Day 9 by Robert T. Jeschonek Read Free Book Online

How do you know my name?"
    Luanne wiped away tears. "Oh, Kitty. I haven't seen you in thirty years, since the day you d—" She caught herself and turned away.
    Quincy, who was off-camera, followed her with the boom microphone that hung from a pole over her head. Like Dunne, he'd been recruited by Enrique to help with the film.
    Only Hannahlee had not volunteered. Instead, she stood beside Enrique, solemnly watching the proceedings.
    Dunne wondered what she thought of it all. Did she feel nostalgic for the original show? Did memories, good and bad, swirl within her? Did she long to join Luanne on the set and try to recapture the magic? Did she feel anything at all?
    Looking at her, he couldn't tell. Her face remained unreadable, as if it were only a plastic place-holder representing the real woman, who was located a thousand miles away.
    "Can it be?" Luanne's emotion-packed line pulled Dunne's attention back to the set. She whirled to face the actress playing Kitty. "What day is this?"
    Kitty raised the pistol. "Are you on PCP or something?"
    "What day is it?" said Luanne. "Please tell me."
    Kitty narrowed her eyes. "May 6 th , 1977. Friday." She glanced at her watch. "Nine forty-three A.M. All right? Are you happy now?"
    Slowly, Luanne sank to the sofa. "Oh my God." She looked dazed. "This is it. This is the day."
    "Okay, honey." Kitty moved toward her, keeping the gun leveled in her direction. "We'd better get you back to the hospital now."
    Luanne spoke her next words in a stage whisper, gazing directly at the camera. "This is the day...when Kitty died ." Then, she buried her horrified expression in her hands and began to sob.
    A moment later, Enrique shouted, "Cut!"
    Everyone relaxed instantly. The cast and crew hustled around the soundstage, tending to their usual between-scenes duties.
    Except Luanne. The second the scene ended, she leaped off the sofa and made a beeline for Hannahlee. Before Hannahlee could react, Luanne flung her arms around her and squeezed.
    "Thank you," said Luanne. "Oh, thank you for being here."
    Hannahlee stood stiffly, letting the hug happen around her without actually participating.
    Luanne leaned back and cupped Hannahlee's face in her hands. "You made that scene possible for me. Seeing you out here enabled me to recapture the feeling of loving and losing a sister." Luanne smiled warmly. "Loving and losing you , Kitty Willow, in particular."
    Hannahlee sighed. "Someone murdered Scott Savage," she said. "If you're not careful, I might not be the only one who ends up loved and lost."
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    CHAPTER 9
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    Warpath Journal
    Dateline: Scratchtown Studios, Austin, Texas

    So clever are the forgeries, even I am fooled for a moment.
    The film set looks exactly like the Team Room at Posse Ranch back home in Arizona. Other than the cameras and lights, it's perfect down to the last detail—from the I-Ching on the coffee table to the African spears and martial arts weapons on the walls.
    In the middle of it stand Kitty and Bella, my beloved sisters, just like any day in the life of the Willows. I could easily imagine the rest of the family pouring in for a briefing or debriefing—Kenya playing her flute, Buzz tinkering with an invention, Free working on a poem, Leif admiring himself in the mirror.
    Not that Leif is likely to show up, since the Poison Oaks have him. Even his mirror-image imposter is dead.
    Because I killed him.
    And the killing isn't done. Not while the brazen imposters of Kitty and Bella dare to embrace in that diabolical replica of the fabled Team Room.
    Not while a single evil duplicate still walks the Earth. This I swear.
    For I am War Willow, and this is my warpath.
    Rage burns inside me as I perform the menial tasks that let me blend in with the film crew. I can barely hold myself back as I bide my time, watching my target and waiting for the best moment to kill her.
    But I do not take it lightly, this killing. As necessary as it is, I know too well the