Read 13 - Knock'em Dead for Free Online Page A

she’d be called back if she made the cut, and announced a break for lunch. It was three o’clock. “We’ll take an hour and then audition for the detective,” she announced.
    Sandwiches were brought in from a local deli. As we ate, some of the auditioning talent tried to engage Linda in conversation, but she coolly, professionally avoided them. Holding their fates in her hands was a formidable position of power, and I understood her reluctance to get close to those vying for her attention and approval. Still, their enthusiasm and charm were infectious; I wanted to cast every one of them.
    “Is Harry coming by?” Manley asked between bites of an overstuffed pastrami sandwich.
    “Not if we’re lucky,” Walpole said, laughing to mitigate the comment’s negative overtones.
    “I still have trouble with Burton playing the older brother,” Manley said.
    “Why?” I asked.
    “I don’t like him. No, to be more accurate, I don’t like his type.”
    ‘“The perfect ’type’ to play Jerry,” Amsted said matter-of-factly.
    “And Harry agrees with you, of course,” Manley said, unable to disguise the anger in his voice.
    “Why shouldn’t he?” she replied. “He trusts my judgment.”
    “Linda has Harry’s undivided attention,” Cy Walpole said coyly.
    “The hell she does,” Manley said. “Just one of many.”
    “I resent that,” Amsted said.
    “Resent it all you want, Linda. What have you got, a thing going with Burton, too? He is a hunk, but he’s a little young for you, isn’t he?”
    She stood, dropped her half-eaten sandwich on the table, and walked away.
    “Took your nasty pills this morning, I see,” Walpole said.
    “Sensitive, are we?” Manley said. “Linda has your undivided attention, too?”
    Walpole rolled his eyes, stood, and shook his head. “Working in the theater would be a joy if one didn’t have to put up with writers.” He looked at me and said, “Present company excluded, of course.”
    “That’s what’s nice about writing novels,” I said. “Just me and my word processor. Excuse me.”
    I followed in Linda’s direction and found her smoking a cigarette and sitting on stairs leading up to the theater’s balcony.
    “Pompous ass,” she muttered.
    “I assume you’re referring to Aaron.”
    “Jerk. I can’t believe Harry brought him on board to write the script.”
    “From what I’ve read, he’s done a good job. I’m surprised how faithfully he’s adhered to the book.” I sat beside her.
    She guffawed. “That’s for now, Jessica, for the auditions and the backers’ dog-and-pony show. Once the show is cast and the money is in Harry’s pocket, Manley will start changing every word. You’ll be lucky to recognize what you wrote.”
    I thought for a moment before saying, “It’s in the contract that I’m to be consulted on the script.”
    Another guffaw. “ ’Consulted.’ But Aaron has final say. Believe what I tell you. He’s a snake, crawls on his belly, especially where Harry’s concerned.”
    I made an instant decision not to become involved any further in whatever problems existed among them. All I hoped was that their personal squabbles and professional jealousies wouldn’t get in the way of turning Knock ’Em Dead into a Broadway play of which I could be proud.
    At the same time, my natural curiosity kicked into gear. As a writer, I have a natural interest in people and what makes them tick, their professional lives and how they balance it with their personal ones, especially the interaction, personal and professional, between them. That inquiring tendency of mine has led me into trouble in the past, including finding myself smack dab in the middle of real murder. But hard as I try, I’m unable to turn it off, often to Seth Hazlitt’s chagrin.
    Was Linda Amsted romantically involved with Harry Schrumm, and/or with the virile actor Brett Burton? Had the actress Hanna Shawn been cast as the daughter, Waldine, because she was part of