Expecting to Die (Alvarez & Pescoli)

Why hadn’t she contacted anybody?

She’d gone completely dark, not responding to calls, texts, instant messages, or anything to do with social media. All of which was not like Lindsay. Bianca bit her lip and studied the bedspread, not seeing the pattern for the turmoil in her mind. Could Lindsay’s disappearance be a publicity stunt? Maybe she’d dropped out of sight to shine the light on herself a little more, as she hadn’t been part of the core group picked for the filming of the reality show. She’d been disappointed, and there was a chance she might do something overtly dramatic to make Barclay Sphinx notice her. Was that it?

Stupidly, she’d posed these very questions to Lara, Maddie, and Simone, and they’d jumped all over the idea, sure that Lindsay would turn up and all of the attention from the media and Barclay Sphinx and his production company would shine on her.

Simone had texted, I wouldn’t put it past her.

Maddie’s response was, Maybe. She was pissed that she wasn’t picked for filming tho this is extreme.

Lara’s reply said it all: I think Lindsay would do just about anything to get away from this town and her parents.

But would she really? Lindsay was kind of a pain, but disappearing for the sake of publicity, ripping out her parents’ hearts, causing all her friends and family to freak out?

Bianca tried to push her thoughts on Destiny and Lindsay aside. She had more than enough to worry about as it was. Somehow, with this damned ankle, she had to get through the vigil, and then psych herself up for the filming of the pilot later in the night.

She’d learned that the script had changed quite a bit from Barclay Sphinx’s original concept. The party of kids at Reservoir Point was no longer a large group but had been winnowed down to eight, four boys and four girls who’d come to the woods to drink, do a little weed, hang out around a campfire, and make out. That part wasn’t that great, Bianca thought, hastily slapped together, but the kids involved, who had all been to the original party, were stoked to be a part of the project. Lara Haas, Maddie, and Simone were all beside themselves to have been chosen. They’d been paired with Austin, Emmett, Kywin, and TJ and had a few lame lines between them—the kind of things adults imagined kids would say to each other. “Man, this is bad-ass weed,” or “Wanna go to the car so we can be alone?” That kind of dialogue. A few people the producer thought were essential would be in the peripheral area away from a campfire. They would only be shown smoking or drinking in a shot that panned the “crowd.” The script also called for several members of the Big Foot Believers to be in the woods as well. They were supposedly hunting for a Sasquatch and had frightened one of the beasts, which, in turn, then chased Bianca. Or something like that. Barclay insisted the scenes were going to be “fluid” and “works in progress.”

The changing of the party scene was okay, Bianca thought, as she glanced at her laptop, but there was another major alteration as well. The story line in this episode wouldn’t swirl around Bianca as she’d originally been told. Her experience with Big Foot was just the starting point, an “energetic” and “exciting” way to begin the season—a teaser. Also, the central plot of the episode wouldn’t concentrate on the murder—the finding of the body was just another dramatic point that was intended to grab the viewers’ interest.

Nor was the focus of the series about Bianca, or what had happened to Destiny Rose Montclaire. No, the “integrity” of the plot surrounded two feuding families of Big Foot enthusiasts whom Barclay Sphinx had hand-picked. That bit of information had caused a bit of a grumble with Carlton Jeffe and the local Big Foot Believers because, as it turned out, the actors chosen to be the series regulars resided somewhere north of Missoula, and it also happened that they—two couples with children—had originally pitched the idea of Big Foot Territory: Montana! to Sphinx months ago when his Big Foot Territory: Oregon! had first aired and showed signs of promise. So, essentially, not only were the feuding couples the brains behind the show, but the stars as well.

One of the series originators was actually a writer who had come up with several episodes. However, none of the ideas for the series had been as attention grabbing as Bianca’s story of being chased by a Big Foot and her subsequent discovery of the dead body of a classmate, so that was their big hook.

And they were rushing everything into production, Barclay had explained, to capture the public’s interest in the murder of Destiny Rose Montclaire. Which, according to her mother, was just using the tragedy for his own gain.

The upshot was the whole preproduction had been squeezed. Taking the pitched ideas and scripts, reworking them to fit with Bianca’s experience, and filming as quickly as could be done.

So, as it turned out, Bianca saw, the only reason the show was going to be filmed around Grizzly Falls was because of the murder, the actual real life-and-death tie to the area. And there was something just not right about that—something slimy and almost predatory about it.

Though her dad and Michelle had assured her the trailer at the end of the episode and the reward would help Destiny’s family, the whole idea left a bad taste in her mouth.

Michelle was disappointed that her role might not be continued beyond episode one, and possibly two, but she still saw opportunity. After all, Sphinx had practically promised them that their “backstory” would still be woven into the main plot of the

feuding Big Foot families. She seemed to think there was a strong chance that she and Bianca would be on camera again. Not so the other kids and extras. The jury was still out on Carlton Jeffe, Lex Farnsby, and Fred Nesmith of the Big Foot Believers. They would all appear in episode one, but that might be the end of their involvement, which was a case for more grumbling.

A chime indicated another text had come in.

She lifted the phone, stared at the screen, then sucked in a sharp breath.

The message was from Lindsay Cronin and said simply:

I’m not coming back.

CHAPTER 21

“We got the same text,” the Cronins reported when Pescoli stopped by their house on the way to the vigil for Destiny Rose Montclaire. Darlie was sniffling against her husband again as they stood in the open doorway, Pescoli in the shade of the porch’s overhang. When Bianca had received the text from Lindsay, Pescoli had reacted quickly, calling the department and filling in Zoller as well as Alvarez. Now, she was facing Lindsay’s parents.

Darlie appeared to shiver despite the heat, and a cardigan sweater had been tossed over her shirt. Roy, though round, had seemed to shrink a bit, as if his plaid shirt were suddenly too big. They looked as if they’d aged a decade in a few days. Their worry was extreme, their fear palpable.

Pescoli felt for them. “I understand there was a group text, but I was hoping there was more.”

“No,” Roy said, frowning.

“I called back immediately,” his wife said. “To Lindsay. The text came and I speed-dialed Lindsay. No answer. Then I texted and called and texted and called, leaving message after message, begging her to respond, but she didn’t.” Her eyes were flat, her cheeks red from weeping. “Why would she do this to us?”

“She wouldn’t, hon,” her husband assured her. “Not our Lindsay.” His jaw tightened and he squeezed his wife close.

Pescoli nodded. They were living a parent’s worst nightmare.