Dying to Have Her (12 page)

“We’re not shooting
Land of the Pharaohs
here!” he complained to Andy. “This is a showdown! The damned coffin thing is too heavy. Let’s start off with it in place already and the men just leaving.”

“Fine, fine!” Andy said impatiently.

As the sarcophagus was rearranged, Conar stood with Liam. Serena felt ridiculous, standing around alone. She turned to one of the extras, determined that she was going to be as charming as she could. The man could only stutter and stumble in reply.

“We’re on in five, four, three …” Jim commanded, then he went silent and used a finger count for the last two numbers.

In the changed scene, she thanked the men as they supposedly set down the heavy sarcophagus, taken from its packing crate and set in the cottage by the pool where she worked and often slept. She paid them, thanking them again in Spanish, and putting her fingers to her lips. They did the same.

They disappeared from the set. She started talking to herself, pleased as she unwrapped the canopic jars from another crate. Then she heard Conar enter, and she spun around.

She berated him for coming in, telling him he was not invited anywhere on Valentine property. She was going to call the police and have her arrested for breaking and entering. He told her he had an open invitation from Maria to come at any time. And while she was reporting him to the police, she could explain all the treasures in her cottage.

With that, she informed him he was to stay away from her sister.

He told her she’d have to make him.

She swore again that she would find a way to do so.

He accused her of being jealous, of wanting him herself. She was indignant. He was seductive, getting close to her … too close … too intimate, moving the hair at her nape, pressing his lips there … then whispering again that she was jealous, that she wanted what her sister had. And if she kept him from Maria, she’d better be willing to give something herself.

That was when she hit him with the canopic jar. She grabbed it in the midst of his coercion, and cracked him over the head. Naturally, it was made to break apart on impact. He grabbed his head and stumbled back, falling to the floor. She knelt down beside him, afraid that she had killed him, only to find him seizing her.

The scene ended there, with David DeVille telling Verona Valentine that she didn’t know what she wanted herself, but that he was going to see that she got it.

Jim was pleased. “There you go! The scene—the actual scene—in one take! Oh, my God, there’s hope for the world—and this soap. Serena, what anger, what passion! I loved it! You are so wonderfully self-righteous but really mean and egotistical! I love it!”

“Thanks, Jim,” she murmured as Conar helped her to her feet.

He was grinning. “You bitch, you,” he teased.

She managed to smile in return. Conar, she knew, was joking. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Hey, it looks like we’re out of here,” Conar told her.

“Watch the camera!” Jim called absently. Serena noted that the second camera, and a number of wires, were in the way.

“We’ll back out,” Conar said. “Want to go have a drink?”

She eyed him skeptically. “You and me? Are we meeting Jen somewhere?”

“Jen will be happy to come if I call her. Maybe we can make it dinner.”

“Ah, except that we both know I’m being tailed.”

“Hey, Serena! Watch it!” Jim called suddenly, the tone of his voice frantic.

What was she about to step on now? she wondered. She didn’t get to think long. A blur suddenly came leaping over equipment and sets. She was shoved into Conar, and together they were thrown to the ground with a force that sent the air rushing from her lungs. She felt herself crying out.

Conar took the brunt of the fall. Someone was on top of her.
Liam.

She heard a thunderous clanging. The sound sent panic pulsing through her veins.

Close to her. So close …

The floor reverberated. Dust swirled around her. She lay stunned, her heart thundering. Afraid to move …

L
IAM ROLLED OFF HER,
not helping her up, but heading for the huge A-frame ladder used to set the lights in the overhead grids. The heavy piece of equipment had fallen from there. It had barely missed the scenery that represented the wall of her room.

Serena scrambled to her feet, reaching down for Conar. She forced herself not to shake.

Conar rose with swift agility, taking her by the shoulders. “You all right?”

She nodded. “Fine.”

Conar was looking behind her. Liam was hunched down on the ground by the fallen ladder, giving it a thorough inspection. Emilio Garcia rushed onto the stage. “I left the damn thing on the safety hooks. I swear it!” he cried. He pointed at the building wall beyond the set. “There—see, those hooks hold the ladder in place.”

Serena walked over to the fallen piece of equipment. Bill Hutchens was among the crowd gathering around it. While they stared at it, as if a whale had beached in the middle of their studio, the detective knelt down beside Liam.

“Hey!” Serena protested. “A ladder fell!” she said quietly. She touched Emilio on the shoulder. She liked him a lot, and his dark eyes were so troubled. “Emilio, it’s all right, honestly!”

He looked at her, his eyes curiously guarded. “A big ladder, Serena. Someone could have been hurt badly.”

He was shaken himself, she could see. Scared.

“Don’t anyone else touch it,” Bill said firmly. He was staring at Emilio.

“Look! I’m telling you, I left that ladder secured to its safety hooks!” Emilio insisted.

“Maybe someone wants to ruin the show,” Jim observed glumly.

“And maybe the ladder just fell!” Serena said. “Maybe it was an accident.”

“That’s the second ‘accident’ in a week,” Conar said doubtfully.

“You should call forensics,” Liam said flatly. “That ladder should be dusted for prints.”

“Yeah, and you know what?” Emilio said. “You’ll find my prints—and Dayton’s. Whoever is doing all this is smart. You won’t find any prints other than ours.”

“We’ll take every precaution anyway.” Liam was gazing at Emilio as if the “whoever” had to be him. Finally he broke off the stare and looked around at the others. “Anyone see someone hanging around that wall where the ladder was?” Liam asked.

“Jeff was over there, after all the sarcophagus moving around,” Joe Penny said.

Serena instantly felt herself go on the defensive. “Jeff left a while ago.”

“Right. No one walked up to the ladder in front of all of us to unhook the hold pin,” Bill said quietly.

Serena thought desperately for a minute. “This is all ridiculous. Jay Braden was behind the camera with Vera and Hank, too, when we were setting up.” She winced inwardly. Here she was, trying to accuse Jay, just to divert suspicion from her brother-in-law. But they had all been on the floor for a while, watching the filming.

“So you think Vera might have fixed a ladder?” Liam asked politely. She didn’t like the way he was staring at her. As if she was speaking like a total fool.

“It’s not difficult to slip a hook,” she replied. “And yes, once again, it could have just fallen! If you all will excuse me, I really need to change,” she finished, determined.

“Serena—” Liam began, frowning.

“I’ll be very careful.”

She walked away, starting for the elevator. She thought that Liam was following her, and she turned around quickly. It was Conar. He looked grave.

“You’re really okay?”

“I’m absolutely fine. How about you? You hit the floor—and made a nice cushion for me.”

He smiled, for the first time since the ladder had fallen. He looked very earnest. “I’m fine. In fact, I was thinking about dinner. Together. It’s been a long day.”

“Dinner?” she said, frowning. ‘Tonight? Oh, you’re just trying to watch out for me.”

“The four of us. I’ll call Jennifer, you, me—and Liam.”

The four of them.
Once upon a time it had been easy, doing anything together. Now, she was still completely off guard, with Liam back in her life again. On top of all that, she was scared. She was going to be walking around, looking over her shoulder all the time. It would be a good night to go home, close the doors, lock up. “Look, Conar, it’s really sweet of you to be concerned. But, you know, I’m really tired—”

His frown deepened; he seemed concerned. “Hey, Serena, I think it’s good for you to be with friends—”

“Conar, I want to live my life normally.”

“Be with friends while living your life normally. I’m shaken right now, aren’t you? Is there a problem? I thought you and Liam broke it off because you just had such different interests—”

“Oh, that’s true,” she murmured.

“I was trying to talk her into dinner,” Conar said. She realized he was talking to someone standing behind her just off the set.

Liam.

“Serena won’t want to go to dinner,” he said. He was distant. Tall, hard, remote. Black eyes not betraying a single emotion.

Guilt stirred within her. Liam’s quick action had saved both her and Conar from a nasty accident—no matter how the ladder had fallen. She would never admit it aloud, but she was definitely feeling a growing sense of unease. No, she should admit it to herself, at least. What she was feeling was fear.

“Don’t be silly. I’d love dinner,” she said. “And definitely on me. I mean, as long as you’re willing to have dinner with us. Thank you, Liam. Sincerely. I don’t believe I said that yet. Your quick thinking saved us.” She realized that she was sounding incredibly patronizing, but her words just weren’t coming out right. She turned from Liam to Conar and offered him her most brilliant smile. “Should I call Jen, or will you?”

“I’ll give her a ring; make sure it’s okay. Abby doesn’t have anything this week, so she’ll be happy to take Ian.”

“Great,” she murmured, and turned again to hurry to her dressing room.

She didn’t hear Liam behind her until he followed her onto the elevator. She hated being in the small, confined space with him.

“I don’t think that they mean you have to stick to me like glue,” she murmured.

“Yeah, well, at the moment it seems like the right thing to do,” he replied, watching the lights above the elevator door.

“That’s ridiculous. I thought you were investigating the ladder—”

His ebony eyes flashed to hers. “The police can investigate the ladder. And you know, you’re making my job hard for me, running off your mouth about that saucer.”

Her jaw dropped. Then her teeth clenched. “Running off my mouth—”

“Let’s just say that it wasn’t an accident, that someone wanted Jane—
or you
—dead. We’re talking about someone on this set, with a big grudge. Now what if that killer thinks that you are on to him because you told everybody in that meeting about finding that burned note in the saucer. Now the killer will really, truly want you dead. You opened your mouth and put your life at greater risk!”

She was going to defend herself, but the elevator door had opened. Jinx was standing just outside with a pile of scripts.

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed, turning bright red. “Excuse me, I didn’t mean to … to intrude.”

“You’re not intruding,” Serena shoved Liam’s shoulder. He backed away.

“Jinx, this is the ex-cop who’s watching over us all,” Serena said irritably.

“I—I—know,” Jinx stuttered. She struggled to balance her scripts and stretch out a hand to shake Liam’s.

“How do you do, Jinx?” Liam murmured politely.

Jinx turned a shade redder, but she smiled. “Better now. It’s great to have you here. I’ve heard such wonderful things about you … I feel so much safer. And less worried about Miss McCormack.”

“Thank you, Jinx,” Liam said.

“Yes, thanks, Jinx. We’ll just all sleep so much better, knowing that Liam Murphy is on the job.”

Serena knew she was a good actress, for the words had come popping out with enthusiasm. She smiled warmly at Jinx and passed on by her, hurrying down the hall. This was amazing. She hadn’t seen Liam in months, and it suddenly seemed that they had never been apart. They had split up arguing; and now they were arguing again.

She opened her dressing room and stepped in. The door didn’t close when she pushed it. Liam was behind her, coming in. She backed away from him uneasily.

“Look, thank you again for pushing me away from the ladder. But if you’ll excuse me, I think that I need some privacy—”

“You could have had a lot more privacy if you’d learn to use some good sense.” He was sounding really angry.

Gruff. The way he did when he was worried or concerned and determined not to show it.

“Look, Liam, I am aware of danger. But I didn’t hire you to be my keeper.”

“Right. You didn’t. The producers did. If you weren’t in danger before, you are now. Two coincidences are one too many, in my book. I took this job, and I’m going to do it. So you can be as unpleasant as you want, we can skip dinner if you want, but I will be on your tail, day and night, until this is solved, one way or another. Do you understand?”

From the corner of her eye, she saw the single rose that still lay on the counter. She picked it up, waving the flower at him.

“Fine!” Her temper soared, despite her resolve. “You’ll stick to me, because that’s your job. But you know what? Don’t throw any courtesy into the mix, and don’t drop off ridiculous peace presents.”

She was surprised by the dark scowl that tensed his features.

“I didn’t give you any presents. What are you talking about?”

“This rose,” she snapped.

“I didn’t leave you a rose. I promise I didn’t,” he said.

She felt her cheeks flame. “It—wasn’t you?” Her voice faltered. The deep sense of unease filled her again.

“No, certainly not,” he said. “Give it to me.”

“It’s just a flower,” she faltered. “A flower. Not an attack on me. Are you really going to follow me—constantly?” she demanded, backing away to avoid his possible touch.

“For the most part, yes.”

“Great. Well, for your information, I don’t believe that my friends and coworkers are homicidal.” Was that the truth? What was the matter with her? She was afraid, and here was protection. But she was too unnerved to calm down enough to be reasonable. “And I have a life to lead,” she informed him. “I don’t intend to change a thing for your benefit.”