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Stuart Woods' Blown Away (A Teddy Fay Novel, Band 8) - Hardcover

Buch 8 von 8: Teddy Fay

Battles, Brett

 
9780593854747: Stuart Woods' Blown Away (A Teddy Fay Novel, Band 8)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0593854748 ISBN 13: 9780593854747
Verlag: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

Former CIA operative Teddy Fay returns for another thrilling Hollywood adventure in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling series.

Teddy Fay whisks away to join Peter and Hattie Barrington in Palm Springs. But his hope for a relaxing vacation vanishes when he attends a prominent actor’s annual birthday party, where he witnesses a heated squabble between two women, only for one of them to turn up dead the next day.

Teddy investigates who might be lurking in the shadows and uncovers a web of intrigue involving a sinister plan to take over a cutting-edge energy company. If he doesn’t act fast, valuable secrets risk falling into the wrong hands, but more importantly innocent lives could be in jeopardy.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Stuart Woods was the author of more than ninety novels, including the #1 New York Times bestselling Stone Barrington series. A native of Georgia and an avid sailor and pilot, he began his writing career in the advertising industry, Chiefs, his debut in 1981, won the Edgar Award. Woods passed away in 2022.
StuartWoods.com

Brett Battles is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, including the Jonathan Quinn, Rewinder, Project Eden, and Night Man Chronicles series. He is a three-time Barry Award nominee, winning for Best Thriller in 2009 for his novel The Deceived.

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Chapter 1

Billy Barnett pulled up to the Centurion Pictures studio entrance in his classic 1958 Porsche D Model Speedster. With him was his personal assistant and producer-in-training, Stacy Lange. Billy himself was a film producer and the studio's unofficial second-in-command behind Ben Bacchetti, Centurion's president.

It was a gorgeous spring day, so Billy and Stacy had returned from their lunch at Spago with the vehicle's top down.

A guard leaned out of the hut next to the gate. "Welcome back, Mr. Barnett, Ms. Lange."

"Afternoon, Gavin," Billy said. "I'm glad to see the studio didn't burn down in our absence."

"We try to avoid things like that whenever possible, sir," Gavin said.

"We appreciate your dedication."

Gavin gave them a jaunty salute and opened the gate.

Billy shot Stacy a glance as they drove onto the studio lot. "If you have any questions, now's the time."

"Are you saying I can't contact you while you're gone?"

"I'm saying I'd love it if you did that as little as possible."

"So, only call if the studio really is on fire?"

"If that happens, you should call Ben, not me. And probably nine-one-one."

Billy's cell rang, Ben's name on its screen.

"Speak of the devil," Stacy said.

Billy punched accept, and before he could say hello, Ben's voice came through the car's speakers. "Where are you?"

"Just about to pull up at my office."

"Skip the office and meet me at stage seven."

That was the sound stage being used for director and screenwriter Regina Gideon's new film, Everything We Have, on which Billy and Ben were executive producers and Stacy was getting her first coproducer credit.

"Problem?" Billy asked.

"I'll tell you when you get here."

"See you in a minute." Billy hung up.

Ben was waiting for them near the stage door when they arrived. Above it was a light that, when activated, flashed red, indicating that filming was underway. At the moment, the light was off.

Billy and Stacy hopped out of the Porsche and joined him.

"What's up?" Billy asked.

"Something with Pike," Ben said. "Don't ask me what. I just heard about it myself."

The first thing Billy noticed once they stepped into the building was that the overhead lights were on, and all the lights used for filming were off. The second was that the film's other producer, Terrance Bennett, was trying to calm a clearly angry Regina near the camera.

Billy, Ben, and Stacy headed over to them.

"I'm not going to coddle him," Regina said.

"No one's asking you to do that," Terrance insisted.

"That's pretty much what you just said I should do!"

"That's not what I-"

Regina noticed Billy and the others. "Oh, good. You're here."

"What's going on?" Billy asked.

Regina waved a hand toward the back of the building. "Pike's locked himself in his trailer."

Pike Westin was the film's male lead. He had risen to fame through a series of crowd-pleasing rom-coms. This was his first dramatic role, one that they were all aware he was hoping would break him out of his typecasting box, and maybe even earn him a prestigious award.

"Why did he lock himself in?" Billy asked.

"Because he doesn't know how to act," Regina replied.

"Regina," Terrance said. "That's not fair."

"Isn't it though?"

"How about you tell us what happened," Billy said.

Regina explained how they had spent the entire day so far trying to film a single scene, but no matter what she said to Pike, he kept overacting. "I'm beginning to wonder if he understands the meaning of the word subtle."

"Can you show us?" Ben asked.

It took a few minutes to find the woman in charge of video playback. Once she joined them, they watched what had been shot of Pike so far.

When the last take finished playing, Billy said to Terrance, "What do you think?"

"I mean, he could have done better. But it's the first day. He probably just needs to get into the swing of things."

"I'd say 'could have done better' is putting it mildly," Billy said. "I didn't see a single good take."

Regina nodded and looked at Terrance. "See? I'm right."

"Have either of you tried to talk to him since he stormed off?" Billy asked.

"We both have," Regina said. "The only person he's let into his trailer is Tina Martin." Tina was Pike's agent.

"She arrived fast," Ben said.

"She was already on set," Terrance said. "She told me she always comes out for her clients' first days on a project."

Billy had worked with several of Tina's clients in the past, and not once had she shown up unless she'd been asked to. Which meant that she had feared today would not go smoothly.

He glanced at Ben. "Shall we see if he'll talk to us?"

"Lead the way."


While there were dedicated rooms in the building for talent, some stars preferred having the studio provide them with a lavish trailer. Pike was the only one on Regina’s film who had made such a request, and his trailer was parked in a quiet area behind the building.

Before knocking on its door, Billy activated the record function on his phone and slipped the device into his pocket. He did not secretly record every meeting he was in, only the ones his instincts told him were necessary.

Those instincts were well honed from his time with the CIA, under his birth name Teddy Fay. Billy Barnett was an assumed identity he'd created in the wake of the dramatic events that followed his departure from the Agency, to hide the fact that Teddy Fay was still alive. Billy wasn't his only alternate persona, however. He was also Academy Award-winning actor Mark Weldon, among others. But these days, he was Billy Barnett more than the others combined.

There were only a handful of people who knew his truth, Ben being one of them.

Teddy looked at Ben. "Ready?"

"Can't wait," Ben said.

Billy rapped on the door, and a few seconds later, a stylish woman in her fifties, with not a single hair out of place, opened it.

"I thought it might be you," she said, resigned.

"Hello, Tina," he said. "May we come in?"

"If you could give me a second, I would appreciate it."

"Of course."

"Thank you."

She closed the door, leaving the two men waiting.

Tina was a savvy agent, so she would have expected Billy and Ben to show up. Her client, however, had probably thought his visitors were Regina and Terrance and had been planning on ignoring them.

Avoiding the film's director and its on-set producer was one thing. Giving the cold shoulder to the head of the studio and the movie's Oscar-winning executive producer was something else entirely.

It wasn't long before the door opened again, and Tina said, "Gentlemen, please join us."

Billy and Ben stepped into the trailer.

"Good to see you, Tina," Billy said as they kissed cheeks.

"You, too. And, Ben, it's been too long."

She greeted him in a similar manner.

"Far too long," Ben echoed.

She guided them to the sitting area, where Pike rose from the couch. "Billy, Ben, thanks for coming," he said as if they'd come at his request.

Hands were shaken, and everyone sat down.

"So, Pike," Billy said. "I can't help but notice you're not on set."

Pike's smile faltered momentarily before he caught himself. "I have some concerns."

"Is that so? What kind of concerns?"

Pike donned the same serious expression he'd used in several of his films. "Centurion is known for their quality pictures. It's the reason I really wanted to be in one of your films."

"Why, thank you. That's very kind. We're proud of what we do."

"As you should be. Maintaining your reputation is why I'm so concerned."

"We're...

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Verlag
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Erscheinungsdatum
2025
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593854748
ISBN 13 
9780593854747
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
368
Kontakt zum Hersteller
preigu GmbH & Co. KG
mail@preigu.de

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