Кэти Дэйли - The Magic Of Halloween Night

“Did they get everything fixed?”

“Mostly. I think the film crew and cast still have a lot of work to do in the studio once they get back to LA, but they managed to get the exterior shots they were after, as well as those taken in the lobby and other resort rooms. All in all, it was an interesting experience.”

“I’ll bet. I wish I could have made it out there, but it just didn’t work out.”

Dex walked in, apologized for being late, and asked me to follow him to his office. I gave him everything I had, and he thanked me for a job well done. We discussed the articles I’d written and submitted, and he’d asked me about Harrison’s death, which to this point, was still unsolved. Dex had grown up in Foxtail Lake the same as Cass and me, but he was older, so he wouldn’t necessarily have known Robert. He did have a few ideas relating to rocks that we might attempt to overturn, and I promised to share his thoughts with Cass.

“Before you go, I want to let you know that I’m going to be out of the office for a while,” he said.

“Oh? Are you going on vacation?”

“Actually, I’m having surgery. Brain surgery.”

“Oh, no. Why? What’s wrong?”

“I have a small tumor pressing on my brain. So far, other than some memory loss, it hasn’t done a lot of damage, but the potential is there for it to get a whole lot worse.”

“Oh, Dex. I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

He nodded. “My father is going to take over the management of the newspaper while I’m out. He’s the one who built the paper, so there’s no question about his knowing what to do, but I’ve made some changes since I’ve been in charge that I’d prefer weren’t undone. If at all possible, maybe you can persuade him to leave things alone while I’m out.”

“I’ll do what I can,” I promised.

“I’ll be out until after the first of the year, so I need you to be sure to stay on top of all the holiday stuff. I’m not thrilled to have to undergo this dang surgery, but I’m even more afraid of having things get messed up and changed around while I’m gone.”

I placed my hand over his, which was resting on his desk. “I’ll do what I can to make sure things run exactly as you would have wanted.”

“Thank you. I knew I could count on you.”

“Do the others know?” I asked, thinking of the rest of the staff.

“Not yet, but I plan to fill everyone in. I wanted to talk to you first. Alone. I’m really counting on you to take a lead role while I’m out.”

Okay, no pressure there. Even though I was the most recent hire, I knew what Dex wanted, and I would do my best to provide that. I told him as much. We chatted for another hour, and then I left to head over to the florist to pick up some flowers for Paisley. I wanted to have them ready to offer to her after her big debut.

“Morning, Callie,” greeted Dawn Nickelson, the local florist. “What can I help you with today?”

“Paisley is making her acting debut tonight, and I wanted to have a small bouquet to give her after the play.

“I have just the thing.” She went to the refrigerated section and pulled out a gorgeous bouquet in all of Paisley’s favorite colors. It was very nice but not overdone.

“It’s perfect. Thank you. I’ll take it.”

“I heard you’ve been out at the movie set the past couple weeks,” Dawn said as she wrapped a purple ribbon around the bouquet.

“Yes. That’s right. They wrapped yesterday, but I spent a week and a half with the film crew and cast as they filmed various scenes. It was very interesting.”

“I bet it was. Did you have a chance to speak to the actors and actresses?”

“Most of them.”

She made a face. “Were they rude and self-involved?”

I shook my head. “No, quite the opposite actually. Most were very nice. Cooperative and even helpful.”

“Do you want to add a balloon? It’s just a dollar more.”

“No. Just the flowers.”

She wrapped colorful tissue paper over the bouquet and took it to the register to ring up. “I’ve never met a movie star. Well, except for Robert, of course, but that was back in high school when he put his pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us.”

“I didn’t realize you knew Robert. He was ahead of you in school by a few years.”

She nodded. “He was. All of you were, but my sister, Darlene, was in Robert’s class, as was Darlene’s best friend, Amanda Timberlake.”

“I seem to remember that Amanda had a crush on Robert back in the day.”

“Oh, she sure did,” Dawn confirmed. “That girl had it bad for him. Not that I knew everything that went on, but Darlene and I shared a bedroom, and even though she was older than me, Mama had a rule that I could be on my bed whenever I wanted, and Darlene couldn’t kick me out. I sure took advantage of that rule, which was probably rude, but I was pretty nosy and wanted to know everything that was going on in everyone’s life.” She took a breath. “I remember that Darlene and Amanda would talk about Robert all the time.”

I’d forgotten about the crush Amanda had on Robert until Dawn mentioned it. “I do remember Amanda following Robert around.”

She shook her head. “Oh, she did. The way Amanda told it, she was going to find a way to marry that boy.”

“I guess that didn’t work out,” I said.

“No, it didn’t. Something happened senior year, and Darlene kicked me out of the room despite our mom’s rule, so I couldn’t hear everything that was said, but Amanda came over and was completely hysterical, so Darlene insisted that rules didn’t count in that situation.”

“Did you ever find out what she was so upset about?”

“Not all of it, but I did hear Amanda saying something about Robert and wanting to die. She really was hysterical. I mean totally unhinged. I really worried that she was going to take her daddy’s gun to her own head, but Darlene managed to talk her down.”

Now that Dawn had brought it up, I did remember something about a scandal involving Amanda.

“In the end, Amanda talked her parents into letting her go and live with an aunt for the last few months of her senior year,” Dawn added.

“I remember that Amanda was gone at the end of the year. I’m not sure I stopped to wonder why.” And then it all fell into place. “Amanda was the girl in the shower!”

Dawn nodded. “Everything was kept hush-hush at first, but Darlene told me later that Robert and some of his friends had taken a video of Amanda in the shower of the girl’s locker room at school. They had shots, which included full-frontal nudity, which they posted on the school’s website. Darlene told me that Amanda was truly traumatized by the experience.”

“Well, I would guess so. Why would Robert do that?”

Dawn shrugged. “I can’t say for sure, but I do remember Amanda following Robert around all the time before the shower incident. She was always watching him and making up excuses to be near him. A lot of people saw her taking photos of him. Basically, she was stalking him. I guess Robert wanted to find a way to get rid of her, and based on the fact she left after the video was posted and didn’t come back until after he left for LA, I’d say he succeeded. That’ll be twelve dollars.”

I handed her the money. “I haven’t seen Amanda in ages. Does she still live in the area?”

“Sure. She lives out on the family farm. She rarely comes into town, though. I think the whole thing with Robert really damaged her.” She handed me my change. “It’s been a long time, but I suppose something like that would stick with you.”

“Yes, I suppose it might.” I smiled. “Thanks for the flowers. They’re perfect. Will you be at the play tonight?”