“They are beautiful,” I said.
“Not as beautiful as you,” Daniel replied.
Only someone as kind as Daniel could make a line that cheesy sound sincere. I began blushing. It wasn’t the first time he’d told me I was beautiful, but it was one of those things I never tired of hearing.
My boyfriend continued. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
I nodded. “Yeah. It could have turned out far worse.”
“It looks like someone was watching over you.”
I glanced up at the sky. “God always is.”
Daniel then leaned in and gave me a big hug. It felt so good to be in his arms.
“So, what are you going to do now?” he asked.
I didn’t have to think about that one long. “I was just planning on crashing.”
Daniel became deflated. “Oh.”
For some unknown reason, my answer had taken the wind out of his sails.
“Why? What’s the matter?”
“It’s just that in honor of you cracking another case, I thought I’d take you out for a congratulatory dinner.”
It was a nice sentiment. And, under other circumstances, I would have jumped at the offer. As things were, unfortunately, I had to decline.
“Are you kidding? After all the restaurant shenanigans I’ve dealt with in the last few days, I’m only going to be ordering delivery for a while.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough. Although, I could do you one better.”
“I’m all ears.”
“It turns out I’m not a half bad chef. How about a little home cooking?” Daniel said.
I smiled. “Now you’re talking.”
The End.
Murder Of A Movie Producer
Prologue
Was my friend a killer? A shiver ran down my spine at the mere thought of something so horrifying. It couldn’t be true, could it? I’d known Sophie Paulson almost all of my life. We’d gone to school together. She was one of the oldest friends I had. She knew all of my secrets, and I thought I knew all of hers.
Had I been wrong? I didn’t know what to think. My emotions were raw. A jumble of thoughts fought for attention in my mind. I was so confused.
There were certain things that I believed I would never have to think about. Yet, ever since the accusation that my friend was a murderer had rolled off the police detective’s tongue, I couldn’t think about anything else. As unbelievable as it was, I was staring down the very real possibility that one of my oldest friends had killed someone.
At least, that’s what the authorities seemed to think. I was not nearly convinced. At the same time, I didn’t feel a hundred percent confident saying she was completely innocent, either.
A year ago, I would have sooner believed that Bigfoot was real, and that aliens were living amongst us before I would have entertained the ridiculous notion that someone like Sophie could have committed murder.
A lot had changed in the last year. Namely, Sophie’s personality. I had always known her as an optimist. She was the kind of woman who could see the bright side in any situation. She was a ray of positivity, even when the world spewed nothing but negativity at her. Those were the old days. Recently, I had seen a different side of Sophie. One that had given me serious pause.
There was an old saying about how no one was immune to change. I didn’t use to believe that. Now, I wasn’t so sure. Then again, I wasn’t really clear on anything anymore. I found myself asking how well I really know my friend. Like with the other questions I was grappling with, I had no answer to that. At least, not yet.
With all the confusion I was wrestling with, there was only one thing I was sure of—that my mind was a complete mess. What I needed more than anything was some time to sort things out. If I was given the chance, I knew I could make sense of this all. Unfortunately, the detective seemed to be in a hurry to put my friend behind bars for life. Unlike me, his mind was made up. Suddenly, the question became, would I be able to find out the truth before the detective locked up my friend and threw away the key?
Chapter One
One Year Earlier
I hated saying goodbye, especially to an old friend. In this case, parting ways was inevitable. Sophie Paulson had made her mind up. She was determined to leave Florida and to chase her acting dreams in California. I wished her luck. She’d definitely need it. Building a successful acting career was difficult at any age. But, seeing as how Sophie was on the wrong side of forty, her odds became infinitely worse.
That was one of the things in life that I had plenty of experience with. Before I had moved back to my home state of Florida and opened an animal shelter, I had been Victoria Sassy, the lead character on a television detective show. It had taken me years of toiling in obscurity before I had finally landed that role. Then, seven years into the show’s run, the program was canceled, and with it, my acting career floundered.
The network pretended the cancellation was due to the show not having stellar ratings, but the behind-the-scenes chatter that I heard was that Hollywood believed I was over the hill. To me, that was a crazy statement, considering I was just over forty years old.
The sad truth was that Hollywood wasn’t kind to middle-aged women. That’s why I worried about Sophie pulling up stakes in Florida to seek acting fame in California. At forty-three years of age, she was already older now than I had been when my acting career had flamed out. In addition, Sophie knew how my Hollywood story had ended. She was fully aware that Hollywood had chewed me up and spat me out. Still, despite my warnings, she was determined to give it a go anyway. God bless her heart.
“So, I guess this is it then,” I said.
It was an unexpectedly overcast day in Southeastern Florida. I only brought up the weather because after a long stretch of clear, sunny days, it was odd to see a patch of clouds obscure the sun just as my friend was leaving town. I sincerely hoped that was just a coincidence, and not a sign of bad things to come.
“There’s no easy way to do this, is there?” Sophie replied.
“There never is,” I said.
Sophie and I had both grown up in Hollywood, Florida, together. While I had also lived in California for the better part of two decades, this had always been Sophie’s home. Aside from a few scattered vacations, she’d spent her whole life here. I had always viewed her as a townie for life.
Clearly, I had been wrong. I had underestimated how much Sophie craved a career in acting. How much it meant to her to make it on the world’s biggest stage. And how she was tired of deferring her dreams.
While I had left Florida two decades before to follow my acting dreams, Sophie had remained behind to take care of her ailing mother. After her mother’s tragic recent passing due to complications of multiple sclerosis, Sophie realized how fleeting life could be and how precious every moment was. Sophie didn’t want to look back one day and regret not trying to make her dreams come true.
“Keep your chin up. Everything will work out,” Sophie said.
With everything that was going on in her life, for her to be focusing on me and the fragile state of mind I was grappling with, was amazing. See, this was before I’d met my boyfriend, Daniel Jacobsen. Before I had fallen in love with him. It was back when I was reeling over the way my previous boyfriend had broken my heart. In those days, I worried that I’d turn into a hopeless spinster.
Sophie, meanwhile, was an eternal optimist. I had never met a bigger sweetie in my entire life. She was the kind of woman who always found a way to look on the bright side of things. That was even more remarkable, considering the tragedy she’d had to grapple with. Her mother’s struggle with multiple sclerosis was long and hard, yet Sophie didn’t let that break her spirit.
I knew I could take some cues from her optimism. Not just because it was a great quality to have, but because it was something that I distinctly lacked. Just being around Sophie made me want to try harder to focus on the positive and to not let negativity rule so many of my days.
; As caring as Sophie was to put my feeling first on such a momentous day in her life, I wanted to put the spotlight back on her.
“Sophie, you’re leaving. Let’s not make this about me,” I said.
“You’re one of my oldest friends. I know all of your personality quirks. So if you think I’m going to let you try to change the subject on me, you’re dead wrong.”
She had me there.
Sophie continued. “Just keep believing in the best and good things will happen.”
I flashed her a smile. “I will.”
“Good.”
“Speaking of good things, don’t forget about me when you’re famous,” I said.
“Come on, Hope. Famous or not, how could I ever forget about you?” Sophie replied.
“You know, I think you might end up being the most level-headed famous person in history,” I joked.
“Fingers crossed,” Sophie said. “About the fame. I think when it comes to life, I’ll always be level-headed, considering my history.”
Sophie tried to not mention her mother by name anymore. Despite her positivity, that was the one thing subject sent her into a tailspin. It was funny when her mom was alive, she had always held strong. Ever since her mother’s passing, when it came to the topic of her mom, Sophie’s emotions were just too raw.
Sophie had spent many months crying her eyes out over the situation. Now, she didn’t seem to want to shed another tear. It wasn’t my place to tell her how to grieve. Whatever got her through the day.
One thing was clear—we both knew what she’d gone through, what a trooper she was, and how much she’d lost.
“No one deserves for their dreams to come true like you,” I said.
I really wanted this to work out for her. Not just because she was my friend, but because she had genuine talent. Back in high school, she always got the leads in all the plays that were put on. More recently, I had seen her perform in a few community theater productions. She was still just as talented as ever.
“You’re so sweet,” Sophie replied.
“So, are you nervous?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. Nervous isn’t the word. More than anything, I’m just excited. I’ve waited so long for this moment. I’ve dreamt about. And it’s finally here. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me.”
Chapter Two
One Day Ago
It felt so weird being back in Los Angeles after so much time away. When I left California a year and a half ago, I thought I wouldn’t ever come back. Ultimately, it took reuniting with an old friend to get me to return to the Golden State. As I sat in the back seat of a taxi cab and looked out at the city, I realized that the place had changed in a number of superficial ways, but that deep down, it was the same old Tinseltown.
For example, the billboards could change all they wanted, but traffic would always be a beast. If anything, it seemed like the traffic had gotten even worse since I had left. That part, I didn’t miss. For that matter, I still hadn’t plenty of ill-will for the smog that had given me an unsavory greeting the moment I stepped outside of the airport.
As I spotted a long line coming out of a casting office that stretched around the block, I realized that Los Angeles was the same old shark tank and that I was just a different fish. The further the cab driver went into the city, the happier I was that I had traded Hollywood, California, for Hollywood, Florida. Other than their names and their proximity to beaches, the two cities had little else in common, and that was fine by me.
I wasn’t back in California to reminisce about Hollywood. I was here to reconnect with my old friend. The cab driver dropped me off in front of the Mexican restaurant that Sophie was meeting me at.
When I went inside, the scent of fresh tamales hung in the air, permeating my nostrils while waking up my taste buds. A host with a thick accent led me to a cushy chair at a table while mariachi music played in the background. I was the first to arrive, which was fine, as this time alone gave me my first real chance to settle down since arriving in Los Angeles. Even though I had just been a passenger in the taxi cab, with the brutality of L.A. traffic, every traffic light was an adventure.
Two mariachi songs later, I realized that my old friend was running late. I couldn’t wait to see Sophie. The tides had turned in my life since the last time I’d seen her in person. Back then, I was in the doldrums, struggling to recover from a broken heart. Now, I had a wonderful boyfriend who I loved dearly. Not only that, but my animal shelter was doing very well. In a little over a year, my staff and I had found forever homes for over sixty animals.
Things were really coming together for me. Conversely, Sophie’s life was more of a mixed bag, at least from what I read on her social media feed. I was eager to get the real scoop from her in person.
It was an unusually chilly day in Los Angeles, so much so that when I spotted Sophie wearing a pair of leather gloves as she walked into the restaurant, I wished that I had a pair of my own to wear. As I gave her a hug, my thoughts soon turned to more important matters. Namely, the look of discouragement that was all over Sophie’s face.
Her demeanor was completely different than the last time we had spoken. Back then, she was all smiles and was as positive as could be. Right then, she looked completely defeated.
I wanted to get down to the bottom of why she looked so dour.
“Sorry for being late. I’m having a dreadful day,” Sophie said.
Her face was overloaded with stress. She looked like she could explode. I hadn’t seen her like this since her mother had died.
My heart immediately went out to her.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
She deflected. “You didn’t come all this way to hear me complain about my life.”
I wasn’t going to let her throw me off topic that quickly. “Sophie, you’re one of my oldest friends. You know I’m not going to let you deflect like that, so don’t even try.”
The complaints began spilling out of her. “All right. It’s my boss. He’s the worst. The man is a complete slime ball.
The slime ball she was referring to was Paul Franklin, a noted movie producer in town. He had produced a slew of films, including Days Of Unstoppable Heartbreak, Grand Fiasco, and The Dagger Of Justice. The last one was so dear to him that he kept the dagger of justice prop from the movie on his mantle at home.
I was confused. “Wait a minute. I thought you two were dating.”
“We were,” Sophie replied.
Uh-oh. Clearly, their relationship didn’t have a happy Hollywood ending. The question became, how contentious of a breakup did they have?
“So, what happened?”
“I broke up with him.”
It wasn’t like Sophie to be so stingy with her words. Typically, she was very open about her emotions. This time, she was really making me work to get the truth.
“Because?” I asked.
Sophie sighed. “I found out he was cheating on me.”
“That’s terrible.”
“No. What’s terrible is how many women he cheated on me with. Apparently, he’s never met an aspiring actress that he hasn’t wanted to go to bed with.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I just feel so used. I mean, I gave him my heart, and he just stomped all over it.”
“That’s so awful. I can’t believe this happened to you.”
“I can’t believe how shamelessly unapologetic he’s been. I mean, he’s the one who cheated on me, yet he walks around the office acting like I’m at fault for what happened.”
“That’s some twisted stuff. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. A breakup is hard enough to deal with, but to have to work with your ex-boyfriend, yikes,” I said.
Sophie groaned. “Yeah. Let’s just say I know why they say never to mix business with pleasure.”
“That must be so awkward for you to have to go in there every day and try to do your job with the specter of his actions hanging over
your workplace.”
“The worst part is, he seems to be trying to make it so awkward for me that I’ll quit. He keeps piling the work on and singling me out for extra tasks as much as possible.”
I winced. “Ouch. That’s terrible.”
She nodded. “It’s insufferable.”
I had a different take on the situation. “Then why not stop the suffering?”
She scrunched her nose at me. “Huh?”
“If you hate your job so much, why don’t you quit?”
Sophie hated my idea. “And let him know he won?” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Besides, I’m not starting over from the ground floor after it’s taken me so long to get this far.”
Those were some strong words. What really struck me was how bitter her tone was. Everyone had bad days, but this seemed like a tectonic shift in Sophie’s entire mind frame. She seemed to have adopted a scorned earth attitude.
It was a side of Sophie that I’d never seen before. Her optimism was completely gone. So was her ability to look on the bright side. This was a Sophie I didn’t recognize. I missed my old friend.
At the same time, I wasn’t sure if these changes in her personality were permanent, or just a temporary shift that had been brought on by her awful work environment.
That’s why I had a suggestion for her. “I understand it is hard starting over, but maybe it’s time you leave this job because you came out to L.A. to be a star. You have a whole acting career ahead of you. Why be tied down to some office job?”
A tone of hopelessness was in her voice as she answered. “Come on. We both know I’m never going to be a star.”
I furrowed my brow. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m too old to become a star. It’s too late. The fact is, my acting career was over before it even began.”
I couldn’t believe how jaded Sophie looked. Also, all of this seemed to be coming out of left field.
Hope Hadley Eight Book Cozy Mystery Set Page 40
