AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sorry.” Robbie placed it back on the counter.
“Speaking of rehearsing things, how’s The Proposal coming along?” Jack asked.
“The Proposition,” I corrected. “And it’s coming along great, if you ignore the sabotage going on.”
Jack didn’t react to what I had said, but Robbie’s mouth hung open. “Sabotage? Like the fun Beastie Boys kind?”
“Like, the kind where spotlights crash onto the stage and nearly kill the lead female.”
“How many of these have happened?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know. Three or four? There might have been more I haven’t noticed, but it’s always stuff with the lights being tampered with.”
Robbie smacked both of his palms against his cheeks and held them there like Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream. He spoke softly, barely loud enough to hear over the bar music.
“You have a phantom.”
“No.”
“You have a phantom!” he repeated with more dramatic flair. “A phaaaaaaaaaaaaantom of the opera!”
“Shut up. It’s not that exciting.”
But Robbie was already swaying his head back and forth in time with the overture he was humming. “This is exciting. I might actually come to the opening show if there’s a chance something fun will happen!”
“All joking aside, the spotlight literally almost killed the lead,” I said. “So don’t get too excited.”
That deflated Robbie from his enthusiasm.
Jack had a funny look in his wise eyes as he regarded me. “Sounds like someone is trying to get the lead out of the way. Someone who would gain from her injury. Can you think of anyone who would want to do that, Nadia? Anyone at all?”
“Ugh!” I groaned. “Everyone’s been making that joke, some less jokingly than others. Yeah, I know I’m the one who would gain from Tatiana’s injury. But it’s not me.”
Jack held up his palms. “Just pointing out what it looks like…”
“Intrigue!” Robbie said, resting his chin on his hand. “A spat between a lead actor and her understudy is almost as good as a phantom.”
“I didn’t do it!”
“Sure you didn’t.” He turned his head sideways and gave me the most obvious wink in the history of winks. “You’re totally innocent.” Another wink.
I grabbed a fresh glass and turned toward the taps. “I need a beer to deal with you guys.”
“No more teasing, I promise,” Jack said. “It’s that warehouse four blocks from here, right? That place is at least a century old. How do you know the malfunctions aren’t just quirks from an old building?”
“That’s what they thought at first. But there’s been evidence of tampering. Tools missing that were used to loosen the bolts on the spotlight.”
Jack pondered this. “Who do you think would do something like that?”
I took a foamy sip from my beer. “Lots of people would gain from it, honestly. Tatiana is a bad lead. Like, really bad. The show is going to bomb, and it will single-handedly be her fault. So anyone who needs the show to succeed for their career would want her gone.”
“In other words, everyone,” Jack muttered.
Robbie frowned. “If she’s such a bad actor, how did she get the role? Did she screw the producer?”
Jack almost choked on his beer.
“She didn’t screw the producer because he’s actually her grandfather. Which answers your question about how she got the part. The entire show was made to give her a lead role in an off-broadway musical.”
