Broch grunted and stooped to pick up his shirt. “Ah’ll gang.”
She swung her legs over the bed and put her arms around his butt to pull his stomach against her cheek. “No, we’ll go together, get it done and get back here.” She kissed his belly.
“Nae if ye keep that up,” he mumbled.
Catriona dug her holster and gun from the closet and strapped it across her chest before they trudged downstairs and hopped in the golf cart they kept parked nearby.
The Amazon Death Step set occupied a good part of the northwest corner of the lot and included an indoor-outdoor jungle area and a realistically sized mountain, complete with a waterfall. Just a week earlier, Catriona had visited the set during the shooting of a scene using a live jaguar. They’d let her feed it a hunk of meat.
The studio was hoping Amazon Death Step would be the next Indiana Jones, but she didn’t have high hopes. The lead was a singer-turned-actor they hoped would bring in the teeny-bopper audience, but Catriona felt he lacked the chops to play the dashing hero and would lose everyone over the age of thirteen.
“It’s probably the kid practicing lines with the fake toucans,” she said as they pulled up to the door of the studio.
Catriona typed the code into the lock keypad and they entered a world very different from the desert landscape outside. There was a relatively empty area just inside the door littered with cameras, booms and director’s chairs, but beyond the production area was nothing but vines, rocks and tropical trees.
“Let’s check the dressing rooms.”
They walked to the far wall and opened three doors, one at a time. Each revealed a small costume area, undisturbed and empty of intruders.
Catriona turned to the jungle. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go tromping through there.”
Broch nodded. “Me tae. Feels buggy tae me.”
Catriona laughed. “They do like to be authentic, but I don’t think they pumped in mosquitos...”
The foliage around them proved a strange mix of real plants and plastic or silk ones. Just a few steps into the mess they stopped short to avoid dropping into a pool of indeterminable depth, the bottom painted black to make it seem murky and foreboding. Behind it, a black plastic ramp rose towards the outside portion of the set, which had been raised to simulate a mountain.
“They’re using that for a waterfall,” explained Catriona, pointing to the ramp. “I saw it running the other day when I came by to meet the jaguar. When they release the tank up there the water rushes into this pool and then gets pumped back up to start all over again. It cost a fortune.”
Broch’s eyes scaled the ramp as he shook his head, clearly disapproving. “How come they dinnae just gang tae the real jungle?”
“That’s a good question. It’s hard to imagine it’s cheaper to build something on this scale than it would be to fly everyone to the Amazon.”
“Ah ken here they dinnae hae tae worry the star will be gobbled by a snake.”
Catriona chuckled. “That might be it.”
Something clanged above them and their gazes shot to the top of the artificial mountain. To the left of the giant plastic slide someone was climbing down the metal staircase built to access the tank and plateau above.
“Hey!” screamed Catriona.
The man turned and peered down at them. While he remained partially hidden by the plastic palms, there was no mistaking who it was.
Rune.
Broch was already running towards the metal staircase. Rune turned and started back up.
Catriona made a move to follow Broch and then stopped. The staircase was narrow—she’d be stuck behind him, unable to help should Rune try to battle him on the stairs. She assessed the path of the faux waterfall ramp and noted a staircase had been molded into the plastic. The way was steep and shallow, like the world’s most treacherous attic steps, but she could climb to the top that way and maybe cut off Rune on the catwalk above.
Catriona shifted her holster and ran to the stairs to climb them like a dog, using her hands to steady her body against the plastic.
Ahead and above her, she saw Broch turn, searching for her behind him on the stairs.
She waved and motioned back before continuing to climb.
Rune neared the top. Catriona still had half the mountain to scale and was already out of breath. She hadn’t realized how steep and tall they’d built the mountain until she was too far to turn back.
She glanced at the pool below and realized there was no handrail or place to grab. She felt a dizzy thrill run through her chest and looked away.
“This was a stupid idea,” she muttered.
Rune crested the top level of the staircase. Unless he paused to await Kilty, there was no way she’d reach the top in time to cut him off. She cursed under her breath and tried to pick up her pace, her lungs burning with exertion.
There has to be a better way to burn off all this energy.
Rune ran across the catwalk above her, stopping to peer down. She stopped climbing, hoping he wouldn’t notice her, but she could tell by his expression he had.
Damn. There goes the element of surprise.
She expected him to run even faster across the catwalk now that he knew two people were in pursuit, but instead he turned and headed back towards Broch and the staircase.
What is he doing?
Rune disappeared from view and the sound of an obnoxious warning buzzer blared through the cavernous studio. Startled, Catriona nearly jerked herself off the stairs and plunged to the pool below. She threw her body against the plastic and clung there, her heart
