Page 55 of All That Glitters
“Good boy, Elvis,” Roy sighed, reaching down to pet the furry saboteur. “Least you didn’t eat the actual camera this time.”
A voice called from off-screen, Craig again, apparently having recovered his directorial enthusiasm. “Roy! Get your ass out here! We gotta figure out how to make them vampire teeth look realistic!”
Roy gave the camera a final, knowing look. “Gotta go. That there’s the movie business for ya. Glamour and excitement twenty-four seven.”
And with that, the footage cut out one last time.
Chapter twenty-three
The Ketchup Condom Wars
The offices of ‘Hollywood Gossip’ were a hive of controlled chaos. Phones rang constantly, assistants scurried from desk to desk, and a low buzz of chatter filled the air. Flat-screen TVs mounted on the walls displayed competing entertainment news channels, their closed captions scrolling with celebrity breakups and box office numbers. This was the factory floor where celebrity reputations were made and broken.
At one of the central desks sat Lauren Zales, an anchorwoman with the sharp-edged beauty of a freshly minted knife, bitching into her phone.
“No, Jacquie. Would you shut up and listen already?” she snapped. “Nobody cares that Frenchie Marriot crashed her car again. It happens almost every week. We need something fresh. Something with teeth. Something that makes people spit out their morning coffee.”
Her assistant, a perpetually flustered young man named Justin, hurried over to her desk, waving a printout to get herattention. She ignored him, turning her back in her swivel chair to face the window.
“Yes. I understand,” Lauren continued into the phone, her patience wearing visibly thin. “But we’re losing our audience. They want scandal, not routine.”
Justin, undeterred, followed her around the desk, waving the paper again with more urgency. Lauren shot him a look that could curdle milk.
“Can you hold on one second?” she said into the receiver, her voice suddenly sweet as poison. “I think my assistant has a death wish.”
She covered the receiver with her palm and glared at Justin, her eyes cold. “What?”
“You know that fire at the cemetery the other night?” he said, breathless. “I just found out a film crew caused it.”
A beat of absolute silence passed. Lauren’s entire demeanor shifted. The bored irritation was gone, replaced by the focus of a great white shark that smelled blood in the water.
“What film crew?” she asked.
“Here’s where it gets really good,” Justin said. He handed her the printout of a police report he found while researching the Frenchie story. “It’s some indie outfit called ‘Rif Raf Productions.’ I did some digging, and get this, they’re all ex-cons. Like, actual former prison inmates making a horror movie.”
Lauren just stared for a moment then turned back to her phone, her mind already racing with headline possibilities and the ratings spike that would follow.
“I need to call you back,” she said, and hung up without waiting for a reply. She picked up the police report and scanned it.
“Ex-cons making a vampire movie in a cemetery,” she murmured, a slight smile playing at the corners of her lips. “And they set it on fire.”
“Not just that,” Justin added. “There’s supposedly also been some vandalism. And they have a dog on set that may or may not have dug up several graves.”
Lauren shot to her feet. “Get the camera. We’re going to that cemetery right now.” She grabbed her purse and jacket, and a second later was heading toward the exit. “And find out everything you can about this Rif Raf Productions. I want criminal records, previous addresses, and any connection to anyone remotely famous.”
“Already on it,” Justin said, scrambling to keep up with her determined stride.
“Do we know who’s in it?” Lauren asked as they reached the elevator.
“Carrie Thompson.”
Lauren paused mid-step, processing this new information. “Carrie Thompson? The B-movie queen with the knockers?”
“That’s the one.”
A predatory smile spread across her face as she stepped into the elevator and the doors closed. “Oh, this just keeps getting better.”
Meanwhile, on set...
