Of course, somebody would have noticed that, their precious baby with a big old hole in her. Well, fuck covert. He needed to shoot something.

He turned away from the bridge. There must be something out there that needed to die. He moved the gun, sweeping the sight along the shoreline of the Savannah River until he spotted something rooting through the brush. A wild hog. Searching for food near the old abandoned grain towers on the other side of the bridge.

Tyler adjusted for the slight elevation difference as the hog drew closer to the shore and his position. Distance was one hundred and sixty-two feet, according to the laser range finder. But there was something else, something in the river, close to the hog. Tyler looked back and saw that the gator was gone from its perch on the nearby bank. Out there in the river now. Stalking the hog.

"Not so fast, buddy-boy," Tyler whispered. He placed the sight's crosshairs on the hog, moving with it as it dug with its tusks. He noted that the gator was moving closer, very slowly, waiting to get within range. He imagined the hog getting caught in the gator's jaws, bone crunching, blood spraying.

"Outstanding," he said to himself.

Too bad for the gator that this was his kill.

Tyler adjusted ever so slightly for lateral movement, let out his breath, felt the rhythm of his blood, shut out everything but his heartbeat and the hog. In between beats, he squeezed the trigger.

The hog tumbled several feet and was still. Then the gator lunged out of the water, jaws snapping down on the dead body, and dragged it back into the river.

"Cool," Tyler said and pulled out another lukewarm beer. The gator disappeared underwater with the hog. Game over.

He looked up at the bridge and the Kid was there, looking for him again with her binoculars.

Fat chance you see me again, you little creep.

Fuck, he was bored. And hungry.

Gotta get me some Cheetos, he thought and put the sight back on the Kid.

Chapter 2

"I'm really glad you're here," Pepper said, skipping along beside Lucy as they headed for the monitors.

"Me too," Lucy said, trying to get her heart out of her throat. "Don't climb on the rail again." She sat down in one of the four chairs at the monitors and helped Pepper up into the chair at the end of the row, thinking seriously about duct taping her to it. My God, she thought, we almost lost her. Somebody was going to have to watch her every minute. Somebody like her mother, maybe.

Where the hell was Daisy?

Gloom sat down on her other side. "I like the new guy." He smiled across her at Pepper. "Hello, trouble," he said, affection palpable in his voice. "Don't climb any more bridges, okay?"

Pepper beamed over at him. "Okay. Gloom, did you know there were Super Hero Barbies?"

"No," Gloom said, sounding honestly surprised. "Damn. Really?"

Pepper nodded, satisfied, and picked up her binoculars.

"As I was saying," Gloom said to Lucy. "The new guy is hot."

"So is Connor," Lucy said. "Look how gorgeous he is."

"It takes more than big broad shoulders to make a man," Gloom said.

Lucy closed her eyes. "Don't tell me. That's a movie quote from some macho-"

"High Noon. I'm just saying, the new guy? More than big broad shoulders."

"Great," Lucy said, trying not to look down the bridge at Wilder again. "Go for it. Have you seen Daisy?"

"He doesn't play for my team," Gloom said. "But I'm pretty sure he wants to play on yours."

"What team?" Pepper said, pulling away from her binoculars.

"My movie team," Lucy said brightly. "Like you and Gloom."

"Oh." Pepper sat back. "I think he should be on our team, too. I like him." She went back to scanning the swamp again.

"So, Daisy?" Lucy said to Gloom.

"Haven't seen her." Gloom nodded down the bridge. "About this new guy. I think you should pay attention there."

Lucy looked again. The three men stood in a loose semicircle, Wilder and Connor both looking solid and sure, Bryce doing his best with what he had to work with.

Gloom started to hum off-key, and Lucy tried to ignore him, but she finally gave up and said, "Okay, what is that?"

"Your theme song, babe," Gloom said. "Bonnie Tyler. 'Holding Out For A Hero.' It's got to be playing in your head whenever you look at that guy."

She turned back. "There are no heroes. And if I decide to go that macho route again, I'll go back to Connor. At least he's the devil I know."

Gloom shook his head. "I don't think this guy is Connor. I think maybe he's Will Kane."

"Who's Will Kane?" Pepper asked, looking away from her binoculars.

"The sheriff" from High Noon," Gloom told her. 'Noble, true, and brave."

"I liked that movie," Pepper said and then frowned. "Well, I liked the ending of that movie."

"Good," Gloom said. "Make your aunt watch it."

"Forget Will Kane," Lucy said. "Let's pretend we're professionals. Tell me about the set." She looked out at the aimless, milling people. "We've been here half an hour. I assume you're best friends with everybody by now."

Gloom sent one more speculative look down the bridge to Wilder and then said, "Well, if you must talk about this mess, we've got trouble right here in River City."

"Trouble?"

"The director died," Gloom said. "The first and second ADs both quit."

"I know this," Lucy said, distracted as Connor headed back to them. "Wait a minute, the second AD quit, too?"

"And the line producer went back to L.A.," Gloom said.

Lucy stopped. "There's no producer on set? What the-"

"Which is also when the DP quit," Gloom continued as Connor came up to the monitors.

"Hello, love," he said to Lucy, his grin lazy and inviting. "Not the way I'd planned our reunion, but-"

Lucy looked back at Gloom. "There's no director of photography?"

Gloom smiled at her, radiating I told you so.

Lucy looked over the monitors at Connor, whose smile was not quite as wide now. "Hello, Connor. Who's running the camera crew?"

"We've got three guys," Connor said. "That's plenty. And hello to you, too. I-"

"So forget running four cameras for the helicopter stunts on Wednesday and Thursday," Gloom said, and Connor lost his smile completely.

Lucy leaned closer to the monitors. "Connor, why is there not enough crew here?"

"It's a skeleton crew," Connor said, "but-"

"I'd say you're down to bone marrow," Gloom said.

Connor's face darkened, and Lucy braced herself for the explosion, but then he took a deep breath and shook his head. "We have what we need."

Lucy held on to her temper. "I'll let you know what I need. Which reminds me, you only faxed me the last pages of this script. Where's the rest?"

Connor shook his head and said, "You don't need-"

"I said I'd tell you what I needed," Lucy snapped. "And I need the whole damn script."

Connor set his jaw as the color rose in his face. He stared at her for a minute and then walked away.

"Well, at least he's learned how to keep his temper," Lucy said to Gloom.

"He hasn't changed, Lucy," Gloom said. "Trust me, I know this guy and he has not changed. Now about this Wilder-"

"No." Lucy refused to let her eyes stray down the bridge. "This is not a social visit, I'm finishing a movie here." Pepper looked up from her binoculars, and Lucy added, "And playing Barbies."

"Yes!" Pepper said, straightening in her joy.

"I suppose that's a plan," Gloom said, "but-"

"Sorry I'm late."

Lucy looked around to see the top of her sister's frizzy yellow head as she slid into the folding chair beside Pepper, looking like a demented dandelion as she clumsily balanced her notebook, her headphones, her bottle of water, her pen, her camera, and her wide-brimmed yellow straw hat. Then she tried to hug Lucy without losing any of it.