Blanco County 03 - Flat Crazy by Ben Rehder Page B

most important horse in Marty’s stable, and the director did whatever he could to keep the little stallion happy. At times, that was quite a chore.
    “Mike, you doing okay?” Marty asked, draping a robe around the actor. “You seem kind of … I don’t know … distracted.”
    Hung began to answer, then shot a sideways look at the sound guy, who was still within earshot.
    “Tony, give us a little privacy here, will ya?” Marty said.
    Tony nodded and left for lunch.
    “So what’s up, little guy? Everything all right?” Marty asked, doing his best to appear empathetic.
    Hung plopped into a nearby child-size chair. Marty had ordered half a dozen to accommodate the unique needs of his cast.
    “T’ings velly bad with Wanda.”
    Hung was referring to Wanda Ho, a superstar adult actress in her own right, and Hung’s costar in this film as well as the previous one, Big Trouble in Very Little China. It was common knowledge that Hung and Ho had been dating for several months. Marty would have preferred that his actors not socialize off the set, but there was really no way to prevent it. Especially among a population that was rather limited.
    “Bad? Bad how, Mike? Everybody knows Wanda adores you.” Marty had taken a seat in one of the small chairs himself, and his knees were up to his shoulders.
    “Aw, that just acting,” Hung replied. “She velly good actless. But she lose intelest in me.”
    “Oh, now, Mike, I don’t think that’s true. Why do you say that?”
    “Last week, she have dinner with Willie Wang.” Wang was the other male performer in Marty’s current production, Fortune Nookie. “She say it innocent, but I see way she look at him. I aflaid I not satisfy her.” Hung’s head dropped dejectedly and he stared between his legs. “Beside, he bigger than me. She like that.”
    “Bigger? Come on, Mike. Nobody in the industry is bigger than you. You’re a regular Godzilla.” Too late, Marty remembered that the Godzilla films had been made in Japan, not China. But Mike didn’t seem to notice the faux pas.
    “No, not that!” Hung replied. “Taller. He taller than me.”
    “Oh.” Marty wasn’t sure what to say to that. Wang was a couple of inches taller than Hung. But Hung had those extra two inches where it really counted.
    “I aflaid of losing her.” Hung’s eyes were starting to glisten.
    Marty patted Hung on the shoulder, trying to offer some measure of comfort. But truthfully, he wished he was someplace else, doing anything but counseling the diminutive porn star on his love life. How was Marty supposed to know what to say? He wasn’t a counselor, just a director of adult films. Yeah, a pretty good one, but his expertise ended when the camera quit rolling.
    On Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff Garza stuck his head into John Marlin’s office and was happy to find the game warden behind his desk. He hadn’t seen him since the day before on Maggie Mason’s ranch.
    “I think I got a leak,” Garza said quietly.
    “Bathroom’s down the hall,” Marlin replied.
    “No, smart-ass,” Garza said, closing the door behind him. “I mean a leak in the department. Like someone flapping his gums too much to the press. Susannah Branson just called. Told me she heard Searcy had a puncture wound to the neck. Wanted me to verify it.”
    “Wouldn’t that have been in Lem’s report anyway? And she would have found out that way?”
    “Yeah, unless we sealed it.”
    Marlin gestured toward a chair and Garza sat down. Garza had a lot of respect for Marlin, and he wanted the game warden to join his department as a deputy. Garza had run the idea past Marlin a number of times, but to no avail. Being a game warden was in Marlin’s blood, through and through. So Marlin remained an employee with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department—and Garza remained content that Marlin was assigned to Blanco County, where Garza could include him in investigations when the need arose. Marlin had a natural instinct—that