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Chapter Seven
Chicago is a business town Entrepreneurs of every stripe duke it out ferociously in pursuit of the A the carcasses of fallen ventures along the way The town is full of old business headquarters, iants When a new business sets its sights on Second City, it&039;s cheaper for them to settle in one of the newer industrial parks littered around the city&039;s suburbs They all look rid of plain, blocky, readily adaptable buildings two or three stories high with no s, no landscaping, and gravel parking lots They look like enorly concrete bricks, but they&039;re cheap
Arturo had acquired a short-ter in such an industrial complex twenty minutes west of town There were three other cars parked in its lot by the tiical tools I ies: salt, a bunch of white candles, holy water, a ring of keys, a small silver bell, and chocolate
Yeah, chocolate Chocolate fends off all kinds of nasty stuff And if you get hungry while warding off evil, you have a snack It&039;s multipurpose equip rod protruded from the backpack in case I needed tomy shield bracelet, iz with-a silver belt buckle carved into the shape of a standing bear Better to have the et killed to death
I got out of the car I had on a pair of slacks and a polo shirt, since I had no idea of what a production assistant on an adult film set was supposed to wear The client would have to be happy with business casual I slung the backpack over one shoulder and locked up the car A second car pulled up as I did, a shiny green rental number, and parked next to the Blue Beetle
Twoman, e and had the build of someone orks out in a nonfanatic kind of way His h to look a little disheveled He wore round-rimmed spectacles, a Nike T-shirt, and Levis, and his cross-trainers probably cost him upwards of a hundred bucks He nodded at enuine cheer
"Hi," I responded
"New guy?" he asked
"New guy"
"Camerarinned, pulled a designer-label gy it over his shoulder He approached, offering his hand "I&039;rips with him His hands had the calluses of someone orked with theth without atteers I liked hiot out of the rental car looked like a weight-lifting commercial He was tall and built like a statue of Hercules beneath tight leather pants and a sleeveless workout shirt He had a high-tech tan, coal-black hair, and wasn&039;t old enough to qualify for decent rates on his auto insurance His face didn&039;t match the Olympian body His features rated on the western slope of the bell curve of physical appeal Though to be fair he was staring at me with a murderous scohich probably biased rowled
"I the hell a and slammed the car door closed "You always a wiseass?"
"No Sometimes I&039;m asleep"
He took a pair of hard steps toward erent push Classic s in response, but I try not to get into fights in a gravel parking lot if I can help it I took the push without yielding and grunted
"Wrist is a little limp," I said "If you like I can show you an exercise or so, help you out"
His face twisted with abrupt heat "Son of a bitch," the e hands into huge fists
"Whoa," Jake said, and stepped between us, facing the big guy "Hey, come on, Bobby It&039;s too early for this crap"
Bobby got a lotand cussing I&039;d faced too res to be too terribly ilad that it hadn&039;t gone any farther The kid was a hell of a lot stronger thanabout how to handle himself, he could ruin my whole day
The kid subsided after a ain, and scowled at et it"
I lifted my eyebrows "So you&039;re psychic too?"
"Wiseass stunt double," he snarled "It happened once You aren&039;t going to ht as well just leave now"
Jake sighed "Bobby, he&039;s not a stunt double"
"But he said-"
"He was joking," Jake said "Christ, he&039;s newer at this than you Look, just go inside Get so You don&039;t need this on a shooting day"
The kid glared atyou, asshole Stay out of et hurt"
I tried to keep all the panic and terror he&039;d inspired off of my face "Okeydoke"
The kid snarled, spat on the ground in my direction, and then stormed inside
"Someone woke up with his testosterone in a knot today," I said
Jake watched Bobby go and nodded "He&039;s under pressure Try not to take it personal, h," I said "What with the insults and violent posturing and such"
Jake gri to do with you personally,replaced by a stunt double?"
"Yeah"
"Are you serious? What the hell does a stunt double do in a porno flick?"
Jake waved a hand vaguely toward his belt "Extreme close-ups"
"Uh What?"
"Historically speaking, it doesn&039;t happen often Especially ith Viagra now But it isn&039;t unknown for a director to bring in a double for the close of a scene, if the actor is having trouble finishing"
I blinked "He thought I was a stunt penis?"
Jake laughed atthis work long?"
"Awhile," he said
"Guess it&039;s a dreaed "Not as much as you&039;d think After a while anyway"
"Then why do you do it?"
"Habit?" he asked with an easy grin "Plus lack of options I thought about doing the fa once, but it didn&039;t work out" He fell silent for a second, his expression touched with faint grief He shook his head to come out of it and said, "Look, don&039;t worry about Bobby He&039;ll cale naot him all nervous This is only his second shoot First one is in the can, but it&039;ll be a bit before they do final edits and such He&039;s got until next week to figure out his perfor name, huh"
"Don&039;t make fun of it," he said, expression serious "Names have power, man"
"Do they Really"
Jake nodded "A good nauy"
"Like Duht, exactly"
"So what nao by?" I asked
"Jack Rockhardt," Jake replied pro
"What?" I asked
"You nize the naed "I don&039;t have a TV Don&039;t go to those theaters, either"
His eyebrows shot up "Really? Are you A?"
"Yeah, that&039;s it I&039;rinned "Maybe you&039;d better come inside with me I&039;ll introduce you around"
"Thanks"
"No proble, a place with sterile beige walls and invincibleJake led n that read, GREEN ROOM, and went inside
A long conference table ran down the center of a coels, and other foods of every description were laid out on trays down its length The room smelled like fresh coffee, and I promptly homed in on the coffee machine for a cup
A plain- faced wo jeans, a black tee, and a red-and-white flannel shut Her hair was tied back under a red bandanna She seized a paper plate and du, Guffie"
"Joan," Jake responded easily "Have you lanced over her shoulder at me and nodded "Wow You are very tall"
"I&039;et The haircut hed and popped a doughnut hole in her mouth "You&039;re the production assistant, eh?"
"Yes"
She nodded "So let&039;s produce"
"I thought that was Arturo&039;s bag"
"He&039;s the director and executive producer I&039;, sets, you name it I handle the crew and the details" She turned to oodness as she did "Joan Dallas"
"Pleasure," I said "Harry Dresden"