Chapter 46

July, 1987

"Look, I can still go to Chicago, or even to Camden with you, if you want," Blake told Jenny as he drove the rental car out into the Vegas traffic, which was heavy, even though it was after midnight. "I don't mind."

It was Monday night, and Jenny's last show of the gig was over with. They'd been jam-packed, extra admission shows for the Fourth of July weekend, and they'd really gone well. She was exhausted from the show, glad it was over with, but glad she'd put on a good show, too. "Blake, it really won't be necessary," she replied. "Once I get on that plane, I'm Jennifer Evachevski again, and I've got a purse full of driver's licenses and stuff like that to prove it."

"No big deal," Blake protested. "By the time I get up to the Bay area, it's gonna be late, anyway. I can take the redeye with you, and an early morning flight back to the coast. I can get all the sleep I need on the plane."

"Blake, you're a dear," Jenny told him, stifling a yawn. The letdown following the high of the show was getting to her, now. "You'd be a great mother. I'm the one that ought to be worried about you horsing around up there in Frisco, not you about me in Spearfish Lake."

"There'll be a lot of people in O'Hare, even at that hour of the morning," Blake protested. "It wouldn't be any big deal."

"That's why Jennifer Evachevski is going coach. Nobody would expect Jenny Easton to fly coach. 'Oh, wow!'", she said, raising her voice half an octave, and plating a rasping Brooklyn accent over the top of it. "'You really think I look like Jenny Easton?'"

"I know," Blake said. "I've seen you pull it before. I'd still feel better."

Jenny let her voice go back to normal. "Nothing's going to happen, Blake. As soon as you take off, I'm Jennifer Evachevski, and that'll make me feel as good as anything. You have a good time, and get rested up. It's going to be tough for both of us, soon enough."

Blake nodded. Two months of shooting that stupid movie! Up and four and five AM, driving across town, makeup, lots of standing around, psyched up for the role and bored at the same time, shooting the same scene over and over and over, with increasing frustration. By the time the day was over, Jenny would be near tears at best, and there'd be a bitch of a time getting her in a mood to face the next day of the same thing. He wondered if the 2.2 million she was getting for it would be worth the strain. Still, after taxes and Knox's skim, it would be a cool million in the bank, and there was a record with the film that could go gold, easy, maybe platinum -- another million or two for the bank account. It seemed worth the effort. "I can take whatever you dish out," he told her. "You're the one that's going to have to get relaxed and unwound. You get yourself plenty of time in the sun, chew the fat with friends and relatives, get laid back. You're the one that needs it."

"It'll be good to be home," Jenny agreed. "I've been getting to the point where I needed it."

You needed it months ago, Blake thought. He changed the subject. "Are you going to check on that snake thing while you're home?" He beeped the horn at some jerk that cut him off. Between the gambling and the booze, there were a lot of idiots running around Vegas.

"No way," she said. "I don't want anyone to know that I've got anything to do with it. It's just my way of doing something for the town, and it give me something to feel that I'm contributing to home."

"If it makes you feel better, then I'm for it," Blake said. He could make that statement with Jenny; he knew she didn't do drugs, or even drink, except for an occasional glass of wine. Jenny may have not been happy most of the time, but she wasn't a self-destructive type. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a waste of perfectly good money, but so long as you're content with it..."

"I am," Jenny said.

"... then I'm not going to bring it up again. Was that the monthly report I saw in the mail before we left?

"First of the month report," she said. "Didn't say much of anything. The person they want to send to Spearfish Lake is in Hawaii, and won't be back for a few days, yet. It'll be the end of the month before they have anything from the television surveillance."

"A lot of nothing."

"Yeah, but they didn't expect to have anything much this soon, anyway. That's another thing I'm glad I'm not going to have to think about the next two weeks. I won't have to dream about home. I'll be there."