Cooper shot me a quick grin. “I like it when you get feisty.”
Nolan simply gave me a mock salute, but the corners of his mouth started to twitch, turning into a faint smile. “We have some tools in the back of the truck that will make quick work of this door if we need to.”
“Hell yeah, we do,” Cooper nodded. “This might be the most fun we’ve had in a while.”
I started to pound on the door again, but then I heard the lock click and a man’s voice on the other side saying something too muffled to understand. “Looks like you’ll have to wait on that fun for now,” I whispered. “Let’s hope they’re friendlier than Jasmine’s uncle.”
“Shit,” Nolan snorted. “These jokers. They wouldn’t dare pull a gun on us.”
I hoped he was right because there wasn’t anywhere to run if they did. Mostly, though, I just hoped Jasmine was okay. If these guys hadn’t seen her, I wasn’t sure where to go from there.
But each hour that passed had me more and more worried.
Chapter Twenty
Poppy Evans
It had been a long time since I’d seen Axel Stevenson, but I recognized him the instant he opened the door and peered out at us through the darkness.
“Sorry, but we aren’t open to the public.” If he was trying to hide the irritation in his tone, he wasn’t trying very hard. “And we have a website where you can get more information about the show we’re currently working on.”
“Wait, wait,” I called out as he popped his head back inside and was about to shut the door in our faces. “We aren’t here about the show.” I took a step forward and stuck my foot in the doorframe to buy us the extra seconds we needed. “We’re looking for Jasmine Bailey.”
He stopped and tilted his head to the side, then squinted as he looked at each of us in turn. “Holy hell,” he gasped, finally taking a step back. “I didn’t even recognize y’all! Four faces I haven’t seen in the same place since high school, that’s for sure.”
I wasn’t sure if his step back was an invitation for us to enter the building, but I also didn’t want to give him a chance to reconsider.
“It’s good to see you again, Axel.” I quickly brushed past him and into the small reception area, giving everyone else an opening to follow me in. “Sorry to drop by unannounced like this, but we’re hoping you might’ve heard from Jasmine. She’s a costume designer and...”
I cut myself off at the faint but unmistakable sound of laughter coming from beyond the door on the other side of the small desk in front of us.
It was a woman’s laughter.
Jasmine’s laughter.
I started moving toward the door without another word as Axel rushed to catch up.
“If y’all want to wait for just a second,” he began. “I can, uh, ask... or...”
Whatever he was about to say didn’t matter. I’d already opened the door into what looked like a surprisingly large and professional movie set.
“Jasmine!” I called out, my voice echoing through the cavernous space. “Thank God you’re here. We’ve been worried sick!”
After spending all evening and half the night searching for her, it was weird and anti-climactic to find her there, of all places. And with those two guys.
Not to mention the fact that she looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Or like I was interrupting something.
“Why were you worried?” After she started walking toward me, I realized she was dressed like a Southern belle. “You and Muriel were both busy all night, and I didn’t want to ride out the storm alone.” She shrugged. “So when Axel and Micah told me about the Civil War project they have in development, I jumped at the chance to come here and check it out for myself. We’ve been catching up.”
Catching up!
With her dressed like that while Micah scrambled to cover up the long Johns he’d been wearing? Axel was the only one who wasn’t dressed as if he belonged in front of a movie camera, but on closer inspection, his hair and clothes were disheveled, as if he’d been in a hurry when he threw on the T-shirt and jeans he was wearing.
Or was I tired and irritable and jumping to conclusions after spending too many hours in the passenger seat of a pickup truck?
That was a definite possibility as I scanned the room and searched for the right words to ask why the hell she hadn’t answered her phone all night while she was out playing dress-up or... or whatever they’d been doing.
“We’ve tried to call you a hundred times,” Muriel stepped up next to me, looking equal parts concerned and annoyed. At least I wasn’t the only one, then. “The sheriff called to ask us to go out looking for you. You really didn’t get any of our messages?”