Not Suspicious in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 5 (4 page)

When we got to the front of the station I
was not surprised when I found Lee, Griffin’s father, laughing with some of the
older cops.

“So strange to see you here, Lee,” I said.

Lee smiled, walked over and put an arm
around me.

“This is my girl,” he stated proudly, and a
part of me melted.

I adored Lee. He had been a single father
who raised Griffin after his mother had deserted them when Griffin was a baby. He
had been a cop who was suddenly thrust into a role he wasn’t prepared for. He’d
muddled through and Griffin had grown up into the man he was today. Not perfect
by any measure but he was a good and strong man and, in my opinion, that meant that
Lee had done an amazing job.

“I’m here to take you home,” he said,
giving Vale a back off look.

I had wondered how long it was going to
take Griffin before he realized that he had left me in the care of a man that
he didn’t know. Jorge looked relieved by this turn of events as well. I loved
the men in my life but I had a feeling that I was going to need to have a
little talk to them about backing off at times. That kind of protectiveness has
a tendency to become smothering. At this moment though, I was cold, wet and
wanted to find my way to the nearest shower so I wasn’t really in the mood to
start an argument.

“Is this your father?” asked Vale, looking
nervously at Lee.

Lee beamed.

“Acts like it, doesn’t he?” I said. “He’s
my boyfriend’s father.”

“The cop,” Vale said.

I nodded.

“Ready to go?” asked Lee.

I sneezed in reply and pulled the blanket
around me again.

“I think that means yes,” Lee smiled at me.

We’ll see you tomorrow?” Vale queried.

I nodded as Lee hustled me out of the
station.

Once bundled up in the car I could feel
Lee’s eyes on me.

“You know I would feel much safer if you
were watching where you were going,” I said tightly.

“You need a new job,” Lee said, thankfully
returning his eyes to the road.

“I don’t need a new job,” I said tiredly.

“You definitely need a new job. The odds of
you not getting hurt are very quickly running out. Do you have any idea what it
would do to Jake if anything happened to you?”

I did know what it would do to Griffin. I
also knew that, in his own way, Lee was trying to protect not just his son, but
me too. I put a hand on his arm.

“I’m okay,” I said softly.”

“Today you’re okay,” Lee said calmly. “I am
just a bit concerned about what will happen tomorrow. You’re a disaster magnet,
Trudie. One of these days your luck is going to run out.”

I sat there silently. There wasn’t really
much I could say. I never went looking for these situations. They just seemed
to find me.

Once Lee had dropped me off I stood in my
shower and let the hot water wash away the chill that had entered me. It wasn’t
so much the sight of Jolena’s body that bothered me. I’d grown up on a farm so
I had been introduced to the concept of death and the cycle of life when I had
been young. What bothered me was knowing the devastation that Ramos would be
going through. Not only would she be dealing with the death of her girlfriend
but she would also be facing the truth about Jolena’s infidelity and that was
going to hurt her badly.

After my shower I started writing an email
to Monique, trying to explain the situation that I had found myself in, but I
just kept staring at a blank screen. Throwing random words on the screen didn’t
help me either. I was becoming so frustrated with my inability to craft even
the most basic of messages that I was grateful to hear a knock on my door.

I opened it to find Crystal standing there.

“I need you and Griffin to come to dinner
tonight,” she said as she walked past me.

“Why?” I closed the door and followed her
as she walked into my kitchen and started making herself a coffee.

“My mother is coming over for dinner. I
need you there to keep me from doing anything drastic and I need Griffin there
to provide some distracting eye candy to keep her attention divided so she
doesn’t come on to Edwin.”

“I don’t think we can make it tonight,” I
said slowly, interested to see how upset Crystal was and the way she was taking
it out on my coffee machine. I nudged her aside and took over the coffee making
duties while I still had a working coffee maker.

“Why not?” Crystal demanded.

“There has been an incident at work,” I
said, refusing to look at her.

“Please tell me you didn’t find a body.”

I smiled at her weakly. “I really wish I
could.”

Crystal threw her hands in the air. “I
spoke to you only a few hours ago and you were looking for a goat. How do we
get from looking for a goat to finding a dead body?”

I passed her a coffee. “I found the goat at
the lake and the body was in the lake.”

“Drowned?” Crystal asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I
saw the body, went to pull it out and she was dead.”

“Could it have been an accident?” Crystal
asked.

“It could have been, I guess.”

“So, Griffin’s working the case?”

I shook my head. “No, not this time. There
are some new detectives working this one. The woman was Ramos’s girlfriend.
Griffin is with her, trying to help.”

“Oh no,” Crystal gasped. “What was Ramos’s
girlfriend doing at that place?”

“She’d been there before.”

I busied myself with my own coffee. Crystal
worked for her father who was one of the biggest casting agents in Hollywood.
She knew the excesses of the industry intimately and it didn’t take her long to
mentally sift through all the possible reasons that Ramos’s girlfriend would be
at the headquarters for Crispy Spider.

“Groupie?” she queried.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Did Ramos know she was there?” asked
Crystal, quickly recovering from what I had thought was a traumatic revelation.

I shook my head.

“Did you know she was Ramos’s girlfriend?”

“I found out yesterday. Griffin and I were
still trying to work out how to tell Ramos when I found the body.

“What are you going to do about it?” asked
Crystal.

I shrugged. “There is nothing I can do about
it. The case is being investigated by a couple of detectives in the Homicide
squad. I’ve been questioned and that is the extent of my involvement in this
situation.”

“Good,” Crystal said firmly.

“What do you mean ‘good’?” I asked.

“I mean that you need to keep away from
this case as much as possible.”

“I’ve got to go back to work tomorrow,” I
said ruefully. “My options regarding distance are really not available to me.”

“Then at least try being careful this
time.”

I stifled a frustrated sigh. Despite my
reputation, I was always careful. The people around me seemed to have this idea
that I went charging heedlessly into dangerous situations. That was so far from
the truth as to be laughable. I was one of the most cautious people that I
knew. I always weighed up every option, evaluated all risks, before going
forward with anything. I was the ultimate planner. Unfortunately, life has a
way of spitting on plans and I had learned to be adaptable. I didn’t get into
these situations because I wanted to get into them. I got into them because
Fate had a very sick sense of humor and I seemed to be the whipping boy of the
moment.

Crystal eyed me suspiciously.

“So, do you know why your mother is coming
to visit?” I asked, desperate to change the topic before Crystal decided to try
to institute a curfew policy when it came to me.

Crystal took what was obviously a
fortifying sip of her coffee. “Money probably. I only hear from her when she’s
run out of husbands or money.”

“Why do you keep paying her off?”

I was confused by the exceedingly
dysfunctional nature of Crystal’s relationship with her mother. Roxy would blow
into town, drive Crystal crazy until she got some money and then she would
wander to another part of the world and start torturing someone else.

“I pay her off because it means she leaves.
If I don’t give her money, she stays in my life and I really don’t want that to
be an option.”

I sipped my own cup of coffee thoughtfully.
“You know it might be worth refusing to pay her anything. Once she realizes
that you are no longer an easy mark she might leave you alone.”

Crystal sighed. “I have tried that before,
but it comes down to a battle of wills. Who can last longer? Generally I find
that I cave because I just want her away from me.”

“And yet she keeps coming back. Whenever
she turns up you go through this crazy time and it can’t be healthy for you.
Maybe it has reached the point where you have to make a stand. You know, short
term pain for long term gain.”

“I know, I know. But it wouldn’t just be
pain. I would have to wait her out and that woman can be annoying. She turns up
everywhere I am and she has no problem with humiliating me whenever she can.”
Crystal dropped her voice. “I want to minimize the time she spends with Edwin.
She’ll want to sabotage our relationship. I know she will. She’ll see him as a
drain on the money that she feels should rightfully go to her. I will do
anything to protect him from that.”

“Edwin knows about your mother. Nothing she
says is going to have any impact on how he feels about you,” I said gently.

It was true. Edwin worshiped the ground
that Crystal walked on. It would take more than the words of one money hungry
mother to change that.

“I tried to get him to leave while my mom
was here,” Crystal said.

I snorted. That was going to work. I could
not see any circumstance where Edwin would willingly leave Crystal’s side when
her mother was in town.

“That was pretty much his reaction as
well,” Crystal murmured.

“So what are you going to do?” I asked.

Crystal shrugged. “Just try to get through
the next few days. You’re right though, I need to stop giving in to the woman.
If I don’t this is going to happen for the rest of my life because I just know
she’s going to outlast me. She’ll probably end up fighting Edwin and any kids I
might have over the will.”

I grimaced. That was a cheery thought.

Crystal took a swallow of her coffee and
put the cup down with a decisive thud.

“I can do this,” she muttered, more to
convince herself than to convince me. “Thanks for listening, Trudie. Keep out
of trouble this time.”

I loved how everyone thought I could
prevent myself from being in these situations. If there was a way for me to
avoid finding a dead body, I would be the first to attempt it.

Once again I found myself staring at a
blank screen, trying to find the best way to tell my boss that, despite my best
efforts, I had found myself in a police interrogation room again. There was a
nagging part of me that kept wondering whether this was going to be the moment
that Monique decided that I wasn’t worth the trouble. After much deliberation I
decided that the blunt approach was probably best. I outlined the situation in
bald terms and almost cringed as I pressed the Send button. I barely had time
to turn off my computer when my phone rang.

“Hello,” I said timidly.

“You contemplated not answering the phone
didn’t you?” Monique asked dryly.

“Of course not.” I couldn’t help the fact
that I was nodding my head.

“I know you’re nodding.”

Some days I hated the fact that Monique
knew me so well.

“Do you need Reggie?” she asked.

“No,” I replied. “The recording company
organized a lawyer for me. He got me out of the station.”

“Really?”

I could understand the incredulity in
Monique’s voice. I was still in a state of shock over the fact that I hadn’t
been left behind and forgotten.

“I think it might be better to pull you
from this job.”

It took me a second to process what Monique
was saying. “Why would you do that?”

“I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.”

“Jorge’s there too,” I reminded her. “Are
you planning on pulling him from the job as well?”

“Jorge doesn’t suffer from the same run of
bad luck that you seem to have.”

I loved the fact that Monique seemed to be
blaming my luck and not me. Hopefully that meant that my job was still safe.

“Maybe we should look at increasing
security on this assignment,” Monique mused.

“If you can find somebody,” I grimaced.

According to Jorge, none of the other
security staff would willingly work with me. My reputation had, in my opinion,
been blown completely out of proportion at the agency and Jorge was the only
person who could be convinced to take an assignment with me. Usually it didn’t
bother me. Frankly, I preferred to work with Jorge. Unfortunately, I knew that
it made things difficult for Monique when she needed to find more than one
staff member to work with me. The rumor mill would go into overdrive and all of
a sudden phone calls from Monique would start to go unanswered.

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and one of the new
hires will not have heard about you yet.”

It was good to see that Monique’s positive
spin on the situation was hoping that my reputation was not included in the
welcome pack for new employees.

“Regardless, I have been notified by the
band’s management that they do not want you at work tomorrow.”

“I’ve been fired?” That didn’t seem fair.

“Of course not. The band and their
management are going to be in crisis meetings all day tomorrow and they don’t
need you or Jorge. Naturally, they put it a different way, something about
being sensitive to the stressful situation you faced today and that you
deserved a day off.”

I nodded. Translated that meant that from a
public relations point of view, the next couple of days were going to be
challenging and they just wanted to make sure the band was prepared to face it.
They didn’t want outsiders interfering with their risk management program.
Despite the warm and fuzzy moment at the station, Jorge and I were definitely
still considered outside guns for hire with no real loyalty to the band.
However the band and its management decided to play things, we were not going
to be part of the decision making process. I was perfectly fine with that.

“You’ll be required back at the mansion the
next day though. Hopefully I’ll be able to get someone extra for security
then.”

“Good luck with that.” I wasn’t holding my
breath.

“Promise me that you will not take any
risks.” Monique’s voice sounded serious.

That made me feel bad. Monique had always
supported me and the strain in her voice was telling me that I was causing her
some concern.

“I promise,” I said quietly.

After saying goodbye to Monique I sat
heavily on the couch and my head dropped into my hands. I knew that the people
who cared about me were getting worried. The sheer terror I had seen on
Griffin’s face at the mansion was a clear indicator that each of them was
having nightmares that the next time I wasn’t going to be just a traumatized
bystander. I wiped my hands over my face. Maybe I should talk to Monique about
finding a quiet job for my next assignment. Maybe she had some filing she
needed done. How much trouble could I get into with that?

I jumped at the sound of my phone ringing
again. Thinking it might be Griffin, I answered it without checking.

“Trudie, it’s Vale.”

I felt my forehead crease. “Hi, Vale. Is
there something I can help you with?”

Vale cleared his throat nervously. “I just
wanted to make sure you were okay, after what happened today.”

“I’m fine,” I said automatically. I really
wasn’t fine but I couldn’t say that to my client. At all times I had to at
least give the impression that I had everything under control, even if I
didn’t.

“Heard you weren’t going to be in tomorrow.
I was just wondering if you were coming back at all or whether you were going
to abandon us? Buddy wanted to know. He’s really quite fond of you.”

I laughed. “Now I know you’re lying. That
goat hates me with a passion.”

Vale chuckled. “I think hate is a bit of a
strong word.”

“I don’t think it’s strong enough for the
way that goat feels about me.”

There was silence as we both seemed to be
searching for something else to say.

“I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. Tell
Buddy I’ll see him then,” I said.

“I’ll do that,” Vale replied. “Take care of
yourself.”

I ended the call and stared at my phone for
a few moments. I hadn’t been expecting to be contacted by any of the band
directly. I had become quite fond of all of them over the last month, except
Ash of course. That in itself was unusual. Generally, after a month working for
any of my clients, I was wondering how much more I could take. In some cases I
would be actively looking for the nearest escape route. This job had been
relatively pleasant, if I didn’t take into account the hedonistic rock and roll
lifestyle which, surprisingly, I seemed to be able to ignore. Still, I hadn’t
expected any of them to care. It was nice.

I yawned widely, surprised by how tired I
was. I curled up on the couch and fell asleep, hoping my dreams would be
untouched by the events of the day. I came awake suddenly as I felt myself
being lifted up. I opened my eyes to see Griffin looking down at me with that
same worried expression that seemed to be on his face far too often.

“You’re home.”

He kissed me on the forehead. “Yes,
sweetheart. Go back to sleep, I just figured you’d be more comfortable in bed.”

“Thank you,” I said as he laid me down on
the mattress.

I waited for him while he was in the
bathroom getting ready for bed. When he stretched out beside me I turned to him
and felt safer as his arms wrapped around me.

“How is Ramos doing?”

Griffin took in a deep breath. “She’s
holding it together. I had to tell her about Jolena cheating on her. I didn’t
want her getting blindsided by Fletchall with that little piece of
information.”

“Did she have any idea?”

Griffin shook his head. “Seems Jolena had
issues in the past but Ramos thought that they had worked through them. From
what I could tell, Ramos didn’t know Jolena was cheating but she wasn’t
completely shocked.”

“How did she know her?”

“Jolena’s a model. Not an overly famous one
or anything. Seems she did a bit on the side, enough to keep her going but not
enough to hit the big time. She was also starting to do some acting work, small
bits really. Ramos met her in some coffee shop they both go to and they hit it
off. It seems they went from there. Ramos thought it was exclusive but from
what I’ve been hearing, Jolena was a bit of a wild one. She liked moving in
certain circles. Partying with musicians would be right up her alley.”

“I hope she’ll be okay,” I said quietly
against his chest.

“She’s strong,” Griffin murmured. “She’s
got a lot of family around her and they’re helping.”

“Good.”

“I got a scare today, sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry.” I held onto him a little
tighter.

“We got a call about a female body at that
property and I knew that you were the only woman they have working there at the
moment. I honestly thought I’d lost you. I never want to feel that way again. I
never want to go through what Ramos is going through right now.”

I knew I couldn’t say anything that was
going to make this better.

“I know you don’t do anything to cause
this. I know it’s just my fears but I wish I could find a way to wrap you up
and keep you safe.”

“Monique is worried too. She is looking at
putting on a second security person until they find out what happened.”

“Good. I know Jorge keeps an eye on you but
I wouldn’t mind somebody else there to watch your back as well.”

I felt a light kiss on the top of my head.
“Just stay safe for me, sweetheart.”

I nodded and felt myself drifting off,
secure in his arms.