And Playing the Role of Herself (Frankiana)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Oh, god," I moaned in ecstasy when the hot water touched my skin. I ducked my head under the spray, humming in pleasure as the water wash out six days of dirt and sweat away. We'd hiked nearly one hundred miles in six days and my body was feeling it.

We checked into an inn where I'd made reservations before I hooked up with Perry and Sky. We each had a room of our own, and had split up to shower and rest before meeting back up for the boodle fight I'd promised. Tomorrow we would pick up the rental car that I had reserved, drive back to pick up my truck, and head back home.

I finally stepped from the shower after soaping my body twice, washing my hair three times, and just standing under the hot spray for several minutes. As I padded around my room naked, there was a quiet knock on the door, and I hurried to pull on the complimentary robe hanging in the bathroom.

The worried faces of Perry and Sky looked back at me through the peephole, and I pulled the door open immediately, frowning. "Hey guys...I thought we said seven?"

Perry pushed the door open further and walked by me, and Sky followed, his eyes widening slightly when he saw my state of undress. He stopped in the doorway, uncertain, and I waved him in.

"It's okay, come on in, Sky," I reassured him, pulling the belt around my waist a little tighter and closing the door after he walked through.

"D, did you tell anyone where you were going?" Perry said abruptly.

I raised my eyebrows at his tone, and crossed my arms over my chest. "I didn't actually talk to anyone directly, but I left messages with Mae and Kiara and I mentioned to a few more people that I'd be out of town...why?"

"Because apparently, you're missing."

I blinked. "What?"

He looked around my room, found the remote, and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels. "We went down to the bar just now and saw it on the local news, and we checked our phones looked over in the social media..." He continued to flip.

"Saw what? Perry, what are you talking about," I asked, starting to get annoyed.

"There." He pointed at the TV. A woman reporter stood next to a road, talking earnestly to the camera, above a line of text on the screen that read "Actress Missing." The picture panned out and swung to the right, showing a battered, burnt out pickup truck.

My pickup truck.

"What the fuck?" I said, and grabbed the remote from Perry to turn the volume up.

"...blood found on the front seat and steering wheel has now been confirmed to be that of the actress, and local police are looking into the possibility of foul play."

"What the fuck?!?" I said louder, and looked around frantically for my phone that I'd carried with me on the hike, but never turned on. I found it, turned it on, waiting impatiently for it to power up.

Perry picked up the remote where I'd dropped it on the bed and continued to change channels, stopping at another station just as another "Actress Missing" headline showed up on the anchor's left. I sank down on the bed, phone forgotten, watching with morbid curiosity.

"The search for actress Diana C. Mackey continues today. An abandoned car belonging to the actresses was found by two hikers early Thursday morning, stripped and badly burnt. Blood found on the steering wheel and seat of the car has now been confirmed as Mackey's, and law enforcement officials are expected to expand the investigation to include the possibility of foul play".

The picture changed to a publicity still of me, then a few quick 9th Precinct clips in the background as the anchor continued. "The actress reportedly left on Monday morning for a several day camping trip, and was last seen at a gas station."