He took his place in the middle of the set, and slowly Rick Arlen seemed to fade away. When the director finally called “Action,” he had become Rory Danner.
In the scene, Rory was supposed to tell Serena that he’d be hers forever, if she would have him. Even though it was an intense scene, Nancy noticed that Rick was reading nearly all his lines from the teleprompter. But then, with all the excitement the day before, she reasoned, he probably hadn’t had time to memorize them.
Mattie was having trouble with her lines, too. She had excused herself early the night before to go home and work, but obviously she didn’t remember much. Although she was really throwing herself into the scene, Nancy noticed that she, too, kept glancing over at her teleprompter to check her lines.
“Should I leave, Serena? Is that what you want?” Rick asked, pacing in front of Mattie nervously.
“No, Rory, don’t go. I love you,” Serena said. Her voice was quivering, and her emerald eyes were full of tears. “I’ve always loved you, even when you didn’t want me.”
“Cut!” came the director’s voice. “Mattie, I need you to cool it a little. If you start the scene at such a high emotional pitch, we won’t have anywhere to go.”
“Right, Luther.” Mattie nodded up to the director’s booth.
“Okay, everyone, take it from ‘Should I leave,’ ” Lillian ordered.
“Should I leave, Serena? Is that what you want?” Rick said.
“No, Rory, don’t go. I love you! I’ve always loved you, even when you didn’t want me.”
They were into it by then. Mattie and Rick were utterly convincing, making everyone who was watching really believe they were desperately in love. Bess had tears in her eyes as she watched them move slowly toward each other. Finally, Serena collapsed in Rory’s arms.
“Here comes her big speech,” Lillian muttered under her breath to nobody in particular. “Watch her screw it up.”
“Oh, Rory, I want to do so many things with you,” Mattie whispered hoarsely. “I want to take walks in the rain with you, I want to sit with you under the stars on a deserted beach. I want to dance with you, to sing with you, to—”
Mattie suddenly fell silent. She stood as if frozen, her eyes fixed on the teleprompter, her beautiful face a terrible white. Then, as everyone looked on in horror, she let out a bloodcurdling scream and slumped slowly to the floor.
Chapter Seven
“Mattie! Mattie!”
“What happened?”
“Is she all right?”
“Don’t touch her!”
Everyone gathered around Mattie, who was lying on the floor. After what seemed forever, her eyes began to flutter open. She looked dazed. Mattie struggled to her feet with Rick’s help. The look in her eyes only grew wilder.
“Look!” she cried, pointing to the teleprompter.
Her monologue had been changed. It read:
“I want to dance with you, to sing with you, to murder you. Yes, your time is up, Rick Arlen. I’m going to kill you. I’m going to watch you die a horrible death, and I’m going to laugh.”
“What in the name of— What is this?” Pappas yelled. “Get me the teleprompter operator! I want to talk to her right now!”
“I’m here, Mr. Pappas.” A short red-haired girl spoke up.
“Would you care to explain this?” he asked, arching his eyebrows.
“Well, sir, I, uh—I really can’t explain it,” the girl stammered. “I got here early to type in the scene, and I was at the keyboard all morning. The only time I left was to take a phone call. And I know I wasn’t gone for more than a minute because when I picked up the phone, there was no one there. I—I didn’t think—”
“Exactly, you didn’t think.” Pappas shot the operator a harsh look. “You’re fired. And whoever’s job it was to keep strangers off this set, you’re fired, too.” Then, to the frightened cast and crew he said, “I’ll fire every last one of you if I have to. This nonsense has got to stop!”
Nancy watched the producer from the sidelines. He seemed genuinely concerned, but what if it was all an act? What if beneath all his theatrics, there was something completely different going on, something much more calculated—and sinister?