Not Happily Married in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 2 (8 page)

The next morning as I looked blearily into my mirror after a
restless night of tossing and turning in my bed, I roundly cursed all hot
detectives and the way my heart seemed to race a little every time I thought of
Detective Griffin. The last thing I needed right now was to get involved with a
man that tied up in his work. Rightly or wrongly I wanted someone who would
always put me first, just like my grandmother told me I deserved. After my ex fiancée
had dumped me, my Grandma Rita had been a very regular feature in my
rehabilitation room while I learned to walk again. One day, when things had
started getting on top of me she had told me that I deserved amazing, that my
ex was a moron, that I didn’t need him and I should pull up my big girl panties
and grab life. Of course she had ruined her little feminist power speech by
then telling me she hoped those panties weren’t the beige full briefs that she
knew I wore, because men liked a bit of silk and lace and there wasn’t any harm
in always being prepared. My grandmother always had very interesting views on
things which she was never afraid to share with her grandchildren.

The heavy knocking on my front door interrupted my musing. I
opened it to find my friend Crystal peering over my shoulder, while handing me
a coffee.

“He’s not here” I said dryly turning around as she followed.

“Pity” Crystal said. “I was at least hoping to get a glimpse
of Detective Hottie as he walked out of the shower.”

“Really” I said.

“I figured that considering those black circles under your
eyes that at least you had some very good, or very hot stories to tell me to
justify what is obviously a severe lack of sleep.”

“That bad huh?” I asked.

“Trudie you look like a panda bear whose mascara is
running.”

I looked at her sourly as Crystal sipped her coffee
serenely. I liked Crystal but then I was able to handle her sometimes brutal
honesty. I knew of many other people who weren’t quite so understanding. My
ringing phone interrupted what was obviously going to be Crystal starting her favorite
topic, of why I should be enjoying my youth, and scoring with every good
looking man I saw. I loved the girl but she was a prime example of how having
the wrong parents could really mess you up. Although I liked her dad, he was
nice. Crystal’s mother on the other hand was the most selfish human being I had
ever met in my life. Considering my job and the people I came into contact with
on a regular basis, that was actually saying something. The phone call was
Adele and I was pleased to note that she sounded to be a lot more with it than
she had been yesterday. I hoped that meant that she had wound down the number
of drugs she was taking.

“Trudie, I just heard from the police” she said nervously.
“They said that I can collect Eric’s body and get him ready for burial. I can’t
deal with it.” I could hear the tears hitching in her voice.

“I have it all under control” I said soothingly. “When did
you want to have the funeral?”

“Can it be tomorrow?” she asked “I just want it over and
done with.”

A little harsh I thought, considering the man in question
was her husband for almost a year but this was my job.

“I’ll see what I can do” I said. “I’ll organize the details
today and get in touch with you this afternoon to let you know.”

“Thank you Trudie, I don’t know what I would have done
without you through this horrible ordeal.”

Getting off the phone I realized that I was going to have to
do some fancy footwork today to make sure everything was organized for a funeral
tomorrow. First job was calling Tomas. Explaining the situation to him I was
relieved when he assured me that twenty four hours’ notice for a funeral was
not only achievable but barely a challenge.

I hung up the phone and Crystal peered at me.

“Going to be a bad day?” she asked sympathetically.

“It’s Eric Wesson’s funeral tomorrow and I need to find out
if any of his family are able to go.”

“Any
leads
?” she asked.

“I’ve got a file from a PI that Adele used to investigate
him but it’s incomplete as she married him before the investigation was
finished.”

Crystal gave me a look.

I sighed, “I know, sometimes I wonder about her too. It’s
got an old employer listed here. It’s a gym, maybe I’ll go there and find out whether
they’ve got any family on file for
him
.”

“Do you want some company?” Crystal asked.

“Don’t you have to work
today
?” I
asked curiously.

“
Ah
,
no
. There
was an incident yesterday and Dad told me that maybe I should take a couple of
days off while he dealt with it.”

Crystal’s father owned and ran the biggest casting agency in
Hollywood. Crystal had been working there for years.

“What did you
do
?” I asked.

“Why do you automatically think that it was me that did
something
?” Crystal said indignantly.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, we had Mia Lee trying out for a part and you know
that woman can’t act at all.”

I nodded. Mia Lee was the up and coming It girl in Hollywood.
Her publicist was
amazing
. This woman had come from
nowhere and was now dominating all the
magazines
, news
feeds
and
social
media
everywhere.
So far she had been in a few movies where the most that was asked of her was to
look gorgeous, run without knocking herself out with her breasts and scream on
cue.

“So” I said.

“She kept throwing her boobs in our faces with every
movement while trying to be dramatic and sexy.”

“
So
…” I said slowly. “Isn’t that
what she
does
? Everyone loves her regardless of the way
she actually acts.”

“She was trying out for the part of a nun.”

The look on my face must have shown my disbelief.

“Exactly” said Crystal. “That look on your face was my
reaction as well but some moron decided that the woman who is better known for
the way her breasts constantly seem to accidentally fall out of her
top
, was the best option for playing an innocent nun who is
martyred for her
beliefs
, rather than the dramatically
trained actress that I had put forward who was perfect”

“You could have just waited and had a quiet word with your
father” I said gently.

“I was going to” Crystal said, “but she started rubbing
herself up against the guy playing the priest during a confessional scene. You
could see him getting excited about
it
, but he was
trying to concentrate on the
scene
, and the guys with
me on the panel were getting turned on and I just couldn’t take it any more.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I may have stopped the audition and told her if she really
needed to rub up against
something
, there was a
stripper bar around the corner where she could make a bit of money.”

“Oh Crystal” I said shaking my head.

“She got a little upset and started accusing me of
compromising her artistic integrity, at which stage I may have pointed out that
if she thought that was
artistic
, then the stripper bar
was exactly where she belonged. Needless to say my Dad is now dealing with the
petulant fallout from the woman who will no doubt be gracing our screens in the
worst movie ever.”

“Not that you’re bitter” I said.

“Of course I’m bitter” said Crystal. “I see really good
actors and actresses that come through my office all the time, really talented,
and they get passed over because they don’t have a name or a social media
presence or the right plastic surgeon.”

I nodded sagely because really what was there to say. This
was the world we were living in.

“If you want to come and help me find Eric’s
family
, you are more than welcome.” I said.

“Thanks” said Crystal. “I think I need to get a dose of
reality in my life.”

Looking down at the dingy steps of the basement gym
where
Eric
used
to
work
, I
mused that Crystal was going to get
a
massive
dose of reality here. The basement gym lights were
quite bright after the dimness of the stairs. Two musclebound men covered in
tattoos looked us up and down as they passed us. Crystal looked at me in
surprise. I had to agree with her. This was not the sort of place that I had
expected Eric to be working at. I knew the gym that he had been working at when
he met Adele. I had attended it on occasion. My friend Edwin worked there
sometimes in one of his myriad of part time jobs. It was bright and light and
had obviously had a new age consultant involved in the way it was set out. This
gym was obviously trying hard, but it wasn’t quite reaching the atmosphere that
only an overpaid expert can achieve.

Looking over at the reception area I was surprised to see
Travis Cooper leaning against the desk. He was charming a young lady with six
pack abs that I would never be able to achieve without giving up on my weakness
for chocolate. The idea was simply so ridiculous it was laughable. Travis
straightened up as Crystal and I approached.

“Trudie” he said warmly and I noticed how Miss Six Pack shot
me a dark look.

“Did not expect to see you here” I
said
suspiciously.

Crystal elbowed me in the side and I stopped myself from
wincing.

“This is my
friend
, Crystal
Bronstein” I said trying to discreetly rub the soreness away from my ribs. “
Crystal
,
this
is
Travis
. What
brings you here?”

“After seeing you yesterday I thought I’d follow up on Eric
and see if I could give you a bit more assistance.”

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. My meeting with Travis
yesterday had in no way prepared me for the possibility that he was being
helpful. Miss Six Pack was obviously getting a little tired of not being the
center of attention and chose that moment to interrupt while breathing in
deeply. This served the dual purpose of stopping our conversation and also
bringing attention to herself, her impressive abs and her gravity defying
breasts.

“As I was saying” she said, amazing me with the way she
could talk without letting out the breath she had taken in. “Eric didn’t really
seem to have any friends who worked here, most of his clientele were women.”

“Of course they were” muttered Crystal.

“Then one day he came in and quit. He said he’d hit the
jackpot and he’d never have to work again. I never saw him after that day.”

Travis looked at me knowingly. Of course Eric hitting the
jackpot would have to be his marriage to Adele. Score one for the romantic
cynics of the world.

“Did anyone come looking for him here after he left?” asked
Travis.

“No, I mean other than the female clients acting like their
lives were over, until they found the next trainer willing to give them that
bit of extra encouragement.”

Travis smiled and I could see Miss Six Pack falling deeper
under his spell. “Any chance of me having a look at his personnel file.”

“I don’t know” she said looking around nervously.

“Eric has died.” I tried to look as sympathetic as possible.
“We’re trying to find out whether he has any family to notify.”

She still hesitated.

“His funeral is tomorrow” I said. “I would hate it if his
family couldn’t be there. They deserve a chance to say goodbye.”

I could see her relenting. “I’ll be right back” she said
turning to go to the back room.

Travis looked at me expectantly.

“So” I said, “what’s the real reason that you are here?”

“Can’t I just be trying to help out” he asked his hands
stretched out wide trying to look innocent.

“I’ve known you for less than twenty four hours and so far I
kind of get the idea that you don’t just try to help out for anything. There
has to be another angle here.”

“Fine then” Travis said dropping his arms. “There was always
something about this guy that bothered me from the start. When Adele married
him I dropped it because she told me to, and frankly, I’m a bit too busy to
worry about starry eyed romantics with less sense than a sheep.” He looked at
me meaningfully and I rolled my eyes. “When you came to see me yesterday, I
started to get a little concerned that you might walk into whatever situation
that was bothering me back then. I had a free couple of hours, so I thought
that I would put a few niggling issues to bed before you stepped into it up to
your neck.”

“You know for a second there I thought you were doing
something to be nice” I said, “then I remembered who I was speaking to.”

Travis grinned just as Miss Six Pack came back with the file
and handed it to him.

“Thanks Sharli” he said.

Of course her name was Sharli. He quickly looked through the
file and then just as I went to lean over and have a look myself he slammed it
shut and passed it back to Sharli.

“Thanks for all your help” he said as he grabbed both my and
Crystal’s elbow and started herding us towards the door.

“Wait a second.” Sharli tucked a card in Travis’s front
pocket. “In case you decide to join I’d be happy to help you out.”

“First person I’ll call” he said as he almost dragged the
two of us out.

Once we were outside and near his car I wrenched my arm away
from him and glared.

“What was that about?”

“I got the information I needed. There was no reason to
stick around and you may have the entire day to waste on this but I don’t” Travis
said patiently as if talking to a child.