“Excuse me!” a young woman with strawberry blonde hair rushed over to us.
“Yes, how can we help you?” I asked, glancing down at her badge, making sure that she belonged on the production set.
Her cheeks were pale, her eyes wide. “I can’t find Harper Madison anywhere. The star of the movie, she’s gone.”
“She’s in her trailer,” I said, walking alongside the young blonde toward Harper’s trailer, where things had been hot and steamy the night before.
I didn’t enter.
I gave a firm, forceful knock.
“Ms. Madison,” I said, not wanting anyone to know about the relationship between us.
There was no answer.
She was probably avoiding me.
Jaxson followed behind us. “Harper Madison. This is security,” Jaxson said.
I stepped aside, and he gave another firm knock on the trailer door that was shut. “We’re coming inside,” he announced, opening the door.
It had been left unlocked, and Jaxson stepped inside first.
I followed behind, glancing around, but Harper was nowhere to be found. “Maybe she’s on set or in makeup or hair,” I suggested to the young woman.
“No. I’m the makeup artist, and she’s late.”
“How late?” I asked. I knocked on the bathroom door of the trailer and checked to find it empty. I didn’t see her car keys or cell phone, but I wasn’t sure that meant anything. I’d have to check the lot to see if her car was where she’d left it last night.
“Over an hour,” the young woman said.
“I’m sure she hasn’t gone far. Why don’t you head back to your trailer, and we’ll find her,” I said.
She retreated from the trailer, and I glanced at Jaxson, waiting until we were alone.
“What is it?” Jaxson asked.
“Harper was pissed when she found out that I’m working security for the film.” I glanced out the back window of the trailer, over the sink, which led to the parking lot. There were too many vehicles to notice whether her car had been moved or not.
Jaxson’s jaw was tight, his body stiff. “You think she fled?”
I didn’t know her well enough to determine how she dealt with stress or anger, for that matter. “Maybe. I hope that’s all it is. There was a guy outside this morning in the parking lot with his Lotus Evora. A luxury car like that stands out.”
“No kidding. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in Montana, let alone Breckenridge,” Jaxson said. “Could it have been a studio executive?”
Anything was possible, but I didn’t get that vibe when I looked at him. “That would be a relief if that’s all it was, in which case, wouldn’t he still be here?”
I headed out of the trailer and walked around past the ropes put up to the parking lot.
There was no sign of Harper’s rental car or the luxurious sports car that I’d seen earlier. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Mason. Since he was at the office, I asked him to track Harper’s cell phone and call me back or text me her location.
A few minutes later, my phone buzzed with a text. “I know where she is,” I said, glancing at Jaxson.
“How far away?” His expression was grim.
Pretty soon, other people would start noticing Harper wasn’t on set too. She wasn’t that far away, but she was near the river and appeared to be near an entry point with rafts available to the public for rent.
If she rented a raft and didn’t have experience, I didn’t want to think about what might happen to her.
It was spring thaw, which meant the river was high and the rapids dangerous.