by Morgan
“Not necessary,” Michelle told him. “Shaunna released my statement around lunchtime. We already beat him to the punch.”
“Good.” David nodded. “That just leaves Shaunna.”
Michelle regarded the young actor. She saw something earnest and refreshing in David’s passion to help her friend.
“Wait!” Michelle was suddenly inspired. “I know another lawyer! He used to be friends with Kyle—roommates, actually—and they had a huge falling out. Kyle still talks about how much he hates that guy. Every time he wins a case and it’s in the papers, it gets Kyle going. Based on how often that happens, I’d say this guy wins a lot of cases.”
Within five minutes, Michelle was on the phone. “Thomas? This is Michelle Cooper. Can we talk? I need someone I can trust.”
Thomas encouraged her to continue, so she told him about the events of the day, starting with how Kyle had blindsided her and ending with Shaunna’s arrest. Then she was quiet for a long time while she listened to his multi-pronged reply.
“I just want her out of jail as soon possible,” she said at last. “Can you get any information back to me tonight? We don’t even know what she was arrested for…Okay…Yes, I’ll wait for your call…Thank you so much. Goodbye.”
Michelle brought her attention back to the two men, who were now standing on her balcony.
“Well, she’s screwed if they got her on a felony, but I can’t imagine how that could be. He’s going to find out what’s going on and get back to me. And since he’s certified in both criminal and family law, he’s also agreed to represent me in my divorce. He promised to be a very visible activist on my behalf.”
David sighed. “Well, that’s a relief.”
“Just the same,” she concluded, “I’d still like to find the jail and check on Shaunna to see if there’s anything we can do for her.”
“I’ll drive!” Nathan volunteered immediately and turned toward the door.
When they reached the El Camino, David volunteered to ride in the back of the truck, but Michelle insisted that they could all squeeze in together on the bench seat. Always the gentleman, David sat in the middle so Michelle could have the shoulder harness seat belt.
At one busy intersection, where music thumped and hummed in the air and the sidewalks were crowded with people milling from one block to another, Michelle turned toward Nathan.
“What are you going to do about the movie?”
“I’ll tell you what I told Kyle, because it’s the absolute truth,” Nathan stated mildly. “I want to meet with both of you on-set Wednesday morning at seven, and if I am not convinced that you can pull this off together, then I’ll do the studio a big favor and only waste thirty million dollars, instead of a hundred million, by closing down the production.”
Michelle turned toward the window and looked through her ghostly reflection. Too much had happened in just one day. Her husband had left her, her friend had been arrested for defending her, and now her director was warning her that the biggest film of her career might also be taken away. There was nothing she could do about Kyle; he was a lost cause. She was already on her way to help Shaunna, and Nathan was waiting for her response. She turned to him with resolve.
“I can do it.” Michelle sounded brave and one hundred percent believable. “I won’t let you down.”
Nathan didn’t respond right away. Instead, he focused on changing lanes. When he pulled up to the Harris County jail, he parked and turned his car off before meeting her anxious gaze.
“I believe you.”
Chapter Nine
SHAUNNA WAS A STRONG PERSON, but after one night of incarceration, she was already beginning to weaken. She was cold. She was angry. And she was alone.
Her blue jumpsuit irritated her skin, and her hair was a dry, frizzy mess as she sat in the common room of the Harris County jail, awaiting her first visitor. Even so, when the giant of a man who’d been retained as her attorney appeared, he thought she was quite fetching.
“My name is Thomas Harper,” he stated simply while he took his place at the only other chair at the small scarred table. “I’m a friend of Michelle’s and an…ex-friend of Kyle’s.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I knew Kyle when he was a broke prick.” Thomas smirked. “Now he’s a rich prick.” He shuffled through some papers and plucked out what he looking for. “But I’m going to see what I can do about that.”
“How, exactly?”
“I’m also representing Michelle in her divorce.” The attorney grinned broadly and laced his fingers together on the table. Thomas was wearing a light gray suit with a pale blue shirt that was open at the collar. She noticed a flash of silver against his tanned chest.
Her spirits were lifted considerably. She quickly realized that a shared acrimony would go far in cementing their relationship. “You have to take good care of her.”
“Michelle hardly needs anyone to take care of her.” Thomas laughed. “You’re sweet to worry under the circumstances, but let’s talk about you, Miss Noble.”
“Please. Call me Shaunna.”
“Shaunna,” he repeated gently.
The windows in the common room were high up on the walls, and the chain link fence surrounding them cast crisscrossing shadows on her hands. She looked down at them and breathed slowly.
“You will make bail tomorrow, Shaunna,” Thomas told her confidently. “The DA might say you’re a flight risk because you have financial means to travel and you don’t live in Texas, but I’ll argue that you’re still attached to the movie filming here in Houston and that you intend to immediately go back to work for Michelle.”
“How is she doing? Seriously.”
“She and your other friends have all been by, but they don’t allow visitors for inmates, which is probably a good thing. It tells me the police believe you’re going to make bail as well.”
“What other friends?” Shaunna was slightly confused by Thomas’s revelation.
“Nathan McPherson and some other guy named David.”
“David came?”
Thomas snorted, then he laughed at himself for snorting. “Yeah. I think he likes you. Michelle had to convince him to leave.”
Shaunna was surprised by the show of David’s unsolicited devotion, but she liked it. She liked it very much. She decided not to ask Thomas any other questions about David, although now she had many.
“How long have you been in town?”
“I flew in early this morning.”
“Will I have to stay in Texas until there’s a trial?” She leaned back in her chair, a shadow slashing across her features.
Thomas shook his head. “I doubt it, but don’t worry about any of that right now. As soon as your father arrives—”
“Gus is coming here?” Shaunna’s mortification was evident.
Thomas nodded. “When I got into town, Michelle informed me that Gus would be in Texas by tonight.”
The attorney watched Shaunna as she slowly lowered her head to the table.
Chapter Ten
BY TUESDAY EVENING, Kyle Petersen was feeling in firm control of the world around him.
His agent quickly replaced Shaunna with a new publicist, who had flown in from California first thing that morning. When she arrived, Kyle was pleased to see that the woman was the complete opposite of his former employee. Heather Lentz was tall and blond and projected a tough, albeit professional exterior. Shaunna, by comparison, had a natural girl-next-door approach.
Kyle quickly put her to work and found their lack of personal history suited his needs perfectly. Perhaps in time, he could expand their “relationship,” but first, he had an image to protect and a career or two to destroy.
Kyle wanted to make sure the world knew he’d been ripped off by a former employee and that his soon-to-be-ex-wife had chosen to keep the thief in her employ.
Between the collapse of the Petersen/Cooper marriage and the resulting arrest of the publicist who had represented them both, Kyle, Mi
chelle, and Shaunna were the talk of every entertainment and news program on television and radio. They were even trending on Twitter. The day went by in a blur, and Kyle had Heather working well past the dinner hour.
When his stomach growled loudly, he suddenly realized that without Shaunna or Michelle around to attend to his basic needs, he’d neglected to eat a decent meal in nearly two days. It was time to teach his new employee the ropes.
“Heather, let’s put all this on hold for a little while. I need some dinner. You?”
Heather paused typing at her laptop and smiled widely, welcoming the opportunity for a break. “Actually, yes. Dinner sounds great. What did you have in mind?”
“I want some good ole Texas BBQ. There’s this one restaurant, Hickory Hollow. I’ve been meaning to try it since I got down here.”
“That sounds good. Should I make a reservation? Ask for a private section?”
He dismissed her suggestions with a wave of his hand. “No. I don’t want to be seen out on the town tonight. You can call in an order and then go pick it up.”
“All right. What do you want?”
Kyle gave Heather his request without bothering to check out a menu from the restaurant. As she located the number and placed their order, he settled himself on the sofa in the living room, covering his eyes with an arm. Within moments, he was snoring.
Heather organized her thoughts and then prepared to leave the suite. It occurred to her on the way out the door that he hadn’t even offered to pay for the meal.
As she waited for the elevator, she checked the contents of her purse to confirm that her wallet was there. The doors opened and she stepped in. As they closed, she sighed heavily.
Kyle became aware of the fact that although he hadn’t been asleep long, he’d been sleeping well. He was immediately angered when the knocking on the front door of his suite brought him back to consciousness.
“Goddammit!” he swore with a growl and hurled a sofa pillow to the floor as he lifted himself to a standing position. In no hurry to answer the door, he stretched and rolled his head in a circle.
Heather must have forgotten to take her key or, even worse, had her arms so full of takeout food that she couldn’t be bothered to set it down to retrieve her key.
Kyle decided to wait a few more seconds, and much to his dismay, the knock came again, this time louder.
“For fuck’s sake!” he exclaimed at the door as he stomped over to it.
He didn’t bother to look through the peephole before he flung it open. He was ready to unload on Heather for being so worthless, but the words caught in his throat when he registered that his new publicist wasn’t the source of the knocking.
He found himself holding his breath as his visitor blinked back at the stymied actor.
Gus Noble wasn’t a big man. Actually, he was a bit on the short side, with unruly hair. Although he usually dressed casually, he stood in front of Kyle wearing dark trousers, a white shirt, and a black blazer. His mustache was something Sam Elliot would envy, but it didn’t hide the thin line of his lips.
“Kyle.” Gus spoke in a low, controlled voice, but there was no mistaking the anger in eyes so dark brown that they looked like ink wells.
The actor gripped the doorknob tightly.
When Gus ascertained that a return greeting was not forthcoming, he raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to peek into the suite.
“I’ve just flown in from LA.” Gus locked his steel gaze back to the box office star. “The least you can do is to invite me inside for a drink.”
Kyle nodded and mutely stepped aside to allow the producer’s entrance before slowly closing the door.
Gus took a seat on the caramel leather sofa in the living room of Kyle’s penthouse and waited for his drink. He was watching his obliging host closely.
Gus always drank scotch. Kyle brought him tequila.
“Look, Mr. Noble.” Kyle remained standing as he began his monologue. “I hope you didn’t come all this way to threaten me into dropping the charges against Shaunna.”
“Actually,” Gus said, already nodding his head, “I was hoping to reason with you. But I’m not above threats. Let’s just see how reasonable you can be first. Now, tell me. What happened?”
“She humiliated me, and she threw away my Louis Moinet timepiece!” Kyle roared.
Gus sighed and took a large drink of his tequila before setting the glass loudly on the coffee table. He then pulled from his wrist a stainless steel watch and set it down just as loudly next to the glass.
“There. Now you have another watch.” Gus picked his glass back up and drank while he watched Kyle’s face turn red.
“She’s been booked for felony grand theft.” The smirk that crept up Kyle’s face moved like a snake in a tree. “You’ll have to do a lot better than that.”
“Are you saying you’ll cooperate with the investigation if I reimburse you? How much?” Gus reached into his coat pocket and brought out his checkbook and a pen.
“No,” Kyle refused. “You aren’t buying her out of this.”
“You haven’t caught up with me yet, Kyle, and that’s okay. But I’m tired, so let’s get the money part over with.” He opened the checkbook and began to write. “Eight hundred thousand and change was what I heard on the news. Jesus, Kyle…how much do you pay for your coffee? Fifty grand? Let’s just make it an even eight hundred thousand, for depreciation’s sake. Either way, I hope you’re prepared to go to court.”
“What do you mean?” Kyle was puzzled.
Gus looked up from the task at hand and pointed his pen in Kyle’s direction. “In cases like this, the DA will make the final decision about whether to proceed with a criminal trial, even if you choose not to pursue a civil case. Thanks to your knee-jerk reaction to Shaunna’s knee-jerk reaction, this may all go on for a year or more, no matter what you do. But I’d like to think that without your support, the DA will also drop the matter.”
Gus returned to signing his name. He then separated the check from his book and set it on the table. After he carefully placed everything back into his jacket, he looked at Kyle again. The producer expected a response, and the performer took his cue.
“And if I don’t accept?”
Gus closed his eyes and shook his head. “Have you given any thought to what the media will be showing on TV and on the Internet and in every major entertainment magazine over and over and over again while they wait for developing news about the case?”
He waited for only the briefest moment before answering his own question.
“Your two-pixel peter, that’s what. You think all the attention will solely be on her, Kyle? Perhaps. But I’m pretty sure you just shined a blockbuster spotlight on your little…problem.”
Gus finished the rest of his drink in a single gulp and handed his glass back to Kyle. “And if you can live with that, then great. But I can also guarantee that you just shot your last PI movie unless things start going my way…starting with a scotch.”
Kyle wordlessly retreated to the mini bar under Gus’s watchful eye and retrieved the scotch. He took the time to gather his frazzled nerves, and when he returned to the sofa, he was once again wearing his famous smirk.
“You aren’t producing my franchise, and you’re not producing Sling Shot. Here’s your drink, but that’s all you’re getting from me tonight.”
“It’s idiotic of you to think I don’t need to be producing a film to influence its course.” Gus took a small sip, and beads of scotch clung to his mustache. “And sit down…You’re not intimidating anyone.”
Kyle plopped in his chair.
“I’ve known your franchise’s bosses since they were in film school. Who do you think gave them their first green light?”
Realization set in, and Kyle felt his blood rapidly cooling. He tried to wave off his increasing anxiety, unwilling to admit that he was losing his grip on the entire situation.
“So what? They aren’t going to replace their leading man in
a successful blockbuster series. They would sink themselves, and they aren’t going to do that for anyone. Not even you.”
Gus sighed again in mild annoyance. “How many actors have played James Bond?” he asked calmly. “Or Dr. Who? Or Batman? Shit, Kyle, they’ve already had four different guys play Danny Zuko in the stage production of Grease. Look…you’ve been at this for what? Five years now? Hell, you’re already overdue to be replaced. All I’d have to do is suggest it, and I can get those two to cast Matt Damon to replace you.”
“What do you want?” Kyle’s voice was small, like a child being forced to apologize.
“You know what I want.” Gus pushed the check across the table, then stood up. “You deserve to be compensated, and now you are. All the harm done from now on will be self-inflicted.”
Gus let himself out of the suite without another word.
Chapter Eleven
EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING, Michelle walked over to the craft services trailer. It always served as the unofficial meeting place on movie sets, and it was where she saw Kyle and Nathan sitting at a table together.
She stopped and watched them.
They were talking, but not smiling.
It was the first time she’d seen Kyle since he had her served with divorce papers. She was not as angry as she thought she would be, but she was hurt. In fact, she worried that every step closer she took would only increase her despair.
Although she wasn’t hungry, Michelle grabbed her requested usual for breakfast—a croissant she dipped in honey and a small cup of yogurt—then walked over to join them. She hoped the meal would provide a sense of normalcy and occupy her anxious hands while they spoke.
“Good morning,” Nathan said evenly. Michelle knew her director didn’t want to be too light about this meeting. He was young and could appear very childlike to others. She understood that his enthusiasm had a tendency to undermine his authority, and he clearly wasn’t going to let that happen today.
“I’m very sorry that the two of you have lost your marriage,” Nathan continued earnestly. “And I know that you will have your good days and your bad, but how much do the two of you want to finish this movie together? And please, be honest.” He looked to Kyle first as he took a bite of his Pop-Tart.
