Swingin' in the Rain (14 page)

  “We’ve got speed. Cameras rolling! Five, four, three, two...”

  Marcus and I went into a kiss, making sure no bodily fluids were being exchanged. We pulled apart.

  “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone,” I said as Felicia. I squeezed my eyes closed and sure enough a single tear fell from my downstage eye. He held my face in his hands.

  “How do you know if you can’t remember anything?” Brandon asked.

  “I know I’d remember feeling this if I ever had before.” I looked into his hazel eyes and, grabbing him, pulled him into another kiss. This time there was just a little tongue. Oh well. It happens. Marcus pushed me away and pulled me into a semi sitting position.

  “I can’t do this, anymore. I do love you, Felicia. But what I have with Devon is different. It’s deeper. She’s my soul mate. I’m not getting a divorce. I’m not leaving Devon.”

   I looked at Marcus and noticed that someone had stepped directly into my eye line, off camera. As I pulled my arm back to slap Marcus I saw who it was.

  Detective Sam Rockland was standing off to the side of the camera watching me. I lost my concentration and hauled off and slapped Marcus.

CHAPTER THIRTY

  “Damn! That hurt!” Marcus rubbed his cheek, working his jaw.

  “Cut. That’s a buy. Moving!” Herbie yelled out. “Good job you guys. One take. No rehearsal. Gotta love that! Hey, Marcus, you okay? She got you pretty good.”

  “I am so sorry, Marcus! I got distracted,” I said looking around for Rockland. He was gone.

  “I’m okay. I think,” he said, still rubbing his face. I could see the imprint of my hand on his right cheek, even through his stage make-up. “You got a good left!” he added making light of it.

  Andrea from wardrobe brought me my robe. I thanked her as I put it around me.  As I jumped out of the bed, Sandy intercepted me.

  “That was great! What a slap! Nice work, Alex. And Marcus. You really sold it,” she said.

  “Not too hard to sell that one,” he answered, dryly. I started over to him but he held up his hand. “It’s okay.”  Then he very slowly got out of bed and walked across the stage, opening and closing his mouth.

  God, I felt bad, but where was Rockland? I headed off to my dressing room looking around behind the sets. Huh. No Rockland. I opened the door and there he sat on my sofa. I gasped.

  “Hello, Alexis. Hope you don’t mind me making myself at home?” My purse was lying on the coffee table in front of him. My cell phone was in it.

  “Not at all, Detective,” I said as I grabbed my purse and brought it over to my make-up counter. “Give me a second and let me put my clothes on.” I closed the door that divided the main dressing room from the make-up area and quickly put my street clothes on. After running my fingers through my hair and collecting myself, I slid the door open.

  “Interesting job you have. Do you enjoy it?” he asked as he scooted over on the sofa, making room for me. “Please, have a seat.”

  I opted to sit on the chair across from him. “Oh, you know. It has its positives and its negatives. Like any job.”

  “From what I saw, it’s definitely not like ‘any’ job.” He smirked. There was something about him that made me want to try my slap out again.

  “So. What can I do for you, Detective?”

  “You can try telling me what the hell you’ve been up to?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” Yeah, I did.

  ”You and your boyfriend have been involving your selves in my case,” Rockland said.

  “My boyfriend?” I didn’t know if he was making a snide remark about George, or actually talking about Jakes.

  “I heard you had some car trouble,” he said. “Bad brakes? On no, wait, somebody deliberately messed with your brakes. Right?”

  “I’m really not sure what happened.”

  “Well, then I’ll tell you what happened. Somebody tried to kill you and your friend George last night on Mulholland Highway. So why would that be?” he asked. “Why would somebody want to take you two out?”

  “I honestly don’t know.” I was shaking my head then I looked at him and added dryly, “Maybe somebody doesn’t like my acting.”

  He sat forward and glared at me. The polite policeman was gone. “I don’t need you and Detective Jakes messing up my case, Ms. Peterson,” he said. “I heard you went to a club with Patti Dennis, and now she’s missing.”

  “What’s Patti got to do with anything?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me, Alex,” he said. “She was a witness, and now she’s gone after spending time with you. And somebody tried to kill you. I’d think you’d want to help me, not get in my way.”

  “I do want to help,” I said. “What can I do?”

  “What’d Patti tell you about your ex husband’s death?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” I said. “She took me to a club she thought I might be interested in. I wasn’t.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “And you didn’t know she knew Randy, and that he’s involved with the club?”

  “Involved how?” I asked.

  Rockland just sat there biting away at his lower lip. It seemed like he was trying to figure out how much I knew about Randy and Trois ou Plus.

  “Are you telling me he got into the swinging lifestyle?” I asked, giving him the most shocked expression I could muster. “Randy was never into that kind of thing when we were married. I can’t believe he would ever be interested. Why would you think that about him? It’s just so not him!”

  He sat back again, studying me. Did he already know that Randy was a partner in the club? Or, at least, that he was involved?

  “Jakes put a car on your house because of your close call on Mulholland?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe he thinks I‘m cheating on him,” I suggested. “Why don’t you ask him?”

  “That’s funny,” he said. He stood up, buttoned his jacket. “You better watch your step, Alex, or you’ll get in trouble, just like your boyfriend did.”

  “What kind of trouble?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “You didn’t know?” he asked. “Detective Jakes got called on the carpet for interfering with my case. By now he’s probably on administrative leave—if he hasn’t been busted back down to directing traffic.”

  “What do you—“

  “Just remember,” Rockland said, “keep your nose out of my case.”

  “Hold on,” I said, standing up.

  He stopped, halfway out the door. “Yeah?”

  “I need to get into Randy’s house.”

  He stared at me as if I had just sprouted horns. “Didn’t you hear anything I just said?” he asked. “Stay out of—“

  “Look, Randy was my daughter’s father, and there are some toys and clothes in the house that belong to her. Now, his house is not a crime scene. He didn’t die there, so I really don’t need your permission, but I thought I’d ask. You know, just to be open and honest with you.”

  He stared at me for a few seconds, then said, “Okay, go ahead. Do you need a key?”

  “He gave me one in case of an emergency,” Technically, that wasn’t true. But I had a strong feeling I would be able to find a key at the house. I didn’t want to take anything from Rockland, anyway.

  “Just take what belongs to your daughter,” he warned.

  “Of course.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  As soon as Rockland left I called Jakes.

  “Rockland just left.”

  “Was he polite?”

  “Not exactly polite. The more I see of him the more I don’t like him,” I said. “He told me you’d been called on the carpet. Is that what you want to talk to me about?”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened?”

  “Let’s meet.”

  “You don’t sound like yourself. What’s going on?”

  He ignored my question. “You’re still at work, right? So am I. Are you comfortable with meeting at the Grove?” The Grove is an outdoor shopping mall just a few steps from the studio’s back entrance.

  “Sure. That was quite a while ago.” Two lunatics had tried to kill George and me at the dancing fountains at the Grove a year earlier.  “On second thought, maybe we should make it The Farmer’s Market, next door. I’ll get a little grocery shopping done.” That’s me. Queen of the multi-taskers.

  “Okay, let’s meet at Dupar’s in twenty minutes.”

  “I’ll see you soon, Jakes. I--” But he hung up. Had he actually hung up on me?  Something was wrong. Very wrong.

  I rushed a quick shower to get my body make-up off and threw my street clothes back on. I could have just walked over to the Farmer’s Market but it was starting to pour again.  I took my car, literally about 100 yards to the parking lot next door. Even through the rain I could see Jakes waiting for me at a table inside the restaurant. He didn’t look happy. I pulled into a spot as close to the door as possible, turned off my engine and not even bothering with an umbrella, I made a run for it.

  “So, what’s going on?” I asked as I approached his table. I took off my coat and shook it. “You’re in trouble?”

  “Yes. Sit down.”

  “He said something about you being put on administrative leave,” I sat.

  “I have been.” He wasn’t looking at me, just stirring his coffee with a spoon.

  “What’s that mean, exactly?”

  “It’s like being suspended.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “This is because of me?”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “What’s not?”

  “It’s not just about you and what you’re doing or not doing.”

  I was trying hard to follow what he was saying but I was already lost.

  “Jakes, what the hell is going on?” I finally said.

  “Something’s up with Rockland. He has it in for me. I never should have been put on administrative leave just for putting a car at your house. Not with the years I have and my record.” Jakes was clearly worked up.

  “Sooo, what do you think’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure, but it’s pissing me off. It feels personal.”

  We sat quietly for a few moments.

  “What do you want to do?”

  “I want to walk.” He abruptly got up and left a five on the table. “Walk with me?”

  “Of course.” I stood up and went to hug him. He hugged me back but it seemed perfunctory. “Hey! C’mon, Jakes. What’s up with you?” I put my hands on his face and kissed him. “I’ve never seen you like this before.” He took my hands in his and squeezed them before letting them go.

  “I’m out of sorts, Alex. Let’s walk.” And he headed out the back door toward the covered section of Farmer’s Market. Any thought about getting some groceries had left me as I tried to figure out what was going on with Jakes. He stopped in front of the Butcher section near a string of sausages hanging from the ceiling, and looked around.

  “What happened when you asked Rockland about going into Randy’s place?” he asked.

  “He wasn’t thrilled. But I explained how Sarah had some toys and clothes still there.”

  “How was his attitude toward you?” He started walking again.

  This time I stopped in front of a candy counter and turned to him. “He was an ass. Kind of condescending and just sort of rude.” Jakes was nodding as we headed over to the French gourmet display. “After Rockland left I started thinking about something.”

  “What?”

  “Well, he said he knew I went to the club with Patti,” I said. “He also said maybe I had something to do with her leaving.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I tried to play dumb,” I said. “I think he saw right through me. Something was kind of creepy.”

  “What?”

  “How did Detective Rockland know I went out with Patti?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe he has somebody watching the club and they recognized you.”

  “Can you find out?”

  “It might be hard since I’m on leave,” he said, “but I’ll do it. Are you ready to go over to Randy’s, now?”

  “But, what about—“

  “Since I‘m on leave,” he said, “Rockland can shove it.”

  “You mean . . . you’re still going to help me?”

  “I’m not just helping. I’m going to solve this. Rockland made it personal and I’m taking it that way.”

  “But, if you get caught—“

  “Let me worry about that,” he said.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Jakes had followed me over to Randy’s house in his car. I had to pick up Sarah from school soon. Every time I looked in the rear view mirror, he had a distracted and intense look on his face. I had never seen Jakes like this before and frankly, didn’t know how to deal with it.

  I pulled up in front of Randy’s house and cut the engine. I didn’t make a move to get out. I was a little afraid of this new Jakes. He knocked on my window.

  “Yeah?” I said as I lowered it.

  “Ready?”

  “No. I’m not. Are we okay, Jakes? Because something feels different and I’m not sure what it is.” I surprised myself with tears. I quickly wiped them away. I didn’t like feeling this vulnerable.

  “We’re...okay. I just need to figure some things out.” Figure some things out? I didn’t like the sound of that but before I could say anything he opened my door.

  “Ready?”

  No, I wasn’t but I got out of the car anyway.