Read Online Nobody Knows by Mary Jane Clark - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mary Jane Clark
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business empire included a state-of-the-art production studio in Sarasota, an Internet website, and a distribution warehouse in Miami to fill the thousands of orders that poured in every month. He’d chosen to locate in Sarasota in part because he hated the cold northeast winters but also because he wanted the option of shooting outside all year round. The location had afforded him another rich stream of ideas. His Circus series was wildly successful, and Fishermen and Golfers were big hits as well. It was amazing how creative his actors could be with fishing rods and seven irons.
Webb was enthused about his latest project.
Velvet Nights in Venice
. He’d written the script, inspired by the Venetian architecture of Cà d’Zan and the velvety skin of Merilee. Tonight the plans were all in place to shoot on the terrace of the old Ringling mansion at a fund-raiser being held for literacy projects. What a joke! Brian Mueller would shoot video for SuncoastNews, and all the society swells would be eager to have their mugs shown on the eleven o’clock news supporting the worthy cause. Little would they suspect that the outtakes would be used to open Webb’s next video.
Mueller had his instructions. He would take care to get extra video of the guests taken from angles that didn’t show their faces. He’d get lots of long shots and back shots of the gowned and tuxedoed partygoers clustered on the Italian marble terrace sipping cocktails and champagne on a warm summer night. The Boys Next Door would be playing, keeping everyone smiling. Festive material indeed to set the scene for the movie that would take off as two of the revelers steal away for a tryst in the side garden beneath the bronze statue of the naked babies Romulus and Remus with their wolf mother.
Of course, the core of the movie would be shot later. Merilee and Van would shoot that in the protected studio, and then the scenes of thrashing would be edited to the terrace party material to look as though it had all happened the same night. To make the transition seamless, Webb planned to have his stars mingling with all the aboveboard types during the cocktail hour. He’d spent a small fortune on Merilee’s dress, but he hadn’t minded one bit. He’d loved watching her model it for him last week. Her smooth shoulders gleamed over the strapless lamé gown. Her brown eyes sparkled as she twirled in delight, tossing her dark hair. She was a natural for this business, but as Webb viewed her in the designer attire, he knew that under a different set of circumstances, Merilee could make it in the respectableworld as well. She carried herself with her chin raised, erect and graceful. There was soft Latin beauty to her face. It was just an accident of birth that had led Merilee to this line of work. An accident of birth and the fact that she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But she sure wasn’t dumb. When she found out how many copies her first video had sold, she was right in there, threatening to leave if Webb didn’t give her a cut of the profits on the next one. No way that was ever going to happen.
Webb rose from the sofa, walked over to the wall unit, and took the video from the player. He needed to get dressed and drive to the office. He had to go to Plan B and get Gloria up to speed. Fortunately she was the same size as Merilee and could slip into the form-fitting gown.
Yes, Gloria would have to step into Merilee’s role, because his beauty had been missing for several days now.
CHAPTER 12
Leroy Barry clicked through the Sarasota website looking for a place to use as a base of operation when they covered what he hoped would be a rip-roaring, raging hurricane. He had a list of criteria. First off, he wanted to be near something visual. The ocean was preferable, with a pier or jetty that the waves could crash on. Lots of swaying palm trees would be a plus as well.
But Leroy had special, technical concerns. The satellite truck they would be
Webb was enthused about his latest project.
Velvet Nights in Venice
. He’d written the script, inspired by the Venetian architecture of Cà d’Zan and the velvety skin of Merilee. Tonight the plans were all in place to shoot on the terrace of the old Ringling mansion at a fund-raiser being held for literacy projects. What a joke! Brian Mueller would shoot video for SuncoastNews, and all the society swells would be eager to have their mugs shown on the eleven o’clock news supporting the worthy cause. Little would they suspect that the outtakes would be used to open Webb’s next video.
Mueller had his instructions. He would take care to get extra video of the guests taken from angles that didn’t show their faces. He’d get lots of long shots and back shots of the gowned and tuxedoed partygoers clustered on the Italian marble terrace sipping cocktails and champagne on a warm summer night. The Boys Next Door would be playing, keeping everyone smiling. Festive material indeed to set the scene for the movie that would take off as two of the revelers steal away for a tryst in the side garden beneath the bronze statue of the naked babies Romulus and Remus with their wolf mother.
Of course, the core of the movie would be shot later. Merilee and Van would shoot that in the protected studio, and then the scenes of thrashing would be edited to the terrace party material to look as though it had all happened the same night. To make the transition seamless, Webb planned to have his stars mingling with all the aboveboard types during the cocktail hour. He’d spent a small fortune on Merilee’s dress, but he hadn’t minded one bit. He’d loved watching her model it for him last week. Her smooth shoulders gleamed over the strapless lamé gown. Her brown eyes sparkled as she twirled in delight, tossing her dark hair. She was a natural for this business, but as Webb viewed her in the designer attire, he knew that under a different set of circumstances, Merilee could make it in the respectableworld as well. She carried herself with her chin raised, erect and graceful. There was soft Latin beauty to her face. It was just an accident of birth that had led Merilee to this line of work. An accident of birth and the fact that she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But she sure wasn’t dumb. When she found out how many copies her first video had sold, she was right in there, threatening to leave if Webb didn’t give her a cut of the profits on the next one. No way that was ever going to happen.
Webb rose from the sofa, walked over to the wall unit, and took the video from the player. He needed to get dressed and drive to the office. He had to go to Plan B and get Gloria up to speed. Fortunately she was the same size as Merilee and could slip into the form-fitting gown.
Yes, Gloria would have to step into Merilee’s role, because his beauty had been missing for several days now.
CHAPTER 12
Leroy Barry clicked through the Sarasota website looking for a place to use as a base of operation when they covered what he hoped would be a rip-roaring, raging hurricane. He had a list of criteria. First off, he wanted to be near something visual. The ocean was preferable, with a pier or jetty that the waves could crash on. Lots of swaying palm trees would be a plus as well.
But Leroy had special, technical concerns. The satellite truck they would be
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