“You’re a good man, Matt. Believe me, I had my doubts when we first met. But as I got to know you, I got to know your heart, and I see how much you care deeply for us, me, Violet, Iris, and yes, Heather . . . But Heather has made her decision. So you should feel free to pursue whatever relationship you like.”
Matt glanced furtively back over in Danika’s direction. Although people were squawking at her from every side, her attention was directed at Poppy and Matt, curious to know what they were talking about.
“I appreciate you wanting to put my mind at ease, Poppy, but I truly did love your daughter, it’s going to take some time for me to get over it. Danika is our client, and I plan to keep it that way,” he said firmly.
“Got it,” Poppy said, although she was not entirely convinced this edict of Matt’s would last the rest of the week, let alone the remainder of the film shoot.
Chapter 12
When Poppy approached Roy Heller he was listening to a heated discussion between the director Trent Dodsworth-Jones and the film’s stunt coordinator, Frank, a short, squat, red-faced Irishman with a loud voice to make up for his diminutive stature. Frank was gritting his teeth at the moment as Trent quietly explained his reasoning for a decision he had made.
Roy shook his head disapprovingly.
“What are they arguing about?” Poppy asked, curious.
“Trent wants Matt to drive the car so he can get some clear shots of him behind the wheel and Frank thinks they should use his stuntman Eddie.”
Poppy’s mouth dropped open. “But doesn’t the car crash into the tree at the end of the scene?”
Roy nodded. “Yes. Trent says Matt can stop the car before he reaches the tree and then he can film the actual crash with Eddie driving, but Frank’s worried Matt won’t know when to stop in time to avoid the tree and thinks it’s too dangerous.”
“Well, then it’s a risk not worth taking,” Poppy concluded.
“Trent’s insisting, and he’s got Matt on his side,” Roy said. “The kid wants to do it.”
“What?” Poppy gasped. “Where’s Matt?”
Roy pointed over to where Matt was getting touched up by hair and makeup, Danika closely at his side.
“Huge mistake, if you ask me. But nobody’s asking me,” Roy said, shaking his head, disgusted.
Poppy marched straight over to Matt.
He looked up at her and immediately could tell she was fuming and he also had a hunch why. “I know what you’re going to say, Poppy, but really, it’s no big deal. I got this. Trent says it will be perfectly safe—”
“I don’t care what Trent says. The stunt coordinator is the only person anyone should be listening to on this subject and he strongly disagrees.”
“The stunt team always wants to use their own guy in the shot, but we have to make it look believable. The audience needs to see me driving the car,” Matt said.
“I simply will not stand by and allow you to do this,” Poppy cried.
“You’re not his mother,” Danika said dismissively.
Matt cringed slightly but Danika did not seem to notice and continued. “Matt’s a big boy. He can make his own decisions and if he thinks he can do it, then I for one trust him.”
Matt saw Poppy’s nostrils flaring and jumped in to do a little damage control. He bounded over and gave Poppy a hug. “Trust me, everything will be fine. I’ll hit the brake in plenty of time, and then I’ll hop out and the stunt guy can hop in and do it for real.”
Poppy was still unconvinced but she was clearly outnumbered. Especially when she turned to see the stunt coordinator throwing his hands in the air, giving up and walking away. Trent waved at Matt and gave him the thumbs-up that they were good to go as the crew finished attaching a camera to the hood of the car and locking in the shot.
Short of tackling Matt and physically restraining him from climbing into the red sports car, Poppy knew she was powerless to stop him. She walked back to Roy.
“Can you talk to Trent? You have the most experience on this set. He might listen to you.”
Roy shrugged. “I tried. He doesn’t care. He’s got a single mission in mind and that’s getting the best shot for his movie.”
Poppy sighed, frustrated.
“By the way, you look ravishing today,” Roy said with a roused grin.
“Please don’t do that, not right now,” Poppy snapped as she began to panic. She scanned the set for Matt again, hoping to try one more time to convince him not to do the stunt himself, but the makeup and hair people had already dispersed and neither he nor Danika were anywhere to be seen.
“Poppy!”
It was Violet’s voice.
Poppy turned around to see Violet and Wyatt hustling up to her. “What are you two doing here?”
“Well,” Violet panted, out of breath. “Wyatt has been working very hard on locating Danika’s stalker, this Byron person, and we finally had a breakthrough! I am so proud of him! How on earth did our family manage to produce such a genius?”
“We can speculate later,” Poppy said impatiently before focusing on Wyatt. “What did you find out?”
Wyatt appeared bored as he detailed his information. “I used a cross-referencing program, one that I personally designed, by the way, to sort through DMV records. . . .”
Poppy did not want to know how a twelve-year-old boy got access to DMV records so she didn’t ask.
“I input the first name Byron and the last half of the license number from that Instagram photo of the car the stalker drove away in after he ambushed Danika in the gym and—”
“He’s so smart!” Violet gushed. “Isn’t he smart? His teachers think he could be the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg or—”
“Violet, let the poor boy speak!” Poppy said sharply.
Violet buttoned her lips.
“Anyway, it took a while but I found the car! A 2008 Toyota Corolla. It’s
