Hollywood Rush

by Rhonda Laurel

  The first take went well, when he and Allison separated she murmured something but he couldn’t hear her. They took a break and did a second take. This time she gripped his hair a little tighter and increased pressure on his back. She was trying her best, for real, to get him hot and bothered one last time. When Kyle yelled out he was satisfied with the third take, he was elated.

  “You’re technique has improved since we dated.” Allison flashed a big grin.

  “Thank you.” Chris laughed as he buttoned his shirt.

  “I thought it would be awkward, us working together but there’s no reason why mature adults can’t work together after having been intimate with each other.” She pulled her T-shirt into place and shook out her hair. “Too bad my boyfriend doesn’t see it that way.”

  “The key is reassuring him this is just business,” Chris said. “This was the first time I really thought about how someone I loved would feel about me kissing another woman. I have to tell you, it would drive me crazy if Kate had to do this for a living.”

  “You’ve changed so much. The Chris Cavanaugh I knew liked to party and have a good time. Now you’re in a monogamous relationship and dedicated to your craft. I might have been wrong about you never being able to grow up.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Virginia called Kate after doing some digging about what the holdup was on announcing the sequel to The Knock Around Boys. No one she contacted could give her a tangible reason for the delay. Kate knew that had to Raymond, playing the great wizard behind the curtain.

  She headed home to prepare a welcome home dinner for Chris, whose flight landed a half hour ago. Despite her protests that he stay in New Orleans, he left the set anyway, and she had to admit she felt better knowing he would be there with her.

  As she winded the curve toward the house, an alert popped up on her smart phone. Someone had deactivated the alarm in Clara’s house. Clara wasn’t due back from her cruise until next week. It was probably one of the house staff stopping by to pick something up, but she’d go check it out just in case. Kate dialed Chris but the call went to voicemail.

  “Hey, babe, someone deactivated Clara’s alarm. I’m going over there to check it out. I’ll be home in a bit.” She disconnected the call and headed for her neighbor’s house.

  * * *

  Kate opened the door and walked into the living room. The entire house was dark and panel on the alarm system was open. Not many people had the security code to Clara’s house. She was hoping it was a housekeeper or the cook, somebody who was supposed to be there. Everything seemed to be in place, so she moved to the kitchen. As she made her way down the hall, the noxious smell of gasoline coming from Marvin’s office sickened Kate’s stomach. She eased down the long corridor to see the sporadic movements of a flashlight. The intruder tucked something into his shirt and pulled back the curtains over the doors that led to the patio. Moonlight illuminated the silhouette of someone wearing a ski mask. The intruder picked up a red plastic gas can and started to throw gasoline about the office. He fished something out of his pants pocket. Kate emerged from the darkness when she saw him attempt to ignite the curtains.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  The intruder lunged at Kate, wrapping his hand around her neck and squeezing her windpipe. Kate reached up, trying to pry his hands off, but he was too strong. She reached for the closest thing on the desk, a stapler, and beaned him on the head with it. He stumbled back but recovered quickly. He lunged for her, but she grabbed onto his shirt, sending them both crashing through the glass patio doors and down onto the patio table.

  Pain seared through her body as she tried to get her bearings. Shattered glass glittered all around her, and the smell of gasoline was stronger. The can had been kicked over during their struggle. Kate stretched out her hand, grasping at a piece of the broken patio table, trying to remain conscious.

  His hold was getting tighter around her neck, and she knew she didn’t have much time before she blacked out. The tip of her finger began to bleed as she began to pull a glass shard toward her. Holding it as firmly as she could, she plunged the glass into his side.

  “Shit!” He rolled off her.

  Her hands immediately clawed at her throat, trying to catch her breath. She had to move quickly, he had almost pulled the shard out. Rolling onto her elbows, she pushed herself up and stood. The gas can was turned on its side near the pool and the lighter that Marvin kept on his desk was a few feet away from it. She knew had to get that lighter.

  Kate caught sight of the man’s bleeding wound and elbowed him in the spot. Kate locked her hands around his throat and banged his head against the patio floor. When she was sure he was stunned, she let go.

  She stood up, looking for something lean on, when a blinding light shined in her eyes. She held up her hand to shield them and saw someone moving near the fence. It was too far to see who it was.

  A piercing sound cut through the air. She turned and saw that the assailant had fallen. He’d been shot in the chest. She ducked for cover behind the overturned patio table.

  Then there was an eerie silence. She fought back a tsunami wave of nausea building up in her stomach as she looked out toward the shadows. No one was there.

  She turned back to the intruder and reached over to check for a pulse. He was dead. She removed the ski mask, expecting to find Henry, but was shocked to see Raymond’s bodyguard, Vaughn. She remembered he had been in the courtroom the day Henry lost his case, and he’d been at Bellow’s with Raymond the day she ran into him.

  There was a piece of paper protruding from his pocket. Kate gently pulled it out. It listed a person named Melvin T. Bailey as the owner of the six shares of Pinnacle.

  Kate stood here for a moment, unable to move. What the hell had just happened? She heard movement coming from inside the house. She froze, thinking it was the shooter, but it was Chris.

  “Kate!”

  “I’m out here,” she yelled as loudly as she could.

  “Fuck!” Chris said as he almost tripped over the dead body. “I got you message. Are you crazy coming here by yourself? Are you OK?”

  She wanted to say something, anything, but all she could do was throw her arms around Chris and sob into his shoulder.

  * * *

  Chris nodded at the detective but attention was really on Kate being examined by the paramedics. He’d never been so angry at her in his life, but at the same time, relieved that she was alive. What the hell was she thinking confronting someone rifling through an office in a ski mask?

  “Thank you, Mr. Cavanaugh. You’ve been very helpful,” the detective said.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get my wife home.” Chris walked into the living room and pulled Kate into a tight bear hug.

  “I am so furious with you. What were you thinking, coming here by yourself?”

  “I wasn’t.” She leaned into him and closed her eyes.

  Chris looked at the bruising on her neck. “What if something worse had happened to you?”

  “It didn’t.” Kate stared at the Clara’s picture on the phone for what seemed like an eternity. She didn’t know what to say to her. The adrenaline rush she’d experienced during the struggle had subsided, leaving her weak and shaky, but her mind was still working at warp speed. “I have to call Clara. I want her to get the news from me, not some news report.”

  * * *

  Kate hadn’t been to bed in twenty-four hours. The police were at Clara’s house all night collecting evidence after they took her statement. She was exhausted, but each time she closed her eyes that horrid scene would play out in her mind. Chris wouldn’t leave her side, and she’d spent the night cuddled in his arms outside on the deck wrapped in blankets, listening to the ocean.

  A flurry of phone calls poured in as the news broke about the incident. She was finally able to reach Andre, who told her he found Henry overdosed in his house but was able to get him to the hospital in time. Vaughn was dead, but what did that mean? Sh
e wished could have gone with the police when they notified Raymond that his bodyguard was found attempting to burn down Clara’s house. She knew he would deny sending him there, and was sure he’d call his lawyer the second they rang his doorbell. She had to come up with another plan to exorcise Raymond from her life.

  As soon as Clara arrived home she spoke with the police. The beach house was still a crime scene, so Kate insisted she stay at the house with her and Chris. Kate suggested they take a walk on the beach. The women walked arm and arm for a while with Merlot running about. Clara stopped to look at the magnificent cresting waves coming closer to shore.

  “Marvin brought me here on a date over fifty years ago. Half of these houses hadn’t been built yet. He was penniless, but he was working hard to get Blue Vinyl off the ground. He told me he would build me a house here one day and we’d retire here.” Clara sighed.

  “Your dream came true.”

  “Now it’s a nightmare. I’m so sorry you were dragged into our family drama. But then again, you’re family. Marvin loved you like the daughter we never had.”

  “I loved him too.”

  “I’m no fool Kate. I still think Henry was involved somehow. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  “Well, when he comes out of his coma, maybe he’ll have some answers for us.” Kate moved a lock of windblown hair away from her face.

  Clara patted her hand. “Whoever fired that shot was your guardian angel.”

  An image of Vaughn choking her flashed before her eyes, but Kate kept her smile in place. So many questions had plagued her since that night. That solitary bullet had hit Vaughn and not her. Her gut was telling her that she knew the shooter.

  “He was looking for something in your office. I think Raymond sent him to find the name of the person who owned the remaining six percent shares of Pinnacle.” Kate pulled the document Vaughn had out of her pocket. “He’d stuffed it into his pocket before the chaos ensued. I took it out before the police arrived. I can’t find this Melvin T. Bailey. I’ve had Andre look for me with no success. I don’t think this person exists.”

  Clara looked at it then let out a wry laugh. “It’s an alias. Marvin wanted to leave something for Sam in case something happened to his fortune. Sam always enjoying going to the studio with him. They were shooting a kid’s movie and there was a talking bear that wore a tuxedo and a top hat. Sam became so enamored with the bear that one of the studio people gave him one of the prototype teddy bears they had for marketing. He took it everywhere he went. Sam always got a kick out of the teddy bear’s dressy attire so he thought he’d give him a formal name, Mr. Melvin T. Bailey. He thought it sounded regal.”

  “Oh my gosh.” Kate blinked, trying not to cry. “Marvin gave Sam six percent of Pinnacle.”

  “They had a special relationship. Even from a young age, Sam had the same musical talent that Marvin had and a love for movies. Henry never had much interest in any of it. When Sam died, the shares reverted to me.” Clara shrugged.

  “We’re business partners.” Kate put her arm around the older woman’s shoulder.

  “No, we’re not. I can’t do this anymore. Too much has been taken from me over the lust for power of that studio. And I don’t want anyone trying to take anything from you. I think it’s time you took your rightful place. I’m giving you my shares.”

  Kate swallowed. “I don’t know if I’m ready for it.”

  “You are.” Clara patted her cheek.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Kate was jolted awake by her cell phone. She eased out of bed so she wouldn’t wake Chris and took the call on the deck.

  “Hello,” Kate said.

  “Hi, Kate. How are you? I know it’s been a rough few days,” her cousin Billie murmured.

  “It’s not every day you see someone die in front of you.” Kate closed her eyes, trying to get that image out of her head.

  “How’s Chris?”

  “He’s doing remarkably well. I’m trying to persuade him to go back to New Orleans to finish the movie.”

  “Jack still secretly hoping he gets eaten by a shark?”

  “Probably.” Kate turned her back to the wind.

  “I’m glad you’re both OK. So how are you really handling all of this?”

  Kate closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment. “I saw someone get shot in front of me and feel conflicted because before he died he was trying to kill me. How am I supposed to feel?”

  “Happy to be the one who survived.”

  “I don’t know what to make of any of this.”

  “Survival is a tricky thing,” Billie said confidently.

  “Yeah but he wasn’t the mastermind. Raymond is going to get away with this, isn’t he?”

  “A man like Raymond can’t play God forever. Sooner or later he’ll have to answer for the things he’s done.”

  “Billie?”

  “Yes?”

  Kate took a deep breath and exhaled. “I can’t for the life of me figure out who the shooter could have been. Where were you that night?”

  “In the library with a candlestick,” Billie quipped.

  “I’m sorry I asked. I know you wouldn’t tell me anyway.”

  “I tell you only what you need to know in order to keep you safe. This is my worst nightmare come true,” Billie replied.

  Kate leaned against the railing. “Do you prefer to save me from all the monsters so my hands won’t get dirty? I’m stronger than you think.”

  “I know you’re strength. I’m amazed by it every day. I prefer that there just be no monsters at all. But you can’t always get a good night’s sleep after you look behind that curtain.”

  “It’s because of you that I had the courage to do what was necessary. No one is going to hurt the people I love. Not Henry. Not Raymond Whitland. I’m going to make sure of it.”

  “What are you going to do with Whitland?”

  Kate stood there for a moment as thoughts of strangling Raymond with her bare hands played out in her mind. What was there to do with a powerful man and no definitive proof of his crimes? Sure she could make it public, but it was liable to turn into a sensational media circus trial with an obscene acquittal and end up a horrid television movie. Kate had a better plan for Raymond Whitland.

  “Hell is going to be the place Raymond goes to seek refuge from me,” Kate drawled and ended the call.

  She made her way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door to retrieve the eggs, when she felt someone standing behind her.

  “Do you always get up this early?” A voice said from behind her.

  Kate jumped. “Scar, you scared the hell out of me! When did you get here?”

  “A few hours ago. Good to see you too.” Billie’s sister gave her a hug.

  “Of course.” Kate hugged her back.

  “What are you doing here? Billie didn’t tell me you were coming.”

  “I’ll be here for a while until things calm down.” Scar took an apple out of the fruit bowl and bit into it.

  “Everything is fine now.” Kate glared at her.

  “You never can be too careful.”

  Kate started to respond when Chris entered the kitchen.

  “Good morning, babe. I didn’t know we had company.” He smiled.

  “Neither did I. Chris, this is Scar. She’s…Billie’s sister.” Kate bit her lip.

  Chris gave Kate a puzzled look. “Nice to meet you, Scar. Is that short for Scarlet?”

  “No,” Scar replied.

  “It’s more of a mantra than a name,” Kate murmured.

  “I was at your wedding.” Scar plopped into a chair.

  “I don’t remember seeing you at the wedding.”

  “You weren’t supposed to see me,” she said. “Chris, you and I will be spending time together for the foreseeable future.”

  Chris turned to his wife. “Kate, you can’t be serious.”

  “This was Billie’s idea, not mine.” Kate held up her hands.

  “Don’t
worry Chris, you won’t even know I’m here.”

  * * *

  Kate loved the quiet of the sound stage. She’d returned many times after Virginia had told her that story about why Marvin loved it. She’d been afraid that once she knew the inner workings of how things were done at Pinnacle she’d become disenchanted, but the opposite had happened. She knew why Chris loved playing in the land of make believe for a living. To coin of one his phrases, it was fucking awesome.

  What would be really cool was if she could construct the perfect world in this sound stage. Create the perfect scenario in which life was neat and absurdly sublime, not riddled with power plays and machinations from unseen forces in the shadows. The sound of the squeaky door brought her out of her daydream. As her guest drew closer, Kate took a deep breath and assured herself she was doing the right thing.

  “Hello?” The voice called out.

  “Hello, Raymond.”

  “What is this all about? I’m busy, Kate.” Raymond stepped into view.

  “Retribution.” Kate remained fixed in the spot where she was standing.

  Raymond looked like he was staring laser beams through her skull, but she didn’t budge. After a few moments of eerie silence, Raymond finally relented when he saw his icy gaze wasn’t scaring her.

  “You’re looking well,” he finally said, adjusting his necktie. “I was afraid you wouldn’t recover from that nasty incident with Vaughn. I assure you I had nothing to do with it.”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” Kate drawled.

  “I misjudged Vaughn’s obsessive devotion to me. I had no idea he’d try to burn down Clara’s house and try to kill you. It seems his demons were worse than anyone realized. Including me. How’s Clara?”

  “Doing okay. She’s a strong woman.”

  “Yes, she is. Clara is one of the strongest people I know. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”