Movie Magic - Chapter 4: The Plot Thickens
Title: Movie Magic
Author: LaughtersMelody
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Dark Angel
Disclaimer: *looks in pockets* Um…I have lint. If you’d like to take that, you’re welcome to. But I don’t own Dark Angel.
Genre: Romance/Humor/Mystery/Action
Pairing: Max/Alec
Type: Multi-chapter
Spoilers: Takes place sometime after “Love Among The Runes,” but before “Freak Nation.”
Characters: Max, Alec, Logan
Secondary Characters: OCs
Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated.
A/N: I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think! :)
~*~*~*~*~
Movie Magic
Logan stood in his usual spot on the set, watching as the crew hurried to set up the next scene, the prop guys making last minute adjustments, the camera man checking the shot’s angle. Skip was in the middle of it all, calling out orders and somehow managing to talk into his radio at the same time. The set was always chaotic, but that still looked a little strange…like the director was in even more of a hurry than usual.
Logan frowned. He’d gotten to know Skip better over the last few days, and while he wasn’t a hundred percent sure, he had a feeling Skip wasn’t part of whatever Malone was doing. That was the problem, though. All he had was a feeling. That was why he hadn’t tried to talk to Skip before, why he’d been careful not to let anything slip that didn’t fit with Gary Sherwood of the Sherwood Acting Agency.
Now, though, they were running out of options. Max and Alec had told him about the argument they’d heard, the threats Malone had been making. If the producer was serious, then they only had five days left…assuming they even had that many. Malone was obviously getting impatient about something, and it wasn’t hard to imagine him moving up the deadline.
Either way, they didn’t have much of a choice anymore. Skip was the best shot they had at finding out what was really going on. And while talking to him was risky…it might just be worth it.
Logan walked closer to the director and cleared his throat. Skip turned at the noise.
“Something I can do for you, Mr. Sherwood?”
“I was hoping you could shed some light on some rumors I’ve heard.”
“Rumors?” Skip frowned. “What kind of rumors?”
“I’ve heard that if the film isn’t finished in five days, it’s going to be scrapped.”
Skip’s eyes widened a little at that, his grip tightening on the radio he held.
“Where did you hear that?”
“You have to understand,” Logan continued, deliberately not answering the question, “Melissa and Brian will lose a lot of money if the project is shut down, and as their agent, I’m responsible. I need to know, is the rumor true?”
Skip wavered a moment, his gaze darting to crew working around them. “Whoever told you that had their facts mixed up,” he said finally.
“Are you sure?” Logan asked pointedly. He could see that Skip was close to talking. Maybe he just needed a push in the right direction. “Listen,” he added more quietly, “if you know something, or if there’s something going on here…I might be able to help.”
Skip drew back a little at that, his expression somewhere between disbelieving and hopeful. He hesitated a second longer, then sighed. “Hold on,” he said. He moved a few feet away, sticking the radio in his pocket as he went. “Hey, Jake!” he called out.
“Yeah, boss?” one of the crew answered.
“I’m goin’ on another coffee run. Be back in five.”
The man gave him a distracted thumbs-up, and Skip turned back to Logan, leading him off the main part of the set.
They walked for a few minutes until they reached a battered trailer that didn’t look much better than the one Logan was sharing with Alec. The only real difference Logan could see was the hastily scribbled sign hanging above the door, marking it as the director’s.
Skip cast an uneasy look at Malone’s trailer before stepping inside. Logan followed behind him.
“Coffee?” the director asked, motioning to a run-down coffee maker in the corner.
Logan nodded, and a few minutes later, they were both sitting at a small card table that doubled as the trailer’s kitchen.
Skip set his cup down on the table and sighed.
“What you heard, it’s true. Mr. Malone wants the movie done as soon as possible. He gave me five days to finish filming here.”
“Do you know why?”
“No, and I don’t plan on asking him.” Skip rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, and sighed again. “Look, I’m real sorry about this, but I’m doing my best to finish the film in the time we’ve got, and make sure everybody gets paid like they’re supposed to. There’s nothing else I can do.”
Logan frowned, thinking about how reluctant Skip had been to say anything on the set.
“The crew doesn’t know about this, do they?”
Skip shook his head.
“Not yet. Not really sure what I’m gonna tell ‘em, either.”
Logan took a drink of his own coffee, using the time to figure out how he wanted to approach this. He didn’t plan to tell Skip the truth, but he needed to find out how much the director really knew.
“Have you tried talking to the studio?” he asked at last.
Skip shook his head.
“Take it from me, that wouldn’t do any good. What Malone wants, he gets.”
Something in his tone caught Logan’s attention.
“What do you mean?”
Skip gave him a long, measuring look, then seemed to slump a little in his seat.
“You’re probably gonna say I’m crazy, but I found out that the last few jobs Malone has gotten, he got because the producer before him disappeared.”
“And you think he had something to do with that?” Logan was careful to put just enough doubt in his tone that he came off sounding skeptical, but curious.
Skip ran an unsteady hand through his hair.
“I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it was just a coincidence. I mean, yeah, things have changed a lot since the Pulse, but Hollywood is still Hollywood. Little things get blown out of proportion real easy. But one of the producers who went missing, Jeff Rogers…I knew him. We worked on a coupla films together. He was a decent guy. Had a good eye, you know? I got a call from him a few weeks back, saying he’d gotten a new job, some new project he was really excited about. Then he disappeared and Malone was tagged as the movie’s producer. I thought it was just the way things were. I mean they had to find somebody to replace Jeff, right? But after I got called about working here, I started hearing rumors that Malone had taken over other films when their producers vanished, and that’s…that’s when I knew.”
“If you knew what Malone was doing,” Logan wondered, “why did you still take the job?”
Skip shrugged.
“I’ve got a family. Kids. Makin’ movies doesn’t pay a whole lot these days…but it’s what I’m good at, and it puts food on the table. I figure if I don’t ask too many questions, don’t rock the boat, Malone won’t make me disappear.”
Logan nodded. He’d heard similar stories before. In a post-pulse world, people sometimes had to do desperate things to make sure their families were provided for. They took risks they wouldn’t have otherwise, because they just didn’t have a choice. Going to the authorities was usually out of the question, too. There were still a few good cops out there, but corruption was wide-spread enough that most people wanted to take their chances alone.
“Did you know any of the other producers who’ve gone missing?” Logan asked.
Skip shook his head. “No, but I heard a lot about one of ‘em. Chris Jackson. His reputation got around more than he did.” He snorted softly. “Probably ain’t a lot of people mourning the loss.”
“I take it he had a lot of enemies.”
“That’s one way to put it. Jackson was a real piece of work. He tried to dig up dirt on just about everybody, and when he found it, he wasn’t afraid to use it. If another producer got a job he wanted, he’d go public, air all their dirty laundry. Saw it as taking out the competition. Didn’t matter if what he found was true or not, either. He ruined a lot of careers that way.”
No wonder he won’t be missed, Logan thought, making a mental note to look up Chris Jackson again. He’d seen the name when he’d first gotten the tip from his informant, but he hadn’t looked into the missing producers’ backgrounds very deeply. There hadn’t seemed to be a reason to, since on the surface, all their records had turned up clean. He’d thought they’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and gotten in Malone’s way. But maybe there was more to it.
“Skip, I really appreciate you telling me all of this,” Logan said gratefully. “I wish there was something I could do to help.” And hopefully, there will be, he added silently. “I won’t say anything to Melissa and Brian unless I have to.”
The director nodded, looking relieved.
“Thanks. I promise I’m doing my best to get this thing done as fast as possible.” He glanced down at his watch. “Speakin’ of which, I’ve gotta get back to the set. Melissa and Brian should be out of makeup and wardrobe now, if you wanna come back with me and watch ‘em work.”
Logan shook his head.
“Thanks for the offer, but actually, I have some new contracts I need to look over.” He smiled wryly. “An agent’s work is never done.”
Skip smirked a little at that, and headed for the door. Logan followed him out, then walked the short distance to his own trailer.
He powered up his laptop as soon as he was inside. He didn’t have internet access out here, but he’d brought all his files with him. Hopefully, combined with the information he had now, that would be enough.
~*~*~*~*~
“So, you actually found something this time?”
Alec’s question earned him a glare from Logan, and usually would earn him one from Max too, but right now, she just wanted to get this over with. The small trailer was cramped with the three of them in it, and even though she was being careful to stay as far away from Logan as possible, he still seemed way too close. Her costume -- now a sleeveless shirt and jeans -- was the most normal-looking thing she’d been able to wear lately, but it also meant a lot of exposed skin. And since they’d come straight here from filming, she hadn’t remembered to bring her jacket with her.
As though he’d somehow read her mind, Alec shrugged out of his jacket and held it out to her.
“Here,” he said.
Max stared at it for a few seconds, caught off guard, then gratefully took the coat from him.
“Thanks,” she said softly, surprised.
“No problem.”
She slipped into the jacket quickly, and tried to ignore the way Alec’s familiar scent surrounded her, calming her nerves, just a little. Something must have shown on her face though, because when she turned back to Logan, he was watching her, jealousy obvious in his eyes. But, then he must have realized what she’d seen, and he looked away, clearing his throat uneasily.
“I did find something,” he started, trying to sound normal. “A lot, actually.” He clicked a few keys on his laptop, and continued. “I’ve been working under the assumption that the producers who disappeared all vanished after they got jobs Malone wanted for himself. That was the tip I got from my informant, and it fits with what we know. All of the disappearances were reported just before the studios announced they were hiring Malone. Chris Jackson, one of the producers, disappeared right before Malone signed on to a movie called, ‘Meant To Be.’ But here’s the thing. I managed to track down a copy of the studio’s records. As far as I can tell, Malone was slated to be the film’s producer all along. Jackson was never even involved in the project. So…”
“So, Malone shouldn’t have had a reason to get rid of him,” Max supplied.
Logan nodded.
“He did get rid of him, though. Any idea why?” Alec wondered.
“Well, apparently, Chris Jackson had a reputation for not taking it well if another producer got a job he wanted.”
Alec snorted.
“Sounds familiar.”
“It does. But unlike Malone, Jackson didn’t kill anyone. Seems he liked to do things the old-fashioned Hollywood way: slander. When another producer got a job he wanted, he launched a PR campaign to run them out of town.”
“Bet that made him real popular,” Max said dryly.
Logan smirked a little at that. “My guess, Jackson wanted to be named as the producer for ‘Meant To Be,’ but Malone got the job instead. So, he started digging, only instead of some juicy gossip, he found out about the missing producers and put two and two together.”
“Makes sense,” Max agreed. “Jackson hit actual dirt this time, and Malone had him taken out before he could talk.”
“That’s what I was thinking. And, it gets better. I’m pretty sure I know what Jackson found. I started looking at the deeds for the land the set is on now, trying to figure out why Malone moved everything out here. Turns out the land used to belong to a lumber company.”
Max frowned.
“Used to? Who does it belong to now?”
Logan gave her a satisfied smile.
“None other than Tony De Luca, head of one of Seattle’s biggest a mafia families.”
“Let me guess,” Alec said wryly, “Eddy Malone just happens to be old pals with Tony De Luca?”
Logan’s smile grew.
“Yep. And, coincidentally, there also happens to be a small, private air field about half a mile north of here. The lumber company used it for surveying and transporting loggers to some of the more isolated terrain.”
“An air field, huh? That would sure come in handy if you had something to hide, wouldn’t it?”
“It definitely would,” Logan agreed.
Max glanced at Alec, silently asking if he was thinking the same thing she was. He nodded.
She turned back to Logan.
“So, when do we leave?” she asked aloud.
TBC...
~*~*~*~*~
A/N: The next chapter should be up tomorrow. :)
Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!
Take care and God bless!
-Laughter
~*~*~*~*~
| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 |
| Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 |
~*~*~*~*~
Author: LaughtersMelody
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Dark Angel
Disclaimer: *looks in pockets* Um…I have lint. If you’d like to take that, you’re welcome to. But I don’t own Dark Angel.
Genre: Romance/Humor/Mystery/Action
Pairing: Max/Alec
Type: Multi-chapter
Spoilers: Takes place sometime after “Love Among The Runes,” but before “Freak Nation.”
Characters: Max, Alec, Logan
Secondary Characters: OCs
Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated.
A/N: I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think! :)
~*~*~*~*~
Movie Magic
Logan stood in his usual spot on the set, watching as the crew hurried to set up the next scene, the prop guys making last minute adjustments, the camera man checking the shot’s angle. Skip was in the middle of it all, calling out orders and somehow managing to talk into his radio at the same time. The set was always chaotic, but that still looked a little strange…like the director was in even more of a hurry than usual.
Logan frowned. He’d gotten to know Skip better over the last few days, and while he wasn’t a hundred percent sure, he had a feeling Skip wasn’t part of whatever Malone was doing. That was the problem, though. All he had was a feeling. That was why he hadn’t tried to talk to Skip before, why he’d been careful not to let anything slip that didn’t fit with Gary Sherwood of the Sherwood Acting Agency.
Now, though, they were running out of options. Max and Alec had told him about the argument they’d heard, the threats Malone had been making. If the producer was serious, then they only had five days left…assuming they even had that many. Malone was obviously getting impatient about something, and it wasn’t hard to imagine him moving up the deadline.
Either way, they didn’t have much of a choice anymore. Skip was the best shot they had at finding out what was really going on. And while talking to him was risky…it might just be worth it.
Logan walked closer to the director and cleared his throat. Skip turned at the noise.
“Something I can do for you, Mr. Sherwood?”
“I was hoping you could shed some light on some rumors I’ve heard.”
“Rumors?” Skip frowned. “What kind of rumors?”
“I’ve heard that if the film isn’t finished in five days, it’s going to be scrapped.”
Skip’s eyes widened a little at that, his grip tightening on the radio he held.
“Where did you hear that?”
“You have to understand,” Logan continued, deliberately not answering the question, “Melissa and Brian will lose a lot of money if the project is shut down, and as their agent, I’m responsible. I need to know, is the rumor true?”
Skip wavered a moment, his gaze darting to crew working around them. “Whoever told you that had their facts mixed up,” he said finally.
“Are you sure?” Logan asked pointedly. He could see that Skip was close to talking. Maybe he just needed a push in the right direction. “Listen,” he added more quietly, “if you know something, or if there’s something going on here…I might be able to help.”
Skip drew back a little at that, his expression somewhere between disbelieving and hopeful. He hesitated a second longer, then sighed. “Hold on,” he said. He moved a few feet away, sticking the radio in his pocket as he went. “Hey, Jake!” he called out.
“Yeah, boss?” one of the crew answered.
“I’m goin’ on another coffee run. Be back in five.”
The man gave him a distracted thumbs-up, and Skip turned back to Logan, leading him off the main part of the set.
They walked for a few minutes until they reached a battered trailer that didn’t look much better than the one Logan was sharing with Alec. The only real difference Logan could see was the hastily scribbled sign hanging above the door, marking it as the director’s.
Skip cast an uneasy look at Malone’s trailer before stepping inside. Logan followed behind him.
“Coffee?” the director asked, motioning to a run-down coffee maker in the corner.
Logan nodded, and a few minutes later, they were both sitting at a small card table that doubled as the trailer’s kitchen.
Skip set his cup down on the table and sighed.
“What you heard, it’s true. Mr. Malone wants the movie done as soon as possible. He gave me five days to finish filming here.”
“Do you know why?”
“No, and I don’t plan on asking him.” Skip rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, and sighed again. “Look, I’m real sorry about this, but I’m doing my best to finish the film in the time we’ve got, and make sure everybody gets paid like they’re supposed to. There’s nothing else I can do.”
Logan frowned, thinking about how reluctant Skip had been to say anything on the set.
“The crew doesn’t know about this, do they?”
Skip shook his head.
“Not yet. Not really sure what I’m gonna tell ‘em, either.”
Logan took a drink of his own coffee, using the time to figure out how he wanted to approach this. He didn’t plan to tell Skip the truth, but he needed to find out how much the director really knew.
“Have you tried talking to the studio?” he asked at last.
Skip shook his head.
“Take it from me, that wouldn’t do any good. What Malone wants, he gets.”
Something in his tone caught Logan’s attention.
“What do you mean?”
Skip gave him a long, measuring look, then seemed to slump a little in his seat.
“You’re probably gonna say I’m crazy, but I found out that the last few jobs Malone has gotten, he got because the producer before him disappeared.”
“And you think he had something to do with that?” Logan was careful to put just enough doubt in his tone that he came off sounding skeptical, but curious.
Skip ran an unsteady hand through his hair.
“I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it was just a coincidence. I mean, yeah, things have changed a lot since the Pulse, but Hollywood is still Hollywood. Little things get blown out of proportion real easy. But one of the producers who went missing, Jeff Rogers…I knew him. We worked on a coupla films together. He was a decent guy. Had a good eye, you know? I got a call from him a few weeks back, saying he’d gotten a new job, some new project he was really excited about. Then he disappeared and Malone was tagged as the movie’s producer. I thought it was just the way things were. I mean they had to find somebody to replace Jeff, right? But after I got called about working here, I started hearing rumors that Malone had taken over other films when their producers vanished, and that’s…that’s when I knew.”
“If you knew what Malone was doing,” Logan wondered, “why did you still take the job?”
Skip shrugged.
“I’ve got a family. Kids. Makin’ movies doesn’t pay a whole lot these days…but it’s what I’m good at, and it puts food on the table. I figure if I don’t ask too many questions, don’t rock the boat, Malone won’t make me disappear.”
Logan nodded. He’d heard similar stories before. In a post-pulse world, people sometimes had to do desperate things to make sure their families were provided for. They took risks they wouldn’t have otherwise, because they just didn’t have a choice. Going to the authorities was usually out of the question, too. There were still a few good cops out there, but corruption was wide-spread enough that most people wanted to take their chances alone.
“Did you know any of the other producers who’ve gone missing?” Logan asked.
Skip shook his head. “No, but I heard a lot about one of ‘em. Chris Jackson. His reputation got around more than he did.” He snorted softly. “Probably ain’t a lot of people mourning the loss.”
“I take it he had a lot of enemies.”
“That’s one way to put it. Jackson was a real piece of work. He tried to dig up dirt on just about everybody, and when he found it, he wasn’t afraid to use it. If another producer got a job he wanted, he’d go public, air all their dirty laundry. Saw it as taking out the competition. Didn’t matter if what he found was true or not, either. He ruined a lot of careers that way.”
No wonder he won’t be missed, Logan thought, making a mental note to look up Chris Jackson again. He’d seen the name when he’d first gotten the tip from his informant, but he hadn’t looked into the missing producers’ backgrounds very deeply. There hadn’t seemed to be a reason to, since on the surface, all their records had turned up clean. He’d thought they’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and gotten in Malone’s way. But maybe there was more to it.
“Skip, I really appreciate you telling me all of this,” Logan said gratefully. “I wish there was something I could do to help.” And hopefully, there will be, he added silently. “I won’t say anything to Melissa and Brian unless I have to.”
The director nodded, looking relieved.
“Thanks. I promise I’m doing my best to get this thing done as fast as possible.” He glanced down at his watch. “Speakin’ of which, I’ve gotta get back to the set. Melissa and Brian should be out of makeup and wardrobe now, if you wanna come back with me and watch ‘em work.”
Logan shook his head.
“Thanks for the offer, but actually, I have some new contracts I need to look over.” He smiled wryly. “An agent’s work is never done.”
Skip smirked a little at that, and headed for the door. Logan followed him out, then walked the short distance to his own trailer.
He powered up his laptop as soon as he was inside. He didn’t have internet access out here, but he’d brought all his files with him. Hopefully, combined with the information he had now, that would be enough.
~*~*~*~*~
“So, you actually found something this time?”
Alec’s question earned him a glare from Logan, and usually would earn him one from Max too, but right now, she just wanted to get this over with. The small trailer was cramped with the three of them in it, and even though she was being careful to stay as far away from Logan as possible, he still seemed way too close. Her costume -- now a sleeveless shirt and jeans -- was the most normal-looking thing she’d been able to wear lately, but it also meant a lot of exposed skin. And since they’d come straight here from filming, she hadn’t remembered to bring her jacket with her.
As though he’d somehow read her mind, Alec shrugged out of his jacket and held it out to her.
“Here,” he said.
Max stared at it for a few seconds, caught off guard, then gratefully took the coat from him.
“Thanks,” she said softly, surprised.
“No problem.”
She slipped into the jacket quickly, and tried to ignore the way Alec’s familiar scent surrounded her, calming her nerves, just a little. Something must have shown on her face though, because when she turned back to Logan, he was watching her, jealousy obvious in his eyes. But, then he must have realized what she’d seen, and he looked away, clearing his throat uneasily.
“I did find something,” he started, trying to sound normal. “A lot, actually.” He clicked a few keys on his laptop, and continued. “I’ve been working under the assumption that the producers who disappeared all vanished after they got jobs Malone wanted for himself. That was the tip I got from my informant, and it fits with what we know. All of the disappearances were reported just before the studios announced they were hiring Malone. Chris Jackson, one of the producers, disappeared right before Malone signed on to a movie called, ‘Meant To Be.’ But here’s the thing. I managed to track down a copy of the studio’s records. As far as I can tell, Malone was slated to be the film’s producer all along. Jackson was never even involved in the project. So…”
“So, Malone shouldn’t have had a reason to get rid of him,” Max supplied.
Logan nodded.
“He did get rid of him, though. Any idea why?” Alec wondered.
“Well, apparently, Chris Jackson had a reputation for not taking it well if another producer got a job he wanted.”
Alec snorted.
“Sounds familiar.”
“It does. But unlike Malone, Jackson didn’t kill anyone. Seems he liked to do things the old-fashioned Hollywood way: slander. When another producer got a job he wanted, he launched a PR campaign to run them out of town.”
“Bet that made him real popular,” Max said dryly.
Logan smirked a little at that. “My guess, Jackson wanted to be named as the producer for ‘Meant To Be,’ but Malone got the job instead. So, he started digging, only instead of some juicy gossip, he found out about the missing producers and put two and two together.”
“Makes sense,” Max agreed. “Jackson hit actual dirt this time, and Malone had him taken out before he could talk.”
“That’s what I was thinking. And, it gets better. I’m pretty sure I know what Jackson found. I started looking at the deeds for the land the set is on now, trying to figure out why Malone moved everything out here. Turns out the land used to belong to a lumber company.”
Max frowned.
“Used to? Who does it belong to now?”
Logan gave her a satisfied smile.
“None other than Tony De Luca, head of one of Seattle’s biggest a mafia families.”
“Let me guess,” Alec said wryly, “Eddy Malone just happens to be old pals with Tony De Luca?”
Logan’s smile grew.
“Yep. And, coincidentally, there also happens to be a small, private air field about half a mile north of here. The lumber company used it for surveying and transporting loggers to some of the more isolated terrain.”
“An air field, huh? That would sure come in handy if you had something to hide, wouldn’t it?”
“It definitely would,” Logan agreed.
Max glanced at Alec, silently asking if he was thinking the same thing she was. He nodded.
She turned back to Logan.
“So, when do we leave?” she asked aloud.
TBC...
~*~*~*~*~
A/N: The next chapter should be up tomorrow. :)
Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!
Take care and God bless!
-Laughter
~*~*~*~*~
| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 |
| Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 |
~*~*~*~*~