Shooting Star

by Bradley Wright

  However, could the “nothing he wouldn’t do” to get Sloan back also mean Frank would work with Sloan? Or at least pretend to be working with him?

  Lawson shut out his surroundings and went deep into his head. Out the car window on his left, the city was a blur, but he paid attention only to his own thoughts. He recalled being in the car with Frank and Victoria and the moment when he sensed Victoria was acting odd. He closed his eyes and watched her talking to him. He replayed her speech when she explained how Johnny De Luca told her about Lexi’s Instagram and how silly the entire story seemed. How forced her words sounded coming out of her mouth.

  Forced.

  That’s how it felt to him. Forced, not odd. It had come across like it was scripted.

  Lawson dove even deeper. To figure everything out he would have to decipher motivation. So he started with Sloan. What was it that Sloan wanted out of the situation? The rights to the supposed holy grail of a movie. So when he found out that Lawson, the man who took down Clint Hues at the meeting at the bar, was working for Victoria, that was where Sloan’s involvement in Lawson’s life began. That’s when Sloan must have figured, if he could get to Lexi, he could use her to motivate Lawson to make Victoria sign over the rights to the movie. Then it hit Lawson as to why Hector tried to kill him and actually did kill Frank’s men in the car after Lawson kept them from kidnapping Lexi. Because Hector had really been working for Sloan. And when Sloan found out it was Lawson who took out his buddy Nero De Luca in Vegas, all bets were off. That’s why it was easy for Sloan to kill Hector at the Library Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel: he didn’t want Hector to say anything else because Sloan realized he was in real danger. That’s why he shot Hector. Because if Lawson thought Sloan wanted him dead—that he wasn’t just trying to get his movie rights for Victoria—Sloan would know Lawson would kill him right there in that bar.

  So why did Sloan’s enforcer, Diego, go to the marina and kill all of Frank’s men to get to Lexi? Lawson figured it was like Victoria had said earlier. Insurance. If Lawson found out Sloan wanted payback for De Luca’s death, he would be able to trade Lexi for his life if it came to that.

  Then what about Frank? According to Claudia, his life’s motivation was to take down Marty Sloan. She said he’d been going on about it for over a year and a half. That’s a long time to hatch up a plan to take him out. Is that what happened? Is that how Victoria was involved? Insurance? It sounded like a word that Frank would use. A word that he would script Victoria to use.

  “He took Victoria. She really was kidnapped.”

  Claudia and Cassie said in unison, “What?!”

  Lawson leaned up between the two front seats. Cassie turned around with a bewildered look on her face, and Claudia had a hard time keeping her eyes forward on the road.

  “Frank kidnapped Victoria, but he didn’t tell Sloan. He’s going to use Victoria to take down Sloan. But where Frank messed up was trying to use Victoria to get me to go after Sloan for him too. He got greedy.”

  “Lawson,” Cassie said, “and I say this with all due respect, but have you lost your ever-lovin’ mind? What are you going on about?”

  Lawson decided he should back up, still trying to organize his thoughts himself. “The reason we couldn’t—I couldn’t—figure out who was the head of all of this was because there were two heads, and they were both fighting each other, but one of them didn’t know it.”

  Cassie held up both arms, then let them drop. “Gee, that really cleared things up for us, thanks, Detective Raines.”

  He tried again. “Sloan and Frank have been working together.”

  “Bullshit,” Claudia blurted.

  Lawson continued. “But . . . Sloan didn’t know Frank’s real motivation. That’s why we couldn’t tell who wanted to kidnap Lexi, because they both wanted to. Just for two completely different reasons.”

  Cassie started to come around. “Okay . . . Do tell . . .”

  “Sloan wanted to kidnap Lexi to use me to help him get Victoria to sign over the movie rights. Frank wanted to kidnap Lexi to get me to help him take down Sloan. Frank just made it seem like it was to help Sloan until he could compile all the things Sloan was doing and put him away for it. That’s why Frank didn’t tell Sloan he had kidnapped Victoria.”

  “What?” Cassie couldn’t keep up.

  “I know,” Lawson sat back in the seat and took a long look at Lexi as she slept in the seat beside him. “It’s complicated.”

  Claudia said. “So tell me again why Frank would kidnap Victoria?”

  “Insurance.”

  Cassie looked back as if waiting for a big reveal. Claudia eyed him in the rearview mirror with the same look.

  “Insurance against Sloan, and insurance against me if anything went haywire.”

  Cassie said, “Lawson, either land this plane or parachute out. We clearly don’t follow so put it together for us.”

  Lawson nodded. “When Sloan and Frank involved me, Frank had already kidnapped Victoria. Think about it. Frank tried to kidnap Lexi but it fell through. That’s why he showed up with Victoria. She was his insurance to keep me motivated to go after Sloan, and insurance to distance himself from any involvement. So he could tie Taylor Lockhart to someone else other than him. He didn’t panic when Lexi got away from his men because he knew he had Taylor with her. That’s why he had Victoria tell us that convoluted story about finding where I lived through Johnny De Luca. Victoria was never De Luca’s woman, and she never called and spoke to Johnny about me. The meeting in the car was all bullshit. Frank got me released from jail so I could keep going after Sloan. That’s why Frank showed up to keep the police from taking me into custody again when you and I ran from the police at Clint’s office. And he made Victoria tell her lie about wanting to take me down for the De Luca thing. He wanted to make it seem like it was Victoria and De Luca that were close. But it was Sloan and De Luca that were the twosome in that movie deal all along. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “I still don’t get it,” Cassie said. “I mean, I understand why Frank would make Victoria lie to you. It would completely throw you off his scent and make her look like the puppet master. And it would make it plausible that she was the one who involved Taylor, because they had a connection. But why go through all the trouble?”

  “Because Frank needed me,” Lawson said. “He realized he wasn’t going to be able to take Sloan down by the book, he wanted me to do to Sloan what I did to De Luca in Vegas. Just in case he couldn’t make it look like Sloan kidnapped Lexi, he wanted to be able to put it on Victoria. He must have made Victoria come up with the Taylor plan somehow.”

  “I know how,” Cassie said. “On the phone at Clint’s office, Taylor said Victoria had something on her. Something that she thought only two people knew about. And Clint said she hired him over something about a party disaster. So Victoria must have tried to save herself by giving Frank something he could use to get Taylor close to you.”

  Lawson couldn’t respond. He was stuck on what Cassie said about Taylor. That must have been what Taylor was trying to tell him in the bedroom before he was arrested. She was trying to back out of the situation then, but she never had the chance.

  “Lawson?” Cassie prompted.

  “Taylor was as much a victim in all of this as anyone else,” he said.

  “Okay, Lawson,” Claudia said. “But focus, please. How does all of this explain how Frank was ever working with Sloan?”

  Lawson put his train of thought back on the right tracks. “Diego Acevedo.”

  They were back in West Hollywood now. The car was quiet while Claudia turned onto Hollywood Boulevard. Lawson was letting them reel it all in themselves. It was so complicated that it was making his head spin too. The only reason he’d been able to pull it all together was because of Taylor telling him Diego was the man who shot her.

  Cassie figured it out before Claudia. “Holy shit, you’re right. If Diego Acevedo is the man who purposefully shot Taylor in your drivewa
y to get this ‘Taylor insurance plan’ close to you and Lexi, Frank and Sloan had to be working together at some point. And Frank would have already had to have kidnapped Victoria, like you said. It’s the only way Frank would have known anything about Taylor Lockhart—”

  Claudia caught up. “And it’s the only way Sloan’s enforcer would have been involved with putting Taylor in play. Frank would have had to have told Sloan about Taylor. He probably told Sloan the FBI was investigating Taylor about what happened at this ‘party disaster’ Clint was talking about, and that’s how Frank had something so bad on Taylor that she would go through with it. I know Frank, he probably sold it to Sloan that Taylor is an actress; if anyone could pull it off, she could. Frank knows how much Sloan loves movies, a fact he used to sell this whole ridiculous idea to him. And Sloan played along, probably thinking that once you, Lawson, got Victoria to sign over the movie rights, he could blackmail Taylor again and make her say that he had nothing to do with her little stunt. That it was Victoria who made Taylor go through with getting shot to fool Lawson into taking her in.”

  Cassie chimed in. “And all along, Frank knew he was never going to have Victoria sign the movie over. He was going to be able to pin the Taylor charade on Sloan because it was Sloan’s man who shot her. Frank really thought this through. What a crazy deal. Only in Hollywood, I guess.”

  Lawson was once again locked onto a thought.

  “Right, Lawson? Ha-ha. Only in Hollywood?” Cassie tried to get his attention.

  Lawson was in another world. And again Victoria saying the word insurance came to mind. And then it hit him. “Victoria wasn’t just a way for Frank to have a backup plan for keeping me involved in taking down Sloan. Victoria was the backup plan for taking down Sloan if I wasn’t able to do it myself.”

  Lawson looked up at Cassie, who waited for him to elaborate. So he did. “Frank knew the situation between Sloan and Victoria. That they were in an ugly public battle over the movie. He knew that the police would see the clear motivation for Sloan, a guy with an already bad reputation, to kidnap Victoria to try to strong-arm her into signing over the movie rights. Frank getting Sloan to have Sloan’s own guy Diego do the dirty work with Taylor just slam-dunked the possibility that the police would believe Sloan kidnapped Victoria. But there’s just one problem . . .”

  Cassie bit. “What? What is it?”

  “Frank hasn’t sealed the deal. Now that I’m not going after Sloan, and Frank knows it, he has to put the final touches on his Victoria insurance plan.”

  Claudia came on board. “And plant Victoria somewhere to make it look like Sloan kidnapped her.”

  “That’s right,” Lawson said. “The motive for Sloan to kidnap Victoria is so clear––for the movie rights––that the police would bite on it hook, line, and sinker.”

  Cassie said, “And Victoria will go along with it, she won’t have a choice. She won’t be able to tell the police Frank actually did it, because when Sloan goes to jail, Victoria will get her movie. Everyone wins but Sloan. The entire thing can be pinned on him. It is the perfect plan.”

  Lawson sat forward in his seat again. “Perfect except for one little thing.”

  “What?” Cassie and Claudia said together.

  “Frank involved me.”

  41

  Claudia turned off Hollywood Boulevard into a parking lot that didn’t mean anything to anyone in the car.

  Cassie turned and faced Lawson.

  As soon as Claudia put the car in park, she turned in her seat as well. “So what now?”

  “I need a minute.” Lawson opened the car door and stepped out.

  He glanced up at the sign on the building: Pavilions, a grocery store. He remembered where they were now because he recognized the classic car shop across the street. Lawson had always had a thing for cars. The sun was still bright, but it was making its trek down behind the ocean, so the street was bathed in sepia tones. He walked away from the car, the sun hot on his shoulders. For the first time all day he rolled up his sleeves and took a minute.

  A lot of things were running through his mind. The fact that Clint had been telling him the truth all along made him hate that he had to die. But Clint was no saint. He knew the line of work he was involved in and what the consequences were. He thought about how naive Taylor had been but how hard she fought to make it right. That led to the thought of wishing he’d gotten that kiss. And that led him to considering why he didn’t just walk away from this thing right then and there. Cassie and Taylor were safe, he himself was still alive, and most importantly, Lexi was safe and with him again.

  What drove him to keep pushing for a resolution was the fact that he believed one of these assholes, most likely Frank, would maybe get away with all of it. Not only kidnapping Victoria, not only shooting Taylor, but also putting his daughter in harm’s way. And of course there was the fact that they had involved Lawson at all. Trying to use him for their gain—or Frank’s revenge, as it turned out.

  Lawson kicked the rock in front of him, and it skipped across the parking lot, toward Hollywood Boulevard. It’s the only reason he saw Clint’s Dodge Challenger swerve into the parking lot. Instinctively, Lawson reached for his Sig Sauer as the car pulled into the parking space right beside where he was standing. When the window began to roll down, he half expected to see a ghost. Instead, it was Jenny, Clint’s partner. And it was clear that she wasn’t happy.

  “Should I leave my hand on my pistol?” Lawson said, standing at the ready.

  “I followed you here from the marina. I saw everything. Including that son of a bitch murdering my best friend. Who is he?”

  Jenny opened the door and got out of the car. Cassie came running across the parking lot. Keeping one hand on his gun, he held the other out for Cassie to wait.

  Lawson knew she was talking about Diego Acevedo. “Who was he,” Lawson corrected her. “He’s dead now.”

  “Okay, so who did he work for?”

  “Just let me worry about it. I’ll take care of who he works for. They kidnapped my daughter. Someone has to pay.”

  Jenny moved forward and got in his face. “Tell me right now. I’m going to kill them. Clint may not have been a saint, but he saved me more than once in my life.”

  Lawson took a step back and took his hand away from his gun. Jenny was clearly hurting, and her adrenaline was at full throttle. Maybe he could use her to help him if she was hell-bent on doing something.

  “Say something!”

  “Okay, if you have to do something, I might have an idea. But it could very well get you killed. Especially if you don’t listen to me.”

  Cassie walked over, and she was met with a strong shove. “You’re the reason he’s dead!” Jenny shouted.

  She pushed Cassie again. Cassie had a big heart, but one thing Lawson knew about his partner was that she didn’t like people touching her, and she had a hair trigger when it came to someone pushing her around.

  “He died trying to save you! It’s the only reason he went out on that boat slip!”

  At the same time Jenny went to push Cassie again, Lawson noticed Cassie cocking back a right hand. Lawson stepped in and wrapped his arms around Jenny and lifted her off the ground. She began to kick and punch, but Lawson held her in place.

  “Let go of me!”

  Lawson said with a calm tone, “You want to help or not? This is exactly why I don’t want you involved. You’re too emotional right now. If you want to help, you have to calm down.”

  Jenny started to relax, and Lawson nodded at Cassie’s right hand, telling her to lower it.

  “Just let go of me.”

  Lawson let go, and Jenny walked a few steps away, trying to collect herself. “You think we can get who did this?”

  “I know we can,” Lawson said.

  “Okay. I’m in. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  “Lawson, we don’t even know her,” Cassie said. “And we don’t even know what we are going to do. Which brings up my vote that we d
o nothing. Let these two assholes destroy themselves.”

  Cassie had a way with words, not a good way most of the time, but a way with them all the same. This time, however, to Lawson they were pure gold. When Cassie said let them destroy themselves, a lightbulb went off in his head.

  “Even though you didn’t mean to be, Cass, you’re a genius.”

  “I know. But . . . why this time?”

  “We’re going to do exactly what you suggested.”

  “What, walk away and do nothing?”

  “No.” Lawson smiled. “Let them destroy themselves. With a little bit of help of course.”

  Jenny said, “What do you mean?”

  “Now don’t fall for that,” Cassie told Jenny. “There is no such thing as a little bit with Lawson Raines. Either he doesn’t do a thing, or he’s like a bull in an ultra high-end china shop. So just know that when you step in, it’s going to get crazy.”

  Jenny looked from Cassie to Lawson, then back to Cassie. “Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let’s get crazy.”

  42

  “So wait, we aren’t going to the police for what reason again?” Claudia said.

  The four of them were holding court inside the unmarked Ford Explorer, which Claudia’s FBI credentials enabled her to borrow from LAPD back at the crash. Five if you count Lexi. Lawson wasn’t happy that she had to hear these types of conversations, but there was just no way around it.

  “Simple answer?” Lawson said. “Four ‘cops’ just tried to kidnap Lexi. The other reason is what I said earlier. The cops bring Frank or Sloan in, they will find a way out of this. One of them will anyway. So no cops.”

  “Okay, so what are we going to do?”