“No,” Kat said. “She sounded stressed and I didn’t want to make it worse.”
“Does that mean that you plan to tell her later on?”
“I haven’t decided,” Kat told her. “It feels like the kind of thing she deserves to know. But it could also make things worse between the two of you and I didn’t think that was possible.”
Hannah nodded.
“I understand if you have to tell her,” she said quietly. “I hope you don’t but I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Done what?”
“Confronted that guy,” she said. “Put you in that position.”
“Then why did you?”
“It’s hard to explain. I have this thing where it’s difficult for me to feel things unless what’s happening is super intense. So I put myself in intense situations so I can feel. I know that sounds crazy.”
Kat shook her head.
“No, Hannah,” she said. “You sound like someone who’s been to hell and back and doesn’t know how to deal with it, because how many people go to hell and return as good as new? No one does. But I know someone else who’s been on that same journey and might be able to offer a few pointers and she happens to share a bedroom with you. Have you considered telling her about it?”
Hannah swallowed hard before answering.
“I’m afraid to. I’m worried she’ll think I’m damaged and send me away and then I won’t have anyone.”
Kat nodded.
“Listen, I can’t tell you what to do. But you might consider giving her a chance. She’s a pretty cool chick.”
“Are you going to tell her?” Hannah asked.
Kat looked at her for a long time before answering.
“No. That’s up to you.”
Hannah felt a dam of anxiety break. She took a deep breath and allowed herself a bit of a smile.
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Hannah. Why don’t we just have dinner? I need a mental break and the ceviche you made isn’t going to eat itself. Mealtime truce?”
“Mealtime truce,” Hannah agreed, happy to stave off the inevitable, even if just for a few hours.
*
The first guard at the Sovereign Studios main gate wouldn’t let them in.
“Neither of the people you wish to speak with is available at this time,” he said officiously.
Jessie could sense that Trembley was about to play the “we’re real cops, not mall cops,” card when she saw a familiar face step into the guard station.
“Paul,” she called out warmly.
The guard who’d given them the personal lot tour on their first visit walked over.
“Howdy, folks,” he said enthusiastically. “What’s shaking?”
The other guard spoke up first.
“These visitors have asked to speak to either Mr. Boatwright or Mr. Haughton, neither of whom is available now. I was about to suggest they return in the morning.”
“We hadn’t quite finished,” Jessie piped up, hoping her tone didn’t betray her anxiety. “There are a number of other witnesses we can interview this evening, several of whom may be shooting on Stage 32 right now.”
Paul smiled knowingly and put his hand on the younger guard’s shoulder.
“I’ve got this, Lionel,” he said firmly. Lionel nodded and stepped away without argument.
“Thanks, Paul,” Jessie said.
He motioned for them to pull off to the side and met them there, leaning in through Trembley’s window.
“Marauder only just wrapped for the night twenty minutes ago,” he said. “That Zyskowski director is still pissed that you cost him a full day of shooting, by the way. I just came from there and was about to log it in the system. Lionel was approximately ten seconds from knowing you two are full of it. Care to tell me why you’re really here?”
“Would you believe we were following up on a request to check gate footage from Sunday night?” Jessie asked.
“To see if Mr. Struce came on the lot any time between ten p.m. and eleven p.m. on Sunday?” Paul replied. “Yeah, we already checked and sent everything to your researcher. No sign of him all night. So no, I wouldn’t believe it. Care to try again?”
He had a mildly amused look on his face so Jessie decided to take a risk.
“Can I be straight with you, Paul?”
“I really wish you would,” he said.
She wasn’t sure if she could tell the full truth. If she revealed that they planned to sneak into the studio archives to check the production files from Petals and Petulance on a wild hunch, she suspected he wouldn’t be hugely receptive. So she decided to be a little less specific.