Deception on the Set by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online Page A

back to our first positions, I noticed Joe standing off to the side. He was wearing brown overalls, so I guess he had been helping Meredith with some messy chemicals in the makeup trailer. He must’ve just stepped away to check out my big scene. I gave him a wave, but he didn’t wave back, which was weird because he seemed to be looking right at me.
    â€œAnd . . . action!” shouted Josh.
    Chelsea ran from me as before, but this time I clung to her jacket as Josh had instructed. But I wasn’t ready for how hard she would fight back, and she quickly jerked it from my grasp. She was safe behind the doorway after that.
    â€œOkay, let’s try it again,” said Josh. “And this time hold on and don’t let go.”
    â€œWill do,” I told him.
    I looked over to where Joe had been, but he was gone. I scanned the crew and spotted my brother standing next to a huge movie light on a lowered crane. The light was on a large stand inside the crane’s bucket. Long yellow straps extended from the bucket to the light itself. There were fourof them, and they seemed to be all that was keeping the light from tipping out of the basket.
    That’s when I noticed that Joe wasn’t merely standing by the light; he was examining the yellow straps. I wondered what he was up to. Had he found a lead in the case?
    â€œAnd . . . action!” shouted Josh.
    Chelsea and I went through the scene again. This time, however, I snatched that jacket and held on for dear life. Chelsea jerked me around, but I held tight. Then, as my head was being jostled all over the place, I caught a glimpse of Joe again. To my disbelief, he was loosening the straps on the light. He had no business touching that equipment. People were going to think that he was the saboteur!
    I couldn’t help myself. I released Chelsea’s jacket and ran off the set.
    â€œCut!” shouted Josh. “Where’s my zombie going?”
    This made Joe look up. He saw me closing in and took off. Why was he running from me? I may have looked like a scary zombie, but Joe knew who I was.
    I poured on the speed as Joe pulled away. He darted into another alley to try to lose me. I kept up and followed him down a short passageway, which dumped onto a busy street downtown. At the very end, he turned left.
    â€œAhhhhhhhh!” screamed a blond girl with earsplitting intensity.
    I skidded to a stop as the sidewalk’s pedestrians turned to gawk at me. Some screamed, some backed away, and somemoved closer. I guess they were shocked to see a zombie in broad daylight in the middle of downtown nowhere near Halloween.
    â€œAh, excuse me,” I said as I tried to politely push through the pack.
    Unfortunately, it didn’t work. No one was frightened anymore; instead they were opting to crowd around for a closer look.
    â€œCan you take a picture with me?” asked a female voice. I glanced down to see it was the same girl who had screamed at first. Now she smiled and held up her phone.
    â€œMaybe thome other thime,” I mumbled through my zombie teeth. I was getting better at speaking with the prosthetics in my mouth.
    I gazed over the crowd and could see my brother getting away, running down the sidewalk. He turned down Wilson Avenue and disappeared. It was no use trying to catch him; even if I could push through the horde, he had too big a lead on me.
    I spun around to get out of there and back to the set. That’s when I ran straight into . . . Joe!
    â€œWhoa! Watch where you’re going, undead dude,” he said. I noticed he wasn’t wearing the overalls anymore.
    I pulled the teeth out of my mouth. “How did you get here?”
    Joe cut his eyes to the left. “Uh . . . I walked.” He looked over the gathering crowd. “They said you spazzed and ranthis way.” He glanced back at me. “What—are you signing autographs or something?”
    I grabbed