Free A Hard Bargain by Jane Tesh

for.” He walked back and forth in the front yard, holding his hands up in a square as if examining the house from different angles. “Can we have a look at the inside?”
    “Sure,” Jerry said.
    Gaskins stood in the doorway and frowned at the living room. “Well, this is too nice for what I’ve got in mind, but the exterior’s perfect.”
    Lance Henderson spoke up, his familiar bass voice echoing. “Perfect? What do you mean? The place looks leprous. What kind of setting is this for ‘Pastel Memoirs’?”
    Gaskins exchanged a look with Stephanie. “Lance, I’ve explained to you. We’re not doing ‘Pastel Memoirs.’ We’re doing ‘The Curse of the Mantis Man.’”
    “I will not be seen in some cheap horror film.”
    “Could we talk about this later?” As he walked back to the porch, he said to Stephanie, “I want to create a feeling of dread, you know? A feeling that your very soul is in peril.”
    She made a note on her clipboard. “Okay.”
    Lance said, “I did not sign on this project to do a horror film.”
    “Face it, Lance, you’re lucky to be signed on any film.”
    “‘Pastel Memoirs’ is my comeback film. It’s a beautiful script. You promised you’d do it.”
    “I’ll do it after we finish ‘Curse of the Mantis Man.’ You’ve got a contract for two films with Voltage. Stephanie, where’s my drink?”
    Lance Henderson stalked to the van, folded his arms, and took a dramatic stance, staring out across the fields.
    “He seems a little upset,” I said.
    Gaskins wasn’t concerned. “Oh, he’s always throwing these little fits. He’ll do it. He has to.” Stephanie hurried up with a large plastic cup. Gaskins took a loud slurp through the straw. “He hasn’t worked in months, unless you count appearances on game shows. Oh, this is our star, Flynn Davis.”
    Flynn Davis was an extremely handsome man with dark curly hair and blue eyes. He shook my hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Maclin. Is this your first film, too?”
    “No, I live in this house. What part do you have in the movie?”
    He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “I’m actually the lead, but I’m not supposed to say that. Lance thinks he’s got the lead role, but his is really more of a character part.”
    “I see,” I said, although I wasn’t sure I did.
    “I don’t want to hurt the old boy’s feelings, but his days of playing the hero are over. Got to clear the field for the rest of us. Oh, and Gaskins is bringing in Vivian Montrose for the heroine.”
    “Vivian Montrose?”
    “She’s the star of ‘Beach Island.’”
    I’d seen exactly one episode of “Beach Island,” an overblown nighttime soap opera set on a tropical island and filled with overly-endowed women in tiny bikinis.
    Davis smiled. “She’ll be a real asset to this picture. Nice to have met you, Ms. Maclin.”
    He sauntered off as if assured I was watching his rear. I was. It was a very nice rear, but I wasn’t so sure about the rest of Flynn Davis.
    While Gaskins and Jerry discussed what a few shots of the house were worth, I went over to Lance Henderson. He was still muttering about “Pastel Memoirs.”
    “This was going to be my comeback film, a quality picture the whole family could enjoy. Now that upstart Gaskins wants me to be in some sort of low-budget shockfest.”
    “It might not be so bad,” I said.
    He eyed me. “Are you an actress?”
    “I’m Madeline Maclin. I own a detective agency in town.”
    “Really? You look more like an actress.”
    He was trying what was left of his charm on me. “Thank you.”
    “I should hire you to find my career. I lost it somewhere in the Eighties.”
    “You still have a lot of fans. People here are excited about seeing you.”
    It was pathetic how he brightened. “Really?”
    “I don’t think they’d care what kind of movie you were in.”
    “But this Mantis Man is just some silly local story, isn’t it? There’s no real facts.”
    “No, but it might be fun.”
    He