Page 27 of Romance Is Dead

“What happened?” Chloe stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a better look around the crew, who were still blocking the graffiti.

“No idea,” I said. “We just got here too.”

“How did someone get in?” Audrey glanced around nervously, like the culprit might still be lurking on set. “I don’t think they’re going to be able to scrub that off—they’ll have to repaint.”

It did look bad. The crew had managed to lighten a few spots, but the pigment was still boldly visible. Tossing their brushes to the ground, they stepped away to take a break, finally revealing what had been painted on the wall.

My heart stuttered. Filling the wall was a symbol, a giant circle with a distorted cross cutting through the middle. Below, in jagged letters, were the words “Run, Rabbit.”

“Ugh!” Chloe grimaced. “That’s creepy.”

“Fucked up,” Brent muttered under his breath.

Audrey only nodded, her mouth opened in a little “o” as she stared at the wall.

While the others were creeped out, I was likely the only one who understood the full significance. The symbol was from a movie I’d filmed years ago calledHearts Stop. I played a nurse who’s killed off early in the film, the villain whispering, “Run, rabbit,” before murdering her in the halls of the hospital. The movie was a cult classic, amassing a dedicated niche following but not widely known by the public. Whoever did this was obviously familiar with the movie—and considering the significance of the phrase “run, rabbit” it was hard to interpret it as anything but a threat. To me.

Staring at it, goosebumps prickled up the back of my neck.

“You four!” Natasha strode across the dining room from the kitchen, bumping into the crew as she gesticulated vaguely. “Don’t even look at it! We’re proceeding as usual, there’s no use gawking.”

Brent rolled his eyes. “What the fuck’s us looking at it going to do?”

Natasha looked like she was about to go from a seven to a nine on the rage scale, so I hurried to step in. “Where would you like us?”

“In there.” She motioned to the parlor, where the set was ready for filming. “Call time won’t be affected, so you all need to be ready.”

“Do you know who did this?” Chloe murmured.

“How should I know?” Natasha raked a hand through her short, spiky hair. “Someone obviously got in here overnight. Crew swore they locked up, but clearly something was missed.”

Intuition tingled at the back of my mind. We were only four days into filming and things were already going seriously wrong.

“Now go!” Natasha shooed us away. “Go wait over there until we’re ready.”

Twenty minutes later, Teddy had barely stepped foot in the house when I grabbed his arm and tanked him into the kitchen. I pushed him into the breakfast nook, where we’d be shielded in case anyone passed by.

“Damn, Jigsaw, you trying to get me alone?”

Ignoring him, I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Someone’s trying to scare me off.”

“What?”

“The spray paint.” I motioned toward the dining room as I explained the significance of the symbol and phrase. “It’s the killer. They’re warning me to stop investigating, I know it.” I chewed on one of my fingernails, the thought making me uneasy.

“How would they know we’re investigating? We haven’t even done anything yet.”

“I don’t know! But it’s too much of a coincidence not to be intentional.” I glanced behind us, making sure we were still alone. “Also, I found the man in Trevor’s photo.”

“Where?” Teddy peered around the kitchen, as though he expected him to be right there in the room with us.

“Oh my God.” I pressed my eyes closed. “No, I mean I found out who he is.” Quickly, I filled him in on the visit with my dad—the scrapbook, the photo, and my dad’s history with him.

“Wait, your dad was Puzzle Face?ThePuzzle Face?”

I nodded impatiently. “Yes, and he said that Scott is a real asshole. He was fired from a movie after attacking someone who ruined a prop. That sounds awfully familiar, don’t you think?”

“You two sound so close. It’s cool that you continued the family business.” Teddy looked impressed, and a little wistful, which was not the reaction I’d been expecting.

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