Not Suspicious in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 5 Read online

  “Not the first time it’s happened,” I said. “Although I have to say it was close. I think I still have the resignation letter on file that I started. It wasn’t very complimentary to you guys.”

  Vale gave me a half smile. “I’m sure it wasn’t. I’m also sure that we deserved everything that you said. I’m glad you decided to stay.”

  ‘Thanks,” I said. “I’m glad I stayed as well. What are you doing out here?”

  Vale looked sadly across the lake. “Just seems to be a huge waste. Sometimes I wonder what I’m even doing here. I always thought that I was going to change the world and leave it a better place. I don’t quite think that I’m accomplishing that goal.”

  “You’re definitely making an impact on it,” I said gently. “Have you thought about using the influence that you now have for a cause you are interested in? You have the opportunity to really make a difference if that is what you want to do.”

  Vale nodded. “I think you might be right. We got so caught up in making it as a band that I think we may have lost part of ourselves.”

  “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

  I wondered where this sudden introspection was coming from. It looked like the events of the last few days were starting to take a toll on Vale. There was nothing like a murder to start you questioning your place in the world.

  “I think you’re right.” Vale paused as if gathering his thoughts. “You know that you are very easy to talk to?”

  “I’ve been told that often,” I said wryly.

  “I don’t think you realize what a gift that is,” he said reflectively. He looked out across the lake again. “What are you doing down here anyway, Trudie?”

  I motioned towards Travis and Griffin who were standing a relatively respectful distance behind us. “We have new security people and we were just going over the issues from the last couple of days.”

  Vale frowned. “Isn’t that your boyfriend?” he asked, with a slightly accusing tone.

  “Yes, he is. He was available for security work and my boss thought he would be helpful.”

  Vale looked skeptical. I wasn’t going to argue with him. I still had my doubts about this arrangement. Now that I’d had Travis thrown into the mix, I was just going to keep my head down until this entire job was finished.

  Vale grabbed my elbow and pulled me aside to where he thought that the two men wouldn’t be able to hear us. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I knew for a fact that Griffin had the hearing of a bat.

  “I don’t think that is entirely appropriate,” Vale said quietly.

  I looked down pointedly at the way Vale was still gripping my elbow.

  “Sorry,” he muttered as he let go.

  “It’s all been approved by management.” I was a little confused by the annoyance I could see on Vale’s face.

  “I think I need to have a little talk to them about that.”

  I stayed silent. I didn’t really see Vale’s reasoned argument beating Monique’s powers of persuasion but I wasn’t going to try to stop him.

  Vale smiled at me as if trying to hide his annoyance. “I’m really glad you came back,” he said, before turning and walking away.

  I watched him worriedly as he walked towards the mansion. I kept watching him as I heard Griffin and Travis step up behind me.

  “He likes you,” Griffin said accusingly.

  I tried to control my impatience before turning to face the two of them.

  “Of course he likes me. Unlike you, I’m a very likable person.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  I took a deep breath. “I know that you have this belief that just because you find me irresistible that every other man in the world must feel the same way. Here’s a newsflash for you. They don’t. Vale is just being nice to me. New concept amongst my clients but the law of averages said I had to hit one sooner or later.”

  “Griffin’s right,” Travis decided to interfere. “I think he does like you.”

  I turned around to face the newest attack. “You might want to think on what you just said. I never thought that I would hear you say the words ‘Griffin is right’ without you choking on it or at least a threat of imminent death.”

  Travis grimaced. “I know. Believe me they were just as unpleasant for me to say as they were for you to hear. Doesn’t stop them from being the truth.”

  I shrugged, giving up. One thing I had learned very quickly about the people I seemed to attract into my life, they were not easily swayed when they had an opinion.

  “This was where I found Buddy. I was talking to Crystal on the phone when I spotted him.”

  “Why were you talking to Crystal?” Travis asked curiously.

  “We were discussing how ridiculous my life had become when I was required to spend my working hours hunting down a goat who, as we’ve already seen, does not like me.”

  “Okay.” Travis drawled, attempting to be understanding.

  “I got off the phone with Crystal and I was trying to reason with Buddy.”

  “We’re still talking about the goat?” Travis queried.

  “Yes, we are still talking about the goat. I was not going to be able to drag him all the way back to his pen on my own so I was trying to discuss the matter calmly with him. He wasn’t exactly responding to my reasoned arguments and I looked out over the lake because I was feeling a little frustrated with the situation.” I paused for a moment as I remembered that morning. “I saw some fabric in the lake, a lot of fabric. I ditched my phone and went in to see what it was.”

  “Why?” asked Travis.

  “Why, what?” I replied.

  “You see fabric in a lake. Why did you decide to jump fully clothed in a lake when all you’d seen was fabric?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just got a bad feeling. I guess I reacted without thinking. I swam out to it and grabbed hold. It was only then that I knew that it was a person. I dragged her to the shore and tried doing CPR. I started screaming for someone to come and help me. Jorge heard me and came running. When he got there he realized that there was nothing that we could do to help her so he stopped me. I was a bit of a mess so Jorge took over from there. He organized everyone and called 911.”

  “Why were you so upset?” Travis asked curiously.

  “I’d just pulled a dead body out of the water,” I replied, wondering why I had thought that for once Travis would show some sensitivity.

  “I understand that but it wasn’t exactly your first time finding a dead body. You’re usually pretty good with dealing with it. What made this one different?”

  “I’d met Jolena the day before at a barbecue for some of the cops from the station. When I pulled her out of the lake I knew who she was. I knew what this was going to do to Ramos.”

  “So why was Jolena here?” asked Travis.

  “She was here a few nights earlier,” I offered.

  “Yes, I heard about the incident. I’ve already spoken to Ash. He claims that she was nothing more than some random fan that he didn’t even know or care about.”

  That was Ash. Classy to the end.

  “How much did Ramos know about Jolena and her extracurricular activities?” Travis asked.

  I looked at Griffin who cleared his throat.

  “Trudie told me about Jolena when we got home after the barbecue. I was planning on telling Ramos.”

  “Brave man,” Travis commented.

  Griffin raised an eyebrow.

  Travis grimaced. “As the man who regularly gets to tell people that their significant other is cheating on them, believe me when I say that it is not a job for the faint of heart. People have a tendency to react badly and as the messenger you are the first in the line of fire.”

  “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 woma
n 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.

  Chapter Fifteen

  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.”