“Do you have any ideas?”

“Maybe.”

She shooed her hand in my direction. “Go. Hurry.”

The only place I could think to look was where I’d found my kneepads. Maybe the thief had put the zombie cheek in the same place. But when I got to the dark set and opened every single desk drawer, it wasn’t there.

It was early, but I decided to head to the row of trailers anyway. Grant’s security guards let me through, and soon I was pounding on Grant’s door. He answered, pulling a shirt on, then running a hand through his hair.

“What is it? Did you want to practice our kissing scene again? Just let me brush my teeth.”

“Have you seen my zombie face?” I pointed to my cheek.

“Yeah.”

I took a breath of relief. “You have?”

“Of course. I see it all the time.”

“No, I mean off my face.”

He shook his head. “No. Why?”

“It’s missing.”

“That’s weird.”

“You still think it’s nothing?” I asked. “That someone is not purposely messing with things?”

“I think there are a lot of hands moving things around and yes, things happen. Accidents.”

“Whatever. I’ll see you later.” I ran toward Amanda’s trailer and pounded on her door.

She opened it. “Where’s the fire?”

“Did you take my zombie face?” Maybe she’d been pranking me like she had that day in the shower.

“What? No.”

“That’s too bad.”

“You wished I had?”

“Yes, actually. Then I’d have it now. It’s been taken.”

“By who?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll come help you look for it. It probably just got misplaced.” She stepped out in what she was wearing—shorts and a tank top without shoes. It was pretty similar to my outfit, except I wore flip-flops. We rushed back to makeup together.

“Tell me you found it,” Leah said when we arrived.

“No, we didn’t.”

She released a slow breath. “I guess I need to go tell Remy the bad news.”

She left, and Amanda and I looked at each other, then began searching the room again.

“What will happen if we can’t find it?” I asked.

“They’ll have to make another one, which could take a day or two. Did you finish all your human scenes yesterday?”

“The ones that take place here in the studio.”

“Then I guess you get an unexpected day or two off. Yay?”

I closed my eyes. I was thinking this would be worse for Leah than me, but had this been the end game—to make sure I wasn’t on set for a couple of days?

“It will be okay,” Amanda said.

“I’m going to go look in my trailer,” I said. “Maybe someone stashed it there to frame me.”

“I’ll come with you.”

We searched the trailer for quite some time. “Do you honestly think this is just a series of accidents?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve seen enough weird things on set to think that maybe it is.”

“But that article wasn’t an accident.”

“That’s true.”

There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” I said.

Noah poked his head in and said, “Remy’s called a meeting you both need to be at.”

“When?” Amanda asked.

“Now,” he said, and shut the door.

“Well, let’s go face the music,” Amanda said.

I stayed where I was on the floor by my wardrobe. Amanda walked over and held her hand out for me. “Are you seriously worried?”

“Yes. I don’t know why someone would do this.”

“I think this will all blow over.”

I took her hand and let her help me to my feet. “I hope you’re right.”

Remy was beyond angry as we joined the rest of the cast and crew in the studio. He was pacing the floor, and if this were a movie, I would imagine the director would add steam coming off his head.

“Where is Grant?” I whispered.

“He’s the big star. They probably won’t make him come out here for this,” Amanda answered.

I didn’t respond because Remy started. “The big section that Lacey wears on her cheek while playing the zombie is missing. This is obviously unacceptable. Has anyone seen it?”

An eruption of chatter followed, people obviously surprised by the announcement. I looked around to see if there was anyone who didn’t look surprised. Noah, who stood off to the side alone was the only one. But that’s probably because he found out when Remy did, when Leah told him. Where was Leah, anyway?

“Lacey obviously can’t film today, so we’ll be changing up the call sheet to some scenes without her. Check your emails in thirty minutes to see if those scenes involve you. You may go.”

People scattered as though they were grateful they didn’t get sprayed with fire.

“I better go to makeup,” Amanda said, “because I’m sure those scenes will involve me.”

“Yes, go. I guess I’m going home.” I turned to go collect my things from my trailer when Remy stopped me with, “Lacey. A word.”

I swallowed hard and joined him by a large light. I noted the sandbags on its base that kept it from falling over.

“Are you sure you have no idea as to what might have happened to it?”

“I’m positive. Leah usually takes it.”

“Leah has been let go.”

“What?” I asked in shock.

“Her assistant, Simone, will be taking over the rest of filming. Luckily we have the original mold, we should be able to get a rush on it and have a new one in hand by tomorrow. Keep your eye on your inbox.” With that, he left.

In my trailer I put on some actual clothes for the day and sat on the couch. Leah was fired. The woman my dad was dating. I wasn’t sure how he would react, but I wasn’t going to find out over the phone. As much as I didn’t want to, I headed home.

Twenty-Five

What was my dad going to say when he found out the woman he liked was fired because of me? Well, maybe not exactly because of me, but it felt like it.

The sun was bright as I pulled up to the apartment building. The paint on the outside was a fading yellow, and the stucco had long cracks extending all the way to the eaves. I’d never noticed that before. I usually came home after dark.

I unlocked and opened the door with a creak. “Hello!” I called out because I wasn’t sure who was here.

“Lace?” My dad stood in the small kitchen, a pan of scrambled eggs on the stove. “You’re home really early.”

“I am.”

He pulled another plate from the cupboard and spooned some eggs onto it. He set it down at the bar for me.

“Thanks.” I plopped onto a barstool. His laptop was open on the counter, and just as I was about to ask him if Leah had told him what happened, I saw what he was reading—the online article about me.

“Were you ever going to tell me about that?” he asked.

“About what? Some online gossip?” Like I needed my dad to find out someone on set might be targeting me. I wasn’t sure what he’d do if he knew, but I was sure it would involve talking to Remy. And considering Remy just fired Leah, I didn’t need any more attention on me.