Prologue

“Turn around,” Rollie said, examing the bloody stab wound with a critical eye.“Very good, very good.”He looked over at his head of special effects, Jason Lillan.“How long to get all of them like this?”

“Thirty minutes, tops,” Jason said.

“Good, good.Get on it.We’ll do the shot then.”Rollie turned away, clapping the shoulder of the bleeding actor.It was something he’d learned as director.He had to make sure that the cast and crew stayed positive through the rigors of a difficult shoot.The simple things – a smile, a nod of the head, a quick “Hi, how are you doing?” made a big difference in terms of morale.

Directing was a new experience for Rollie.He was also not doing his own special effects, and it felt different to be on the other side of the director/crew member interaction.This was his first time actually directing a picture, and he was much too busy to have to worry about doing the special effects.Rollie had grudgingly had to hire someone else to do the effects, someone who could still be up to Rollie’s tough standards.

Jason Lillan had been his man.

Across the room, Jason gave him a thumbs up as he applied more blood to the chest of the victim with a makeup brush.Rollie returned the gesture.It was a learning experience for both of them.It had taken a while for Jason to overcome his awe of Rollie enough to be able to concentrate on his work, but with time things on the set had settled into a comfortable routine and had been going beautifully.Jason’s effects looked even better because Rollie knew the mechanics of the effects procedures inside and out, and he found himself giving tips to Jason.Likewise, to the man’s credit, Jason had taught Rollie a few things.The man had a fresh, original take on old procedures that added even more to the rich visual impact they had on film.

Jason was not the only one doing effects on Rollie’s film.Rollie glanced at Angie, who was working at the Ambler to program the next shot’s effects sequence into the computer.When Rollie had originally been approached about the movie, despite the fact that he owned Tyler F/X and therefore could dictate the film Angie was to work on, he offered Angie the choice of working on his film or working on her own.To his relief, she had expressed an interest in working on his movie, although she would be working under the supervision of Jason Lillan instead of Rollie.

Rollie had been glad to find out she wanted to work with him.He knew that she was just as talented as he was, except her talent was based on the computer effects instead of Rollie’s specialty of makeup and physical effects.Angie had barely given any hint of dissatisfaction at not being able to work with Rollie, although they both found it awkward that they had to work withdifferent people, and not with each other.

She looked up and caught his gaze.She smiled.Rollie grinned and exhaled, wiping his brow dramatically.She laughed lightly. Their joke was interrupted as Jason appeared over her shoulder, and crouched beside her, viewing the Ambler screen.Angie raised her eyebrows at Rollie, then turned her attention back to her work.

Rollie felt an odd twinge of envy.Before he could explore why he felt that way, the feelings faded as he heard a voice from behind him.He turned to see Matthew Domlin entering through one of the stage entrances.He made his way across the crowded floor, eyeing a rack of automatic weapons.

“Rollie, what’s up?” Domlin asked, raising his voice over the general buzz of the cast and crew.

Matthew Domlin, president of Domlin Entertainment, was the biggest source of funding for the movie.Domlin Entertainment, a mega-million dollar movie company, had taken a big risk in backing Stillwater.But as Rollie realized, if the movie was to prove to be a hit, Domlin Entertainment stood to make a huge profit from it.And Matthew Domlin would be an even richer man.

Rollie shoved his opinions to the back of his mind.He had purposefully avoided working on the financial end of the movie.The money flow, and the reason for its existence, didn’t matter to him.Show business put the most money into the pockets of those who already had too much, and Rollie had learned that although this seemed unfair, that was the way things worked.

“We’re ready to shoot the next scene in about twenty minutes – want to watch?” Rollie asked.

Domlin rubbed the side of his stubbled face with his hand.Although he was not old, by any standards, his hair had begun to turn grey, and his voice, once youthful and strong, had become rougher.“Sorry, no can do Rollie.I have to run soon anyway.I just dropped by to say hello, see how things were going.”

Rollie chuckled.“All right, then.”

He was surprised by a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to see a gopher with a large clipboard.The young man asked quietly, “Can you check this for continuity?”

Rollie nodded.“Sure.”He turned to Domlin.“Ah, excuse me.”

Domlin nodded.“Sure.”

As Rollie read the notes on the clipboard, out of the corner of his eye he saw Domlin move away.Rollie scanned the notes, including the continuity supervisor’s scribbled message at the bottom.“Like it?”

He reached into his pocket for a pen, then realized the gopher was holding one out to him.Rollie thanked him, then scribbled his answer.

“Love it.”

He handed the clipboard to the gopher.

“Thanks Mr. Tyler,” the gopher said quickly.He ran off before Rollie could say anything more.

Rollie watched him go. The boy’s awkward mannerisms made him wonder what kind of authority he wielded in the eyes of the lower crew members.It was easy to see the tension in some people, especially those with the least experience.It was understandable – he was director.Apart from the producer, the director had the most authority.And people couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable in the presence of such high authority.This was the kind of thing that came with the territory.

But he wasn’t sure he liked it.

A thought occurred to Rollie, and he realized he had to talk to the continuity supervisor himself.He weaved through the crowd to the back part of the set.Here, away from the main activity, there was less going on.He could see the gopher in the back corner, handing the clipboard back to Lisa, his continuity supervisor.

Rollie began to move toward her, trying to get her attention.He waved his hand, but she didn’t see him.He moved toward her.

He passed by a darkened corridor to his left, and something made him pause.He heard a voice – Matthew Domlin’s voice.

Two things struck Rollie as odd.Domlin’s voice was hushed, which was strange for the loud, boisterous man.Second, the corridor was bathed in complete darkness.It led to an empty storage room at the back of the soundstage, and there was no reason for Domlin to be there.

The old saying ran through his mind: Curiousity killed the cat.

But something struck a discordant note in Rollie’s brain.He stopped, and listened.

Domlin was speaking.“You can’t tell me it’s impossible.Of course you can do it.”

The other voice was male, too.Deeper than Domlin’s, with a slight accent that Rollie couldn’t place.“We’ll have to see.”

“Will we?It’s going to happen soon.I think that you’ll have to start transferring the money into the new account now.And the transfers are going to have to take time.But I need all the money transferred when it happens, because you know what’ll happen to the stocks.”

There was a sigh.“All right.”

“Rollie?”

Rollie spun around, surprised.Lisa from continuity was there, standing behind him.She grinned.“Do you need me, or do you have some other reason for coming to my little corner of the set?”

Rollie glanced back down the corridor, but now the voices were silent.The strangeness of the conversation still stuck in his mind.“Well, yeah.I do need to talk to you, to tell the truth.”He forced himself to shake off the feelings that something funny was going on.

It couldn’t have been anything serious.Maybe I was hearing things.Or maybe Domlin’s just discussing business?He’d promised himself he was going to stay away from financial dealings, anyway.

Satisfied that what he’d just heard was nothing important, Rollie started walking back towards the set, refocusing his attention on the movie.“In scene 42, would it work if . . . ”

Interlude One

“Good evening, and welcome to Entertainment Today!I’m Jessica Faulks, sitting in for Joe Benedict.Our top story: the much-hyped movie ‘Stillwater’ has body-slammed the other movies at the box office today, breaking this year’s records with its opening weekend smash!Entertainment Today’s Alison Maikpeace caught up with the movie’s director, Rollie Tyler, to see his reaction.”

“Mr. Tyler, would you ever have expected this?”

“No, I’m … I’m completely shocked and humbled by the way this movie … became such a hit.”

“Before directing this movie, you used to work as a special effects artist.What made you change to directing?”

“Well, I guess it was an experiment, I guess.As I said, it’s humbling and very unexpected to see that this experiment has turned out to be the critic’s and the public’s choice for best movie of the year.”

“Is it true one of the movie’s producers, Matthew Domlin, of Domlin Entertainment, wants you to produce a TV Action show?”

“Uh, Matt and I are . . . discussing whether or not I will do this series.We’ll see whether I go anywhere with it or not . . .” 

Chapter One

Leo McCarthy leaned back against the black upholstery of the police car seat.He hated stakeouts.He glanced over at Francis, who was bobbing his head slowly to the soft music coming out of the window.Like Leo, he appeared bored.

“What are you doing at the end of your shift?” Leo asked, breaking the silence.

Francis glanced over at him.“Going home, I guess.See the wife and the girls before they go to school.”

“Feel like stopping for a coffee first?”

Francis shrugged, continuing to watch out the window.“Sure.And we should call Rollie to, huh Leo?He’s usually up this hour anyway.”

Leo nodded.“Yeah, I will.”He leaned forward slightly so that he could remove his cell phone from the back of his belt.He flipped it open, and pressed the second number of speed dial, below Colleen’s.

The phone rang.

“Hey look, our time’s almost up,” Francis said, glancing at the clock.

The phone continued to ring.

Leo slammed the phone shut with a loud click.No answer.

Then Leo remembered.Rollie was off doing some kind of promotional gig on one of the earling morning TV shows.Good for him, of course.But lately, Leo hadn’t been seeing much of Rollie.It was too bad.He missed spending time with his Australian friend.

The police radio crackled to life, making both of them jump.“Unit 15, this is Unit 23-A.Leo, you still awake?”

Leo took the mike.“15 here, it’s been a slow night.”

“Time for you guys to go home and sleep for the rest of the morning,” came the other officer’s reply.“We’re a block away.Hang tight and we’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you!Unit 15 out.”

Even as Leo was signing off, the radio activated again.This time it was the tired female voice of the dispatcher.She spoke in her usual flat, unemotional tone of voice.Years of announcing crimes-in-progress and emergency calls had desensitized her.“Any unit in the vicinity of Chambers and Westfield: unidentified man found injured in alleyway, possibly dangerous.Please respond immediately.”

Francis and Leo exchanged a surprised glance.Leo glanced in the rearview mirror, where he could see a blue and white New York Police Department pulling into place behind them.Cruiser 23-A.“This is unit 15 at the corner of Chambers and Henderson responding.”

“Thank you unit 15,” came the reply.“We’re a little short staffed tonight.”

“Just log it on my overtime,” Leo chuckled.

“Will do.Dispatch out.”

Westfield Avenue was just a few blocks away from their stakeout.It took Leo and Francis a few short minutes to get to the location the dispatcher had described.

The first thing Leo noticed was how sudden the change was from the middle class neighbourhood of their stakeout and the dinginess of their new surroundings.He slowed down, searching the dirty sidewalks for any sign of movement.The stale smell of sewage wafted in the steam coming from an underground vent as he pulled forward along the curb, making him crinkle his nose in disgust.

But the street was deserted.

Then where had the call come from?

“I’m getting out,” Leo said, putting the parking brake on.He stepped out of the car, avoiding the steam plume from the vent.Francis followed Leo’s lead, and the two of them moved onto the sidewalk together.

The muffled sound of a television set could be heard from inside one of the old apartment buildings.Leo moved around to the side of the building, and the noise grew a little louder.A window opened overhead, and the noise from the set spilled out unheeded by the dusty glass pane.A head poked out over the ledge.“Hey, you guys cops?”

Leo jumped, and looked up.“Yeah.”

It was an older Italian woman.Leo noticed that she held a pair of tiny binoculars in her mottled hand.“He’s over there,” she said, pointing shakily across the street.

So much for the question of who called the sighting in.

Leo’s eyes followed in the direction she was pointing.“Thank you,” he called.He turned and jogged across the street.Francis followed him.

“This is weird,” Francis commented from behind him.

Leo nodded.He slowed down as he entered the alleyway the woman was indicating.A greasy old diner opened up into the alley, and the strong smell of deep fried foods assaulted Leo’s nose.The restaurant’s back door was located two thirds of the way down the alley.It was closed.A garbage bin was next to the door, and it overflowed with bags of garbage.

That was where Leo saw the body.

He took another few steps forward, seeing only the legs and arm of the man nestled amongst the bags.If this was who they were looking for, he could be violent, and Leo would have to be careful.But there was also the possibility it was a homeless person, using the garbage bags as shelter as he slept.

Leo decided to take an approach that was definitely not in the police manuals.“Hello?” he said.He knelt down, now only feet away from the person.“I’m from the police.Can we help you…?”

Then he saw the knife.

Leo instinctively moved to grab for his gun.He had it halfway out of his holster when he saw that the hand holding the knife was motionless.He glanced over his shoulder at Francis, who did have his gun out.

“I’ll cover you,” Francis said, quietly.“Just in case.”

Leo nodded, and reached to remove the bag from the man’s face.

Then he jumped back in shock.

It was Rollie.

“Jesus,” Francis said, lowering his gun and taking a few steps forward to come up beside Rollie’s body. 

Rollie was laying amongst the garbage bags, his head lolling to one side.His long hair was tousled and dirty, and across the right side of his face was a scratch that was now concealed by a streak of dried blood.His eyes were closed, as if he were asleep.But his mouth was moving, mumbling incoherent syllables.

Leo shivered.He hadn’t been prepared for a shock like this.“Rollie,” he said.“Rollie, wake up.”He reached forward and jostled his friend’s shoulder again.He touched the fabric of Rollie’s clothes and suddenly noticed that Rollie was wearing a dressy jacket.Looking closer, Leo could see that Rollie was all dressed up as if for some occasion, like the television interview he was to do that morning.

This makes no sense, Leo thought.

His eyes travelled down Rollie’s jacketed arm and he took another wary glance at the knife in Rollie’s hand.

There was a stain on it that looked like dried mud.

Or was it blood?

“Call an ambulance,” Leo said.When Francis didn’t react immediately, he added, “Go, now!”

Francis ran back to the police car, where he could radio the dispatcher to get an ambulance.

Leo shook his friend’s shoulder again.“Come on, Rollie.”He felt for Rollie’s pulse.He could find it – barely.It seemed to flutter.

The ambulance arrived in minutes.Francis had stayed at the entrance to the alley so that he could guide the medics to where Rollie lay.They brought a stretcher with them.

“He’s unresponsive,” Leo mentioned as they did a quick examination of Rollie.

The medic nodded, finishing his examination.

To Leo, the whole thing felt unreal.

He’d been in this type of situation before.Finding some kind of druggy hidingsomewhere.But he would never have expected it of his friend – his best friend.

No matter how much Leo tried to reason it out, nothing fit.Rollie could never have taken drugs – not willingly.Leo remembered Rollie’s reaction once when the star of his movie was found smoking dope in his trailer.It had been a rare display of the F/X man’s temper.The movie star had tried to get Rollie fired because of it.

Leo watched them load Rollie’s unconscious form into the back of the ambulance.Overhead, the sun was rising steadily, glinting off of the ambulance’s white roof.But over Leo’s head, he could see a cloud bank rolling in which would soon conceal the sunlight, and soon it would become another typical dreary New York morning.

He turned stoically to Francis, who was also watching the ambulance leave.Francis was hanging his head in disbelief.“What are we going to tell Angie?”