Hollywood Kids (60 page)

No response.

Keep going.

Attract his attention.

Get the fucker to communicate.

'Did you know that Ingrid spoke about you all the time?' she called out. 'Ingrid told me plenty. I want to share some of the things she said with you.'

The door slammed shut.

They both heard the squeaking noises at the same time. 'What's that?' Cheryl asked, alarmed.

Before Jordanna could answer, two rats descended on them - and panicked, the rats began racing frantically around the small cellar. One of them nipped at Cheryl's ankle. She let out a bloodcurdling scream. 'Oh, Jesus! Oh, my God! Jordy,
do
something!'

'Kick 'em, Cheryl,' Jordanna yelled as the rodents scurried around the floor searching for an escape. 'You've got to kick 'em hard. We can kill 'em. We can do it.' Drawing back her legs, she kicked out with all her might. One of the rats yelped loudly as it was flung up against the wall.

Cheryl was weakening fast. 'I can't,' she wailed. 'I can't, Jordy, I can't. I'm telling you, he's poisoned me!'

'Yes, you can,' Jordanna said harshly. 'You've got to. Just kick the little bastards.'

Cheryl shrank into the corner doubled over with stomach cramps. 'Oh, God,' she groaned. 'I think I'm going to die.'

The Man crouched by the door at the top of the stairs listening to the shrieks coming from below.

One time, when he was in jail, a couple of the other inmates had forced a live rat down his pants. It had bitten him on his balls and thighs, and the pain had been excruciating. The guards had hauled him off to the prison hospital and made him have a rabies shot. The pain of the shot was worse than the rat bites.

How the other inmates had loved that little trick.

But he'd gotten his revenge. He'd put rat poison in the stew when he was on kitchen duty, and half the cell block were sick for days. A fitting punishment.

He hadn't planned on speaking to either of the girls, they didn't deserve the honour of his conversation. But Jordanna had intrigued him by mentioning Ingrid.

Had Ingrid really talked about him? And if so, what exactly had she said?

He thirsted to know every word, and the only way to find out was to ask the Levin bitch.

He'd had enough of their screams. Besides, he could replay the tape as many times as he cared to.

He opened the cellar door again. One of the rats raced up the stairs, making a frenzied dash into the house.

He shone his flashlight down into the cellar.

Cheryl was huddled in a ball. Jordanna wasn't.

As soon as she saw him she began talking. 'Do you want to hear what Ingrid had to say about you? We
should
talk about it, it's interesting stuff
.'

Jordanna was a tough one. He could see that she'd kicked one of the rats to death with her bound feet and she was still ready to talk.

He hesitated for a moment, but the thought of finding out what Ingrid had said about him was irresistible.

Slowly he descended the cellar steps.

Bobby had just finished shooting a pivotal scene with Jerry when Mac called him over to one side. 'This is Detective Carlyle,' he said, introducing him to the stocky detective.

'If it's about Barbara Barr trashing my house, I'm not pressing charges,' Bobby said, wondering why Mac was getting into it.

'I'm afraid it's more serious than that,' Mac replied, with a worried expression. 'Have you seen Jordanna today?'

'She'll be here soon.'

'Were you with her last night?' Detective Carlyle asked, thinking that his girlfriend would have an orgasm if she knew he was actually speaking to Bobby Rush. Her idol. Although as far as he was concerned Bobby Rush looked like every other thirty-something actor. Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Michael Douglas - they all looked the same to him.

'Yeah, I saw her last night. Why?'

'I don't know how to tell you this, but we think she's... missing.'

Michael lay in bed, hands crossed behind his neck, eyes wide open. He was perfectly content. Absolutely at peace.

Kennedy lay half across his stomach, asleep. The scent of her body entranced him. Gently he began stroking her hair.

Was it possible to fall in love with somebody in such a short period of time?

Yes, it was possible. He was living proof.

There'd been a lot of women in his life, one-night stands, short affairs, but in all his experience he'd never come across anyone like Kennedy. She fulfilled him in every way, and as far as he was concerned they were totally compatible, even though they came from such different worlds.

He stroked her hair until she woke up. 'Didn't sleep last night, huh?' he asked.

'Not that much,' she said, stretching in a very feline way. 'I was working on my story.'

'You're a hard worker.'

'Hmm,' she said reluctantly. 'I suppose I should get back to it.'

'Yeah,' he agreed, 'and it's about time I checked in with Quincy.'

Well...' she murmured, feeling completely satisfied. 'I guess we've both got to work.'

'Quincy will be wondering what happened to me.'

She touched the back of his neck, sliding her fingers through his thick hair.

'You're turning me on,' he said, enjoying every moment.

'It's my intention,' she murmured.

'Really?'

'Yes, really.'

'I thought we were getting up.'

'No, Michael,
you're
getting up,' she teased.

He lightly brushed the tips of her nipples. 'This is something, huh?' he said.

'I know.'

'I didn't come over here with this in mind.'

'Oh yes, you did.'

He grinned. 'Oh yes, I did.'

The phone began to ring. She reached out and clicked the bell off. 'No calls,' she whispered. 'No interruptions.'

Then they both forgot about getting up as his lips descended on hers and once again they began the rapturous trip.

He moved on top of her, preparing for the wild ride.

And she knew for sure she was never going to be alone again.

'We gotta find the little prick before Luca blows,' Reno said. 'He's gettin' close.'

'I know that,' Bosco agreed. 'Where we gonna start?'

'We go back to the house,' Reno said. 'And tear his room to pieces inch by inch.'

'We did that.'

'This time we'll search my way.'

They took the limo to the house, had the driver wait outside, and made their way to Zane's room.

'So now we'll do it good,' Reno said, quite pumped at the thought of wrecking a room. 'Slit the mattress, peel off the wallpaper, pry up the floor-boards. I didn't come to LA to spend my time chasin' this cocksucker. I came out here to relax. This time we're gonna nail him.'

They went to work.

Bobby and Mac huddled with Detective Carlyle at the edge of the sound stage.

'If this man was let out of jail, shouldn't Jordanna and Cheryl have been notified immediately?' Bobby asked, blue eyes blazing.

We didn't know it was him,' Detective Carlyle explained. 'It only came to light in the last twenty-four hours.'

'So you're telling me that four women were murdered and you didn't know it was him? Nobody put together the connection before now?' He turned angrily to Mac. 'Do you believe this?'

Mac studied his shoes. His worst nightmare was coming true. This should never have happened, and the horrible thing was he blamed himself, he should have gone to the cops immediately instead of hoping Luca would take care of it.

'We've got to find Jordanna,' Bobby said grimly. 'What's being done?'

'Everything possible,' Detective Carlyle replied, wondering why everyone thought they had a right to blame
him
.

'Where's Cheryl?' Mac asked.

'I stopped by her house,' Detective Carlyle said. 'Only her brother was there.'

'She doesn't have a brother,' Mac said grimly. 'Maybe it was Zane.'

'No, I have a photograph of Zane - it wasn't him.'

'What happens next?' Bobby asked. 'Will there be a ransom demand?'

'If that's what he's after, he'll most likely contact her father.'

'Does Jordan know what's going on?'

'I'm on my way to see him now.'

'I'll come with you,' Bobby decided.

'You can't leave the set,' Mac objected.

'Close down for the day,' Bobby fired back. 'Jordanna's in danger, and I'm going to be out there doing everything I can to help find her.'

Grant paced around the lobby of the St James's. He'd already asked the girl at reception for Mr Nanni, and she'd said he was out. Next he'd spoken to the parking valets and found out Cheryl's car was not parked there. In fact, one of them remembered her collecting her car and leaving the hotel the night before at around ten.

For the first time in his life Grant decided he cared about someone more than he cared about himself. Cheryl and he had always been close, now that she might be in danger it was a frightening thought.

He took out Detective Carlyle's card and studied it.

If he called and told him that Cheryl could be missing, he might have to reveal that she'd been visiting a client last night.

So what? He'd face that problem when it arose. If her safety was at stake it was worth it.

'If we're going to talk, first you've got to let us use the bathroom,' Jordanna said insistently. 'And can't you see that Cheryl's sick? You poisoned her with that stuff you forced her to drink. She could be having an allergic reaction. Why don't you let her go? All you have to do is drive her to a hospital and drop her off outside. She can't tell anyone where you are, because she doesn't know. You'll still have me.'

He ignored her pleas. 'What did Ingrid say about me?' he demanded.

'I
want
to tell you, Zane, I really do, but I'm in a difficult position. Give Cheryl a drink at least, then I'll tell you everything. That's a promise.'

He was drawn towards her in spite of himself. 'What's there to tell?'

'Ingrid talked about you a lot. She really liked you. It was terrible what happened, but
I
know it was an accident.'

'Don't try to fool me. You're the one had me thrown into jail.'

'I had no choice. My father forced me to testify.'

'Your father didn't force you to do anything. You did it because you're a spoiled rich cunt.'

'No, Zane, you've got it wrong. Ingrid confided in me.'

'What did she confide?' he asked suspiciously. 'If you don't tell me soon, I'll leave you down here in the dark. You think the rats were bad? Wait until you see what else I have for you.'

Cheryl groaned. Even though Jordanna was worried about her, she wished she'd shut up, because instinctively she knew Zane would get off on weakness, only strength would intimidate him.

'Ingrid thought you were handsome,' she lied, realizing that although she had his interest, she needed more. 'Ingrid was always telling me.'

The truth was that Ingrid had never mentioned him, except to say he was the most obnoxious creep she'd ever come across.

A flicker of expression. 'She did?'

He actually believed her. 'Oh, yes,' she said, nodding her head.

Zane sat down on the stairs and regarded her through narrowed eyes. 'When did she say this?'

She stayed silent, which infuriated him.

His voice hardened. 'I
said
when did she say this?'

More silence. Now she was doing exactly what he had done earlier and he didn't like it.

'Don't play games with me, bitch,' he said stonily. 'Because you'll regret it.'

'Why do you call me names?' she asked, trying a new tactic. 'Ingrid said you were a nice guy, she really liked you - respected you, in fact. If she knew what you were doing to us, she'd be upset.'

His voice registered no emotion. 'Ingrid played me for a fool.'

'You didn't understand her, but she understood you.' She paused for a moment, gauging his reaction. He was hooked, but she still had to reel him in very carefully, otherwise she'd lose him. 'Some of the things she said about you were so interesting...'

He blinked several times. 'What?'

'C'mon,' she said persuasively. 'Be a nice guy and let Cheryl go, then I'll tell you.'

'Cheryl stays.'

'At least give her some water.'

'I don't have to do anything.'

'I know that.'

'I could kill you both.'

There was a long tense silence while he decided what to do next.

Mentally Jordanna willed him to do the right thing. She'd always believed in the power of positive thinking.

Now if she could only hook him into her mind trip...

'Michael?'

That's my name.'

'This all happened so quickly. I'm not used to falling into bed with men early in the morning when I'm supposed to be working.'

He raised a quizzical eyebrow. 'Men, Kennedy?'

She smiled. 'You.'

'Thank you.'

'You're welcome.'

'Are you complaining?'

Well... I don't want this to be a casual breakfast affair.'

'Is that what you think it is?'

'No... but we did rush into it. Shouldn't we have had some kind of -'

'What?' he interrupted, half-smiling. 'You want me to take you out on a date and buy you dinner?'

'Why not?'

'OK, if that's what you want,' he said, sitting up and reaching for a cigarette. 'We'll go on a double date with Amber and Quincy - how's that?'

She sat up next to him, pulling the crumpled sheet over her breasts. 'You mean I get to mix with real people?' she asked, widening her eyes.

'Very funny.'

'At least I can make you laugh.'

'You can make me do a lot more than that.'

'Really?' she teased. 'Tell me about it.'

He grabbed her playfully. 'How about I show you?'

She squirmed out of his grasp. 'How about we take a break?'

'You're a difficult woman, Kennedy.'