Hollywood Kids (48 page)

His anger deepened when it began to get light and there was still was no sign of Shelley. She was ruining his plans.

He went into the small kitchen, boiled a kettle of water and made himself a cup of black coffee.

It was impossible to sleep. How could he sleep when he had no idea when Shelley was going to appear and surprise him?

Not that he needed much sleep. He never rested more than three or four hours a night.

Taking a chair, he placed it opposite the front door. Then he sat down to wait.

Eventually she'd come home, and when she did he was ready.

Shelley opened her eyes and immediately realized three things. One, she was not alone. Two, she was not in her own bed. Three, she had no clothes on. It was then she recalled the previous night. She'd gone to acting class, met a seemingly nice man who'd invited her back to his place for pizza with some friends. They'd sat around talking and drinking wine, his friends had left, they'd talked some more, she'd drunk too much, and that's the last she remembered.

Her head throbbed. Spying her clothes on the floor, she crept quietly out of bed, gathered up her things and scurried into the bathroom.

She dressed quickly, suffused with guilt. It was so unlike her to sleep around. Before coming to Hollywood she'd only had one boyfriend - a steady from high school. Since arriving in LA she'd had no boyfriends at all. The only man she'd even gotten close to liking was John Seagal, but he was a strange one, he'd given no indication of wanting to get involved, even though she'd encouraged him as much as she could.

Once dressed she felt more secure. Standing in the bathroom she wondered whether she should slip out of the apartment and go home, or if she should wake her new best friend. The embarrassing thing was she couldn't recall anything about their love-making, in fact she didn't even know his name.

She went back into the bedroom and stared at him, willing herself to remember.

He stirred, opened his eyes and sat up in bed. 'You're up,' he said, stretching his arms above his head.

She smiled nervously. He had long brown hair, an extremely hairy chest and muscled arms. 'Shall I make coffee?' she asked tentatively.

'Yeah, I could do with a cup,' he said, getting out of bed and padding naked into the bathroom.

She went into the tiny kitchen and boiled some water. 'I didn't mean to stay over,' she called out.

'S' OK,' he replied loudly.

'It's just that... I... I think I had too much to drink.'

'The way I feel, we both did.'

'I suppose I should have a cup of coffee and go home.'

'Yeah,' he said, emerging from the bathroom.

Wasn't he going to ask how it was for her?

Wasn't he going to suggest that they saw each other again?

'Do you take milk and sugar?' she asked.

'Milk, no sugar,' he said, pulling on a pair of Levi's.

She handed him a mug of coffee. 'Where are you from?' she asked, groping for conversation.

'Arkansas,' he said, taking a gulp of hot coffee.

'How long have you been going to acting class?'

He threw on a plaid shirt. 'What is this - question time?'

'It's just that we spent the night together and I don't know anything about you.'

He laughed nastily. 'Are we supposed to exchange resumes just because we had good sex?'

Was it good sex? she wanted to ask, seeing as she couldn't remember.

'No, but it might be nice, since we spent the night together.'

'Listen, honey,' he said, putting down the coffee mug. 'It's not my intention to upset you, but
you
were the one that begged to stay over, and my girlfriend's coming back this morning, so you gotta leave.'

'Your girlfriend?' she said, stunned.

'Yeah, my girlfriend,' he answered belligerently. 'Wanna make something outta it?'

'Why did I spend the night?' she asked, feeling used and let down.

'Cause you wanted it, baby. You wanted it bad.'

'You never told me you had a girlfriend,' she said accusingly.

'Do us both a favour and split before we get into a fight,' he said, walking back into the bathroom and slamming the door.

She ran out of his apartment, sat in her car and burst into tears.

This was not a good way to start the day.

The Man's eyes must have closed because he was suddenly awakened by the sound of a car door slamming.

He sat up, springing to attention.

The whore was home and he had to be ready to greet her.

When Shelley walked through the front door she was still upset about her one-night stand. For a moment she didn't notice Zane sitting there. When she did she was startled. 'Oh, my God, John!' she exclaimed. 'What are
you
doing here?

He stood up. 'I came to see you. You invited me, didn't you?'

She was puzzled. 'Of course I did, but... how did you get in?'

'I arrived last night. You were out, so I let myself in.'

'You mean you spent the night here?' she said, frowning. Although she was pleased to see him, she was not sure he should have taken the liberty of spending the night in her house without her permission. Plus it wasn't even her house - she was house-sitting for her acting coach who'd impressed upon her she was allowed no overnight guests.

'Where were you all night?' he asked coldly.

Her frown deepened. 'What?'

'I asked where you were all night.'

'Really, John, I don't think it's any of your business.'

'I'm making it my business.'

She was confused. Here was this man, whose attention she'd tried to attract for months, acting like a jealous boyfriend. If she hadn't been so upset about last night she would have known how to deal with him.

'I don't understand your attitude,' she said, puzzled and upset. 'I think you'd better go.'

'No,' he said sharply. 'You invited me here. You've been chasing me for months.'

She flushed angrily. She'd had enough of men for one day. 'I have not,' she said hotly.

'Yes, you have. Inviting me to your room, confiding that you're lonely, telling me all about yourself. Well, now I'm here.'

'
I
don't want you here.'

'It's inevitable, Shelley.'

'What's inevitable?'

'Us. You and me together.'

He was beginning to alarm her. 'I'm going to call the police if you don't go,' she said, moving towards the phone on the hall table.

He reached her swiftly and grabbed her arm.

'You're hurting me,' she said, trying to pull away.

'I do not appreciate your behaviour,' he said sternly. 'I do not appreciate you staying out all night. Were you with a man?'

'None of your business,' she said, finally losing her temper. 'Let go of me at once.'

'Were you?' he demanded.

She attempted to pull away, but it only seemed to make him more determined to hold on to her. He grabbed both her wrists, pinning them up against the wall.

'If you were with a man I'll know,' he said. 'When we have sex I'll know.'

Shelley realized she was in serious trouble. A feeling of dread overcame her.

The Man stared at her with passionless blank eyes.

'Please,' Shelley whispered. 'Let me go. I won't complain about this, I won't tell anybody you were here.'

'Who would you tell? My uncle? Have you been talking to him?'

'No!' she said quickly. 'I don't know your uncle.'

'But you just threatened me. You said you'd tell somebody.'

'I didn't mean it.'

His head hurt. He hadn't planned on killing her, but now there seemed no other way. She knew something she wasn't telling. She was in cahoots with his uncle, and if he didn't get rid of her she'd give him up.

Besides, and this was the real reason she had to be eliminated, he needed a safe place to bring Cheryl and Jordanna.

It was time.

Brentano's wasn't crowded. Michael roamed around, finally settling in front of the magazine stand, where he picked up a copy of
Rolling Stone
and flicked unseeingly through the pages.

He'd had plenty of time to think about what he was going to do. Plenty of time to figure out a plan of action. Whoever approached him would get no money out of him until they produced tangible proof he was getting Bella back.

Putting the magazine down, he walked over to the audio-tape section. After a few moments he felt somebody standing behind him.

'Don't turn around,' a woman's voice whispered in his ear.

'Where's Bella?' he said, staring straight ahead, although his instinct was to spin around, grab whoever it was and beat them to a pulp. His anger was ready to explode.

'It's more complicated than you think.'

Mustn't blow
it
, he thought.
Gotta stay calm
.

'Where's my daughter?' he repeated in a low angry voice.

We have to trust each other,' the woman said. 'I'll tell you where she is - but first the money.'

'No way.'

'Put the money on the shelf in front of you and walk away with me. My partner will pick it up. When he signals it's all there, you and I will talk.'

'How do I know you've got something to tell me?'

'Would I be doing this if I didn't? You're a big strong man. I wouldn't put myself at risk.'

His mind was going in all different directions. He couldn't decide what to do. Finally he realized he had no choice. Groping in his pocket he pulled out the envelope containing the money and placed it on the shelf next to a Tom Clancy audio. Then he immediately turned around, grabbing the woman's arm, moving so fast she had no chance to pull away.

As soon as he had her, he took a look to see who she was. She was in her thirties, with short dyed blonde hair and a suntanned face - most of it hidden behind huge mirrored sunglasses. She had on a blue T-shirt, short denim skirt and white ankle boots. From what he could see her body was good and she was pretty in a cheap way. He noticed she was extremely nervous, her bottom lip quivered and her manner was jumpy.

'Who are you?' he asked, as they headed for the door.

'It doesn't matter,' she said brusquely.

'It matters to me.'

'Don't get personal or I won't tell you anything. And, believe me, I know exactly where you can find your kid.'

'I need to know who you are.'

'A friend of Rita's,' she said abruptly. 'We worked together when she first came out here from New York.'

Once they were outside, she pointed to an open restaurant area. 'As soon as I get a signal that the money's all there, we'll talk.'

He knew his nails were digging into her flesh, but he kept his grip on her arm, for he had no intention of allowing her the slightest opportunity of making a run for it.

'How come you waited this long to approach me?' he asked, his eyes diligently searching the surrounding area to see if he could spot her accomplice.

'Saw you on television,' she said. 'Felt sorry for you.'

'Not sorry enough to give me the information without the money, huh?'

She shrugged. 'I've a sister who needs medical attention, the money will see her through an operation.'

'You're bringing tears to my eyes.'

'I'm here, aren't I?'

'You're here because of the ten thousand bucks. Is Bella OK?'

'She's very healthy,' the woman said, reaching into her cheap white imitation leather purse and extracting a cigarette.

He felt like doing the same, but he didn't dare let go of her.

'We'll sit here,' she said, gesturing towards a table out in the open.

'No. The corner one,' he said sharply. 'And place your back against the wall.'

'I'm not going anywhere.'

'I trust you as much as you trust me.'

They sat down. 'I trust you,' she said. 'You weren't followed.'

He stared at his reflection in her mirrored glasses. 'How do you know I'm not wired? What makes you think I'm not taping our conversation and you'll end up in the slammer for extortion?'

'Cause you want to see your daughter,' she said, her eyes behind the glasses scanning the passing parade of people.

'What are we waiting for?' he asked impatiently.

Puffing nervously on her cigarette she said, 'I have to know the money is all there.' A few more minutes passed before she received the expected signal. 'OK,' she said. 'Are you ready?'

He nodded slowly. 'Yes,' he said, 'I'm ready.'

'It's not what you expect. It'll shock you.'

He asked the question he'd been dreading. 'Is Bella being used for child pornography?'

'No, nothing like that,' she said, taking a long drag on her cigarette. 'I'll start from the beginning.'

'Do that,' he said tightly.

'When Rita first came out here we worked together.'

Where?'

'A topless bar near the airport - a girl can make plenty of money that way.' She removed a fleck of tobacco from her teeth.

'Our customers liked Rita a lot. She answered them back and they got off on that. I had a small apartment at the time, and I was looking for a room-mate. Rita was in a hotel with her kid, so I had the two of them move in with me.'

He leaned forward, taking in every word.

We did OK until the guy running the bar got himself into debt. Then the bar went bust and we were out of a job, so Rita an' I started doing guys on the side - it paid the rent, an' we knew enough men who were happy to pay.'

He felt sick to his stomach. 'What about Bella?' he asked. 'Was she in the apartment when this was going on?'

'She didn't see anything. Rita never brought Johns back unless Bella was asleep. She was a good mother that way.'

'Is that your idea of being a good mother?' he said harshly. 'Don't fuck the dicks if your kid's awake?'

'We do what we have to do to survive,' she said, shrugging. 'It's not easy when you have a child to support, and you weren't sending her money.'