Page 106 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
“Doug changed the order of the shoot at the last minute, and Emily had to be on the set.” His mouth tightened again. “She told me she opened the exit a bit early, but she couldn’t wait for Afric. So she asked me to check if the two of you were okay.”
“Afric panicked.” Jess’s gaze slid away. “She went back towards Linford Wood. She’s claustrophobic.”
Adam gave her a brief, hard look. “As I remember, so are you.”
“I’m fine.” She wondered if Adam believed her. She wasn’t sure she believed herself. “I don’t understand, though. Why didn’t Emily leave the entrance open?” She gestured in the direction of the bedroom.
“She did.” Adam looked grim.
Jess looked at him blankly.
“Why do you think I had to break the panelling? When I got here, the tunnel was locked. And somebody had messed up the lock so badly I couldn’t open it with the master key.”
She stared at him, her mind racing. Not Emily – that wouldn’t make sense.
“The most important thing is that nobody got hurt.” Jess ignored the look Adam gave her. “Afric is still outside the castle, as far as we know. And if she doesn’t turn up today the producers could pull Doug and Mel off the movie. They could even sue Afric. We don’t want that sort of publicity for Linford.”And Frank will never trust me again for letting it happen on my watch.
Adam sighed. “I’ll manage the Afric situation. I want you to see a doctor.”
“I don’t need to see a doctor, Adam.”
“For God’s sake, Jess.” Adam shoved a hand through his hair. “For once in your life will you just –”
He was interrupted by the old-fashioned ringtone of the suite’s doorbell. From the other side of the door, Doug’s voice rang out urgently.
“Afric? I have our producers here. If you’re up to it, they’d just like to say a quick hello.”
CHAPTER 54
Jess got to her feet. “Shit!” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Emily must have told Doug what was happening – or what was supposed to happen. He thinks Afric is here, in bed!”
“Afric?” Doug called again. “Do you think you could let us in?”
Adam pushed Jess towards the bedroom. “Get into bed and hide as much of your face and hair as you can.”
Jess flashed him a horrified look. “What are you going to do? I can’t pretend to be Afric – I don’t even look like her!”
Adam dropped his voice to a furious whisper. “It never stopped you before.”
“That was different!” Jess hissed. “I was in a wedding dress and I was miles away and –”
The doorbell chimed again. “Afric? I’ll have to go and get housekeeping if you can’t–”
“One moment, please!” Adam called loudly. He glared at Jess and pointed to the other room.
Jess glared back but she hurried into the bedroom and closed the door.Shit!The entrance to the tunnel was destroyed. It’d bethe first thing they’d see if they came in – this was never going to work. Frantically, she looked around the room until her eye fell on the Victorian privacy screen in the corner. Perfect!
As quietly as possible she started to drag the screen across the room to the fireplace, freezing when she heard voices outside in the sitting room.Crappity crap!Quickly, she dragged the screen into place, making sure that it was close to the fireplace to hide the damage.
Heart pounding, she kicked off her shoes, shoved them under the bed and slipped under the covers, turning on her side away from the door. She pulled the duvet up to her nose and tucked her hair tightly out of the way. In an effort to relax, she deliberately took a few deep, slow breaths and closed her eyes.
She tensed when she heard the bedroom door open quietly.
“Please don’t talk loudly,” she heard Adam say in a stage-whisper.
He was warning her. She concentrated on breathing steadily, but she could feel her pulse racing.
“So she’s asleep right now?” It sounded like Doug. And he sounded relieved. Did he believe she was really Afric? It didn’t matter – he seemed happy to play along.
