Page 33 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
“I’m not sure why anyone would believe that, to be honest,” Jess said. “She didn’t die here. She escaped and probably lived ‘happily ever after’ with her maid.”
“I know, but it’s a cool spin on the Linford Curse.”
Jess’s phone vibrated and she checked it quickly. “It’s Mel,” she said. “She just texted to see if I can take Afric into the tunnel when they take their lunchbreak today.” She looked at Emily. “Does that suit you?”
“Sure.” Emily beamed.
Jess sent a quick thumbs-up to Mel. “It’ll be fine,” she said. “Nothing can actually go wrong.”
Emily was chatting with a tall, dark-haired man at one of the food trucks when Jess went to find her at lunchtime.
“Jess, this is Dermot.” Emily gave her a meaningful look.
It was the same guy she’d seen Afric with that evening in The Tin Whistle, Jess realised, as she shook his hand. “You’re one of the camera crew, right?”
“Yup.” He gave an easy smile. “And you must be Jess Bradley. Emily has been telling me how you helped rescue the big celebrity wedding here last year.”
“I didn’t do very much, really.” She’d kill Emily. “So, are you local or …?”
Dermot shook his head. “Donegal man, myself.”
Emilyhadtold her that. “What do you think of it so far?”
“It’s cool.” He nodded enthusiastically. “I don’t think a movie like this can go too far wrong, to be honest. They’ve a great script and a first-class cast. So, yeah, happy days.”
“So you think it’s going well?” Jess said lightly.
He shrugged. “There’s a few hiccups but I’m sure they’ll sort them all out. Doug is one of those hands-on directors. To be honest, the most important thing about any movie is that it doesn’t run over budget.”
Over budget translated to running over time, Jess knew. And the hotel had already taken bookings for the week after filming was due to finish – it’d be a disaster to have to cancel them. Although, she supposed, even movies made on location could be wrapped up in a studio.
Afric looked furious when she met with Jess and Emily a short while later.
“I’ve agreed to try this, but I’m not promising anything so they’d better have a Plan B.”
Jess flashed Emily a quick glance. “Look, let’s see how it goes. The Lady Helen suite tunnel was checked out fairly recently and it’s completely safe.”
Afric glared at her. “Whatever.”
The three women walked through the hotel to the lift for the south tower – discreetly hidden behind an ornate mahogany door – and stepped inside.
Jess pressed the button for the top floor. “You know the Lady Linford is our official bridal suite,” she said, in an attempt to break the tense silence. “I think it’s quite a romantic design.”
Afric folded her arms. “It’s also a room with a tunnel. Creepy as fuck!”
Therewasthat! So why had Afric insisted on having the Lady Linford Suite when there had been two other available suiteswithouttunnels? Probably because it was the best, she reasoned.
The lift stopped and they stepped out onto the small, semi-circular landing. “I have the master key here, unless you’d prefer to use your own?”
“Can we just get this over with?” Afric said tightly.
Jess unlocked the door, and she and Emily followed Afric wordlessly through the lavishly decorated sitting room to the bedroom.
“Look,” Afric said, turning to them, “why don’t we just pretend we’ve done this? Nobody has to know. Are you guys going to say anything? I know I won’t!”
Jess suppressed a sigh. As much as she hated making Afric do something like this, it was part of her job description! Plus, it’d be worse for Afric when it came to shooting the scenes if she’d never even seen inside the tunnels.
“Sorry, Afric, I wish I could, but Mel asked.” Ignoring Afric’s death stare, she cleared her throat. “Right, let’s figure this out.” She took a moment to examine the panelling to the right of the huge fireplace. “This one.” She pushed the panel and, as it slid to one side to reveal the old escape route, icy-cold air rushed into the room and she shivered as uncomfortable memories flooded back.
