Page 24 of No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding

“We’ll be fine,” Allison says. “Remember all that fuss about Hurricane Hilary? And then nothing.”

“Mudslides, road closures, Palm Springs underwater...” I say.

“Yes, well, that won’t happen to Emma and Fred.”

“Why not?”

“Disrupt #1 on the call sheet’s perfect day?” Allison says. “The weather wouldn’t dare.”

“Besides,” Oliver adds, “they wouldn’t let us over there if there was any real danger.”

Allison tips her head back and laughs. “The regular tourists? I agree with you. But the Hollywood demand set? That’s a different story. Actors who command ten million a picture don’t take no for an answer.”

“Especially when it’s their wedding day,” David says.

Wait. They know about the wedding. CouldDavidbe the one who sent that note to Emma? Using cut-out wordswouldbe something a (bad) scriptwriter would do.

But why?

“How did you know we’re going over for a real wedding?”

David shrugs his shoulders. “Doesn’t everyone know?”

“No, it’s a secret.”

“Not after last night,” Allison says.

“Is that when you learned about it?”

Allison raises her hand to her heart. “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“Sorry.”

“To answer your question, I’ve been hearing rumors aboutthem getting married for weeks, so we weren’t surprised that it was their wedding, were we, David?”

He shrugs. “Plus, there isn’t a wedding in the script, so...”

“How many people know that, though?” I say. “Outside of production.”

“There’s hundreds of copies of the script out there once you start filming something,” David says. “It was a dumb plan. Emma’s probably.”

Allison swats his arm playfully. “Now, David. Emma’s one of El’s best friends.”

“I think the line’s moving,” Harper says, tugging on my arm. “What’s wrong with you?” she mutters to me under her breath.

“I’ll tell you later.”

We don’t say anything more as we get on the boat, a white ferry that can hold a couple hundred people. As far as I can tell, all of the other passengers are the movie’s cast and crew, a nice tight-knit group of people whose names I’ve been struggling to remember since shooting started.

Before you judge, you should know, I’m terrible with names, and there are so many people on a set, often dressed similarly in jeans and black T-shirts, that it’s almost impossible for someone like me to keep track.27,28

But like with so many things, I should do better. So I spend the first half of the ride mixing among them, listening to them rehash what happened at the party, and adding in details where I can. They weren’t out on the balcony, so I tell them what Isaw, without spilling the beans about the wedding, and wait for them to repeat the rumors Harper told me in the car.

They know Emma and I are friends, though, so they don’t say anything when I wonder aloud why Tyler hates Fred so much.

But I can feel their thoughts, like a weighted blanket.

And that’s what makes me think it’s true. Because the crew always knows what’s happening. Like the house staff in a British mansion. They disappear into the background and seeeverything.

---