul Play (17 page)

Or I could pull us both to our deaths.

“Don’t forget, as they hoist you, you’ve got to sing,” Mrs. Baker reminded.

My mind went blank. What were the words?

I remembered finding Scarlet below the catwalk. Was that how I’d look when I died? Would someone even add some striped, colorful socks?

Did Scarlet feel any fear before she died? Did she have a pit in her stomach like I did now?

I glanced at the stage below. It looked so far away.

Who was operating the rig on this anyway?
Did they know what they were doing? One wrong move and the whole line could give. I could end up worse than Scarlet. I could end up splattered on the stage floor, like some kind of thespian road kill.

Rose and I could haunt this place together.

I shook my head. Everyone stared at me, waiting for me to begin. I could hardly breathe.

“Gabby?” Mrs. Baker asked. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s okay.” My voice squeaked out, pitched higher than a cartoon mouse’s.

“It’s going to be just fine,” Jerome whispered. “I’ve done this a million times before. I only got hurt once.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Gabby?” Mrs. Baker asked again.

Just then, the line gave a little, sending me free falling. I screamed the girliest scream that had ever left my lips.

The line caught and I jerked to a halt mid-air.

“Sorry about that! It was a little glitch,” one of the stagehands called from somewhere out of sight. “Everything’s good now.”

“Do you want to get down?” Mrs. Baker asked.
A worry wrinkle snaked between her eyebrows.

Everyone stared at me.

I wanted to scream,
Of course I want to get down. Are you crazy? I don’t want to die this way!

As panic threatened to overtake me, I glanced over at
Mrs. Baker’s daughter Larissa. She sat there on the front row, watching me with her eyes wide.

I remembered sitting in that very place, watching the lead of
Oklahoma
in awe. I pulled myself together, for the sake of the 13 year old me who’d wanted to star in a play more than anything.

“No, I’ve got this,” I finally said.

Dear Lord, please help me survive this.

Shaky at first, eventually my lines flowed out.

I kept waiting for the wire to fray. Remarkably, it didn’t. It held me, even as we began to sway back and forth.

The ending was going to be magical—if no one died in the process.

As I sang out the last line, the cast broke out into applause. My cheeks flushed.

“
That was wonderful you two. You could really feel the fear and anxiety Elsa felt as she was faced with the possibility of leaving everything familiar behind,” Mrs. Baker said.

That’s because my fear and anxiety
are real, no acting involved.

I cleared my throat as the wire lowered me back to the stage. I
’d never been so glad to feel something solid under my feet. But I also had a rush of adrenaline as I realized that I’d just conquered a big fear of mine. At the moment, I felt like I could do anything.

“Let’s take a break and then we need to run through all of this again. Meet me back on stage in five,” Mrs. Baker said.

As the rest of the cast dispersed, Mrs. Baker came on stage. “You’re doing a really fantastic job, Gabby. Especially for someone who had to fill in at the last minute. I always knew you were a natural.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Baker.”

“And I’ve been meaning to tell you that the guy of yours that you brought by—Garrett, right?”

I nodded.

“He seems like a keeper. He looked at you like you could do no wrong.”

“We’re not actually together. Or, we’re taking it slow, I guess I should say.” I shr
ugged. “I was engaged to someone else up until a few months ago. But now he’s moved on with his life. I guess I need to move on as well.”

“You know what Nathanial Hawthorne said, don’t you?”

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

“He said, ‘
The past lies upon the present like a giant’s dead body.’”

“There’s wisdom in
that quote.” In other words, I couldn’t let the past conquer me and hold me back. That’s exactly what I’d been doing. I’d have to chew more on those words later.

As
the cast gathered, I noticed Paulette slipping backstage. Interesting. Where was she going?

I
snuck backstage but saw no one. Where had she gone?

I m
oved quietly through the dark space, my gaze scanning my surroundings.

Strange. It was like Paulette had never been back here.

I moved toward the dressing rooms. Slowly, I pushed the first door open. It was dark inside. Whose room was this again? I was pretty sure four other cast members shared this space. I flicked the light on.

Everything appeared normal.

I went to the next room, reminding myself to move quickly. I didn’t want people to get suspicious that I was gone. This was Jerome’s dressing room, if I remembered correctly.

I turned the lights on and examined the space.

There was no Paulette.

But ther
e in the corner were some tools—nuts, bolts, wrenches, a hammer.

I stepped closer, wanting a better look.

That’s when I heard a voice behind me. “What are you doing here?”

I swirled around
. Arie stared at me with accusation in her eyes.

CHAPTER 25

“I thought I saw someone come in here,” I muttered. “I was just making sure everything was okay, that no one was up to any mischief.”

“How do we know that you’re not up to any mischief?” Arie stepped closer. “I’m beginning to think it’s more than a coincidence that you were picked to fill in for Scarlet’s role. You just happened to be at the right place at the right time, huh?”

I swallowed hard. “That’s right. Lucky me.”

“There’s something you’re not telling us.”

I shrugged. “Everyone has dreams and wants a better life. I thought maybe I could find
mine with the theater. You can’t blame me for that.” As the words poured from my mouth, I pondered the truth in them.

I guess everyone did want something a little more for their future. That’s why we all worked hard and pushed ourselves to do better.
I could do better than the position I was in right now in my life.

“I researched you, you know.” Something gleamed in her eyes.

“Did you?” I tried to keep the tremble from my voice.

“I know about your past.”

So much for being undercover. “It’s not what you think—”

“You and Paulette were friends. That’s how you got this role.”

My heart slowed for a minute. “You’re right. We do go way back. I’m sorry we weren’t upfront with you.”

“Is everything okay back here?” Paulette appeared with a clipboard in her hands.

“I’m fine,” I started. “I was just making sure everything was okay here when Arie barged in and started making accusations.”

“I’m just concerned because of everything that’s been going on lately. I’m sure you can understand.”
Arie glared at me.

T
he noise from the stage area suddenly disappeared. Everyone was probably trying to eavesdrop. Nosy little actors.

Great. I had an audience at a time when I didn’t need
one.

“Enough of the bickering. We’ve got to run through this again and none of us want to be here all night,” Paulette said.

Begrudgingly, I left the backstage area and joined the rest of the cast on stage. Everyone looked at the three of us as if we’d been sent to the principal’s office.

“Everyone in place,” Mrs. Baker instructed.

I took my place center stage. I noticed Amos had come to pick up Larissa. He waved my way. Unfortunately, the girl had been here to witness the not so flattering moment. My hopes of being a good role model for a member of the younger generation quickly faded.

Act
s One and Two went smoothly. I was able to put everything out of my mind and focus on my performance. At the beginning of Act Three, I had to climb some scaffolding that represented a roof scape (hence the song, “Climb Every Steeple, Scale Every Roof”) with a row of houses below.

I’d just started the number when
I glanced down and saw one of the huge screws at the end of the roof was a good inch from being completely twisted into the wood. Something clicked in my head.

Those
nuts and bolts in Jerome’s dressing room: Could they have been used to hold this part of the set together?

Before I co
uld think about it, the bottom of the stage collapsed—me with it.

***

I rubbed my hind side. I’d walked away from the accident with a few bruises and a pounding headache. That was the good news.

The bad news was that the set was a crumpled mess behind me. It could be fixed—maybe. The scaffolding had definitely been sabotaged, and Mrs. Baker had called the police.

Charlie stood on the stage right now, addressing the rest of the cast as if she were an award-winning actress. She paced the glossy wood, a hand on her hip by her gun. Her gaze was intense. The only thing that ruined her tough girl image was the spit up on her shoulder.

“Someone is trying to harm both this production and the people involved,” she said. “I want to know
who. I want to know why.”

No one said anything for a moment.

Charlie looked back at the cast. “Does anyone know who might have messed with the set?”

“We used it for our first run through and it was just fine,”
Bennie said.

“Did anyone see
someone messing with it between practices?” Charlie asked.

I braced myself for what I knew was inevitable.

“Gabby was backstage doing something when I walked back there,” Arie barked.

Everyone’s eyes
fell on me.

I raised my hands in defense. “I thought
I saw someone go back there. I was just checking things out. Besides, why would I rig part of the set to hurt myself?”

“W
hat were you doing back there, Arie?” Bennie asked, crossing her arms and sending an accusing look to the has-been starlet.

Her cheeks reddened. “I was doing the same. I was making sure everything was okay since someone is determined to ruin my play.”

“Someone’s determined to ruin something,” Charlie muttered. “Where was the scaffolding prior to Act Three?”

“It was backstage,” Mrs. Baker told her. “We didn’t bring it in until Act
Three.”

“Maybe it was the ghost,”
Bennie said. “Besides, a house almost landed on Gabby. Does no one else see the irony in this?”

“Are you saying I’m like the Wicked Witch who dies in
The Wizard of Oz
?” I asked. But it was true. A house had almost landed on me. Coincidence? I couldn’t be sure.

“Ghost or no ghost, whoever is behind these acts needs to be brought to justice. Someone here knows something. We’re going to get to the bottom of this. I promise you that,”
the detective said, sounding all Charlie’s Angels tough. Good for her.

“What should I do? Should I cancel this performance?” Paulette asked, tears glimmering in her eyes.

I remembered seeing her go backstage. Could she be responsible for this? I wasn’t ready to express my theory to anyone yet, especially not Charlie. There was too much at stake.

Charlie shook her head. “I don’t know what to say except act at your own risk. If I were in this play, I’d be running away screaming right now.”

I glanced around, standing on the periphery of the crowd so I could see people better.

Most people looked paler, frightened at her announcement. But Jerome and
Arie exchanged a glance. What was that about? Was there more to their story than they were letting on? I was starting to believe that was true.

Meanwhile, there was Paulette. She looked genuinely distressed. Could she be guilty
and
truly frightened? Or was she a better actress than anyone had guessed?

The Shining Twins stared.

Bennie looked confused and determined.

Could the guilty party be right here?

It made the most sense that someone on the inside was behind these acts. Had Scarlet discovered them and been killed because of it?

That was exactly what I needed to figure out.

***

When
play practice was over, I checked my phone. I had three missed calls from Chad, which seemed unusual. I wandered to the back of the auditorium for privacy and called him back.

“We
’ve got problems,” Chad started.

“What’s going on?”

“Clarice just quit and so did Braxton.”

“What?”
My voice came out louder than intended.

“Yeah,
Clarice said you’d had creative differences.” His voice sounded hard.

“Creative differences?”
I repeated.

“She said that was putting it nicely.”

“She’s dating Parker and I warned her against it. She got offended. I tried to be gentle and compassionate. I promise that I did.” I sighed, wishing sometimes that I could rewind my life. “What about Braxton?”

“He said he can’t work for a woman.”

“What? He actually said that?” My voice level climbed again.

“Yeah, he actually said that.
So that leaves you and me, Gabby. We’ve got a full workload this week. I wouldn’t have committed to so much if I’d known we’d be short staffed.”

“What are we going to do? Should we
call our clients and ask for extensions?”

“You know how that goes. Then we
’ll suddenly start getting all these bad online reviews and that drives business away.”

“T
his is the week before opening night. I’m going to have trouble putting in overtime hours.”

“Yeah, I know.” He sighed, long and hard. “We’re
essentially re-launching our business. I don’t want it to fail now.”

“I don’t either, Chad.”

“So you’re committed to what we’re doing?”

“Of course I am.” Even as the words left my mouth, I wondered if they were
really true. In my mind, I was fully committed. But in my heart I knew I was thinking about the future—and about change—even more than usual lately.

He remained silent for a moment and, with each second that passed, the tension between us grew.
“I feel like you’re looking for any opportunity possible to ditch work for other prospects.”

As I felt my defenses rising, I decided to take a mental step back.
“Look Chad, maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this now. It’s obvious you’ve had a bad day, and I don’t think you’re thinking clearly.”

“I don’t know, Gabby. Things have just felt so complicated lately.”

Maybe Chad had been feeling resentful about my absences from work. In truth, I couldn’t blame him. Despite that, part of me still felt wary.

“We’ll just talk later, Gabby. You’re right. I’ve had a bad day.
The way it is now, I’m going to be working eighteen hour days.”

“Look, I’ll recruit my brother and my dad to help if I have to. We’ll get it all done.”
Certainly he realized I was concerned and serious if I’d go so far as to suggest that.

“I hear you. Later, Gabby.”

I hung up. I hadn’t thought it was possible to feel any worse. But I sure did.