Hollywood Ending (31 page)

That afternoon after buying shirts at Macy's we drove to a small cemetery in Topanga Canyon. It was on a clearing beside a thick forest, the grave markings small and discreet, so as to not disrupt the natural landscape. We pulled up and Jake turned off the engine.

‘I knew it,' he said. ‘More death.'

‘This is different.' I closed the car door and wandered up the clearing. I hadn't visited for so long. It was as peaceful and beautiful as I remembered. Tiny yellow flowers had covered most of the ground, some of them creeping over the gravestones, enveloping the grey marble in vibrant colour. I knelt on the ground and cleared the overgrowth away from a stone. I felt Jake behind me, a few feet away, unsure of whether to come closer. I turned around.

‘Come on. Sit down.'

He sat beside me. ‘Is this who I think it is?'

I ran my hand along the stone. ‘Mom and Dad, this is Jake.'

There was no crime scene tape, no tour guide with a megaphone, or high fences keeping out souvenir-seekers. There were only stone markers on the ground, each one indistinguishable from the next. Everything was quiet. I didn't know if my parents could hear me but it didn't seem to matter. I lay down on the grass with my hand resting on their marker, and Jake lay beside me, held me, and at that moment we were just people who had lost people, who would one day be lost to others. I pulled the tile from my pocket, pushed it into the quiet earth where it could wait for me. Everything seemed okay.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Los Angeles is a town of mysteries and secrets. It is a place where stories converge and collide, where history is not only constructed but reconstructed every day. In this novel time and place have sometimes been compressed. I have made every effort to verify the stories in
Hollywood Ending
, but in the end the truth is not always attainable. Sometimes the ending is just the beginning.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to my wonderful parents Christine and Peter, who encouraged me to write, gave me their love of books, and didn't take away my Stephen King novels when my teachers thought I was too young to be reading them. I am eternally grateful for your love and support, for all the sacrifices you made, and all the times you wouldn't let me give up.

Thanks to my beautiful sisters, Elizabeth and Lisa, and my awesome niece and nephews, Jack, Victoria and James. Thanks to my amazing aunt, Karin Paulsen, for looking after me in LA and keeping me out of trouble (for the most part!). You are a magnificent, inspiring woman and I am so grateful for everything you have ever done for me. Thanks to Barry and Loretta at the Beverly Glen Deli in Bel Air, for the free meals and fantastic company (if you're in LA you won't find better eating, and I can highly recommend the waffle fries). Massive thanks to the following people for their friendship, support and enthusiasm: Paul Jenner, Abigail Wasmer, Luke Day, Elizabeth Koukeris, Sophie Alexiadis, Ashley Perry, Kirsten Trengove
,
Bruce Alexander, Christopher Hawkes and Shannon McDonald. Special thanks to Roger Savage and Helen Field for their patience and understanding. Thanks also to the talented and inspiring Simmone Howell for the generous cover quote. To my agent Wendy Schmalz, thank you so much for all your tireless work, and for always believing in me. Finally, my immense gratitude to everyone at Text Publishing, especially Michael Heyward and Penny Hueston, who were willing to take a chance on me and made this book so much better.

Various sources were used to draw information for this novel. They include
Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi
, by Bob Woodward;
Outrageous
Conduct: Art, Ego and the Twilight Zone Case
by Stephen Farber and Marc Green,
Helter Skelter
by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry;
Hollywood Babylon
by Kenneth Anger;
Severed
by John Gilmore;
Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders
by Greg King;
This is Hollywood: An Unusual Movieland Guide
by Ken Schessler;
Laid to
Rest in California
by Patricia Brooks and Jonathan Brooks;
Black Dahlia Avenger
by Steve Hodel;
Deadly Illusions: Jean Harlow and the Murder of Paul Bern
by Samuel Marx and Joyce Vanderveen;
The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard
Ramirez
by Philip Carlo;
The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts
by Tom Farley, Jnr. and Tanner Colby, and
L.A. Exposed
by Paul Young. My infinite respect and gratitude to Scott Michaels and all the Death Hags at
www.findadeath.com
, without whom this novel would not have been written.

Lastly, heartfelt thanks to my husband, Evan Butson, for making every day above ground a good one. You're my Hollywood ending.