Page 16 of Hunter

She looks up as I approach, her phone pressed against her ear, and mouths, “Thank God!”

“Need help?” I ask.

She nods, holding up a finger. “Yes, sir. That’stwentypeople. Five teams of two, which is ten, and a cameramanand soundman for each, which makes twenty.” She covers the mouthpiece of her phone with her hand. “Rick forgot to account for the production crew when he booked the boats. We need another crabbing boat for tomorrow.”

“Did you find one?”

Her eyes widen as she speaks into the phone. “Yes, sir. That’s right.” She looks up at me, nodding emphatically. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” When she puts down her phone, she looks up at me. “I just got a second boat, but they don’t leave from the same dock as the first one.”

“So what do you need?”

“We have two buses going from the cruise port to the same dock,” she says. “Can you call the bus company and arrange for one bus to go to Berth 3 and the other to go to Ward Cove?”

“Sure thing,” I say. “So half the teams will go on one boat, and half the teams will go on the other?”

She nods. “It’s the best I can do. I’m lucky I even found a boat that can take twenty people. Most of the crabbing boats I called are a lot smaller than that.”

I call the bus company and make the change, then send an email to the production staff, letting them know that tomorrow’s challenge will have two separate boats leaving from two separate locations.

“Did you change the pit stop for tomorrow?” I ask Kit.

Last night at our production meeting, the host of the show, Nat Keegan, had a hissy fit when he found out that the first pit stop was at a local museum.

“Are museums exciting? Are museums eye-catching?” he demanded, his Scottish accent stronger with his annoyance. “No, they are not. Rick! Fix this! We need a sexy spot for our first pit stop!”

Rick had assured Nat it would be taken care of, then delegated it to me and Kit as soon as he could.

She sighs. “Yes. Teams will meet Nat at the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show instead.”

“Under the marquee?”

“Yep.”

“Nat will love that.”

“I know,” she says with a sigh. “I even arranged for two of the lumberjacks to stand on either side of him as the teams arrive. Shirts optional.” She takes a cigarette pack out of her breast pocket and lights one. “I can’t believe I’m only getting paid a few thousand dollars for this shit.”

Kit’s been working on reality shows for the last twenty years, so she’s a seasoned vet when it comes to location glitches. Because of her experience,sheshould be the Location Manager instead of Rick, but nepotism doesn’t make for a level playing field.

“What next?” I ask her.

She lifts a mug and slides a pile of papers over to me. “Sitka’s detour challenge. Contestants have two options: the Raptor Center and the Fortress of the Bears. Which one do you want to manage?”

“I’ll take the bears.”

As we sort through the details of the upcoming locations, I notice some activity on the dock below. A blue rug is unfurled with the show’s logo on it, and a camera guy sets up a tripod and some lights.

“What’s going on down there?”

Kit takes a long drag as she glances over the side of the ship. “My guess? Teams are starting to arrive.”

“But I thought they weren’t getting here until tonight.”

She shakes her head. “They’ll be arriving all afternoon. Welcome dinner with Nat for all cast and crew is at seven tonight, so they all have to be checked in by then.”

I stand up and walk over to the railing, looking down at the dock to see if I can see anyone approaching the ship, and sure enough, I spy two women, dressed in identical hot-pink outfits, complete with ballerina tutus and shiny go-go boots, walking toward us.

“I think Team Barbie is here,” I say.

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