Not Talented in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 3 (8 page)

Unfortunately that left us with the makeup situation. Blythe
Stanton was an attractive woman. Unfortunately she was not looking her best at
the moment. Circles rimmed her eyes and her skin had broken out and was dry in
areas. I know that love is not supposed to be all about the physical, but a
nice package helps, especially for a mission like this. There’s a reason why
plastic surgery is such a lucrative industry in this town.

I pulled out my cell and called the one person I thought
could help. An hour later there was a knock at the door.

Throwing it wide open I welcomed Tomas and Helena into the
room.

“Hello Helena” I said after giving Tomas a hug.

“You’re Trudie” she said. “I remember you. You are Eric’s
friend.

I nodded as I got swamped by the uniqueness that was Helena.
It may have been overstating things to say I had been Eric’s friend. Eric had
been the husband of one of my clients and for two weeks before he met his untimely
end he had made my life very difficult. Helena of course had only met Eric
after his death when she had been hired as a funeral cosmetologist to fix the
damage only a bullet hole to the head could do. Despite her unusual ways Helena
was a genius when it came to make up and what she could hide.

“Eric has such a beautiful spirit. Is this who I’m helping
today?” she asked her eyes wide when she saw Blythe.

“Yes Helena, Blythe needs to look beautiful tonight, we’re
trying to reunite her with her husband” I said.

Helena clapped her hands together. “Of course, I will make
her as beautiful as Eric” she said as she took Blythe into the bedroom and
started chatting away about all the people she had worked with.

“Is she going to say anything to Blythe about all these
people being dead when she worked on them?” I muttered to Tomas.

“Helena doesn’t really distinguish between dead and alive”
said Tomas quietly. “As far as she is concerned they all have beautiful spirits
and they all talk to her.”

“Great” I muttered.

“You wouldn’t have called me if you didn’t know how good she
was” Tomas reminded me.

“I know” I said.

Jorge who was standing at the door to the bedroom watching
Helena and Blythe turned around.

“She just told Blythe to stop breathing as it was
distracting her. Is that normal?

I shook my head. “For Helena, that’s pretty normal. I’d
better be in there and make sure that she doesn’t decide to stop that pesky
breathing from happening.”

“She won’t do that” scoffed Tomas, then he stopped and
looked like he was contemplating what I’d just said. “No, of course she
wouldn’t.”

Within no time Helena clapped her hands and turned Blythe
around.

“Perfect” I said and Helena’s eyes sparkled. It was perfect.
Helena had erased the short term damage that Blythe had caused and managed to
make her look completely natural.

“She is a genius” I said as I watched Helena start dancing
around the room catching Blythe’s hand and pulling her along. Watching Helena
was always like watching a free spirit who didn’t let the normal problems of
life touch her. Seeing Blythe smile as she was being led around the room, I
couldn’t help but think that we all could use a bit of what Helena had.

Sitting in the limo outside the club I could see Blythe was
no longer feeling the effects of Helena’s carefree attitude to life as she was
chewing on her bottom lip.

“Last chance to turn around” I said. “You don’t have to do
this. You can go back to rehab, finish the program and face him when you are in
a better place.”

“I want to do this” she said quietly as she squared her
shoulders.

As the door opened Jorge went out first to provide
protection. Blythe followed him and I went after her. Getting into the club was
no problem, even without an invitation. It rarely is for my clients. Being
whisked to the VIP area, Jorge and I kept a close eye on Blythe. The darkness
of the club and the lights bouncing on the dancers had a hypnotic effect and
could be distracting. In the middle of the VIP area we found our target.
Unfortunately he was surrounded by beautiful women who seemed to be very
friendly with him. Blythe stumbled slightly and I put out my arm to steady her.
Pain creased her features.

“I didn’t even think that he’d move on” she whispered as
Jorge stood in front of us blocking anyone from seeing. “I am such an idiot, of
course he’s moved on. Why would he wait for me to sort myself out? Let’s just
get out of here.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” I whispered back.
“You’re here now, don’t you want to at least give it a try.”

“I think I’ve humiliated myself enough in my life” Blythe
said tightly. “I’m not going to exacerbate the disaster that is my existence by
getting into a fight in a club over my ex-husband.”

“Good to see your spirit” I said, “but I wasn’t talking
about fighting for him. You could just go up to him and say hello.”

Blythe shook her head. “No” she said. “I think that I just
need to go home. I’ve screwed things up for myself enough. I should never have
got on that plane. I just got it into my head that if I could just get him back
then everything would be okay. I need to stand up on my own for a change. I
want him back so badly, but I won’t humiliate myself to do it” she said with
the beginning of tears in her eyes.

I nodded sharply and tapped Jorge on the shoulder. “We’re
out of here” I said. Showing himself to be the consummate professional, Jorge
did not sigh or roll his eyes at the sudden change in plans.

As we started to walk away I noticed that Carl looked up and
saw Blythe. In that second I saw adoration flash across his face when he looked
at the woman I was following. My breath caught and I pulled Blythe to a stop.

“What?” she said and I indicated to Carl with my head.

The second he caught her eye, he was on his feet shrugging
off the women who had been vying for his attention.

“Blythe” he said as he got to us and pulled her into a hug.
“It is so good to see you. What are you doing here?”

Blythe smiled sweetly and I could see Carl almost being
taken out at the knees.

“I wanted to see your club Carl” she said, “Congratulations,
I’m so happy for you.”

“I’ve missed you so much” he said roughly. “I can’t believe
you’re here, I thought you were done with us.”

Blythe hesitated. “I’m so sorry Carl” she said her eyes once
again filling with tears. “I messed everything up. I should never have given up
on us.”

“But you’re back” Carl said.

“Only for a few hours” said Blythe. “Then I’m going back to
rehab and I’m going to fix my life.”

She sounded resolute and for the first time since I met her
coming off the plane, I started to think that maybe there was a chance that
Blythe could actually succeed. I had seen many of my clients going in and
coming out of rehab and I had learned that only a few actually make it. Those
that did needed to find something inside themselves which made them want to get
clean. As I watched Blythe and Carl, I could see that Blythe had found what she
needed.

Carl cleared his throat. “Can we talk?” he said. “Not here,
in my office upstairs.”

Blythe smiled. “Not tonight Carl” she said. “You have your
opening, we can talk when I get back if you still want to.”

Carl grabbed Blythe’s hand and started leading her away.
“No, you are more important to me than this opening. We are going to sort this
out now” he said as he started dragging her along. He didn’t get far before he
ran into the massive wall that was Jorge.

“Is this what you want Blythe?” I asked watching as security
started making a beeline for us.

Blythe nodded, her smile blinding. “Yes” she said, “I really
do want this. Stay here and I’ll be out soon.”

I nodded at Jorge and he stepped aside. Carl led a giggling
Blythe up the stairs to his office.

“I hope we’ve done the right thing” grumbled Jorge as he sat
down at a small table which overlooked the dance floor.

I sat down next to him. “What else were we going to do?” I
asked him. “She’s a grown woman and she’s making her own decisions.”

“Yeah but what if she has sex with him when we’re supposed
to be taking care of her?” Jorge said.

“Our job description does not include being a chastity belt”
I said dryly. “Our job involves getting her on that plane and back to rehab. That
is what we intend to do. Until then we wait and amuse ourselves without having
too much fun.”

“Great” said Jorge. “I’ll go get us some drinks that we
won’t enjoy very much.”

“Thanks” I said.

Watching the dancing below I was surprised when someone sat
next to me at the table.

“You were at Catarina’s funeral today weren’t you?” asked a
slurred voice.

I looked at my new companion and she looked familiar.

“I’m sorry” I said. “Were you there this morning?”

She smiled and held out her hand, a little shakily. “I’m
Antonia. I went to school with Catarina.”

I gripped her hand “Trudie, I was there to support a friend
who knew Catarina.”

“The gorgeous English guy” she said smiling. “Yes, he looked
like he would be Catarina’s type.”

I shrugged because really what could I say, Edwin had been
exactly Catarina’s type.

Antonia smiled as she took another drink. She looked
pleasantly hammered.

“It was a boring funeral” she said slowly. “I was sure there
were going to be a lot more people there, just to make sure she was really
dead.”

“I didn’t know Catarina at all” I said with what I hoped was
disinterest. “Wasn’t she well liked?”

Antonia drew herself up as if in shock. “She was hated by
everyone she met. She used people and she stole from them. I knew her since
high school and I don’t think she ever did a selfless thing or had an original
thought in her entire life.”

“That can’t be true” I said. “She wrote those movies and she
won all those awards. I remember everyone saying that she was some kind of
prodigy.”

Antonia snorted. “I knew Catarina. There is no way that she
wrote those movies. Her only talent was being a con artist and a thief. In high
school she stole boyfriends and clothes. She cheated in every class she was in.
Her greatest gift was being able to convince everyone that she was so talented
and hard working. I’m amazed it took this long before somebody killed her.”

“Any idea who that could have been?” I asked spotting Jorge
coming towards me and indicating that he keep back.

“Catarina was a horrible human being. I was her best friend
in high school and she stole my boyfriend for no reason other than he was there
and I wasn’t. And she liked me. She had no limits as to what she would do. You
know how people have that thing in their head that tells them what’s right from
wrong.”

I nodded.

“Catarina didn’t have that. Everyone on this planet was here
to do what she wanted.”

“Hey babe” some bearded hipster wannabe threw an arm around
Antonia’s shoulders. “Why did you wander off, I got worried about you.”

Antonia giggled inanely.

“This is my boyfriend David” she said, “and this is...”

“Trudie” I supplied.

“Yes Trudie. She was at the funeral this morning.”

David rolled his eyes. “Wasn’t that the biggest waste of
time?” he grumbled. “I thought there would have been far more directors or
producers there. I’m getting more networking opportunities here and it’s a much
better party.”

You know you’re in a good place when a funeral is considered
a networking event.

“Come on Toni” David said. “Let’s dance.”

Still juggling her drink Antonia kept giggling and followed
David to the dance floor. Jorge slipped into the seat she had just vacated and
passed over a water to me.

“What was that all about?” he asked opening his own bottle
of water.

“Some woman, she recognized me from Catarina Badal’s funeral
this morning” I said.

“Another funeral” Jorge said thoughtfully.

I peered over the top of my bottle at him. “You want to say
something don’t you?”

“Nah,” he said, “well it’s just that people around the
agency are kind of starting to talk about the body count you seem to be racking
up.”

I placed the bottle gently on the table. “Body count?” I
queried.

Jorge started to look uncomfortable. “I’m not saying it
bothers me, I’m just saying that you’re beginning to get a bit of a reputation.
Fact is, despite the fact the guy seems like a douche I’m kind of glad you’re
seeing that cop. At least he can keep an eye on you, you know, make sure that
you don’t get hurt.”

“You know people die all the time” I said starting to feel
defensive. “I didn’t actually kill anyone.”

“Of course not” said Jorge soothingly, obviously regretting
his part in instigating this line of conversation.

“What exactly are people saying?” I asked.

Jorge hesitated, obviously trying to decide what he should
and shouldn’t say.

“Tell me the truth” I said quietly.

Jorge sighed. “I’ve heard you being called the Grim Reaper.
The rumor is that people who annoy you die suddenly.”

“If that were really true” I said, “believe me the body
count would be much higher. If anyone calls me the Grim Reaper again you can
quote me on that.”

“I already said that” said Jorge. “Considering the fact you
seem to be signed up for the worst cases that the agency gets, I figured if you
had some weird voodoo power killing people, there would be a lot more
unexplained deaths.”

“They’re not unexplained” I said dourly. “The police
arrested people in all of the cases.”

“Catarina Badal?” Jorge queried.

“Okay, the police haven’t caught anyone for that one yet,
but they will. I didn’t even know the woman so there is no way I can be blamed
for that.”