The Alpine Betrayal Read Online Free PDF

all outside my frame of reference. Whoever Louie was, he probably had been one of the three grubs in
Road Weary
. “Vulnerable,” I said, taking a guess. “Strong, though, in many ways. Under the surface,” I added hastily.
    Still grinning, Reid Hampton slapped his hands together. “Exactly! It isn’t every cocker spaniel you can get to put those emotions across. Cockers in particular aren’t too bright. I should have used a collie, but then everybody thinks
Lassie
and all that sentimental crap. On screen, animals always have a—” He stopped and looked over my head. I turned to see Carla outside one of the big trailers talking to a slim blonde who had to be Dani Marsh. Hampton took my arm. “Come on, you must meet our star, your own hometown heroine. Dani’s great, a real talent, absolutely catches fire in front of the camera. And Matt Tabor—together they’ll scorch the screen. I’ve been trying to put this package together for over two years.”
    Dani Marsh was one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. She had honey blonde hair, limpid brown eyes, and not-quite-perfect features with a mouth too wide and brows too thick, but the overall effect was stunning. I realized I had never seen her in a movie, but according to Vida’s reworking of the studio press release, Dani had zoomed to the top of the heap with only three major roles, two of them in pictures directed by Reid Hampton.
    Dani was almost as expansive as her director. She shot out a hand and gave me a dazzling smile. “Ms. Lord! Carla has told me all about you! I think it’s wonderful that a woman has taken over from that old curmudgeon, Marius Whatsisname. Is he dead?”
    “No,” I answered, finding her forthright manner irresistible. “Just retired and moved away. Marius Vandeventer is indestructible.”
    Dani laughed, a lovely, tinkling sound that made Carla’s frequent bouts of giggling sound like a car crash. “I’ve so much catching up to do in Alpine. Five years! And it
has
changed. I’m so glad I talked Reid into doing some location shooting up here.” She threw back her head and looked uptoward the twin, flat crests of Mount Baldy. “I used to go berry-picking up there. My mother and I would make pies and jam.”
    From what I’d seen of Patti Marsh, making book would have been more like it. Fleetingly, I wondered if Dani had attempted a reunion with her mother yet. I tried to see any resemblance between Dani and Patti, but my recollection of the senior Marsh was fogged by the dark smoky interior of Mugs Ahoy.
    At the edge of the meadow, activity was suddenly underway. Cameras were being moved into position, equipment was being set up, a background—which looked to me like a replica of the view I was looking at—had even been dropped in the middle of the fake snow.
    “Excuse me,” said Dani, “I have to get into my costume.” At the moment, she was wearing a dark green leotard that displayed finely toned and roundly contoured body parts. I had an insane—and fleeting—urge to exercise. “Believe it or not,” she laughed, “I have to put on a parka and ski pants. I may melt before this picture is wrapped!” With a graceful little wave, she climbed the four portable stairs that led to the trailer that housed her dressing room.
    Reid Hampton was off consulting with his assistant director; Carla was hobnobbing with a bald man behind the camera; and descending from the cab of the trailer was Matt Tabor, carrying a can of diet soda. I allowed myself to stare. I have seen Matt Tabor in at least four films, and although his acting range may be limited, his sexual attraction is not. Matt had been cast in the heroic mold, with chiseled features, wavy black hair, a terrific torso, and those seductive green eyes that had earned rave reviews from Carla and fifty million other females. Indeed, Matt Tabor was so incredibly good-looking that I not only stared, but laughed out loud.
    He shot me a curious glance, and I actually