Crossover Murder: Reality TV Cozy Mysteries, #2

By Nikki Haverstock

Being the star of a reality TV show means that all your secrets can come out.
Melissa McBallister and her rescue dog, Bubbles, are stars of the hottest reality show on TV. Savvy Socialites of Fishcreek Falls is so popular that producers have arranged a crossover episode with another show, Texas Shore Cowboys. Their cast arrives with plenty of drama and fighting. It is a surprise to everyone when one of their stars tumbles out of a pink cowboy hat on stage, dead. Melissa steps up to solve the mystery while dodging paparazzi and her own secrets.
Ryan is the producer of the show but finds himself distracted by Melissa. When a female friend from college shows up during the filming of a crossover episode, he wonders if he wants to follow old dreams. There's no time to ponder his feelings, as the socialites are eager to be the first to solve the latest murder and Ryan must scrabble to get it all on camera.

Reality TV Cozy Mysteries 2

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ranch Dog Entertainment, LLC
• Release date: Nov 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540176332

Nikki Haverstock

Nikki Haverstock lives with her husband and dogs on a cattle ranch high in the Rocky Mountains. Before escaping the city, Nikki taught collegiate archery for ten years. She has competed on and off for fifteen in the USA Archery women’s recurve division. In the 2015, she finished the season ranked 14th nationally. Nikki has more college degrees than she has sense and hopefully one day she will put one to work.

Book preview

To Baby Haverstock. You sucked away all my brainpower and energy, but you were with me every step of the way.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thank you to my husband John, who kept me on task when pregnancy threated to send me off the rails.

Thank you to Zara Keane, Lydia Rowan, Kaily Hart and Sadie Haller. Not only are you all great authors, but you’re an endless source of support and information.

To Teresa Johnson, Holly Cooper, Lori Peterson, and Andrea Jane, thank you for the daily messages that keep me from being a total recluse.

Huge, overdue thanks to Brent Trotter and Paris McCoy who kept me sane during my time as a host and executive producer of a competitive reality show. Thank you for teaching me about the business and preventing a complete mental breakdown.

A special thanks to Zoe York. Not only is she a friend, but she hosted an amazing seminar, Romance Your Brand, which focused on building a series.resource.

Last but not least, thank you to the people that make this book shine: development editor Jodi Henley, cover artist Rebecca Poole, and Red Adept Editing.

Being the star of a reality TV show means that all your secrets can come out.

Melissa McBallister and her rescue dog, Bubbles, are stars of the hottest reality show on TV. Savvy Socialites of Fishcreek Falls is so popular that producers have arranged a crossover episode with another show, Texas Shore Cowboys. Their cast arrives with plenty of drama and fighting. It is a surprise to everyone when one of their stars tumbles out of a pink cowboy hat on stage, dead. Melissa steps up to solve the mystery while dodging paparazzi and her own secrets.

Ryan is the producer of the show but finds himself distracted by Melissa. When a female friend from college shows up during the filming of a crossover episode, he wonders if he wants to follow old dreams. There’s no time to ponder his feelings, as the socialites are eager to be the first to solve the latest murder and Ryan must scramble to get it all on camera.

Reality TV Cozy Mysteries 2

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Also By Nikki Haverstock

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Lights, Camera, Murder

Crossover Murder

Casino Witch Mysteries

Of Murders and Mages

Which Mage Moved the Cheese?

No Business like Mage Business

Nice Day for a Mage Wedding

Dragons are a Mage’s Best Friend

Dragons are Forever

Only the Good Mages Die Young

Casino Witch Mini Mysteries

The Case of the Murdered Moose

The Case of the Criminal Christmas

The Case of the Foretold Fatality

Purgatory Falls Mysteries

Mermaid in Troubled Water

Snowed in Mermaid

Mermaid to the Rescue

Captain Liz Laika Mysteries

Space Murder

Alien Ambush

Space Station Investigation

Target Practice Mysteries

Death on the Range

Death at the Summit

Death at the Trade Show

Death Indoors

Death in the Casino

Death from Abroad

Death in the Desert

Death in the Dormitory - short story

CHAPTER ONE

Ryan

Beth sat next to me, double-checking a list on her clipboard against the crew members wandering around the room. She was technically an AD, assistant director, on Savvy Socialites of Fishcreek Falls, but privately, I thought of her as the show’s savior. She was organized, easygoing, and always one step ahead of me. We had lost the majority of our crew after the initial four-week run was over. Many had already booked new jobs, and I had trusted her opinion hiring the new crew.

She ticked off the last name on the list and turned to me. Everyone’s here.

I nodded and stood. We’re ready to get started.

The conversations slowly stopped, and everyone looked for a seat.

I let out a deep breath I felt as if I had been holding for weeks. To the crew members who just joined us, welcome to your first production meeting. First off, I want to thank everyone for being here on such short notice. I’m Ryan Sethi, the producer. This is my sister, Rebecca Sethi, the director. Bec, will you pass out the schedules?

She stood up and started handing everyone a sheet of paper. Hey, everyone. I look forward to working with you. Even for our industry, I think you’ll find this be to an unusual job.

A range of chuckles went up around the room.

A heavyset man with a permanent frown etched onto his face and a walrus mustache raised one finger in the air. Anyone else planning to die around here?

Beth barked with laughter then slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle it.

I shook my head at her, smiled, then addressed the room. Murder is not on the schedule, but I’m going to address that topic since it does affect it. I’m not sure how much everyone knows, but if you’ve been living on planet Earth, then I’m sure you’re aware that a few weeks ago, there was a murder on set. It was a fluke and won’t happen again.

For a second, memories of Melissa flit across my mind. I had tried to keep her from investigating the murder. We both had almost died, and I had never been so scared. Nothing had felt as good as wrapping my arms around her when we were all safe again. But, all too quickly, things had returned to normal, with each of us on opposite sides of the camera. It made me wish for another murder in order to be close to her again.

It was going to be tough to learn all the new names. We still had our data wrangler, Billy, and the two Jasons—one worked on audio, and the other was a camera guy. Rebecca handed out the last schedule and pulled out her chair. Could you imagine our ratings if someone else died?

I shook my head. That storyline is over. We devoted episodes three and also four, which airs this Sunday, to the wrapping up of the who, what, and where of the murder. We’re treating the second half of the season, episodes five through eight, as its own season, in a way. We’re starting new storylines and rebooting the effort to get to know each socialite.

I cleared my throat and firmly put the murder in a box that I mentally closed up. "Back to the schedule. Our plan for the rest of filming is we film Monday through Wednesday with the socialites then do some pick-up shots and such Thursday and possibly Friday. You’ll have Saturday off, and Sunday might be on or off. That will be our normal schedule, but this week is different. We’re doing cross promotion with another show that airs on a sister network. The show is Texas Shore Cowboys. They’re coming into town tomorrow and filming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We’ll be sending out some of you each day to join their crew and get extra footage. Then, Monday, their crew will join our socialites for filming. On Monday, we’ll film a scene with Heather and Melissa and whatever socialites they drag along then—"

Camera Jason laughed loudly. Oh boy.

A blonde across the table leaned over. Which two are those?

Melissa’s the one with the dog. She caught the killer with Ryan. Heather’s the one that accused Melissa of being the murderer.

The blonde leaned back in her seat. Oh! That’s right. They call her Hateful Heather.

I quickly cut in. No one calls her Hateful Heather on set. Not unless they wanted a ticket back to Los Angeles with a reputation for being unprofessional.

She shook her head. Of course not.

I felt of twinge of hypocrisy and decided to meet it head on. I got caught right up in the middle of all the drama, and it resulted in a dislocated shoulder. I’m not going to pretend I’m perfect when it comes to cast objectivity. I just ask that we keep our mouths shut on set, but when you are here, at the hotel, you are welcome to talk candidly. Fair?

I looked around the room, and everyone nodded in agreement. "Back to the schedule. Monday, we film with Heather and Melissa and whatever other socialites they invite—my gut says Priscilla, Magdalena, and Barbie will probably all be there. That same evening, Heather is hosting a welcome party for the cast of Texas Shore Cowboys at the Trumpett Hotel that she owns with her husband. That will probably be a late night. Tuesday afternoon, we’ll film the concert, and Wednesday, we’ll break up to follow different socialites as they show the band around the town. Thursday and Friday, we’ll be getting B-roll for the rest of the season. Saturday off. Sunday, we’ll have our next production meeting. Look over the sheets. If you have any questions, Beth’s your contact. Good night."

The production meeting broke up. A few people stood up and left the large conference room the hotel was loaning us as a production office for the filming duration. The rest broke into little groups to move through the ritual of seeing if they had worked with the same people or engage in the secret language that revealed who was experienced. We didn’t have a full crew by any means, but we were getting used to that. We had enough to get by, although our production team was dangerously low on sleep.

A short, dark-haired guy with round glasses approached and extended a hand in greeting. Hi, Ryan. I’m Ken from Ian’s office. I was wondering if I could talk to you about some medical concerns I have.

Because we were so shorthanded, Ian had been kind enough to send over some of his production staff to help. He had described Ken as a bit high-strung but nice and incredibly talented. After seeing some of his work, I agreed. Part of the job was working with a lot of different personalities, and I was very good at it.

Nice to have you on board, Ken. How can I help you?

Ken twitched his left shoulder up before continuing. I want to make sure that since we are so rural and remote that we have access to medical help in times of emergency.

I studied his face before answering, trying to get a handle on what he had asked. Fishcreek Falls might be a small town far away from a major city like Denver, but it was hardly the Australian outback in terms of resources. No need to worry. There’s a major hospital within a few miles, and Kate, one of the production assistants, works as an EMT on the slopes. She can help with any on-set incidents until the ambulance arrives, but we’ll be fine. No accidents allowed. I smiled at him.

He twitched his shoulder again, just the one side. Good, good, but what about diseases?

Excuse me?

I’ve been reading up, and there are all these exotic diseases you can get: Zika, chronic wasting disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, rabies, the plague—

I cut him off before he could list every malady known to man. You know what? Katie! I had spotted Katie milling around the room, and I motioned her over. As she approached, I gestured to Ken. This is Ken, a camera operator from Los Angeles that will be with us through the rest of the season. I told him that you are a trained EMT. Can you talk to him about some concerns he has and help him feel more comfortable?

Absolutely. Nice to meet you, Ken. She shook his hand and smiled up at me while sneaking in a quick wink. Why don’t we sit down and you can tell me everything.

Since we had hired Katie, she had been eager to help with anything I asked. Being a PA meant she did a bit of everything, and so far, she had done all of that to my personal high standards. If anyone could put Ken at ease and had the time to do it, it was Katie.

I stepped away from the conference table to the set of tables that ran along one wall.

Rebecca followed me over. "I’m not excited about filming with Texas Shore Cowboys. I hate power struggles. How are two parallel productions on site going to work?"

Up through Sunday, they’re in charge. I’m not even worried about it since we’re not using any of that footage. Monday through Wednesday, we’re in charge.

Beth joined us. I’ve done some research on their show in between setting up their locations. She waggled her eyebrows. She was going to save us again.

What did you find out?

The star of the show is Peppin No-last-name. She was on that singing competition show a few years ago and came in second. She got her own reality show with a band that the network put together. They mostly party and sleep around. It was a big deal a few years ago, but I think this will be their last season. That’s why they were so eager to cross promo with us. We’re the hottest thing in reality TV right now.

Who says that crime doesn’t pay? One little murder, and suddenly, we’re a success. When the network had decided to cut to four episodes, we had cancelled the last four episodes. When ratings took off, they changed back to eight episodes, and we had been scrambling ever since. I didn’t want to admit how close we were to not pulling it together.

Beth sat on the edge of the table. They had already cancelled next week’s concert. They said it was because of a rabid bat infestation at the venue, but that might have been a lucky coincidence. I poked around, and their ticket sales are awful. Plus, they’re having issues on set. The director would say one thing, then the producer another, flippy-floppy. I gave up trying to follow their plans, but Monday through Wednesday, the schedule is locked down since that is when we will be filming with them. Every time they try to make changes, I tell them, ‘Sorry, but that just isn’t possible.’

Rebecca chuckled. I’m glad we have you on our side.

Beth turned to me. And I have a message for you from one of the crew on their show. Elizabeth Gill says hi.

The name didn’t initially sound familiar, but it nudged something far back in my brain. I had known a Gill once. Liz Gill. I knew her in college. We were…

Beth and Rebecca waited for me to finish the thought, but instead, I changed topics.

All the teachers thought she was great, even our cranky advisor. Speaking of difficult people, have you talked to all the socialites?

Beth snorted. Yes, they’re prepped for filming next week and have a general outline of what we’re doing, but I left out a lot of details because I want them to be surprised on camera. Except Priscilla—since the Texas Shore Cowboys concert will be at her theater, I had to give her all the details. I don’t think she’s too eager to talk to the rest of the cast. In fact, I don’t think most of them are too eager to talk.

They better get over it soon. We have a show to film. The last crew members left the room. Let’s call it a night. We have a lot of work before we film the socialites Monday.

Elizabeth Gill was working on the Texas Shore Cowboys show. I hadn’t thought of her in years. My stomach tied itself in a knot as I gathered up my things and flipped off the light.

***

Melissa

Bubbles whined from the backseat, where he was strapped into a dog seat belt. It was safer than sitting on my lap, but try explaining that to a dog. It was Monday, our first day back to filming with the entire cast.

I reached over to squeeze Magdalena’s knee in the passenger seat. Thanks for going with me to meet Heather. I haven’t seen her since the whole murder thing.

She smiled at me briefly. Sure. No problem.

Things had been a bit tense between us. She was hurt that she’d gotten cut out of the investigation a few weeks earlier when our former castmate had been killed. I’d tried my best to apologize and explain that it wasn’t on purpose. The media frenzy that had surrounded me for the past two weeks hadn’t helped. I’d eventually promised the next time I investigated a murder, I wouldn’t ask a single question without her at my side. That had gotten her to laugh.

This weekend, we had gone back to the Catholic retreat center to visit with Sister Mary and gotten some down time. Even though I wasn’t Catholic, everyone had been very welcoming, and the time spent helping the Sisters prepare the gardens for spring had refreshed my soul.

Butterflies flipped in my stomach as we pulled up to the restaurant on the main road through town. It was on the block of businesses that rented space from another Savvy Socialite, Priscilla. One half of the store sold expensive olive oils and balsamic vinegars in every flavor imaginable. The other side was a tiny restaurant that featured a variety of dishes utilizing the unique ingredients sold there. A sign overhead read Olive Me Olive You. There were large picture windows at the front of the store that gave us a clear view of the entire interior of the shop. Heather sat at the head of a table, with Priscilla and Barbie on either side, like a Botoxed version of the Last Supper. I hadn’t been the only one to bring backup.

Thick snowflakes fell from the gray sky. A few weeks ago, I’d been sure that spring had sprung, but weather in the Colorado Rocky Mountains was unpredictable, and we had fallen back into a mild winter, at least for today. I stepped into the slushy street, where the snow was melting on contact, slid on my jacket, and grabbed my purse before unbuckling Bubbles from his safety harness. He shivered as the chilly air whipped through the open door.

Bubbles was so tiny, with a bare belly, not the type of dog that thrived in cold weather. He scratched at my leg as I dug through my bag I carried around for him to find the jacket I had bought him. It was red plaid, with a long Velcro strap running down the back. I helped Bubbles step through the front leg holes and pressed it closed. Scooping him into my jacket, I zipped up. Do you think it gets any easier? Entering the lion’s den, I mean.

Magdalena tipped her head to the side in thought as she hopped out of the car and joined me on the sidewalk. It’s not a lion’s den. Heather’s mad at you, but when isn’t she? Barbie just wants everyone to get along. Priscilla, on the other hand—she’s pissed equally at you and Heather.

About what?

Magdalena shrugged. "Don’t worry. Miss Pris will tell you. Come on, they’ve spotted