Poppy turned to Violet. “You’re right. He is a genius.”
“Wait, I’m not done,” Wyatt huffed. “I have more.”
Now it was Poppy’s turn to button her lips.
“Once I got his full name and home address, I was able to check out his social media presence. He didn’t post much on Twitter or Instagram about what was going on in his life, and for good reason, but his friends and contacts sure did. Everybody was wishing him luck at Desert Oasis.”
“What’s that?” Poppy asked.
“A psychiatric hospital. And it wasn’t his first time there. Apparently Byron has a long history of mental illness. I got ahold of an evaluation report after his first visit. . . .”
“How on earth did you—?” Poppy stopped herself. “Never mind. Just tell me what it said.”
“He’s a danger to himself . . . and others.”
Poppy exhaled and swung around to Violet. “Okay, now at least we know what we’re dealing with.” She paused, then glanced back at Wyatt. “Why didn’t you just call me with all this? Why did you and your grandmother drive all the way out here to Joshua Tree?”
Wyatt broke into a wide grin, markedly more excited than he was on his first visit to the set. “Because Matt texted me and told me he was getting ready to do a really big action scene and that he was going to be racing a sports car himself like a NASCAR driver, and it was going to be really cool, and that I should come out and watch!”
“This is insane! What is he thinking putting himself in danger like that? We have to stop him!” Poppy fretted.
“It’s too late,” Violet said. “I think they’re ready to start.”
Poppy whipped around to see Matt already behind the wheel of the sports car, the stunt team finishing up their last safety checks and Trent glued to the monitor ready to go.
“And . . . action!” Trent called out.
“No!” Poppy screamed, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of the revving engine.
She was helpless to do anything to stop him now.
With Matt in the driver’s seat, the mounted camera on top of the hood capturing his fierce intensity, his fingers tightly gripping the steering wheel, a bead of sweat dripping down his left cheek, Matt slammed his foot down on the accelerator and the sports car shot forward at lightning speed.
Poppy watched, horrified, as the red car sped across the dusty desert terrain in a red blur, clocking what must have been nearly a hundred miles an hour. The lone Joshua tree stood ominously in the distance.
As the car got closer and closer to the tree, Poppy expected Matt to finally slow down as he was supposed to do.
But he didn’t.
He kept going.
The car was on a direct collision course with the tree.
“Matt, hit the brakes!” Poppy yelled, knowing there was no way for him to hear her.
The car was now moments from impact with the tree.
“Hit the brakes!” Poppy cried, a sense of dread consuming her.
Violet and Wyatt both stood frozen in place, unable to move as they stared, stunned at what was about to happen.
Poppy wanted to cover her face but she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
Suddenly, in a flash, the car swerved violently to the left as if Matt jerked the wheel at the last possible second, and the vehicle flipped, rolling over and over and over four, five, six times, metal crunching violently, before landing upside down in a heap.
The stunt team, seven men in all, ran to the scene of the crash and worked feverishly to pull Matt from the burning wreckage. They dragged him away from the vehicle as far as they could before it exploded in a burst of flames.
But Poppy didn’t care about the state of the car.
She was too busy staring at what looked like Matt’s lifeless body as several crew members ran frantically toward him, one lugging a first aid kit.
Chapter 13
It was a miracle, but due in no small part to the car’s safety features including air bags and seat belts as well as his young age and healthy, in-shape body, Matt survived the crash. Despite his loud protestations and insistence that he was fine, just a little bruised and banged up, an ambulance was called to the scene so they could transport him to the emergency room at the nearest hospital, the Hi-Desert Medical Center, in Joshua Tree. Since Matt had been unconscious for a few minutes following the impact, the on-set doctor was insistent he be checked out in case there was a concussion, or worse, some kind of serious brain injury.
Matt complained incessantly as the paramedics strapped him down on the gurney and wheeled him off.
Before he was lifted into the back of the ambulance, Roy Heller and the stunt coordinator, Frank, rushed in.
“Matt, what happened? Why didn’t you stop?” Roy asked.
“I tried, something went wrong with the brakes. I was pumping them like mad, but the car wouldn’t slow down. I swerved to avoid the tree and flipped the car.”
Poppy caught Roy and Frank exchanging concerned looks.
She had planned on accompanying Matt to the hospital, but she was practically body-checked by their hysterical and sobbing client Danika Delgado, who was devastated and emotionally distraught over the accident, blaming the director, the stunt team, the mechanics, everyone except herself, who had so brazenly and irresponsibly encouraged Matt to get behind the wheel and do the stunt himself in the first place.
Danika climbed into the back of the ambulance with Matt, clutching his hand and dramatically promising him she would stay by his side and make sure he got the best care possible for his recovery. Matt, for his part, seemed to be his usual jovial self and looked like he was enjoying the shower of attention he was receiving from his beautiful co-star.
Poppy decided Matt had enough people fussing over him
