Hollywood Kids

by Jackie Collins

She swayed, almost falling, but then she forced herself to keep going, until eventually she reached a small market.

  She ran up to the check-out stand, faltering, hardly able to put two words together. 'Call... call the police,' she said to the woman. 'Please... hurry.'

  'What's the matter with you, honey?' the woman said, alarmed. 'You been raped? What happened?'

  Cheryl collapsed on to the floor.

  * * *

  The cars containing Detective Carlyle, Luca, Reno, Mac, Michael and Quincy, met up with three unmarked police cars at the bottom of Laurel Canyon.

  Boyd Keller and Bobby joined Detective Carlyle, Reno and Luca in the first car, and the convoy roared off up the hill.

  The TV van with Rosa and her crew was right behind them, along with Kennedy.

  Reno sat in the front passenger seat giving directions. After a while he spotted the turning. 'It's up here,' he said. 'Keep on going, it's way at the top.'

  'You got a number for the house?' Boyd Keller asked.

  'No, it's kinda isolated.'

  The terrain was getting rougher by the minute. 'You positive there's another house up here?' Boyd said impatiently.

  'Yeah, I'm sure,' Reno said. 'I gotta good sense of direction.'

  'We passed the last house five minutes ago.'

  'I told you, we'll get to it.'

  * * *

  'Michael's in one of the cars up ahead,' Rosa said.

  'How do you know?' Kennedy asked.

  'Cause I was in Boyd's office when it all came down,' Rosa said, her pretty face alive with excitement. 'There's Mac Brooks, Luca Carlotti, and if I'm not mistaken Bobby Rush is along for the ride - this is quite a story, and we're on the spot before anyone else.'

  Kennedy nodded. She couldn't help thinking about the two girls and what had happened to them. If the news was bad it was a story she didn't want to cover. Let the tabloid press take over and go to town.

  People's lives were at stake, this was a desperate situation - not entertainment for the masses.

  * * *

  The first vehicle in the convoy slowed down.

  There's a car up ahead blocking the road,' the driver said.

  'Looks like it could be our limo,' Reno said, peering from the window.

  Detective Carlyle reached for his gun as their car ground to a stop. 'How far is the house from here?' he asked.

  Reno shrugged. 'It's near.'

  Luca had an antenna for trouble, whenever he sensed anything was wrong, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. They were doing it now.

  'Stay in the car,' Detective Carlyle said, his hand on the door.

  Fuck that shit. Luca was out of the car before anyone could stop him.

  'What's happening?' Michael said, as their car stopped.

  'Something's goin' down,' Quincy said.

  'I'm taking a look,' Michael said, jumping out of the car and coming up behind Reno. 'Where's the house?' he asked.

  'Up the hill.'

  'Thanks,' he said, sprinting up the bumpy road.

  They could all deal with the limo, he had a hunch that what was going on at the house was more important.

  * * *

  'Oh, Jesus!' Luca sighed mournfully, as he approached the bodies piled together by the side of the road. 'This shouldn't have happened. This ain't right.'

  Detective Carlyle tried to wave him away, but Luca was having none of it. He bent down to touch Bosco, making sure he was dead.

  'Don't do that,' Boyd Keller barked. And then to Detective Carlyle, 'Get this area roped off. This is a crime scene here, not a fucking picnic.'

  * * *

  Rosa, her camera crew and Kennedy leaped out of the van. Rosa signalled her cameraman to start shooting before anyone could stop them. He began filming the grisly crime scene, while Rosa attempted to do a quick remote.

  'Get that camera out of here,' Boyd Keller yelled angrily.

  * * *

  Michael reached the house, pulled his gun and approached warily. First he tried the front door - it was locked, so he made his way around the side until he came to the back. The kitchen window was shattered, shards of broken glass everywhere.

  The air seemed very still. Heat and silence and nothing else. A fly buzzed into his face, startling him.

  He was nervous - since getting shot it wasn't the same. He was no longer Superman running head first into any situation. A year ago he would have leaped through the kitchen window. Now he was more cautious, had to work out the safest way in, because he never wanted to experience the searing flesh-tearing pain of being shot again.

  Edging past the kitchen window, he discovered a side door. One heavy kick and he was inside the house.

  More silence.

  He was sweating so much he could barely keep a grip on his gun.

  Moving slowly he entered the kitchen. Blood and chaos was everywhere.

  Sprawled in the middle of the floor was a body.

  He heard a noise and raised his gun, perspiration rolling down the back of his neck.

  Jordanna stood in the doorway leading to the hall. She was battered, bruised and bloody, but she was alive.

  'I killed him,' she said quietly. 'He's dead.'

  EPILOGUE

  The story hit the press and airwaves big time. Two Hollywood princesses - kidnapped and beaten- One of them a madam! Plus notorious crime boss's psycho murdering nephew.

  The movie business, crime, sex and Hollywood - an irresistible combination.

  * * *

  Kennedy wrote a powerful piece on violence and obsession for Style Wars. It created much controversy.

  * * *

  Rosa seized her opportunity and showed the tape of the bodies piled by the roadside. She was severely reprimanded by the boss of her TV station, but her ratings soared.

  Shortly after that she broke up with Ferdy, and began a torrid affair with Boyd Keller.

  According to Rosa, he was the best sex ever.

  * * *

  After her suicide attempt, Marjory Sanderson's father sent her to a private psychiatric clinic in Switzerland, where she received counselling, and was finally able to admit she'd been writing the threatening notes to herself to gain attention.

  Her counsellor was a forty-eight-year-old German man with blond hair and big teeth. Much to her father's fury Marjory married him in a secret ceremony and brought him back to Hollywood.

  At last she was happy. She had a man all to herself who truly loved her.

  * * *

  Shep finally came out of the closet with a Euro-trash count who designed women's clothes.

  Taureen Worth almost had a heart attack. It was bad enough that she had a twenty-four-year-old son. But a gay one?

  This was not good karma for a reigning sex symbol.

  She paid for them to vacation in Portofino, and hoped they'd love it so much that they'd never come back.

  * * *

  Luca returned to New York with Reno, but not before visiting Bambi/Cheryl in the hospital, where she was recovering from her ordeal.

  'My offer still stands,' he told her, pacing around the hospital room. 'You're some fuckin' ballsy broad!'

  'You think so?' she asked wanly.

  He winked. 'I know so.'

  She thanked him and declined his offer.

  'Any time y'change your mind,' he said. 'I'll be waitin'.' He handed her his card. 'This is where y'can find me. Any time, baby.'

  Grant was by her side - a somewhat chastened Grant, who informed her he'd decided they made a talented team, and should put their energies into something more legitimate than running hookers.

  Was this the Grant she knew and loved?

  No, this was a different Grant, a more respectable Grant, a man with his eye to the future.

  She took a good look at him and decided it was time to move on. Grant had broken the spell between them, she was ready for a more fulfilling relationship. Someone who genuinely cared about her.

  Maybe it would be Grant.

  May
be not...

  She would just have to wait and see.

  Her illustrious, socially connected parents freaked out at the news she was a madam. Estelle simply refused to believe it. And Ethan gave her the usual if-you-needed-more-money-why-didn't-you-come-to-me speech.

  Fortunately, Donna Lacey, the English director's daughter, returned from London, and Cheryl handed back her little black book.

  She was out of the hooker business for good.

  * * *

  Mac Brooks managed to keep his secret. No connection. No publicity.

  Sharleen suggested it might be an interesting premise for a movie. 'Instead of a male protagonist make it a woman,' she said, really getting into the idea. 'I can play the lead,' she added. Think of the fun we can have in our trailer at lunch break!'

  After some thought, Mac decided she could be right. After all, what better place than Hollywood to turn fact into fiction?

  * * *

  Detective Carlyle finally left his wife. Or rather she threw him out.

  He moved in with his girlfriend. After two weeks he realized his wife was a better deal, and begged her to take him back.

  She refused.

  He ended up living with the waitress from the breakfast joint he frequented.

  She gave great fried eggs.

  * * *

  Jordan Levitt's fifth wife gave birth to a baby boy. Jordan wanted to name the child Jordan Levitt, Junior. Jordanna and Kim informed him it was the worst idea possible, and he finally acquiesced, calling the boy Sam.

  Jordanna was thrilled to have a brother again.

  * * *

  Charlie Dollar met Barbara Barr one fateful night at Homebase Central.

  One night of lust and she was pregnant.

  She moved into his house six weeks later.

  He was too laid-back to stop her.

  Their fights were the kind that fuelled tabloid dreams.

  * * *

  Three months after the occurrences on Laurel Canyon, Quincy and Amber threw a party.

  'Help me, Michael,' Amber said, vainly trying to balance a platter of raw hamburgers and a large salad bowl as she exited the house into the backyard.

  'You got it, gorgeous,' he said, scooping the platter out of her hands.

  He'd be forever grateful to Quincy and Amber. They'd dipped into their savings and come up with the ten thousand dollars he'd borrowed from Marjory, enabling him to send her a cheque.

  'Call it an advance,' Quincy had said. 'I'll take it out of your share of the business.'

  Fortunately business seemed to be busy. It would only take a year or two before he was out of debt!

  'Quincy and his barbecues,' Amber sighed. 'I do all the work and he gets all the praise.'

  'It's his birthday,' Michael reminded her. 'No nagging on his birthday.'

  'Fat an' fifty,' she said, with a sly smile. 'After tonight that man goes on a strict diet or I am outta here!'

  'The truth, Amber. You'd never leave him, would you?'

  She beamed happily. 'Not if he weighed four hundred pounds, but we won't tell him that, will we, Michael?'

  'He ain't hearin' it from me.'

  'Let's get this party going,' she said.

  They walked into the backyard where twenty guests were gathered and Quincy was sharing the secrets of his famous barbecue sauce with Kennedy.

  Michael put down the platter, sliding his arm around Kennedy's slim waist. 'You look sensational tonight,' he whispered in her ear. 'Not that tonight's any different from any other night.'

  'I made a special effort,' she murmured. 'After all, it's not every day I get to mix with real people.'

  'Aw, c'mon,' he said, grinning sheepishly. 'You're never gonna let me forget I said that, are you?'

  Now it was her turn to smile. 'Nope.'

  He pulled her close, kissing her passionately. She melted into his arms. They'd been together twelve weeks and a day, and she loved him more every hour. Six weeks ago they'd moved in together. It was working out just fine.

  After the tragedy they'd had a brief falling out, because she'd felt that once he'd found out she was writing about the murders he should have told her everything. 'I didn't even know you, Kennedy,' he'd explained. 'My loyalty had to be with the client.'

  Grudgingly she'd agreed he was right.

  'I want you to promise that you'll never lie to me again,' she'd said.

  'It's written in blood,' he'd replied.

  What could she do?

  She loved him.

  * * *

  Jordanna and Bobby made a late entrance. Jordanna looked glowingly beautiful in a short white dress with white flowers in her long dark hair.

  Bobby was in jeans, T-shirt and an Armani sports jacket, his dirty blond hair curling over his collar. They held hands and whispered together like no one else existed.

  All signs of Jordanna's ordeal had vanished - the only scars that remained were within. She would never forget Zane Ricca. His flat dead eyes, the coldness of his attitude, the inherent cruelty of the man.

  She would never forget the moment when the bullet entered his body, and the blood flowed from his chest, pumping his tainted blood all over her.

  Memories.

  The bad kind.

  Shut 'em out and get on with life.

  There were no charges against her. It was a clear case of self-defence.

  The tabloids went crazy for a while, trailing her everywhere she went. But eventually a new scandal took place - Barbara Barr got caught cheating on Charlie Dollar with a very married senator - and Jordanna was off the front pages.

  She started work on Bobby's movie, and soon realized that for the first time she was doing something she truly loved. Acting was in her blood.

  She rented an apartment and happily moved in. Bobby didn't make a move, although he was totally there for her. It was as if he sensed she needed time to recover and he was prepared to give it to her.

  When Michael called and invited her to Quincy's birthday party she'd said yes at once. Michael was a comforting presence in her life - almost like an older brother. She'd had dinner a couple of times with Kennedy and him, and liked them both very much.

  'Wanna go?' she'd said to Bobby. 'I'd better warn you - Kennedy Chase will be there. She's really very nice. And she assured me that story wasn't her fault.'

  'Sure,' he'd said. 'I'd like another face to face with that -'

  'Bobby!'

  Now she pulled him over to meet Kennedy again, and before he could say a word, Kennedy spoke, her green eyes achingly sincere. 'Bobby, I owe you an apology. What the magazine did was stupid and unprofessional. It wasn't my story. They rewrote everything. So... please forgive me.'

  There was nothing like a genuine apology to throw a man off track.

  'Forget it,' he said, shaking his head. 'I guess if you really didn't know.'

  'I didn't,' she assured him. 'And next time - '

  'No next time,' he laughed. 'You and your pen - stay away from me!'

  She smiled. 'Absolutely.'

  * * *

  The barbecue was a success. Quincy's sauce won the night.

  There was dancing later in the small back garden.

  Michael held Kennedy tight and asked her what she thought their future held. 'We'll see, Michael, we'll see...' she murmured.

  But they both knew what was in their future, and they were content.

  * * *

  Bobby and Jordanna left soon after. They stood outside next to his car, leaning against it, kissing for a few memorable moments.

  'You have magic kisses,' she gasped, marvelling at how great he made her feel.

  'Hey, you should see what else I got,' he joked.

  'Maybe it's time I did,' she murmured.

  'In that case -'

  'What?'

  'I have a gift for you. Something I've been saving for just such an occasion.'

  'Show me!'

  He opened the trunk of his car, reached inside and handed her a large, elabora
tely wrapped package.

  'What is it?' she demanded excitedly.

  'Open it and see.'

  Her black eyes gleamed. 'OK - but it better be good.'

  'Trust me - it is.'

  She ripped the package open, tore the lid off the box and was confronted with seventy-five different makes of condoms.

  'Oh, no!' she yelled, hysterical with laughter. 'Bobby, you are unbelievable!'

  He pulled her in close. 'How come you feel so good, and smell so good? And how come when I'm not with you I think about you all the time?'

  'You do?'

  'Can't stop.'

  'Neither can I.'

  He kissed her gently.

  She kissed him back.

  'And how come I walk around with a stupid grin on my face I can't wipe off.'

  'Bobby... I do the same,' she said, touching his face.

  'Same grin, huh?'

  'It looks better on me.'

  'Spoken like a true actress.'

  Well...' she teased. 'You got me into the business.'

  'Let's get out of here.'

  'Now?'

  'Right now.'

  'Whatever you say, Mr Rush.'

  They got in his car and sped off into the night. Jordanna knew she'd found her soulmate and that she'd never be alone again. It was a wonderful feeling.