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After a tense hour and a half they were ready. The car rolled over the lip of the cliff and into space. An explosion splintered the sky, sending sparks of dazzling yellow and orange outwards and sizzling towards the canyon floor. A collective gasp went up from the onlookers, but still the cameras kept on rolling. After what seemed like an eternity, but could only have been a second or two, a figure clambered out of the rear window and launched itself away from the falling car. Elizabeth couldn’t have pulled her eyes away even if she’d wanted to. There were a few heart-stopping seconds as the figure fell, hurtling towards the ground, and there was no sign of Kendrick’s parachute opening. Elizabeth tensed, positive that the sound of the car crashing to the ground was going to be followed by the thud of his body. Only when his parachute whooshed open did she realise she’d been holding her breath. Kendrick landed lightly on his feet, several metres away from the burning wreck and only a short distance from her.
He sketched a bow as everyone applauded.
Relieved that for this scene at least her services hadn’t been needed, Elizabeth crossed over to Kendrick, who was divesting himself of his parachute.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked.
He turned glinting eyes on her. She could tell that he’d got a kick out of what he’d just done.
‘Perfect,’ he said.
‘That was crazy,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why you let Philip talk you into doing it. No film is worth dying for.’
His eyes narrowed and he frowned at her. ‘Relax, Doc,’ he said.
Although his tone was light, there was an undercurrent of steel in his words. ‘I have no intention of getting myself—or anyone else on my team—killed. We spend a lot of time discussing and planning the stunts beforehand to eliminate as much risk as possible. Then we deal with what’s left. It’s what stuntmen and women do. If you don’t like it, perhaps this isn’t the job for you.’
He looked over the top of her head. ‘Hey, Josh, Immy. What d’you think? Did Philip get the shot he needed?’
He walked away, leaving Elizabeth feeling dismissed.
Who was he to tell her what job did or didn’t suit her? But she had to admit he was right. Her job wasn’t to worry about Kendrick or to tell the film producers what they could or couldn’t do. Her job was to keep them alive long enough to get them to hospital should anything happen.
Filming over for the day, Elizabeth knew that this was the time that the cast and crew would be most likely to look for her should they require a medical opinion. She took a ride on the first truck heading back to the camp and, sure enough, she was kept busy until dinnertime, seeing members of the crew who had sore throats or sunburn. Nothing too serious and nothing that required more than some painkillers or advice.
When she was certain there were no more patients, she locked up. If anyone needed her out of hours, they knew where to find her.
She let herself back into her trailer and picked up the photo from the bedside table.
Charlie was staring into the camera, a small smile on her face. It had been taken just before she’d lost control of her neck muscles, but even then they had been deteriorating, giving her a lopsided look. But to Elizabeth her daughter looked beautiful.
Elizabeth started to unpack. On top of her clothes was Charlie’s favourite soft toy, the ear lightly chewed and missing an eye. A crushing pain squeezed Elizabeth’s chest as memories rushed back. Her daughter’s little face looking up at her with incomprehension that Mummy wasn’t able to help, the feel of her child’s tiny frame in her arms as Charlie lost more and more weight. The last time she had held Charlie, knowing that she was slipping away and there was nothing, nothing anyone could do and that no amount of love or denial could stop her from dying. And then later the small white casket being lowered into the ground, the disbelief that she would have to live out the rest of her life without her daughter.
Elizabeth brought the soft toy to her face and inhaled the still lingering scent of her daughter.
In the weeks following Charlie’s funeral Elizabeth had been almost unable to function. She’d wandered around the small house, alone and aching to touch her child. Just once more.
The nights were the worst. She’d find herself curled up in her daughter’s bed, soaking the pillow with her tears. But eventually she’d known she had to do something. When she’d seen this job advertised it had seemed perfect. No chance of coming into contact with children, a limited contract that would give her breathing space to decide what to do with the rest of her life, and an environment where people knew nothing of her past and were unlikely to be interested.
As soon as she’d been offered the job and accepted, she’d put her terraced cottage on the market. With a bit of luck it would be sold before she had finished here. With Charlie gone, Elizabeth couldn’t bear to live in the home that had once held such happiness. She didn’t know if she could even ever set foot inside it again.
Her throat ached as she remembered sitting on the floor of Charlie’s bedroom, tears pouring down her face as she’d packed away Charlie’s clothes and toys. She hadn’t been able to pack away the soft toy. Together with the photo, it was all she had brought with her to remind her of her darling daughter. Not that she needed anything to remind her of Charlie. Every second of Charlie’s too-short life was burned into her soul. She kissed the photo one more time before replacing it on her bedside table.
Although so far her day had been mostly straightforward and the work nothing compared to caring for a severely disabled child twenty-four hours a day, Elizabeth was tired. But for once it was a nice tiredness. She had been able to forget for a few hours. The thought sent another shot of pain through her. Not that she wanted to or could forget her baby. Despite Charlie’s disabilities Elizabeth would have given everything she had to have her daughter back.
But that wasn’t to be. She had somehow to make some sort of life for herself, even if at the moment she didn’t know what that could be.
CHAPTER TWO
THE weather over the next couple of days continued to be hot. The nights were thankfully cooler but still Elizabeth found it difficult to sleep. When she did it was to dream of Charlie.
She was getting to know some the cast and crew. Everyone was friendly and good company. Somehow she was always aware of Kendrick even when she wasn’t in attendance for one of his stunts. Often she’d see him walking around the set, joking with the cast and crew or occasionally outside his trailer, his long legs stretched out in front of him. Whenever she walked past him, he seemed to know she was there, even with his hat tipped forward, covering his eyes.
Kendrick wasn’t the only stuntperson on set. There was Imogen, who doubled up for Tara, the female star of the film, and Josh, an older man who helped Kendrick with some of the stunts. Gossip on the set had it that Josh had been a rally driver before getting into stunt work and he took the lead in most of the stunts involving high-speed chases. Elizabeth was sure that there was an element of competition between him and Kendrick. As far as she could see, they were always trying to outdo each other in terms of who could do the most difficult stunt.
Most of the filming took place during the day, although Philip had warned her that some of it took place in the evenings, depending on the light.
One morning, Sunny came to see her before filming began.
‘I haven’t been feeling so good over the last couple of days. I don’t know if it’s the heat, but I feel as if I have a temperature.’
‘Any other symptoms?’ Elizabeth asked, taking in the young woman’s pallor.
Sunny shook her head. ‘Nothing specific. Just as if I’m coming down with flu. And I can’t afford to be ill. We’re already running behind schedule. If we don’t catch up, Philip is going to insist on filming over the weekend and I want to get home to see my kids.’
Grief, Sunny had children? She didn’t look old enough.
‘Why don’t you slip your blouse off while I check you over?’ Elizabeth suggested, picking up her stethoscope. ‘How many children do you have?’
‘Two.’ Sunny smiled wistfully. ‘Sam is eight and Trixie six. I had Sam when I was seventeen, before you ask.’ That made her twenty-five.
‘You must miss them.’
‘I used to bring them with me on a job and that worked fine until they started school. I could have employed a tutor to teach them on set, but I don’t think that’s fair, do you? Children need their friends and a routine, don’t you think? I want them to have a better start in life than I did.’
Elizabeth’s heart tightened as the never-far-away image of Charlie floated in front of her. What she would give to have had her daughter know what having friends felt like. It didn’t stop her sympathising with Sunny, though. It had to be tough for the young mother, working away from her children.
‘Philip has been good to me. He took me on as a gofer, now I’m his personal assistant. I kind of always hoped I’d be discovered one day, but I guess that’s not going to happen now.’
Sunny squinted up at Elizabeth as Elizabeth took her blood pressure. That seemed normal too.
‘Do you have children?’ Sunny asked.
Elizabeth turned away and sucked in a steadying breath.
‘No, it’s just me,’ she replied, picking up a couple of Vacutainers. It was just her—now. ‘I’d like to take some blood before we finish if that’s okay?’ Something seemed a little off, but Elizabeth couldn’t put her finger on it.
Sunny nodded. ‘It would be good if you could take it where no one can see the marks. Just in case …’ She gave a little smile. ‘I still haven’t given up hope they might use me in the film.’
‘I’ll try not to leave any, I promise.’
Elizabeth inserted the needle into the crook of Sunny’s arm and filled three vials to send to the lab. She didn’t think there was anything seriously wrong, but it wouldn’t hurt to be thorough.
‘I’m really looking forward to seeing the kids next weekend,’ Sunny was saying. ‘Hey, by the way, we’re going to be filming in the studio in Hollywood and Jack is having a party for the cast and crew. I know he was planning to invite you. Everyone else will be there. Even my kids.’
Elizabeth smiled. ‘I doubt he wants to invite me, he hardly knows me.’
‘Then it’s a good way for you to get to know him and the rest of us. He has a huge house on Mulholland Drive—you know, where a lot of Hollywood stars live. His parties have quite a reputation. Half of Hollywood would give their eye teeth to be invited.’
‘I’m not really a party animal,’ Elizabeth demurred. ‘I’m more the kind to go to bed with a good book.’
‘In LA?’ Sunny didn’t attempt to keep the incredulity from her voice. ‘You have to be kidding me. Didn’t you just tell me that you’re footloose and fancy-free?’ She nibbled on her bottom lip and studied Elizabeth through violet eyes. She might look innocent, almost naïve, but there was no mistaking the sharp intelligence behind the ditzy exterior. ‘Or have you just recently had your heart broken?’
She narrowed her eyes when Elizabeth took in a sharp intake of breath. ‘I’m right, aren’t I? In that case, you have to come. It’ll cheer you up, and who knows—you might meet someone else.’
That was so not going to happen. Never, ever would she give her heart to someone only to have it broken. The agony simply wasn’t worth it. She was finished with men, finished with love. All she wanted now was to find a measure of peace.
‘We’ll see,’ Elizabeth murmured, placing the blood samples into a specimen bag for one of the drivers to take to hospital. ‘Okay, I should have the results for you in a day or two. In the meantime, if anything changes, let me know straight away.’
As she was escorting Sunny out of her trailer, Kendrick sauntered up to them.
‘Hey, Kendrick, how’re you doing?’ Sunny greeted him warmly. ‘I’ve just been telling Elizabeth about Jack’s party, but she says she’s not coming.’
Kendrick eyed Elizabeth. ‘Maybe I can change her mind.’
Elizabeth shook her head. ‘It’s kind of Jack to think of me, but I’m not really the partying kind. I’m quite happy with my own company.’
‘I’ll leave you two to argue it out, but right now I could do with a lie down. I’m feeling yucky,’ Sunny said
Kendrick took Sunny by the arm and turned her round. He peered into her face. ‘You don’t look too good. What did the doc say?’
‘The doc hasn’t said very much yet. We think it’s a case of flu but just in case, the doc has taken some blood,’ Elizabeth said, irritated.
But Kendrick was no longer smiling. ‘What about your pee? Is it normal?’ he asked Sunny.
Elizabeth was growing more indignant by the moment. Just who did he think he was?
‘Well, now that you ask …’ Sunny looked embarrassed. ‘It’s kind of dark.’
An alarm bell went off in Elizabeth’s head.
‘And when was it that you were in Tanzania for those few days’ filming? Ten days ago, if my memory serves me right,’ Kendrick continued.
‘Yes. About then.’ Sunny turned to Elizabeth. ‘Philip had a couple of scenes he wanted to shoot there. Something about the light. Only Jack and Tara and a few of the supporting crew were needed, apart from me. Anyway, Kendrick, why are you asking?’
‘I think I should have a closer look at you, Sunny,’ Elizabeth said. Damn it, she had been so sure it was flu she hadn’t even asked the obvious questions.
‘Did you take prophylactic anti-malarial medication before you went?’ she asked as a confused-looking Sunny let herself be led back inside.
‘Yes. Of course. Why?’
Kendrick and Elizabeth shared a look. ‘Doesn’t necessarily mean anything,’ Kendrick said.
He was right. Although prophylaxis helped, it didn’t, contrary to what most people thought, mean you couldn’t get malaria. Add the flu-like symptoms and the tiredness to the dark urine and malaria was seeming more likely.
‘I think you might have to go to a hospital in Los Angeles to be checked out more thoroughly,’ Elizabeth said. She could have kicked herself. Why hadn’t she asked more questions? ‘I should take you there. Is there a car we could use?’
‘I’ll take her,’ Kendrick volunteered. ‘I’ll use the helicopter. It’ll be faster and more comfortable. I could be there and back in a couple of hours.’
‘You can fly a helicopter?’ Was there nothing this man couldn’t do?
‘I’m a qualified pilot,’ he said briefly.
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. What was a trained pilot doing working as a stuntman?
‘If you could get Philip to agree, that would be a help.’ Elizabeth placed a reassuring hand on Sunny’s arm. ‘It’s best we get you to hospital as soon as we can, but it’s only a precaution.’
‘I’ll tell Philip I’m taking it. Don’t worry, he won’t try and stop me. I fly it for him for his stunts and we keep it handy in case we need to get anyone to hospital in a hurry.’
Elizabeth guessed that the people most likely to require to be flown to hospital in a hurry would be the stuntmen. Kendrick in particular. She wondered if he’d thought about who would fly him if he got badly hurt.
‘The cost of a trip to LA is nothing in the scheme of filming a movie like this,’ Kendrick continued. ‘Besides, sometimes I fly Tara and Jack to LA for the weekend to save them hiring their own planes. It’s all part of the service. We stuntmen do all sorts of stuff on set.’
‘In that case, would you clear it with him and let him know what’s happening? Sunny, do you want to grab what you need for a couple of nights in hospital? You might want to phone your family and let them know what’s happening. While you’re doing that I’ll speak to the admitting attending at the hospital so they know we’re coming.’
By the time she’d spoken to the hospital, Sunny had packed a bag and was waiting by the door of the helicopter. Kendrick was in the pilot’s seat, doing some sort of checks, or so Elizabeth assumed.
The helicopter was small with only just enough space for Sunny and Elizabeth in the back.
‘Philip’s not too happy about me going,’ Sunny said. ‘He depends on me. Are you sure it’s necessary? I don’t feel that bad.’ Then she groaned. ‘Just really, really tired. Is it okay if I lie down?’
‘Sure,’ Elizabeth said. Sunny was definitely deteriorating. It was good that they’d be at the hospital in thirty minutes.
Elizabeth’s stomach dropped as Kendrick took off and she found herself clutching Sunny’s hand.
‘It’s okay,’ Sunny mumbled. ‘I’ve see him fly. Believe me, we’re in safe hands.’
As soon as they were airborne and the helicopter levelled out, Elizabeth was too busy monitoring her patient to worry whether they’d make it to the hospital in one piece. At least until they got into Los Angeles city and she saw that they were flying just over, and sometimes between, the skyscrapers. At that point she wished she could keep her eyes closed.
Kendrick put the helicopter down so gently Elizabeth almost didn’t realise they had landed on the roof of the LA city hospital. Almost before the rotors had stopped turning, the hospital staff were wheeling a gurney towards them.
Sunny opened an eye and tried to protest that she could walk, but she didn’t have the energy. Elizabeth quickly updated the doctor, who nodded. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take it from here. I’m afraid you’re going to have to move that chopper from the landing pad. We’re expecting another casualty in a few minutes.’
Although she knew the hospital was first class, Elizabeth didn’t want to abandon Sunny. But she didn’t really have an option. She bent over her patient.
‘I’ll phone and find out how you’re doing as soon as I can.’ She squeezed Sunny’s hand. ‘You’re going to be fine.’
Kendrick had hopped out of the pilot’s seat in time to hear the doctor’s words.
‘Jump in beside me, Lizzie. We’d better get out of the way,’ he said.
Reluctantly, Elizabeth did as he suggested. She wasn’t at all sure about being in front with Kendrick where she had a bird’s-eye view of the buildings they had to negotiate their way through, but now was clearly not the time to argue. As Kendrick started the engine he passed her a pair of headphones and indicated she should put them on. Then with another stomach-lurching lift, they were back in the air.
‘I should have stayed with her,’ Elizabeth shouted above the noise of the engine.
Kendrick winced. ‘You don’t have to yell.’ His amused voice came over the head phones. ‘Just speak normally. Sunny will be fine, I promise. Besides, you might be needed back on set.’
Elizabeth couldn’t say anything as they flew between the buildings. She was clenching her jaw too tight. Thankfully, and not a minute too soon, they were leaving the city behind.
‘How come you guessed it was malaria?’ she asked as soon as she could speak.
‘Saw a bit of it in the army.’
‘You were in the forces?’
‘Yup.’ He didn’t elaborate.
Kendrick surprised her more and more. Thank God he had recognised what could have turned out to be very nasty for Sunny if she hadn’t been sent to hospital.
‘I should have picked it up,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ Kendrick said. ‘It happens.
‘But not to me. I hate making mistakes.’
Kendrick’s smile was back in action. ‘I might not have recognised what it was if I hadn’t known she was in Tanzania a couple of weeks ago, so I wouldn’t call it a mistake, exactly.’
‘What would you call it, then?’ Elizabeth snapped.
Immediately she felt ashamed. She was tired and out of sorts but that didn’t excuse any of it.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I’m not usually this touchy. It’s just …’ She stopped herself just in time. If her history got out, if people knew the real reason she was here, they would be sympathetic and want to know all sorts of stuff she didn’t want to talk about. More worryingly, they might wonder if she should be back at work and if she was up to the job. Especially if they knew she had almost missed diagnosing Sunny immediately. Of course, as soon as the blood results had come back she would have known that there was something more seriously wrong than flu. But by then it might have been too late. She shivered. Sunny had two small children depending on her.
Kendrick was looking at her as if she puzzled him. It was hardly surprising. Her behaviour must seem odd at the least.
She forced a smile. ‘Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.’
Kendrick studied her intently for another moment, before touching his hand to his head in an informal salute. Elizabeth wanted to tell him to keep an eye on where he was flying but she had the horrible suspicion that if she did, he would tease her by doing some trick with the helicopter. It was just his style.
As they flew out over the desert Elizabeth began to relax. At least out here there was nothing to crash into.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she said. ‘I’ve never been in a place quite as desolate as this before, but it has its own magic.’
‘I’ll show you more of it when we have time off,’ he said.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she wouldn’t dream of spending a minute longer with him than she had to, but she bit back the words. She’d been quite rude enough for one day. It wasn’t his fault that he made her feel on edge.
‘I’d like that,’ she said.
‘It reminds me of my folks’ home,’ he continued.
‘Where is that?’
‘A few hundred miles to the north. My father has a ranch near the San Bernardino Mountains.’ He glanced at her. ‘Have you ever been to a working ranch?’
‘No. I would love to see one, though.’
When she saw the satisfied smile on Kendrick’s lips she could have bitten her tongue. Clearly the man thought he was making progress. Didn’t he recognise a friendly, polite response when he got one? But anything she said now would only make it worse.
The rest of the short journey passed quickly. Kendrick made a short detour to point out the San Andreas fault.
‘Have you ever experienced an earthquake?’ Elizabeth asked. The thought of one happening, even though they were so close to the fault, didn’t concern her. How could it? The worst had already happened.
‘I was involved in the rescue mission after the quake in Kashmir. The army used the helicopters’ heat-seeking equipment and radar to locate trapped bodies.’ He brought his dark eyebrows together and his silver eyes darkened to pewter. ‘It was tough. I sure hope we don’t see anything like that here, even though they think it’s inevitable.’
There was nothing much she could say in reply. The more she knew about Kendrick the more he surprised her. From helicopter pilot to stuntman? None of it seemed to fit. But the closed look on his face told her now was not the time for questions. If ever.
When they touched down they were surrounded by people wanting to know about Sunny. As soon as she’d updated them, Elizabeth excused herself, saying she wanted to phone the hospital, leaving Kendrick to field their questions. Whatever he decided to tell them about her near miss was up to him. Somehow she knew he would make sure there was no blame attached to her and she didn’t know how she felt about that. She didn’t want to be beholden to this man.
That night, when Elizabeth was lying in bed, her thoughts kept drifting back to Kendrick. Thumping her pillow and throwing off her blankets didn’t make any difference. Resigned to a sleepless night, Elizabeth made herself cocoa and took a seat by the window, gazing out at the thousand stars lighting up the cloudless sky.
Earlier she had spoken to the doctor at the hospital and he’d confirmed a diagnosis of malaria.
‘Well spotted,’ he said warmly. ‘A day or two would have made a difference. She would have become a lot sicker. As it is, we should be able to discharge her after the weekend.’