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There was a noise out in the hall. Ryan stuck his head out and waved. “Here come Braden and Nadia.”
They lingered in the hall until I squeezed over to make room for Nadia. Now it was really crammed in here.
“Tell the director what you heard yesterday,” I said.
“Oh. Oh!” Her eyes widened. “Dorian and I were rehearsing by ourselves, when something slammed into the catwalk. Like a can of beans being dropped. I climbed up the ladder to take a peek, but I didn’t see anything. If there was someone up there, they might have crawled out of sight before we looked. It was just a noise, and the theater is old, so we didn’t think it was suspicious until the light fell…”
I could tell her testimony held more weight with Atkins than Dorian’s alone. The gears were grinding in his head as he considered it, looking at each of us in turn. It went on for a long time. Long enough to be uncomfortable.
“You’re not fired,” he said to me. Then he looked at Ryan, and I braced for the worst. “Neither are you.”
All of us exhaled together.
“But from now on, you come to work early and double-check all the equipment above the stage right before rehearsal. And you stay up there during the show itself. Hopefully that helps convince the rest of the cast that they’re safe.”
Ryan seemed shocked. “Yeah, alright,” he said. “Consider me the lighting bodyguard.”
“In the mean time,” Atkins said, “rehearsal is canceled for tonight. Everyone could use a day to relax and forget about what happened, or else they’ll be terrified of this place. Dancers can’t focus on their tracks if they’re constantly glancing at the lights above the stage.”
“A wise decision,” Dorian declared. “I must admit I’m a little spooked myself.”
“Me too,” Nadia admitted. “Hopefully Tatiana can calm down.”
“Worrying about Tatiana is my job,” Atkins snapped. “If you find anything else unusual, bring it directly to me. The last thing we need are more rumors of a saboteur in the theater.”
He waited for each of us to nod in agreement.
“Now get the hell out of my office before I suffocate. I still need to write up a report to the producer explaining what caused this issue and what I’m doing to ensure we make opening night on time.”
“Vandercant, right?” Nadia blurted out. Atkins whipped his head toward her. “That’s the producer of the show, right? John Vandercant?”
Atkins’ voice was colder than ice. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Nothing at all,” I said, putting a hand on Nadia’s back. “Thanks for your understanding, director.”
I led her out of the office, with the others right on my heels. Ryan closed the door behind us.
“Why did you bring up the producer?” I demanded.
Nadia looked shocked. “What’s the big deal? Producers aren’t exactly secret once opening night rolls around.”
“Who told her?” Ryan asked. His gaze settled on Dorian. “Oh, come on dude.”
“She asked!” Dorian said. “I wasn’t going to hide it from her.”
Braden put a gentle hand on Nadia’s arm. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just that Atkins and Vandercant want as few people to know he’s the producer because…”
“Because then they would know how Tatiana, his granddaughter, got the role,” Nadia finished.
“Right. It’s a topic we’ve all been avoiding at rehearsals. And you just sort of blurted it out right to Atkins.”
“Shit!” Nadia said. “I’m sorry!”
“It’s not the end of the world,” Ryan said, though by his tone it was.
“If it’s supposed to be a big secret,” Nadia asked, “then how do you guys know?”
Braden scratched the back of his head. “I, uh, got to meet him.”
