“Are you okay?” Poppy asked.
Matt nodded.
“Where’s security?” Greta demanded to know. She then pointed at Matt. “I want him held until the cops get here.”
“No!” Danika protested. “It wasn’t Matt’s fault. He was just trying to protect me.”
Chase balked, nostrils flaring. “I can’t believe you’re taking his side, Danika! I was just being playful and this maniac went all Tyson Fury on me!”
Poppy leaned closer to Danika. “Who is that?”
“Boxer,” Danika whispered.
“Who started it, Danika?” Greta asked.
Danika stood resolutely next to Matt. “Chase started it.”
“I don’t have to put up with these lies!” Chase bellowed. “I want that guy out of here, or I’m walking!” He then stormed off, kicking the upended lounge chair for emphasis as he left.
Greta turned to Danika. “What happened?”
“I came out here to swim some laps, get a little exercise in before I shoot my next scene this afternoon. Chase intercepted me and said he wanted to talk to me.”
Greta threw her hands up impatiently. “About what?”
“The same thing he always wants to talk about. Getting in my pants. The more I say no, the more he thinks it’s some kind of challenge. I tried to explain that I don’t think of him that way, but he got aggressive and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get him to stop. That’s when Matt showed up. I had sent him inside to get me a towel, and luckily he was around to come to my rescue. Again.”
Poppy swelled with pride.
She thought of Matt as her own son at times.
“Okay, I’ll call Hal and the studio, give them the full report, see how they want to proceed,” Greta said. “In the meantime, Danika, I think it would be wise if your friend vamoosed so we don’t risk another UFC fight and possible lawsuit.”
“Wrong,” Danika said looking Greta squarely in the eye.
“I beg your pardon?” Greta asked, surprised.
“Matt is part of my security team. I need him here on set with me. In case you’ve forgotten, there’s a crackpot on the loose stalking me. He’s already conned his way onto the set once.”
“We have plenty of security on this production,” Greta assured her. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“You’re not hearing me, Greta,” Danika said evenly. “I’ve brought in my own people and they have every right to be here. In fact, it’s in my contract. I’d be happy to have my agents and lawyers call you to go over that particular clause with you if you’re unfamiliar with it.”
Greta fumed, not used to being contradicted.
“And I will be filing a complaint with SAG about Chase’s unacceptable on-set behavior. He needs to know harassing a co-star has real consequences.”
And with that, Danika spun around and marched off in a huff, leaving Poppy trying not to smile in front of a chastened Greta Van Damm, who didn’t feel so all-powerful at the moment.
Chapter 9
Violet’s grandson Wyatt was resoundingly unimpressed with being on the set of a major motion picture. He had reminded his grandmother, who thought it might be a treat for the boy to see how a real live Hollywood film is made, that if they were shooting a Marvel movie like Dr. Strange or Black Panther, or even a James Bond film, he might be more enthusiastic, but this piffle was an icky sweet romantic comedy based on an ancient film from way back in the 1960s.
Still, ever optimistic Violet had thought once Wyatt was physically on the set, observing all the action, maybe get to watch an actual scene filmed with two recognizable stars, he might change his mind and get a little more excited. But he didn’t. It was an imposition to be here instead of at his computer playing video games. When Matt had presented Wyatt to Greta Van Damm, she had mistaken him for the child actor playing Poppy’s grandson in the movie. Matt corrected her, explaining that Wyatt was the Desert Flowers tech whiz. She had erupted in derisive laughter. But when Wyatt began to spool off all the oppo research he had gathered on Chase Ehrens after his inappropriate behavior with Danika, Greta stopped howling and shut up to listen.
Poppy hung back, not quite ready to reveal to Greta that she was, in fact, part of the Desert Flowers team when Danika called a meeting in her suite to discuss the information Wyatt had uncovered. Poppy explained her presence as being there for her friend Danika as moral support.
Greta stood, arms folded, soaking up the intel as Poppy and Violet sat on a couch while Danika sat in a makeup chair in front of a fully lit mirror while her hairdresser fussed with her mane and Matt stood guard next to her.
“Back in Idaho, Chase Ehrens didn’t exist. He legally changed it from Alvin Hicks once he got run out of Boise. This is what he used to look like.”
Wyatt handed Greta his iPad. There was a mug shot of Chase aka Alvin and he looked nothing like the muscular leading man he was today. He was rail thin with sunken cheeks and a bulbous nose, the eyes still popped with color and you could see there was a handsome man beneath all the hard living, but he was nearly unrecognizable.
“He definitely had his nose done,” Greta noted. “And no doubt joined a gym once he hit town.”
Wyatt took the iPad back from Greta. “He’s got a long rap sheet back home. Possession of drugs, assault and battery, resisting arrest, I could go on, but you get the picture.”
Greta raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, how old are you?”
“I’ll be thirteen next month,” Wyatt said. “I happily accept Amazon gift cards if you’d like to get me a birthday present.”
Greta cracked a smile. Poppy could tell she liked the kid’s moxie.
“It’s obvious to us that Alvin came out here to reinvent himself and escape his violent, thuggish past,” Violet piped
