Reel Stuff (21 page)

“Soundtrack of my life.”

A car, jumping the curb, and trying to run pedestrians over.

“So, you're saying maybe yesterday in Los Angeles was an accident?”

“Not my call, amigo. You were there. If you think someone
was trying to kill you, then I'm with you. However, last night, three a.m., these five high school kids were potted, and they lost whatever control they had. No one was killed, but it was damned close. They didn't set out to destroy a set. They set out to have a good time, and it didn't end so well.”

He was silent for a moment, and I considered the possibilities.

“I suppose it could have been an accident. Someone who was into excess. Drugs, alcohol, who knows?”

I knew better. That car was headed right for me and, if I'd been any slower, it would have hit me and thrown me half a mile.

“Maybe they were trying to scare me.”

“It was what it was, Skip. I'm glad you're among the living. I had serious thoughts yesterday about what life would be without you. We've come too far and we've damned sure got a long journey ahead. You can't go now. Understand?”

“I'm not planning on going anywhere.”

“How is the star?”

“Considering a name change. Emily Minard doesn't seem to make it for her management team.”

“Liz Taylor is taken.”

“
All
the good ones are taken. J Lo, Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Blake Lively—” Some of my favorites.

“Honey Boo Boo,” he responded.

I laughed out loud. Things had gotten a little too serious.

“Skip, when are you coming back?”

“I've got most of the information I need. Juliana has a ten-million-dollar policy on Jason, and she's dating some new guy named Rob Mason, a super manager.”

“Ah. A new boyfriend.”

“Or an old one that she kept secret.”

“And he's going to help raise the kid?”

“I'm not privy to that kind of information, James. She doesn't confide in me. She doesn't even like me that well. And her secretary, Sue Waronker, who is giving me some good inside information, detests me. You know how it is. I've made somewhat of a reputation for myself.”

“You always were the charmer in our duo.”

“So where do we go from here? Juliana had motive and possibly was unfaithful. It's a far cry from anyone charging her with murder.”

James was quiet for a moment, turning things over in his head.

“Well, I think it's clear. You need to break into that office when no one is there. Check the computer, Facebook account, Twitter, and tear the place apart. If you can find that she was screwing around on Jason before he died, she had a damned good reason to kill him. A ten-million-dollar insurance policy that may go south.”

“And according to what you found out, a seventy-five-million-dollar reason, that being the supposed value of his estate.”

“With that ten, it's eighty-five million dollars, Skip. Can you even fathom that? Eighty-five million?”

We both paused, savoring the dollar amount.

“And it all disappears if someone can prove she was unfaithful to him. Disappears. Do you believe that?”

“It all disappears, Skip,
if
someone can prove she helped kill him. I'm pretty sure that a murderer doesn't qualify for one dime. I'm right, right? And I know it was her. I just know it.”

“She's a real bitch, James.”

“I haven't met her, but everything I hear points in that direction.”

Bright lights approached as traffic picked up along the boulevard. I gazed at the road that ran by our motel, hypnotized by the
steady stream of cars. Even this early in the morning, Los Angeles commuters were out in droves, headlights beaming into the morning mist.

“Being a bitch, Skip, that in itself doesn't make her a killer.” James sounded disappointed.

“No, but you can see the ruthlessness in her eyes. Her secretary pretty much told me the lady uses people very hard to get what she wants.”

“Oh, and that's unusual in moviedom?”

“You're right, man. And I agree with you. I think she was involved. The more I see her, the more I think she's guilty. Of something.”

“You willing to find out? You're going to have to make the effort to dig up that information.”

I wasn't willing. I really didn't want to take that chance.

“Breaking and entering. That's got to be a serious offense, right?” I was just guessing out loud.

He chuckled. “Skip, it's a misdemeanor. I don't mean that it isn't illegal, but a misdemeanor. I looked it up online.”

“You looked it up?”

“Well, I thought we might have to go there sooner or—”

“You thought
I
'
d
have to go there.”

“Skip, I looked it up. If you do have to break in, it's not a severe sentence. That is, if they find you guilty.”

“Not a felony?”

“No. It's not even breaking and entering. California doesn't have that crime on their books. It's burglary, vandalism, and something else. I forget. But all you're doing is looking for information. You're not walking out with a big-screen TV or anything of value. Unless you see something we can't live without.”

I considered this. If we were going to get to the bottom of the crime, I needed to get more information, make copies of documents, and be sure that we had correct information.

“James, if you have any opportunity to talk to Em, don't mention this conversation. She's in somewhat of a vulnerable state.”

“I get it.”

“I'm not sure you do. I'm not sure I do. All of a sudden, she's getting this rush of attention, from actors, from agents, from managers. For some people that takes a lifetime. In this case, she's been here two days. I was thinking about this while she took a meeting with the producer of this sitcom she's auditioned for. Actually, they've already promised her the part. But I'm thinking of the term ‘fresh meat.'”

“Wait a minute. She got the part?”

“They're already considering expanding the role.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

“You're not jerking me around?”

“No.”

“This sounds impossible.”

“Tell me about it. We made up her entire résumé. Other than a high school play, she's done nothing as an actress. You know it, I know it, but I'm starting to think she believes her own publicity. Not a good thing.”

“Congratulations are in order.”

“James! Did you hear me? Come on, man. They are going to figure it out. This isn't the real world here. Nothing is going to happen except they'll throw us out on our ear.”

“Don't be too fast to discount this, Skip. I'm trying to fathom our Em—”

Our Em?

“—being the star of a television show. It's a done deal, right?”

“How do I know? I'm not in the business. She seems to think the casting is finished, and she is in the first episode.”

“What did you mean by fresh meat?”

“Kind of how we referred to freshman girls in college. These
people, agents, managers, producers, and directors, they lose interest in ninety-eight percent of the talent they represent almost as soon as they sign them.”

“I'm not following, Tonto.”

“There are a handful of stars. Leading characters. A handful. The others, they're bit players. If you're representing talent, you are only as good as the newest actor you rep. All these representatives, they're all looking for the next big thing. Actors on the B-list are a dime a dozen, but the newest sensation is a possible
A-list
commodity. Em is hot for the moment. Without a track record. If she really could pull this off and become successful, well, all bets are off. She is the current fresh meat.”

Total silence on the other end, a continent away.

“James?”

“This is Emily Minard? From grade school, high school, college?”

“The same,” I said.

“Let's just say, for imagination's sake, that she actually clicks.”

“Clicks?” I was afraid of that term.

“Becomes an overnight sensation.”

“Then what?” I asked.

“Better off not being involved in the Juliana Londell case. Am I right?”

He was.

“I really believe the Londell lady is guilty. But deep down, I guess I'm hoping that she's innocent. That way Em gets her shot, right?” I asked.

“Are you? Are you really hoping that Juliana is clear on this? You don't really want Em to become a celebrity, do you? You're afraid you'll lose her. I'm right, amigo. It's me, Skip. Come on.”

I could have answered immediately, but James was my best friend and he already knew the answer. I didn't have to respond.

“Skip, get what you can and come back to Miami. If someone
is trying to finish you off, if they're successful, then trying to solve this problem without you wouldn't be as much fun.”

“One more attempt, James.”

“On your life?”

“No. One more attempt to get as much information as possible from Juliana Londell. Then I'm coming back. I don't know about Em.”

“My best to Em.”

“Yeah. I'll pass that along.”

“Skip, be careful. There are on-site cameras, security guards, and all kinds of other shit out there. You never know who's watching, dude.”

“It's only a misdemeanor, James. Nothing to worry about.”

And I was worried to death.

“Skip, one more thing you need to know.”

“What?”

“Jason Londell—”

“The dead guy who started all of this.”

“The same. They're shipping his body back tomorrow,” James said.

“Autopsy is finally over?” I asked.

They had the cause of death.

“Yeah. And Clint Anders and Ashley Amber are flying out the next day for the funeral. I think Randy Roberts might go with them.”

“Hmm, Anders knows Juliana, and if he sees me, recognizes me, or if Ashley tells him—”

“Can you get into that office and find what you need in the next forty-eight hours? Assuming it's there?”

“I don't have much choice, do I?” I already knew the answer.

“Em is the one who interviewed Anders. All of a sudden Clint Anders's interviewer is a rising star in his good friend's wife—Juliana Londell's—talent agency. And Emily is
supposed
to
be a private investigator. All of a sudden she's an actress? How is that going to play?”

I had to pause and sort it out. Clint Anders's interviewer, Emily, is a rising star in his good friend's wife's talent agency. Contorted.

“Chances are they'll never run into each other.” I wasn't so sure.

“God, I hope they give her a new name soon. At least he won't recognize something like Brandy Hall or Britin Haller.”

“Where the hell did you get those names?”

“Went out with the two of them in college. You knew Brandy. Used to strip part time at the Gold Rush.”

I did remember her. A lot of her.

“Man, she had some tricks that—well, why don't you suggest it to Em? I've never named a Hollywood star before.”

“James, all we've got to do is get this information to Ashley Amber. Proof that there's a big insurance policy and proof that Juliana was unfaithful to Londell. Right?”

“That's all she asked for.”

“I'll get it. As you said, if it's there. And hopefully before the Miami entourage shows up.”

“Good luck, amigo. I'll hold the fort down here.”

“Not much of a fort left, James. The army is moving west.”

“If there's any skirmishes I have one piece of advice for you, comrade.”

“What's that, James?”

“Keep your head down.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Em wanted to see Universal City, but Juliana had her busy with new photographs, a superstar hairstylist, and a meeting one-on-one with the kisser who owned the emerald-green Jag, Rob Mason, manager to the stars. He kept her busy most of the day, and I was only comforted by the fact that I assumed Mason was dating Juliana Londell, so super manager was off the market.

I had been her manager just hours ago. But I applauded the fact that he had seen the potential, the talent. Or, at least, he'd taken advice from Juliana.

While Em was in meetings, I drove to Londell's office building, parking two blocks away and walking toward her office door, then approaching from the other direction. I looked up, down, and all around trying to ascertain if there were security cameras. I wasn't sure there weren't cameras in the tinted windows of the shops and offices leading up to her doorway, but there seemed to be nothing in the first block that was attached to the stucco building.

At the intersection of Delph and Hamersheid there was a traffic light and what appeared to be a camera above that light
aimed directly at the approaching traffic. God help the person who jumped that light, even a fraction of a second before it changed. That person would pay dearly and have his driving record permanently charged. I'd heard that a lot of communities make hundreds of thousands of dollars off of those cameras.