Free The Chase by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg

original brick,” Nick said. “I’ve seen houses where they’d attempted to reproduce this look, but it’s never as beautiful.”
    “We’ve taken great pains to keep it pure,” Carter said. “We didn’t clean the walls, floor, or countertops beyond a simple wipe-down with a wet rag or mop. I believe the buildup of smoke, spillage, spit, and grime over the years is an essential part of a pub’s character. This looks, feels, and smells real because it is.”
    Kate thought the whole idea was weird. She liked McDonald’s, but she wouldn’t want to take one apart, dirty floors and all, and reassemble it in her apartment.
    Down the hall from the pub was Carter’s home theater. The entrance was the exterior of an old movie house, with T HE M AJESTIC written in neon above a lighted marquee and a stand-alone ticket booth. Beyond the glass lobby doors Kate could see a concession stand with a full-size popcorn machine, hot dog warmer, soft drink dispenser, and a display case full of candy.
    “This is the Majestic Theater from my hometown of Bigleton, Indiana,” Carter said. “This is where I went to watch movies when I was a kid. It closed down years ago and fell into disrepair. So I salvaged what I could and brought it here. Only the marquee, ticket booth, and lobby concession stand are from the original Majestic. The screening room is much smaller and outfitted with the latest advances in digital projection and sound technology.”
    Nick raised his iPhone to the marquee and panned down to the ticket booth. “What if we put the title of our series up there in lights and then panned down to you in the ticket booth, inviting the viewer to watch? That would make a kick-ass teaser for the episode.”
    “I like it,” Carter said, leading them through the lobby and into the theater.
    Art Deco sconces lighted the walnut-paneled room. There were three rows of seats, each with four custom leather recliners facing an eight-by-eighteen-foot screen.
    “This room is couch potato heaven,” Kate said. “Every man in America is going to envy you.”
    This got a smile from Carter, since it was exactly what he wanted to hear.
    He went on to show them his six bedrooms and eight bathrooms. Then he showed them his home security center, a small, windowless room on the first floor manned by a black-suited BlackRhino operative. The operative sat in front of a bank of monitors that displayed video feeds from all the security cameras.
    “A lizard can’t step on my property without me knowing about it,” Carter said.
    Carter ended the tour by taking them outside and showing them his pool area, a tropical paradise of waterfalls, lazy streams, and grottoes.
    “Paradise,” Nick said. “I don’t know how we’re ever going to top this house in future episodes.”
    “Somebody had to set the bar,” Carter said. “So what’s the next step?”
    “Today we’ll prelight the rooms we intend to shoot and do some camera tests. That way, all you have to do tomorrow is give our host and our cameramen the same tour you just gave us.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Carter said. “Veronica will give you a call once your crew has been cleared. It shouldn’t take more than a couple hours.”
    “I didn’t see the rooster,” Kate said as they drove off, heading for the airport to pick up Boyd. “Not that I expected to. How are we going to find it?”
    They came to a stop at an intersection and Nick showed her a photo on his iPhone. It was one of the walls of the home theater.
    “I think this is a secret door leading to a secret room,” Nick said. “There are two security cameras aimed at it. Why else would he want to watch a blank wall?”
    “Even if it
is
a door, and we are able to get inside the room, how do we avoid setting off all the alarms?”
    “They’ll be turned off. He can’t have the alarms on with a film crew walking through the house all day.”
    “But the crew won’t be going into the secret room.”
    “There probably