Hollywood Outlaw: A Hollywood Alphabet SeriesThriller (A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller Book 15) (7 page)

BOOK: Hollywood Outlaw: A Hollywood Alphabet SeriesThriller (A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller Book 15)
10.56Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“You really hired Hermes Krump?” I said, laughing.

Nana nodded. “He’s now a partner with Mean Gene, the Suing Machine. They think they can win.”

“If those two are working together, it would be nothing short of a miracle.” I put the card in my purse, adding, “I’ll see what I can do.”

After Nana went home, Natalie insisted on ordering us all a round of something called Rum Dumb Bum’s, a concoction she said that she personally worked with the Mission Bell bartender on perfecting. We then all got into the hot tub, where I cautiously took a sip of the drink, remembering that Natalie’s cocktails had a tendency to sneak up on you and floor you with a roundhouse punch.

“I heard a rumor at Nirvana today,” Mo said. Even though she was in her swimsuit, she was still wearing a curly red wig, and steam rose above her head. “According to one of the staff, that Marisha Dole woman and Bert were still going at it hot and heavy.”

Natalie said she’d heard the same thing, then added, “You ask me, Bert was doin’ the squirt with the agent to get the upper hand on things.”

I played dumb. “What do you mean?”

Natalie used the umbrella in her drink to pierce a cherry and pop it in her mouth. “One of the production assistants for the show took a shine to me. He said rumor had it that the show was in the red and losing viewers. Marisha was supposedly helping cover some of the expenses using money owed to Lady and the tramps.”

“Lady and who?”

She laughed. “That’s the nickname they use for her daughters.”

“I think there’s a financial angle to your case,” Mo said. “Me and baby sis are gonna keep digging ‘till we get to the bottom of things.”

Natalie agreed. “Mo and me are gonna stay on the trail of this case, sniffin’ it out like a bag full of buttholes.”

“Now that conjures up an image.” I said. Maybe the reference to buttholes brought Darby to mind as I added, “Just be sure to keep a low profile. I’ve got to investigate the case and can’t have anyone saying you’re interfering.”

“Interfering?” Mo said. “We’re the best investigators you got. Me and Natalie are like a couple of moles, working the case from the inside.”

I decided not to push the issue, since my friends had a tendency to get upset if I tried to rein them in. Instead, I changed the subject, mentioning Bernie. “He’s supposed to be released in a couple of days.” I looked at Natalie who had already finished her drink. “Do you think you could watch him during the day and maybe take him to physical therapy for me until he’s back on duty?”

“Not a problem. I’ll have him chasin’ bitches ‘round the mobile home park before you know it—and we all know that place is full of bitches.” She then asked about Noah. “What’s the latest with you and Dr. Doggy?”

“I’m taking things slow. We exchanged texts, and he wants to meet for dinner tomorrow night.”

“Slow,” Mo said. She looked at Natalie. “That means Kate’s magic muffin’s back in the fridge.”

“There’s nothing worse than a cold vagina,” Natalie said. “I still got that Mr. Kong ‘round here somewhere if you wanna use it.”

Natalie had gone shopping with Nana a few days ago, and they’d bought vibrators. She’d showed me her Mr. Kong, and it looked intimidating, at best, painful, at worst.

“Thanks, but I’m fine,” I said. I was already feeling the effects of my drink when I saw the server bringing over more drinks.

Natalie insisted that I have another Bum as Mo said to me, “You have a chance to talk to Pearl yet?”

I shook my head. “I’ve been busy with work. I’m hoping to go by this weekend.”

“What you gonna do if he says he is your daddy?”

I finished my first drink and picked up the second one. “I’ve given that a lot of thought. I think I’m going to say it was wrong for him to hide in plain sight all these years, not admit he was my father.”

Mo fixed her large brown eyes on me and nodded. “In a way, I’m not surprised he might be your baby daddy. I thought you might have some sister blood in you all these years.”

They clinked glasses as Natalie said, “Kate could be a sister from a brother.”

I laughed, now really feeling the effects of my drink. “If he is my father, maybe I’ll invite him to my upcoming family reunion.”

“You might wanna give that some thought,” Mo said. “He just might disown you again.”

What she’d said was intended to be funny, but it hurt me, knowing that he’d never made an effort to be a part of my life.

Natalie must have seen my distress. She slapped me on the back and said, “Not to worry, Kate. Your
real
family is right in front of you.” We all clinked our glasses together as she made a toast: “Sisters forever, always together.”

TWELVE

 

The next morning, I groaned and sat up in bed, feeling a little rum dumb from Natalie’s drinks. After a long, hot shower, my head began to clear, and I started to focus on the day ahead. Noah had offered to take me to dinner tonight, but I hadn’t yet confirmed with him. The truth was, I was feeling a little conflicted about seeing him, unsure where our relationship was headed.

I called Pearl to see if he could meet with Leo and me this evening, knowing that if he could meet, I’d have a legitimate excuse for not seeing Noah. The call went to voice mail, and I left a message for him to call me.

I was about to head out the door when my phone rang. It was Joe Dawson, an FBI agent I’d worked with in the past.

“How are things in La La Land, Buttercup?” Joe asked.

I’d let Joe take some liberties with the nickname he’d chosen for me, given that we’d bonded over some tough cases we’d worked together. “I’m actually staying at a spa up in the hills of Malibu for a couple of days, getting a little R&R in between cases.”

“Malibu, huh? Sounds like my kind of place.”

Somehow I couldn’t see Joe Dawson staying at the Mission Bell Inn. I couldn’t really see Joe staying anywhere or even taking a vacation, for that matter. His whole life was chasing bad guys, most of them killers, who he delighted in putting away for life. When he did have some free time, I had the impression that he filled it up with too much booze and his second passion, crossword puzzles.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked, feeling my anxiety rise because I knew he was probably calling about my sister.

“Just wanted to give you an update. That informant we have agreed to work undercover. We dropped him off outside of Nashville yesterday. He thinks some of the Swarm are there and they could have Lindsay.”

The Swarm was a group of radicalized killers that had taken my sister hostage a few months back. Joe had a theory that Lindsay had purposely gone with her kidnappers to infiltrate the group and possibly turn them into the authorities if the circumstances eventually permitted her to act. I desperately hoped that was true, both for my sister’s sake and because they were a group of domestic terrorists who would stop at nothing to destroy our way of life.

“Does the informant think they’re holding my sister captive?”

“He thinks she’s gone over to the dark side, but I’m still holding out hope she’s batting for our team. Time will tell.”

My anxiety turned to desperation as I said, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’ll let you know. Greer wants to see how things play out for a few days.”

John Greer was Joe’s boss. He’d been instrumental in allowing Joe to work the case for the past several months.

I thanked him for the update and was about to end the call when he asked, “So, how are things going with you and the vet?”

We’d shared a lot of personal information over the past several months, and Joe knew all about my difficulties with Noah. “I’m not sure, actually. He asked me to dinner tonight, but I’m still trying to decide whether the relationship will work.”

“You want my opinion?”

I laughed. “Why not? Everyone seems to have one when it comes to my love life, including Natalie and Mo.”

We chatted about my friends for a moment before he said, “My opinion is that this Noah guy isn’t good enough for you. The fact is, I’m not sure anyone’s good enough for you, Buttercup.”

I felt my eyes growing heavy and wasn’t sure how to respond. I was still searching for what to say when he said, “I’ve got to run. I’ll be in touch.”

After the call ended, I decided to take a couple of minutes to sort out my feelings. I took a cup of tea out to my balcony overlooking the ocean and thought about my sister and my family situation.

Lindsay had been raised by our biological mother, Judie Crawford, and her father, Ryan Cooper, the man who had eventually gone on to murder my love-dad. I hadn’t even known that I had a sister until a few months back when she’d surfaced after learning that her father had been stalking me. Lindsay had shot and killed him before he could kill me, saving my life, but also leaving her with some deep emotional scars.

I’d eventually convinced her to go to counseling with me, where she revealed that her father had sexually abused her as a child. That disclosure, and the opening of old wounds, had resulted in her making some bad choices and becoming involved in an abusive relationship. Her last boyfriend had been a member of the Swarm and had been instrumental in her being taken hostage.

I stood up and walked over to the railing, breathing in the cool morning air. I realized that Lindsay and I were alike in many ways. We were both lost souls, trying to cope with the devastation brought about by our shattered family life. When Ryan Cooper had murdered my love-dad, I’d believed he’d acted out of jealousy over his past relationship with Judie Crawford. In recent months I’d learned otherwise, that my love-dad’s death was probably linked to the murder of Jean Winslow.

My love-dad had worked part-time doing security work at Wallace Studios at the time; the same studio where Winslow had been under contract as an actress. While her death had officially been ruled a suicide, a few weeks back I’d learned that Donald Regis, the former head of the studio, might have been involved. Regis and Winslow had been lovers before she made demands to be let out of her contract. Despite her death having been ruled a suicide, I had my suspicions that Regis had been involved. There was also the possibility that a secret organization called The Revelation had a hand in what happened.

The Revelation was said to have a lot of control over the stars and the studios in the early days of Hollywood. I’d recently learned that a couple of power players, Collin Russell and Harlan Ryland, had taken control of the organization about twenty years ago and formed something called the Tauist Society. The Tauists believed in a form of enlightenment and that they would eventually take over and change society. Russell had gone missing in recent weeks after telling me that he’d known my mother years ago and giving me some letters she’d written. As for Ryland, he had become a recluse, living in seclusion on the grounds of the Tauist Retreat, in the hills not too far from Hollywood.

I’d recently met with Winslow’s niece, Laura Trenton, who had shown me some old photographs belonging to her aunt. I’d found my love-dad in one of those photos, along with Ryan Cooper and Kellen Malone, Collin Russell’s son. I was still in a state of shock over also finding my former lieutenant Ozzie Powell in that same photograph. As you know, both Oz and my partner Leo knew my father back when they were all rookie cops. I wasn’t entirely convinced that Pearl was my biological father, but his name was the last word spoken by Oz.

I checked the time on my phone and realized I was running late. I resolved to put my family circumstances aside, at least for the day. We had a high profile case to work and a lieutenant that wasn’t happy about the way things were going.

***

“The brass is making my life miserable,” Edna said after all the same players had gathered around the conference table in the bat cave after arriving at the station. “I’m taking more heat on this case than a dead pig in the desert.”

“We weren’t able to get ahold of either Marisha Dole or Lady Prince last night,” I said. “We’re planning to go by Nirvana again this morning.”

“Make it happen,” the lieutenant said. “And make room. Mel Peters is going with you.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I don’t fucking kid. The Media Relations Section and the chief are holding hands. They want Peters there all the way.”

“What’s your problem with Mel?” Darby asked me.

Melvina “Mel” Peters had been Darby’s partner a few weeks back. The haughty detective’s only real interest was in climbing the LAPD career ladder, and she didn’t have patience for anyone that got in her way. She’d also recently pumped me for information about my family issues. I was convinced that she’d helped kill any chance I had of convincing the department to reopen the investigation into my love-dad’s death.

“It’s nothing personal,” I said to Darby, knowing that he and Peters had been partners. “I just don’t like dealing with the press or MRS.”

“Then get used to it,” Edna said. “Chief East is doing the happy dance with Peters and her boss. And what the fucking chief wants, the fucking chief gets.”

“Molly and I have turned up something interesting on Bert Prince’s lawyer,” Selfie said. Our crime analyst had blue hair this morning, and a dress with a matching blue bow on the front. “He and Prince go back about a decade. He’s mentioned in some articles I pulled up on the Internet about being an advisor to our victim in his business interests and TV show. It’s almost impossible to believe that Swenson didn’t know about Marisha Dole and his client hiding money.”

“Swenson’s also been investigated by the state bar a couple of times,” Molly said. “The DA’s office said he was suspected in a real estate fraud case. An elderly couple in Beverly Hills signed their home over to an unscrupulous broker for a price that was way under market value. Swenson was a partner in the deal. He eventually tore the existing house down and put up a mega mansion, where he now lives.”

“You think Swenson, Dole, and Prince could have all been working together to siphon money from the show and the endorsement deals?” Edna asked.

“It’s just speculation at this point,” Molly said. “But Selfie and I believe that it’s likely they all knew what was going on. The diversion of funds and the subsequent cover-up were complex, and they had to have help pulling it off.”

“We still need to talk to the TV show’s producer,” I said. “Maybe Carlyle Waggoner will have some insight into Swenson’s relationship with Prince and Dole.”

“There’s one other issue,” Selfie added. “Swenson’s well connected politically. He contributed heavily to the mayor’s election fund. Any investigation involving him is likely going to ruffle some feathers downtown.”

The lieutenant sighed as his intercom buzzed. “We see where the facts take us and deal with the fucking fallout as it comes our way.” He answered his phone. After a moment, he ended the call and said to Darby and me, “Peters is here. Go see if you can break something loose.” His brown eyes fixed on me. “And you play nice in the sandbox.”

BOOK: Hollywood Outlaw: A Hollywood Alphabet SeriesThriller (A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller Book 15)
10.56Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Lord of Desire by Nicole Jordan
Curiosity Killed the Kat by Elizabeth Nelson
Double Share by Lowell, Nathan
The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey
An Inconvenient Friend by Rhonda McKnight
Unraveled Together by Wendy Leigh
The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri