Page 47 of Camera Stays On

Eventually, Andi came down from her room, her eyes looking tired. Had she been crying?

“Is there anything to eat?” she asked, addressing the room softly.

“Bea.” Sawyer snapped his fingers. “What’s for dinner?”

Bea bolted up and saluted. “On it. I went to the store earlier. How does spaghetti sound?”

“Cheap and feeds a lot.” Mick grinned.

“That’s right.” Sawyer laughed. “Gotta stay under budget.”

“I’ll help.” Andi left the room quickly, not making eye contact with me. What had happened up there? Had they really...

I waited a few minutes before standing and reaching for my cigarette case. “I’ll be back,” I said, before heading outside to clear my head. I refused to believe that I’d had Andi pushed against a tree last night, with my tongue in her throat, and today she was letting my brother put his finger in her pussy. Andi wasn’t like that.

The screech of the screen door caused me to turn. Sawyer strode out, two beers in his hands. He offered me one, and begrudgingly I took it.

“Did you see the look on Gavin’s face when I came down?” He chuckled. “Fucking dick.”

I furrowed my brows. “Huh?”

“He didn’t want me to bring in Purdy for the movie. We actually had a huge fight about it before I drove to Chicago. I confronted him about everything, finally.” He took a long draw of his drink.

“What do you mean, everything?”

He gave me a look like I was the crazy one. “About him fucking Purdy before the wedding. I told him I knew it was him. He denied it, of course, but it’s whatever. He’s always been a fucking coward.”

“How do you know?” I set my drink on the banister and turned to face him. “That video was pretty dark.”

“Who else would it be, man? Purdy never owned up to it, and Gav dogged on her the hardest about it. He’s the only one who makes sense. Who would want her gone? The guy who’ll get his ass kicked if she tells on him. But—kudos to her. She’s barely looked at him since everyone got here. Purdy’s always been one helluva liar.”

I took a long drag from my cigarette and looked out into the yard. I wasn’t sure I believed his story. Was he testing me? This could all be a ploy to see how I responded to his accusations.

“If you think it was him, then why did you ask him to help with the movie?”

“To kill him.”

The words hung in the air. I glanced over and saw he wasn’t laughing. I swallowed hard.

“What?”

“You heard me. I ain’t saying it again. You don’t get to fuck with me and not get what’s coming to you. This was never about a fucking movie, Ash. This is about retribution.”

“You’re kidding.” I flicked my cigarette into the bushes. “Sawyer, what the fuck? You can’t kill Gavin.”

We stared at each other for a long time. I could not believe I was telling my little brother he couldn’t murder someone on a hunch. A hunch that was not accurate.

“Why not? It’s not anything I haven’t done before. We—I should say.” His eyes darkened, and I straightened.

“That was different. That guy—”

“Hurt my girl. And so did Gavin. He ruined my wedding day. I see no difference between Ray and this guy. Although this time we don’t really have an alibi. It’s gonna be a lot harder to cover up. I’ll figure it out.”

“Sawyer, we’re not kids anymore. You can’t be serious about this.”

“Why not? I spent five years in misery, and he fucking laughed. Laughed!” He shook his head and took a drink of his beer. “He’s as good as gone. Just wait.”

“You realize if someone dies on your set, you’ll never get green-lit again, don’t you? You’ll be investigated. You could face jail time.”