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Only then did he turn back toward the building.

He’d expected headaches when the production crew came to town. Traffic, parking, gawkers, and a few complaints from residents—those were problems he knew how to handle. This afternoon had shown him something the meetings and maps hadn’t prepared him for.

She'd handled the situation without panicking, but she'd also known exactly how quickly it could become everyone else's problem. He was beginning to understand that dealing with people like those reporters was simply another part of her life.

He thought about the question that had made her falter on the way inside. “Why are you giving the woman you arrested special treatment?”

He couldn’t prevent anyone from asking. Worse, there was no guarantee they’d stop with her arrest if they started digging into her time at Antelope Rock.

The school doors opened, and Erin stepped outside.

“They gone?”

“Off school property.”

“Think they’ll stay gone?”

One vehicle had already pulled onto the shoulder several hundred yards away.

“Nope.”

Erin followed his gaze and sighed.

“They can sit there as long as they’re legally parked,” Grady said. “I’ll leave a deputy here until Amanda finishes for the day. If anyone comes back onto school property without legitimate business, call us.”

“I will. Thanks.”

Another vehicle turned into the parking lot and slowed as it approached Zigler. The driver lowered his window, and after a brief conversation, the deputy motioned him through.

The vehicle pulled into a space beside Amanda’s pickup near the lot entrance. When two men climbed out, Grady recognized them from the morning meeting. One was the location manager, and the other was on his team. Amanda had told him they’d be meeting with her and Erin that afternoon.

The principal waited for the men to reach her, then led them inside.

Grady watched the doors close behind them. Amanda was supposed to spend the next several hours helping a group of teenagers put on a play to fulfill her community service. Instead, she’d shown up with strangers shouting questions about her arrest and trying to turn the whole thing into a public spectacle.

He’d been looking forward to seeing her in her element once filming started.

Now he’d seen another part of her world first.

And he didn’t like it one damn bit.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A week after the advance team arrived in Antelope Rock, Grady discovered that three people with maps, tablets, and clipboards had only been the opening act.

Yesterday, the real circus had arrived and was now in full swing.

He stood on the sidewalk across from the day’s first filming location, coffee in hand, watching crew members unload equipment from two large trucks. Others ran cables, set up lights, erected barriers, and hauled things past him that he couldn't begin to identify. Cases thumped against the pavement, vehicles beeped as they backed up, and voices called instructions over the commotion. People wearing headsets seemed to be everywhere, moving with a purpose that suggested each knew exactly where they were going, even if Grady couldn't make sense of half of it.

After the meeting with Grady and the mayor, the advance team had spent the rest of the week scouting locations, meeting with business owners, arranging permits, coordinating parking, and changing their original plans whenever Grady or someone else pointed out a problem. Amanda had joined them. Then, crew members and semis had trickled into town toward the end of the week, along with enough equipment to make him wonder if they planned to film a television show or launch a satellite.

Now, apparently, they were ready.

Grady wasn’t.

Not that anyone had asked him.

He took another drink of coffee and immediately regretted it. The damn stuff had gone cold sometime during his walk around the production area, but he swallowed it anyway. He’d stopped by to make sure everything was running according to the shoot’s approved traffic-control plan. One lane was closed to accommodate production trucks, equipment, and crew, with barricades and sawhorses redirecting vehicles around the block. Pedestrians were kept to the opposite side of the street, away from the cameras and equipment.