Page 31 of Ghosted Cowboy
She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening. A small gasp escaped her lips.
Everyone was still arguing, not noticing her sudden shift. But I did. I knew every expression that crossed her face, and right now, she'd had an idea.
She caught my eye, mouthed silently: "Wait."
The arguments continued for several more minutes before Vivian finally called for quiet. "Everyone go home. Think about what you want to do. We'll make a decision tomorrow."
The cast dispersed slowly, reluctantly. Brooke lingered, clearly hoping to talk to Vivian about taking over the lead. Darcy followed her like a shadow. Mason watched Rainey until I stepped between them, and he finally left.
When everyone was gone except Vivian, Rainey and me, Vivian headed toward her office behind the stage, shoulders slumped.
Rainey took my hand. "We need to talk to her. Privately."
We followed Vivian to her office. Rainey knocked on the half-open door.
"Come in." The director sat behind her desk, head in her hands. "If you're here to argue about canceling—"
"We're not," Rainey said, closing the door behind us. "I have an idea. To catch whoever's doing this."
Vivian looked up. "I'm listening."
Rainey leaned forward. "We set a trap. Tomorrow night, we announce I'll be performing a special solo preview. Open the doors to the public for one of Evangeline's monologues—the one where she talks to Silas's portrait. It's my strongest piece. Then you can host a discussion about the play, the history of the theater, the town. Make it seem like a special pop-up event ahead of festival week."
"Absolutely not." The words came out before I could stop them. "No way am I letting you put yourself out there as bait."
"It's the only way, Ransom." She turned to me. "We know whoever's doing this is focused on me. If they think I'm going ahead with the performance despite their warnings, they'll have to try something."
"She has a point," Vivian said slowly, drumming her fingers on the desk. "It's a small town. We can spread the word quickly—call the newspaper, get it on their website by noon. The radio station can announce it during their regular programming. I'll post it on social media, put flyers up at the diner and the square."
"This is insane." I paced the cramped office. "You're deliberately putting her in danger."
"I'll be at the theater," Rainey said. "That's all. If someone's going to make a move, better it happens when we're expecting it than catching us off guard."
Vivian was already making notes. "I'll call the sheriff's office, let them in on what we're doing. See if they can have some plainclothes officers in the audience."
"What makes you think whoever's doing this will even show up?" I pressed.
"Because they're desperate," Rainey said quietly. "The threats are escalating. They destroyed my costume today. They won't let me perform—they can't, not after everything they've done to stop me."
I wanted to argue more, wanted to throw her over my shoulder and carry her somewhere safe, somewhere far from this theater and whoever was threatening her.
But I saw the determination in her face. She needed this—needed to fight back, needed to take control.
"Fine." The word tasted like ash in my mouth. "But we do this my way. I'm there early, checking every inch of the building. And if anything—anything—seems wrong, we pull the plug. No arguments."
"Agreed." Vivian reached for her phone. "Tomorrow night, seven o'clock. We'll call it'An Evening with Evangeline Vale.' Free admission to build goodwill before the festival."
"I want Turley there," I said. "In the building."
"I'll make sure he knows," Vivian promised. "We'll be ready for whatever happens."
As we left the theater, Rainey squeezed my hand. "Thank you for backing me up."
"I don't like it." I opened the door of her car for her. "Every instinct I have is screaming to get you away from here."
"I know." She pulled me down for a kiss. "But we need to end this. I can't live in fear, and I won't let them take this away from me. Tomorrow night, one way or another, we find out who's behind this."
I understood. But as I watched her drive away, heading home to prepare for tomorrow's trap, unease twisted tighter with every mile she drove away.
