Jennifer flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Get off my set. I never want to see your face near one of my projects again.”
Seth slunk to the truck. Jennifer stepped up to the open door. “Drive yourself to the airport. I’ll have someone meet you there with a ticket home and your things. I’m deducting the cost from your last paycheck.”
He slammed the door in her face and started the vehicle. A gopher ran up, panting hard. “I was just in his trailer—it’s cleared out.”
“What do you mean?’ Miguel asked.
“I mean, all his stuff is gone.” He pointed down the lane. “My guess is it’s in the truck.”
All of them spun to look at Sparkle as the realization that she’d almost been reindeer napped sank in. Jack put an arm around her neck and rubbed her side. She leaned into him for support.
Drake lifted his phone to his ear. “I’m calling the sheriff. He can have a police escort to the airport. That should discourage him from coming back.” He stepped away to make the call.
Jennifer regarded her. “I’m not sure how I feel about what you did here.”
Natasha shrugged. “I did the right thing and don’t regret it.” Not that she’d done much.
Jennifer narrowed her eyes. “You need to remember whose side you’re on.” She turned on her heel and headed back to the set, where the actors and crew were out of place—most of them on their phones.
Miguel turned to her. “Are you coming?”
Natasha waved him off. “You’ll have to finish without me. I have some business to take care of here.”
He glanced from the coat she wore to Jack.
Natasha rolled her eyes. “Not that kind of business.”
He shrugged. “It’s none of my never mind. But that reindeer is on set in an hour. Yeah?”
She gave him a thumbs up. Hugging herself, she wasn’t sure if she should talk to Jack now or not. He’d been pretty upset. Maybe he needed a minute to cool off. She hung back as he and Drake fell into a discussion.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Jack stood with Drake, glaring at the crew as they made their way back to the set. That Jennifer was something else, wheeling and dealing her way through things as if they all had a price.
He didn’t let them stay because she’d fired the guy, though that helped. He and Drake decided they couldn’t hold the whole crew responsible for one man’s actions. Over the last couple of weeks, they’d gotten to know some of them—these people had families. The ones on contract didn’t get paid until filming was complete. If they canceled the movie, they’d go home without a paycheck. What kind of Christmas was that?
Neither of them wanted that weight on their shoulders, so they’d let the crew stay to give them one more chance. He meant what he’d said; if anyone went near the reindeer again, he’d haul them and their trailers off his property himself. He could do it, too—the tractor was waiting in the barn.
He didn’t feel bad about Seth getting fired. The guy claimed he was innocent, but there was no way he missed the authorized personnel, only signs on the door to the barn. Nor did he misunderstand the rules. On top of that, the fact that his trailer was cleaned out meant he would disappear. Putting Sparkle in the back of a props van was a great idea. No one would suspect it.
“Do you think he saw anything in the barn?” Drake asked. His question was code for: Do you think he saw a flying reindeer? Enough people were milling about that could overhear them, so they had to be cautious.
Also, Natasha was within hearing distance, waiting to talk to him. As much as he wanted to go to her, he had to wrap this up first. His responsibilities to the reindeer were ingrained so deeply that he couldn’t sleep unless they were all settled down for the night.
Jack turned, grabbing Sparkle’s lead rope and bringing her into the conversation. “Let’s ask her. Sparkle?”
She batted her Liz Taylor eyelashes at them:I was on the ground, ready for you to come to get me.
Drake rubbed her forehead. “What about the others?”
Her eyes looked off to the right:Weeeelll.
Jack kicked the snow. “What?”
She wiggled her nose:Rudy was in the rafters. But he stayed still, and the man didn’t look up.
“You’re sure?” Jack pressed.
