Weecho: First Shots

Chapter 29 - Central Casting

“I still don’t get why she didn’t just courier the DVD here direct.” Alexey was pacing the rug in his library, where they’d gone back to wait for the delivery from Juna. 

Dara shook her head. “I don’t think she couriered anything.” She was petting Jasper the pup, who was basically the reason this all had happened. 

Weecho thinking that as hard a case as Juna could be, it was typical she should go back for a dog. But of course he’d gone back for it too. And to look for the DVD. 

Dara adding, “I think the thing with the key is a stall.”  

Weecho agreeing. If Juna did put the DVD in a locker while she went out to get the puppy, it would be the same locker where she’d have left that duffle bag full of cash. No reason at that time to use two different lockers. She could have hidden or tossed away the locker key when she saw she was going to be trapped by Lynch, figuring to go back for it later. She was definitely not going to give up that money. She was buying herself time now, hoping these people she’d worked with, all sitting here at Alexey’s, would come up with some way to get her out of wherever Lynch was holding her. 

But Weecho didn’t say any of that out loud. Commissioner Burke had shown up after getting the call from Alexey.  

“Just get the thing,” Burke was saying, “and get her out of there.” He’d been running Juna pretty much direct when she was working at Lynch’s (never mind how Juna had been running the situation there for herself). Weecho thinking again how the Comish would have some heavy backing and filling to do if it got out he was putting off-the-books operatives in bad situations, fatal situations – first Nina and now Juna. 

Dara raised a finger. “Do we make a copy if it does come?” 

“No!” Burke snapped, the man uptight, Alexey having told him what Gatchel had said about making copies. 

But it wasn’t a bad thought – just not the way Dara meant it. She’d popped an idea into Weecho’s head, something he sensed could be worked into some kind of a plan. 

“What about making a copy now?” 

They looked at him, like finally he must be feeling the pressure, was starting to maybe unhinge. The hair didn’t help.       

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They still had those pictures and the video of the girls that Weecho had taken when he stumbled into the opium harem. Alexey had downloaded a copy of the files onto his Mac, which was sitting right here in the library. 

“Call your office,” Weecho said to Alexey. “Get the studio to send us up a green screen. But we have to have it quick.” 

Burke said, “What the hell are you going to do with a green screen?” 

“Shoot against it.” Weecho could see that Burke wasn’t up to speed on green screens. “Like when I want to isolate a person or some product, to insert them into another scene. I delete the green screen part in the computer after I shoot them, just one or two clicks. Then I’ve got the person or whatever I want against a transparent background I can fill with anything.” 

“Like a room full of smoke and girls,” Dara said. 

“There you go,” Weecho said. 

“You’re serious,” Alexey said. “To remake the DVD?” 

“If no courier gets here, we have to try something.” 

Burke said, “Lynch will know right away it’s a phony.” 

“The trick is not let him get close enough before we have Juna safe.” 

“How are you going to do that?” Alexey said. 

“I’m working on that part. First things first.” 

They didn’t look convinced. 

Alexey said, “You’d need someone to be Gatchel.”   

Weecho looked at Burke. 

“No way,” Burke said. 

Dara and Alexey looked at him too. They were getting into it.  

“I mean it,” Burke said. “Not me.” He looked at Alexey. “What about you?”  

It went back and forth, neither one willing, until there was a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” Alexey said. 

It was Jeremy, the houseman, with a tray of sandwiches. 

A star was born. 

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Jeremy turned out to be a natural. He’d done some acting with his church group (different type material, they assumed). They fixed him up to look enough like Gatchel that from a distance it was hard to tell the difference. 

They set up the green screen in Dara’s dance studio and she played the part of one of the girls. Actually directed the whole sequence, using what she’d heard when Weecho was describing the DVD to Alexey. Weecho used the video capture on one of Alexey’s digital SLRs to shoot Dara and Jeremy coming on to each other. Stood on a chair and shot from above, which was where the hidden camera in the harem had been placed. He didn’t have to fuss about the lighting because the lighting hadn’t been that good in the harem. He’d match it up in the Final Cut editing software. Could loop the sequence so it would play over and over.  

All of this helped keep everyone’s mind off Juna, who they knew must be going through hell, Weecho feeling it especially. He’d seen her think on her feet enough times, knew she could hang tough. But she’d betrayed Lynch, and he was someone who was going to make sure the betrayal was paid for with pain.   

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No courier showed, which didn’t surprise anyone. Weecho did a high-speed post production job, changing the green screen to transparent, then blending Dara and Jeremy’s performance with the harem girls. If nothing else, the old idea of Let’s make a movie still had legs. Here was a knockoff they could actually use.  

The big question – Use it how? 

Weecho knew who’d know. Or at least would give him some direction. And who he was overdue to see. Asked Alexey if he could borrow the jeep.