Not Talented in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 3 (12 page)

Parked outside in a laneway was a limousine. My kidnapper
opened the door and pushed me in, none too gently. I dropped my bag as I fell
into the seat and the box of condoms rolled out. Dominic Caldwell leaned over
and picked up the box and held them out for me.

“For you and the good detective I presume” he said, a smile
crossing his face.

I snatched the box out of his hand and stuffed it in my
handbag.

“None of your business,” I snapped as I felt the blush work its
way up my neck and across my face.

Dominic laughed as I settled into my seat trying desperately
to portray a casual, sophisticated demeanor. There’s a reason that look never
works for me.

“It’s good to see a woman who blushes for a change” he said.
“The women I usually spend my time with are too worldly to ever blush.”

“Lucky you” I said through gritted teeth as my face felt
warmer.

He traced a finger down my cheek. “I may be missing out” he
said quietly.

I froze. Of all the things I was expecting, I had to admit
this was not one of them.

“What do you want from me?” I croaked. You would think after
being kidnapped for the second time in twenty four hours I could at least be a
bit calmer about it.

“We never got to finish our chat” said Dominic.
“Unfortunately we kept getting interrupted.”

“So you decided to kidnap me” I said.

“I am not kidnapping you” Dominic sighed as if repeatedly
having to explain things to a small child.

“Actually” I said, “today really counts as a kidnapping.
Thug with a gun and threats definitely equals kidnapping.”

“I told Robert that I needed to speak to you. He may have
got a little enthusiastic with the execution of that order.”

I really wish Dominic hadn’t used the term execution.

“I was with my boyfriend’s father in that drugstore” I
warned. “The second he can’t find me you’re going to have the LAPD combing the
streets looking for me.”

“You do seem to excite extreme loyalty in people” Dominic
said just as calmly. “It doesn’t matter, as soon as we’ve finished our
discussion I will take you wherever you want to go. I wouldn’t dream of hurting
you in any way.”

“I don’t know why you want to talk to me” I said letting the
frustration show. “I didn’t know Catarina at all.”

“But you know about her” prompted Dominic, “and I’ve been
looking into your past Trudie. You seem to make a habit of gaining information
about people.

“I’ve heard things” I admitted “but I don’t know how much of
it is true.”

“Tell me everything you know, or have heard” Dominic
commanded.

“Okay” I said deciding that being agreeable may actually get
me home in time to use those condoms.

“From what I’ve heard Catarina Badal used people. I spoke to
someone from her high school and they said everything she did in life she got
from cheating or conning someone, if not outright stealing. In college she
seduced a professor and tricked him into marrying her by faking a pregnancy.”

“She’s married?” Dominic asked.

“Yes, she refused to divorce the guy because that would mean
losing part of her money under California law. That and I’ve been told she got
some sort of perverse pleasure out of preventing her husband from getting on with
his life. I’ve been told that there are doubts that the films she won awards
for were actually her work. According to the person I spoke to, she didn’t have
an original thought in her head. My understanding is she was beautiful and full
of personality. She made the most of those two attributes. Oh, and the only
thing she seemed to actually care about was her cat” I said without taking a
breath.

Even though I had only known Dominic for a very short period
of time, I knew he was a man who prided himself on his control. In this moment
I saw him look angry and I was really afraid because I knew I was seeing the
very bad and very dangerous man that Griffin had warned me about. I dropped my
eyes with my hands clasped in my lap. I didn’t think he would be very impressed
at me witnessing this loss of control. I tried picturing the funeral and anyone
else that I had spoken to about Catarina and her death.

“Wait a second.” A vague memory teased itself through my
mind. “Do you have the picture of the necklace?”

Dominic pulled a photo of the necklace from his jacket
pocket and passed it over to me. Looking at it I got a picture in my head of
the day of the funeral. All of a sudden the memory that had been twisting just
out of sight hit me.

“Oh no” I said and Dominic straightened.

“You know where the necklace is don’t you? You’ve remembered
seeing it.”

I gulped, wishing desperately that I wasn’t the one telling
him this.

“Well, where is it?”

I dropped my head. “She turned it into a cat collar.”

“What?” The deadly tone in Dominic’s voice made me wish very
much that I didn’t have to be the one to tell him this.

“This emerald and the two rubies on this necklace, they look
exactly like the stones on the collar that Catarina’s cat had around her neck
at the funeral. I thought they were rhinestones. I’ve never seen stones that
big that were real. I figured it was one of those ostentatious cat collars
people get that are more costume jewelry.”

“Are you telling me that my mother’s priceless emerald and
ruby necklace which has been in our family for generations has been pulled
apart and turned into a cat collar?” Dominic’s voice seemed to increase in
volume the further along in that sentence that he went.

I nodded.

“Are you sure?”

“I guess it could be a copy?” I said hopefully.

“But you don’t think so, do you” said Dominic.

I shook my head. I really wish that I could say that it was
something else and there was a part of me that rebelled at the thought. What
kind of person would steal a priceless necklace and turn it into a cat collar?
I could see that it was lucky that Catarina was dead already because if the
look on Dominic’s face was anything to go by, she wouldn’t have been long for
this world anyway.

“So, can you drop me off now” I ventured.

“Afraid not.” Dominic smiled. “So far you have been
invaluable to me. I might just keep you for a little bit longer if you don’t
mind.”

“You really need to learn to understand the word no” I said
seriously.

“Maybe you’re right” he shrugged, “I just don’t often hear
it.”

“This is kidnapping” I said.

“Were you dragged in here? Is there any evidence that you
are here against your will?” he questioned.

“The fact that I’m with you is evidence that I am here
against my will, because there is no other reason for me to be breathing the
same air that you are. I was dragged by your thug in here and he threatened to
do what the guy yesterday did to me.”

Dominic shrugged. “He may have been a little over
enthusiastic in his interpretation of my request.”

“Considering how often your people misinterpret your requests,
I would really suggest that you take a course in communication because there
may be people out there who are not as forgiving as I am.” I went through my
purse and grabbed my cell.

“What are you doing?” Dominic said silkily.

“I’m calling Detective Griffin and letting him know where I
am. If you don’t want this to be classified as a kidnapping I would suggest you
just sit there and let me do what I want. If you don’t the second this door
opens I will kick and scream at the top of my lungs so the situation will
satisfy even your narrow interpretation of the word.”

Dominic grimaced as I punched in Griffin’s number.

“Where the hell are you?” So much for niceties, looked like
Griffin really didn’t handle stress well. Everybody kept telling me about him having
this ice cold, calm personality. Frankly I didn’t see it, or maybe more to the
point, I didn’t inspire it.

“Dominic Caldwell felt that we needed to finish the chat we
were having when you interrupted us at the hospital.”

“You’re with Dominic Caldwell?” Strangely Griffin sounded
like he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.

“Looks like it.”

Dominic was smiling as he sat across from me.

“Are you there willingly?” asked Griffin slowly as if trying
to assimilate my change in circumstances.

“We were just discussing that” I said. “We seem to have
differing interpretations on what constitutes willing.

“Where are you?” Griffin was starting to get that tone in
his voice that I knew was a prelude to a blow up. “I’m coming to get you now.”

“Could be a little bit of a problem, it seems my expertise
is being requested.” I couldn’t help but feel a little bit smug.

“Your expertise in what?” Griffin sounded doubtful. I chose
not to be insulted.

“I have no idea. Seems there is a missing necklace that
Catarina stole from Dominic Caldwell and I may have an idea where it is. From
my understanding of the situation I would say that we’re going looking for a
cat.”

I could almost hear Griffin grinding his teeth. “Just so
we’re clear, you are currently in the company of a man who is, as we speak, on
the radar of several law enforcement agencies and the two of you are searching
for a cat.”

That pretty much summed up my day. Hearing him say it so
calmly I could see why he was having a bit of trouble getting his head around it.

“I just wanted you to know that I’m safe and not to worry” I
said.

“Don’t worry” Griffin echoed. “Are you out of your mind? I
want you to tell me where you are right now so I can get you.”

I looked out the window of the car. “At the moment I’m in a
limo heading down the freeway. I’m not entirely sure where we are headed.” I
looked at Dominic expectantly and he just shrugged. “Looks like it is a mystery
trip but Dominic assures me that as soon as we find the cat he will deliver me
home.” Dominic shrugged again and I gave him a dirty look.

“If I’m not home or don’t call you in an hour, come looking
for me” I muttered and turned the phone off.

“So” I said as I settled back in my seat. “We’re looking for
a cat.”

Dominic sighed in disgust as if suddenly realizing what a
ridiculous situation he was in. “To be perfectly honest, we’re heading for the
reading of Catarina’s will.”

“Why?” I asked a little confused.

“Ostensibly it is because, thanks to her gambling debts, I
am considered a creditor to Catarina’s estate. I normally wouldn’t attend these
things.”

“Let me guess, you have colleagues who take care of them.”

Dominic smiled faintly. “Yes, I do. However, this situation
is different in that I was hoping to get a chance to find the necklace, so I
planned to attend today’s reading myself. Of course after the debacle that
occurred because I sent D’Angelo to find the necklace I am beginning to realize
that I may be delegating too much to people who aren’t able to handle the
responsibility.”

I couldn’t help but agree with him.

The lawyer’s offices were spacious, with more than enough
room to handle a reading. It looked empty though with only Catarina’s assistant
and husband in attendance. Peter started with surprise when he saw Dominic walk
into the room and his brow furrowed with confusion at the sight of me coming in
with him. I was right there with him. How I ended up in this drama was going to
require a flow chart and a white board when Griffin demanded an explanation,
which I knew he was going to do.

Sitting down next to Dominic I could hear the low volume
yowling. Looking around I saw the cat carrier sitting on the ground next to
Peter’s chair. I should have realized that Peter had it because his skin had
once again taken on that blotchy look it seemed to permanently have around
Cleopatra. He was also sniffing and his eyes were running horribly. I elbowed
Dominic and using my head indicated in the direction of the cat carrier. The
lawyer entered the room and sat down at his desk. Clearing his throat he
started talking.

“As you are aware we are here today to discuss the final
disposal of the estate of Catarina Badal. As executor of the will I have been
tasked to finalize these matters. I won’t read the will, copies will be made
available to you. Firstly I needed to address the matter of the creditors. Mr
Caldwell has a sizable interest due to debts incurred by Miss Badal.”

The lawyer shuffled some papers and his assistant passed
them to Dominic. “As you can see all debts are covered.”

Dominic barely glanced at the papers. “This doesn’t address
the necklace that was wrongly appropriated by Catarina” he said mildly.

The lawyer cleared his throat, his nervousness apparent.

“A thorough inventory has been made of Miss Badal’s
holdings. The necklace you are speaking of has not been found anywhere.”

Dominic was silent for a moment and I could see that
everyone was becoming uncomfortable. “I have reason to believe that Catarina
pulled the necklace apart and repurposed it.”

The lawyer looked perplexed. “We found nothing in her
jewelry that even looked similar” he said.

Dominic sighed. “Did anyone bother to look at the cat collar?”

The assistant looked horrified. See I wasn’t the only one. I
know I can be accused of not being a cat lover but the thought of a precious
necklace stolen and turned into a cat collar was ridiculous. I mean who did
that? Everyone looked at the cat cage and as if she realized she had become the
center of attention the cat kicked up the volume.

Peter looked at the cage in distaste.

“I’m going to need help to remove the collar” he said. “I
can hold the cat but someone else will need to take it off.”

I looked at Dominic in his very expensive suit. He shrugged
at me. I didn’t see him volunteering in a hurry. I walked over to Peter.

“Let’s get this over and done with” I muttered.

With practiced movements, Peter undid the cage door, grabbed
both front paws in one hand and the scruff of the cat in the other. Pulling her
out, he clamped her body under his arm, all while sneezing helplessly with
tears streaming from his eyes.

“Get it now” he wheezed.

Working quickly I reached up and undid the cat collar.
Whipping it off I shouted “done” triumphantly and Peter shoved the cat back in
the cage and closed the door. He then sat down heavily in his chair and pulled
out a box of tissues. He started mopping up his eyes and nose, while his face
started swelling to an alarming degree. I handed the collar over to Dominic who
despite the fact he had got the gems from the necklace back, looked like he badly
wanted to kill somebody. I didn’t blame him really. From the looks of it
Catarina had pried the gems from their setting and glued them haphazardly on a
relatively thick leather collar in a demented crafting exercise.

“Do we know where the setting is?” Dominic’s voice was
pitched low and the threatening tone made me take an involuntary step back.

I was obviously not the only one who felt the threat because
the lawyer who was already nervous was sending off panic vibes that could be
felt through the room.

“Now that we know the necklace is no longer whole we will go
through all her belongings and see if we can find the setting.”

Dominic pinned him with a look that emphasized the point
that he better not fail.

The lawyer cleared his throat nervously. “Can we continue?”

Dominic nodded and sat down again. I dropped down in the
seat next to Peter, still a bit concerned that his wheezing had not stopped.

“Do you have something to help?” I whispered.

Peter sneezed. “No, I’m getting anti-allergy shots but they
don’t seem to be working yet.”

“If you’re finished” the lawyer pinned both of us with a
look. I felt like a kid in school being reprimanded by the teacher.

“Sorry” I said weakly. Peter just sneezed again.

“As to the rest of the estate, my instructions are that it
is to be liquidated and put into a trust. This trust is to be administered
solely for the maintenance of Catarina’s cat, Cleopatra. Cleopatra is to remain
in the care of Peter Nolan and he will be paid a stipend of $5000 a year out of
the trust to care for the cat. Other than that the trust will only allow money
for certain expenses. Upon the death of Cleopatra, she is to be interred with
Catarina’s body and the trust will be dissolved and donated to a variety of
animal shelters.

I looked around. Evan didn’t look like he cared at all that
he had been left out of the will, but then for him the main benefit was that he
no longer had Catarina in his life. Dominic had a bored expression on his face
that morphed into anger every time he saw that stupid cat collar. Peter looked
like he was in massive amounts of pain but there was a disbelief to his
features as he shakily stood up.

“What about the royalties for the movies?” he asked.

“They are part of the estate so they go into the trust” the
lawyer barely looked up at Peter.

“But I wrote them, she promised that I would get the
royalties and credit if she died.”

Everyone looked at him surprised.

“What do you mean Peter?” I asked gently trying to calm him
down.

“I wrote the screenplays, but nobody was going to give me
the time of day. Catarina had the contacts, she had the look, so we agreed that
she would present them as hers but once they were made she would help me get
ahead, so I could make my own movies.”

“She never did that did she?” I’d learned enough about
Catarina Badal that I knew she never did anything for anyone except for that
cat of hers.

“I wrote two movies for her and they got all those awards,
and all that money and I never saw any of it.”

“Why did you stay with her?” I put my hand on his shoulder.

“She said she loved me. She said she used all the other men
in her life, that I was the only one for her, that we were perfect for each
other. She said if I was her assistant, no one would ask questions and I could
be with her always.”

Peter looked completely lost. Evan was watching the
situation with a complete lack of concern. In that moment I knew that he
couldn’t have killed Catarina. She meant nothing to him. From the look of it
the murder had seemed a crime of passion and there was no passion there
whatsoever. Dominic was angry but his problem was more pride than anything
else. It started to dawn on me that the one person who had the most passion
when it came to Catarina, was the one I was standing a little too close to. I
took a small step backwards and from the look in Peter’s eyes I could tell that
he knew what I had just worked out.

“I’m so sorry” I said just as the doors sprung open and
Griffin strode into the room with Ramos right behind him. Griffin stopped and
his jaw dropped at seeing me there.

Ramos was not quite so stunned.

“I don’t believe it” she exclaimed when her eyes landed on
me.

Griffin recovered quickly. “Peter Nolan, we would like to
speak to you regarding the murder of Catarina Badal.”

Peter froze momentarily and then he snapped into action. He grabbed
me around the waist and hauled me towards him. Griffin stepped forward as Ramos
pulled her gun.

“Step back” Peter said and I felt something sharp pressed
against my throat.

Griffin froze. “This is a really bad idea” he growled but
stepped back anyway.

“What are you doing Peter?” I could feel a small trickle of
blood going down my throat.

“It isn’t fair” he said. “She was supposed to give me the
money, she was supposed to tell everyone that I was the one who wrote those
screenplays. Instead I get the cat that makes me sick all the time. Why would
she do that to me? I was the one she loved.”

“She didn’t love anyone except herself.” Dominic sounded
like he was bored with the entire situation. “If you believed she loved you,
you’re a bigger idiot than the rest of us.”

I glared at Dominic, I should have known that sooner or
later he was going to get me killed.

“Peter, if you don’t let me go, you are going to get hurt.”

“You’re going out with the cop. Tomas told me at the
funeral. He won’t do anything that will risk you getting killed.”

I conceded on that point. Unfortunately Griffin wasn’t the
only one in the room with a gun. “See his partner, she doesn’t like me very
much right now. Griffin might hold off but she is likely to shoot me in the leg
just to see me suffer.”

I wish I had been lying, but I could see the look in Ramos’s
eyes and frankly I could tell that my being here was just another in the long
list of grievances she held against me.

“I loved her” he whispered, “and I hated her. She laughed at
me, I wanted to stop her laughing at me.”

“Did you kill her?” I kept my eyes on Griffin because it was
the only thing keeping me going at the moment.

“Yes” whispered Peter.

“Are you going to kill me?” I said my voice seizing up with fear.

“No” said Peter.

“Then please let me go. If you don’t, things are going to
get worse than they are already.”

I felt the knife drop away from my throat and Peter stepped
back. Griffin and Ramos raced forward and Peter was thrown to the ground and
handcuffed. Ramos still had her knee in Peter’s back when Griffin grabbed hold
of my arms.

“Are you okay, how deep is the cut?”

“Barely a scratch” I said quietly, my mind still trying to
process what had happened.

He pulled me close and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

“You can’t keep doing this to me” he said.

“Not like I mean to” I mumbled into his chest.

“If you’ve finished babying her, we need to take this one
down town” Ramos broke through the moment.

“Can you get home?” Griffin asked.

“Not a problem.” I smiled at him, hoping it filled him with
more confidence than it did me, especially as I don’t think he realized that
ride was probably going to be with Dominic Caldwell.

“I’ll meet you at your place when I’ve finished up” he
whispered and gave me a brief kiss on the cheek.

Ramos puffed out her breath in disgust and dragged Peter
towards the doorway. Griffin followed her.

“You do bring the excitement don’t you?” said Dominic coming
up behind me holding out a tissue.

“Maybe you should stop kidnapping me then” I said as I
mopped at the small cut on my neck. “I need a ride home, and seeing as how I
wouldn’t be in this mess if it hadn’t been for you, I think you owe me.”

“Believe me” said Dominic, “from what I’ve learned about you
in the last couple of days, sooner or later you would have been in the middle
of this anyway.”