Not Suspicious in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 5 (10 page)

“Probably true,” Griffin conceded. “I’ll
admit that I wasn’t looking forward to the discussion. I was still trying to
work out a way to approach her about it when we got the call that a woman’s
body had been found here. I was concerned as I knew Trudie was the only woman
working here so I didn’t get a chance to tell her. It was only after things
calmed down that I filled her in on what Trudie told me.”

“Why?” asked Travis.

“There was no way that I was going to let
Marty Fletchall give her that piece of information during the course of his
investigation.”

Travis frowned. “They still don’t get
along?”

Griffin shook his head. “The two of them
just don’t have anything to do with each other but I wouldn’t put it past him
to give her that news in the worst way possible. I didn’t want her to have to
deal with that on top of everything else.”

“She didn’t know beforehand, had no
indication?”

Griffin shrugged. “She may have had some
suspicions, but she didn’t know. She did say that Jolena had been planning on
catching up with an old friend but hadn’t given Ramos any indication as to who
it was.”

Travis turned back to me. “Was there anyone
else up at that time, someone hanging around that you didn’t expect to see?”

“Ash was up when I got here,” I remembered.
“He was smoking near Buddy’s pen. It was strange because the one thing that is
consistent with these guys is that they are night owls. They party all night
and usually they don’t get out of bed until mid-morning at the very earliest.
Being awake when I got here would be counted as a very early morning for Ash. I
don’t think it had happened once while I’ve been here.”

“Interesting,” said Travis.

“Interesting? That’s all you’ve got to say
about it. He could have killed Jolena.”

Travis looked surprised. “This is new. I
thought you were always convinced your client couldn’t have possibly killed the
victim. I would usually expect you to go into some kind of impassioned defense
of Ash.”

“Not today,” I said. “I’ve been thinking
about what you said and if there was one person who was capable of this it
would be Ash.”

“Really?”

“Yes, well, maybe not. I could be jumping
to conclusions. I mean, Ash hasn’t done anything really bad. He gives me a
little bit of the creeps sometimes but I’m probably judging him a bit harshly.”
I was starting to confuse myself.

Travis laughed. “You almost did it. You
almost started to believe that your client could have done this and then you
just jumped right back. I almost got whiplash watching that little exercise.”

“I’m glad I amused you,” I muttered.

“Every day that I see you,” said Travis.
“Is there anything else that happened that morning that seemed to be out of
place?”

I shook my head.

“If there is, I need you to tell me
immediately. If any of the guys start acting in a way that you think is out of
the ordinary, I want you to tell me, even if you think it doesn’t mean
anything. We need to know who did this. Ramos at least deserves that much.”

I nodded.

Travis gave Griffin a searching look and,
satisfied with what he saw there, he turned away and headed towards the
mansion. I turned back around and looked out across the lake.

Griffin put an arm around my shoulder and
pulled me into his side. “You okay?” he asked quietly.

I smiled tightly. “I’m always okay.”

“Don’t,” Griffin said. “I know you have to
put on a front for your clients and the people you work with. But not me. I am
the one person in this world that you are completely safe with. Always know
that. You can tell me anything, how you’re feeling, what you need. I am here
for you. You need to remember that.”

“I know,” I said simply.

“Enough to stop freaking out over the fact
that I’m here?” Griffin teased.

“Not even close,” I smiled.

“I’ll try not to be too big a problem.”

“I’m sure you will,” I said. “I’d better
get back to the house. The band should be getting up soon and I’ll need to be
on hand for whatever it is that they require. They’re not the patient type.”

“Have you ever had a client that was the
patient type?” Griffin asked wryly.

The man had a point.

As Griffin and I walked up to the mansion,
Jorge came out to meet us. “I’m going to need to steal your boyfriend for a
while.”

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“There are some concerns about how Jolena
got onto the property. The security staff who were at the front gate that night
insist that there was no way she came through them. That means there has to be
another point of entry and nobody seems to know what that could be. As the
lawyer doesn’t want the cop anywhere near the band we’ve been elected to search
the perimeter of the property.”

Griffin’s expression was worried as he
glanced down at me.

“You can’t be by my side the whole time,” I
said firmly. “You need to do your job. If there’s a problem I’ll call for you.”

“Make sure you do.”

As I entered the mansion I could hear the
first signs of the guys moving around. Walking into the kitchen, I found Dion
and Sewell staring blearily at their coffee.

“You guys doing okay?”

I was rewarded with the standard grunts and
nods.

“If you need anything just let me know.”

Once again I got some grunts. It sounded
like the guys were dealing with some major after party hangovers. I found Tim
at his computer like I did every morning. He seemed to be in better condition
than Dion and Sewell but then he always was. He may have been living the rock
and roll lifestyle but Tim always had his eye on the prize. He was determined
to be a billionaire in as short a time as possible and if anybody could do it,
it was Tim. I admired the level of his ambition.

I found Ash already in the studio. In
addition to being the lead singer of Crispy Spider, Ash was also the main
songwriter for the band. When he wasn’t partying he could usually be found
writing lyrics or putting together music scores. I stood in the doorway while
he was singing some lines to himself. I may not be overly fond of Ash but I
could see why I was clearly in the minority. The man had a voice on him which
could reach all the way into your soul. Ash held the last note and then looked
up at me. I could feel myself being spellbound by the combination of his voice
and those piercing eyes. He didn’t look away as he put down his guitar and
walked over to me.

“Can I help you, Trudie?” he asked quietly
while standing closer to me than I was completely comfortable with.

I shook my head vigorously. “Just checking
in on you to see if there was anything you needed me to do.”

Ash smiled widely. “Anything?”

I almost rolled my eyes. I thought the time
of these innuendos was past, but obviously Ash was bored and I was the only
target available.

I stepped back. “You know what I mean,
Ash.”

“I’ve got some idea of what you mean but
I’m a bit interested in exploring what I mean.”

“Well, that is a pity,” I said firmly. “I’m
not interested in following up on whatever it is you are talking about. I don’t
know what’s going on with you today, Ash, but I really need you to take it down
a notch and move away.”

Ash smiled, seemingly amused by my standard
back off speech which usually came before a swift knee to the groin, if I felt
it was absolutely necessary.

“Did you know that Vale is very upset that
your boyfriend is working here? Do you by any chance know why that is?”

“He probably doesn’t like the fact that
there is now a cop within screaming distance,” I said, hoping he would be able
to take a hint.

“I don’t think that’s it. I think Vale may
have just taken a liking to you and he doesn’t like the competition being
around. He doesn’t seem to realize that it isn’t your boyfriend he has to worry
about.”

“Trust me,” I said. “If that’s the case, he
really does need to be worried about Griffin.”

Ash reached out and stroked a finger down
my cheek. “You always seem so controlled. Haven’t you ever wanted to go a
little wild?”

I shook my head. In the year I’d worked in
Hollywood, I’d seen wild. It rarely ended well.

Ash leaned closer. “I think behind all
those sensible clothes there is really a passionate woman just dying to get
out. If you gave us a chance I could take you places you’ve never been before.”

I had to stop myself from groaning in
frustration. I loved working for narcissists who believed that nobody in the
world could compare to them.

“I’m really not interested. My boyfriend
provides me with more than enough excitement, thank you very much.” I stepped
back again, only to have Ash follow me.

“Are you sure?” he whispered.

I nodded as I wondered what was causing
this weird mood. I hadn’t felt exactly comfortable around Ash but he had never
gone out of his way to seriously creep me out. I mentally ran through my
options, ranging from gentle persuasion to the aforementioned knee to the
groin. I had almost settled on the stomping on the instep of his foot while
punching him in the throat maneuver that Griffin had taught me once when I’d
mentioned dealing with guys like this. Admittedly, it may have been an overreaction
but I was really not happy about how close Ash was and he seemed to be having a
problem with the meaning of the word no. I almost cheered when I looked over
Ash’s shoulder and saw Vale enter the room. It didn’t take him long to evaluate
the situation.

Vale grabbed Ash’s shoulder and swung him
around.

“Leave her alone. She’s not interested in
your games.”

Ash smiled cruelly. “She might be. Wouldn’t
be the first time a woman you wanted passed you over for me.”

Vale flushed an angry red and swung wildly
at Ash. Obviously Ash hadn’t expected the blow because he looked stunned when
it connected with his face.

I was almost as shocked as Ash. Despite his
reputation, I had never seen Vale get violent with anyone.

Ash touched his jaw. “Was not expecting that.
It seems I touched a nerve. I always knew you had a temper.”

Vale stood stiffly with his fists clenched.
“You need to back off now, Ash.”

Ash cocked his head to one side, still
stroking his jaw. “I’m afraid that is not going to happen,” he said before
dropping his head and rushing at Vale.

The two of them crashed to the floor. While
they were distracted with pounding each other senseless I ran to the door.

“I need help,” I yelled out, hoping that
someone, preferably Jorge, was close by.

Instead I had Travis pounding up the
stairs, followed by Detectives Fletchall and Pickett. The three of them stopped
and surveyed the room. Vale and Ash were now rolling around on the floor,
desperately hitting each other. While Fletchall and Pickett tried to separate
the two combatants, Travis came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Are you okay, Trudie?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” I said shortly.

“What happened?”

“Ash was being an idiot and Vale reacted by
being even more of an idiot.”

Travis looked at me strangely. I didn’t
know why. To me that sounded like a succinct and accurate representation of the
last ten minutes. Neither of the two men were covering themselves in glory.
Vale had the opportunity to defuse the situation and he went for a punch to
Ash’s face. Despite my own violent thoughts when it came to dealing with Ash, I
still thought it was an overreaction.

Fletchall and Pickett finally managed to
pull the two men apart. Ash and Vale glared at each other. I had a feeling that
the chances of them getting any work done today had just gone down the toilet.
I really hoped that I was not going to get blamed for that.

“I’m going to need to speak to you,
Trudie,” Fletchall huffed out as he was holding Vale back from taking another
swing at Ash.

“I think I’ll be the one to interview Miss
Eyre this time,” said Pickett quietly as he seemed to be expending far less
effort in controlling Ash. Although that could have more to do with the fact
that with Ash’s short attention span, he had already grown bored with the
situation.

Fletchall scowled at his partner but seemed
to acquiesce.

“Are we done here?” he growled at Ash and
Vale.

Vale nodded sullenly, unsuccessfully trying
to shrug off Fletchall’s hand on his shoulder.

“I think we have an understanding of where
we all stand now,” Ash smiled in my direction.

Travis stiffened next to me and put an arm
protectively around my shoulder. Of course, that was the moment that Griffin
and Jorge finally turned up. I could see Griffin’s eyes narrowing as he took in
the scene before him.

“Aah, Trudie,” Jorge said slowly. “What is
going on here?”

“You’re clients decided that having a brawl
was a good way to start the day,” Fletchall said. “I’m going to need to speak
to them.” Fletchall squinted at Griffin as if just noticing him. “Griffin, what
the hell are you doing here?”

“Working,” said Griffin, his eyes never
leaving mine.

“I thought you were on holiday.” Fletchall
emphasized the word holiday and I’m sure he would have done air quotes with his
fingers if he wasn’t still keeping a tight grip on Vale.

“I am. I’m working a second job as security
here.”

The two detectives stared at Griffin
incredulously. It seems I wasn’t the only one having trouble believing the
current turn of events.

“Really?” questioned Pickett.

I could understand the look of confusion on
his face.

“Really,” answered Griffin.

“Take these two downstairs and keep them
separate.” Pickett pushed Ash towards Jorge who did not seem thrilled at the
current turn of events.

Fletchall led the group out of the room.
Travis pulled his arm away and followed them out. That left Pickett, Griffin
and me standing there, silently.

“Do you want to give us a bit of space, Detective
Griffin,” Pickett bit out.

Griffin looked in my direction and raised
an eyebrow. “What do you want me to do, boss?”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I’ll come down in
a little bit.”

He turned and left me alone with Detective
Pickett who had a decidedly less friendly demeanor than Detective Fletchall. I
had a feeling I was going back to interviews that were not enjoyable. Pickett
took a seat and motioned to a couch across from him. I sat down gently and
clasped my hands in my lap.

Pickett cleared his throat. “I’m hearing a
lot about you, Miss Eyre.”

That was probably not a good thing.

“According to my colleagues, you have a
tendency to attract troublesome situations.”

I inclined my head. It wasn’t like I could
argue with that statement.

“Your boyfriend, despite being a very good
detective, is currently on suspension.”

“That is hardly my fault,” I ground out.

According to Griffin, his suspension had
more to do with his personality than it did with anything that I may have done.
I was inclined to believe that assessment.

Pickett shrugged. “It might not have been
your fault but you do seem to attract more than your fair share of drama. That
was always going to have some effect on Detective Griffin’s career.”

I decided silence seemed to be the best way
to deal with that accusation.

Pickett looked at me keenly. “So, did you
want to tell me why you seemed to be in the middle of a brawl today?”

“I came in to ask Ash whether he needed my
help with anything. He was in a strange mood and started acting kind of inappropriately.”

“How do you mean, inappropriately?”

“Just inappropriate. He was standing too
close, trying to talk me into having some fun with him. I don’t know, it all
happened really fast and I was taken by surprise. Ash hasn’t acted like that
around me for a while. Vale came in and saw what was happening. He and Ash
exchanged words and then the punches started flying.”

“What kind of words?” Pickett looked
interested.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Something about
women choosing Ash instead of Vale. I didn’t really know that they competed for
women in that way.”

“Have you ever seen them fight over women
before?”

I shook my head. “To be perfectly honest,
there are always so many women around when they are partying that there really
isn’t a need.”

“Do you think this could have anything to
do with Jolena Aaron?”

“I don’t think so,” I said slowly. “As far
as I know, Jolena was only here for that one night. I wouldn’t think that would
be enough time for them to start a rivalry over her.”

“You’d be surprised how quickly some women
make an impression. Do you think Ash is capable of killing Jolena Aaron?”

I was surprised at the change in topic and
hesitated. Killing someone like Jolena had been killed would require passion.
Ash had never, as long as I’d known him, shown any passion for anything besides
his music. Despite the fact I seemed to want to find Ash responsible for
Jolena’s death, I just didn’t seem to be able to convince myself.