Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
Why is it that Vinnie can never get this horrible woman out of his and Ethan's lives? Now they are face to face with her at the fancy place she was taken to avoid going to jail. Will she tell them what they need to know about the person who orchestrated this insane plot? See what's happening in this week's chapter of Bad Karma and the Family Plan. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale. Enjoy!
“Actually,
I think the better question is have you been talking to your current director?
What was his name? Faulkner?”
I
couldn’t help but notice Troy had a restraining hand on the actress’ arm, as if
he didn’t quite trust her either. With good reason.
“If
you’re thinking of breaking into the business, I wouldn’t bother. He’s no
miracle worker, you know.” She chortled, as if she’d said the funniest thing
ever. Being the bigger person, I didn’t deign to make a response.
“Has
he come to see you here?” Ethan asked, as if she hadn’t spoken.
“No,
he’s been busy. But he did send chocolates,” she said. “The good kind.
Hand-dipped by a very famous Belgian chocolatier. Nobody you could afford, of
course, on your pitiful policeman’s salary.” She smirked. I could feel Troy’s
exasperation, even as he rolled his eyes, although she couldn’t see that from
her angle.
I
didn’t bother to remind her that we were more than policeman, in fact, and
neither did Ethan. Didn’t seem particularly relevant at the moment.
“It’s
a shame you weren’t able to send him your audition tape,” Ethan pretended to
commiserate with her. “I’m sure he would
have been very impressed by what you did. Don’t you think so, Troy?”
“Absolutely,”
Troy agreed, although he must have been as baffled as I was. But Troy’s a very
good actor, so it isn’t surprising that he does improvisation well too. “We
honestly didn’t know that was you, Carrie, did we, Brendan?”
“I
was completely fooled,” Brendon admitted. I got the feeling he tried not to do
much talking around her, maybe intimidated by her overpowering personality.
Brendan’s a sweet guy, and rather shy.
“You’re
wrong, anyway,” St. Clair continued. “He did receive the video. He told me so.”
“How
does that work?” Ethan asked. “When did you have time to send it?”
The
look she shot Ethan told me more clearly than any words that not only was she
“over him”, but she didn’t have any great respect for him either. Sort of a
condescending why are you so stupid look. “We didn’t need to send it. Have you
never heard of livestreaming?”
Whoa,
didn’t that open up a whole new line of thought.
“You
mean you were posting on the Internet as it happened?” Ethan sounded concerned,
and I can’t blame him. Having our faces out there, and having someone maybe tag
us as undercover agents,, could be seriously detrimental to our careers.
The
actress giggled again but didn’t immediately respond until Troy prodded her.
“Carrie,
where did you post to the Internet? Which social media platform?”
She
released a long sigh then replied, “I wish. That would have been pretty
amazing. But no, the video went straight to the director. His computer or his
phone, I’m not sure which. I just know he got it and was pleased with my work.”
She brightened up at that, as if the sun had come out and chased all her clouds
away. Talk about mercurial…
I
could sense a change in Ethan. His energy level seemed to spike dramatically,
and I had an idea why. I watched him catch Troy’s eye, then glance at his watch
meaningfully.
“Carrie,
I hate to say it, but we have to go,” Troy said apoloetically. The actress
immediately went into pout mode, but Troy quickly hugged her.
“Now,
don’t fret. You probably won’t be here very long, right? You’ll be heading back
home, won’t you?”
If
by home, he meant the other sanitarium where she’d been staying, I had to
wonder what was keeping her out of jail. But I really did know the answer to
that question without asking.
“I
don’t know yet,” she admitted.
I
wasn’t surprised. She wasn’t exactly there by choice. Still, she should be
grateful for the privileges her Hollywood status had gained her.
“Oh
silly me, I almost forgot something.” She laughed, a rather edgy sound and not
the slightest bit mirthful in my opinion, as she reached into her pocket. “He
told me to give this to you next time I saw you.”
At
first, I thought she was speaking to Troy, but then I realized her hand was
stretched out toward me. And in the palm sat…a small stuffed gator.
I
felt my world begin to spin.
to be continued
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