Not Happily Married in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 2 (12 page)

Adele walked into the funeral home with Miranda and Elliot
Powell both supporting an arm. She was dressed all in black and looked
decidedly frail. When she saw me she let go of Miranda and Elliot and threw her
arms around my neck.

“Oh Trudie, thank you so much for taking care of this for
me. You have been a true angel through my time of need.”

I didn’t say anything, just patted her awkwardly on the
back.

“I want to see him” she said as she disentangled herself
from me.

“He’s just in here” I said pointing towards the room where
Eric’s coffin was.

Adele gripped my hand. “Can you come in with me” she said.

I stopped, looking in the direction of the Powells.

“Surely you’d prefer...”

“No I want you to come in with me” she insisted.

“Of course” I said as she laid her arm on mine and put a
reassuring smile on my face.

Looking down at Eric it hit me again about how precarious
life can be.

“He looks just like he’s sleeping” Adele murmured as she
stroked his face. “I should never have married him. I knew it was a mistake.
All I wanted from him was sex. He was great in bed but anytime he started
talking I just wanted to tell him to shut up. I couldn’t stand to hear him
talk. I really shouldn’t have married him if I didn’t like talking to him
should I?”

“Probably not” I said wondering where else this conversation
was going to go.

“You wouldn’t marry a man just for sex would you Trudie?”
she asked, all the time stroking Eric’s cheek.

For some reason that little movement of her hand was
beginning to truly disturb me. I wasn’t a fan of Eric but I really didn’t think
that we needed to spend his funeral dissecting his many, many flaws.

“No, I don’t think I would” I said.

“No you wouldn’t,” Adele said. “I look at you and wish I was
that capable. I could never be alone like you. I always needed to have a man
taking care of me, ever since I was a girl. Even now the thought of being
alone. I can’t do it. I need to have someone. You don’t need anyone. You have
no one in your life but you are able to cope. I could never live a lonely life
like that.”

I almost protested that I wasn’t lonely but stopped myself.
She obviously needed to get this out and it wouldn’t be the first time I had
acted as therapist to one of my clients.

“I hated him” Adele said and I almost had to hold myself
back from pulling her hand away from his face. “He thought he was hurting me by
sleeping with all those women. Every time I looked at him, all I felt was
disgust and loathing, but I still couldn’t stop myself from going to him every
night. What does that say about me?” she asked her eyes filling up with tears.”

I grabbed her hand and pulled it away from the stroking
motion she had been doing.

“Surely there were some good memories you have of him” I
said desperately. “Why don’t you try to hold on to those today?”

She looked at me sadly. “I can’t” she said. “I hated him so
much. This was all for the best.” She smiled brightly through her tears.
“You’ll see Trudie, this has all been for the best. It was the only way I could
get away from him.”

She walked out of the room and despite the warm weather I
shivered. As soon as this funeral was over I was going to go home and try my
hardest to forget this whole thing had happened. I was then going to think very
seriously about my career options. Maybe I could be a dog walker.

Outside the viewing room I could see that several more
people had joined the group. Most were friends of Adele’s, obviously here to
support her in her time of grief. However towards the back of the group and
obviously trying her very best to blend in with the wall, was Ruby. I walked
over to her.

“Hi Ruby, I’m really pleased that you were able to come
today” I said.

Ruby smiled shyly and looked around awkwardly. “I have to be
here” she said, her eyes downcast. The look on her face was one of abject
misery.

Tomas started to usher the guests inside and I fell into
step beside Ruby. I took a seat while Ruby went up to the coffin to say her
goodbyes to Eric. She spoke quietly to him, leaned down and kissed his forehead
and took a seat, tears streaming down her face. The other guests looked at her
curiously but a part of me was pleased for her that she had the chance to say
goodbye. I was also pleased that someone in this group was actually mourning
for Eric. God knows I hadn’t liked the man, but it just struck me as wrong that
he lived almost thirty years on this earth and nobody mourned his passing.
Admittedly he wasn’t the greatest human being that ever lived, but he was far
from the worst. Maybe my family was right and I was just too soft hearted.
According to my Grandma Rita that soft heart was going to get me into trouble
one day.

The celebrant Tomas had organized for the funeral was very
good. She had taken the small amount of information that I had given her about
Eric, and managed to turn it into an uplifting and moving service. I kept
checking on Adele and Ruby as they seemed to be the only two who were affected
in any way. Adele sat there stony faced, all signs of tears gone. In direct
contrast Ruby had gone from tears streaming down her face to deep heaving sobs.
At the point where the celebrant asked if there was anyone who wanted to share
their memories of Eric, I went to shake my head. To my surprise Ruby stood up
and headed for the lectern. Adele looked at me inquiringly. I tried to nod
encouragingly. Ruby stood at the front of the room and wiped her face with her
arm.

“You don’t know me but I grew up with Eric. He lived next
door to me my entire life. He was always kind to me. He protected me when I
needed it and he supported me. He was my best friend.”

I could see Adele looking a little uncomfortable.
Considering she had been married to him, she had only been able to say that she
truly hated him. Then to have this young girl actually providing the kind of
words she should have said, it was bound to make her feel uncomfortable.

“Eric was also my husband.” My head snapped around and an
audible gasp filled the room, which was quite an achievement considering how few
people were in attendance. Tomas looked at me frantically for a sign, as the
celebrant made a step towards Ruby. Adele stood up and advanced towards the
younger woman.

“What are you saying?” she said, in a completely controlled
voice, very unlike the emotional wreck I had been seeing the last few days.

“Eric and I got married six years ago when I was eighteen”
Ruby said, a slight quiver in her voice but she lifted her head.

“That is not possible” Adele said. “It is not possible that
I was in a bigamous marriage. He wouldn’t dare do that to me.”

Ruby looked at her. “He loved me. I was the only one he
wanted to marry, but he needed money and said marrying you was the way he could
get it.”

By this point Tomas had given up looking for a way to fix
this situation. Nobody wanted to make a move and interrupt the drama playing
out in front of us.

“He was my husband and I loved him” declared Adele and I
looked on in shock. What happened to the woman who only twenty minutes ago was
telling me how much she loathed the man in the coffin.

“I’m sorry” Ruby faltered and I cursed inwardly as I moved
towards her.

I put my arm around her and moved her away from the podium
and out the door. I could hear Tomas taking control of the situation inside
while I led Ruby to the small memorial garden. As she sat in one of the garden
seats and took in deep gulps of air while trying to hold back the sobs I could
see the abject misery on her face.

“Is it true?” I asked gently “Were you really married to
him?”

Ruby nodded and pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and
handed it to me. I straightened the wrinkled piece of paper and saw that indeed
six years ago Ruby Farrow and Eric Davis got married.

I sighed. “You don’t by any chance have a divorce or
annulment in there as well do you?” I asked, only half joking.

Ruby shook her head. I squatted down next to her. My heart
went out to this poor girl. She had obviously adored Eric.

“I am so sorry that you lost him” I said gently. “Is there
anyone I can call to come and get you?”

“No” she said and suddenly straightened up. “I can get home
myself. I know he isn’t there but I just wanted to say goodbye and to let those
people know there was a good side to him. I know how they would have looked at
him and I won’t deny that Eric was selfish, but you know what, when my
stepfather was on a rampage, Eric was the one who protected and hid me. When he
got big and strong enough, he beat up my stepfather for daring to lay a hand on
me. He did a lot of stupid things, but he could be a good man sometimes. I just
wanted the people who thought he was dirt to know that.”

Ruby turned and walked away and I just stood there. She was
right. We’d all just seen the one side of Eric that we wanted to see. Walking
back into the funeral home I could see that the service had wrapped up fairly
quickly after Ruby’s revelation. I headed towards the reception area, but caught
up in thinking about Ruby, I took a wrong turn and found myself looking out
into a private courtyard. I pulled back suddenly when I saw that in the middle
of the courtyard was Adele, locked in an embrace with Elliot Powell. He was
holding her tightly and I saw him drop his head and place a tender kiss on her
lips. I stepped back and hurriedly found the reception room. Unfortunately the
first person I saw was Miranda Powell and as she headed towards me I just felt
like I wanted to get away.

“There you are Trudie” she said. “I wanted to thank you for
dealing with that unfortunate situation during the funeral.”

So Ruby was now an unfortunate situation. Good to know.

“I wish I could say I was surprised, but after the
abominable way that man treated Adele, well nothing surprises me. I only hope
that Adele can take the time to heal.”

I was beginning to feel sick. Right at this moment Adele was
kissing this woman’s husband and she had no idea. I hate being in situations
like this. I am one of those people that if my husband was cheating on me, I
would want to know. That being said, being told by pretty much a complete
stranger would really come at the top of my possible cringe worthy moments in
life. In my head I kept repeating Monique’s mantra for her personal assistants.
The client’s personal life is none of your business. As long as it does not put
you in a legally compromising position don’t judge and don’t interfere. Right
now looking into this woman’s face and knowing what her husband and best friend
were doing, I was judging like you wouldn’t believe, but I couldn’t interfere.

I could, however, feel like throwing up when Elliot Powell
walked up to his wife and put an arm around her waist.

“Darling, I’ve been looking for you” he said as he dropped a
kiss on the side of her cheek.

“Is Adele feeling better?” Miranda asked, a loving smile for
her husband on her face.

“As good as can be expected” Elliot said, sorrowfully.

“There she is now” I said desperate to get away from the
farce I was watching.

As I walked towards Adele I noticed that Griffin and Ramos
had entered the reception room as well. I smiled brightly at Griffin and was
surprised by the answering frown.

“Adele Wesson” he said in a loud commanding voice.

Everybody stopped and looked. Adele turned around.

“Adele Wesson” Griffin repeated. “You are under arrest for
the murder of Eric Wesson.”

While Griffin gave Adele her rights, Ramos grabbed her hands
and handcuffed them behind her back. Elliot stepped forward with a visibly
upset Miranda beside him.

“What is this all about?” he demanded.

“Exactly as I said sir” Griffin said, standing between Adele
and Elliot. “Mrs Wesson has been charged with the murder of her husband.”

“I am her lawyer and I demand that you let me speak to my
client.”

“As soon as we process her down at the station, if she
requests a lawyer, we will be contacting you. Until then please do not
interfere.”

“Elliot” Adele said, the fear in her voice evident.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can” said Elliot. “Do not say a
word to anyone until I get there. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes Elliot” Adele said as she was led away by Ramos.

Griffin swung around and followed her. “Miss Eyre, we are
requesting that you attend the station to assist in our inquiries” he said without
even looking in my direction.

My jaw dropped as I watched him walk out the room. In an
instant I had Tomas beside me.

“Don’t do or say anything you are going to regret” he
warned.

I looked at him, the anger at the way Griffin had spoken to
me building up to the point where I was barely able to speak.

“Your face has gone some weird kind of color. I’m sure your
friend didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

Unfortunately, I think he did. Travis’s words about Griffin
came rushing back at me and all of a sudden I had a very bad feeling in the pit
of my stomach. That feeling didn’t leave me as I drove through the streets of
LA. It was still there as I pushed through the doors of the station. It rose up
into my throat when I was met by Ramos and led into yet another interrogation
room. Looking around at the bare walls and the obligatory mirror I wondered how
many more times I was going to end up in one of these rooms. Waiting alone in
the room, I remembered the last time I was stuck in here, Griffin had left me
cooling my heels for almost an hour. A spurt of defiance went through me. If he
thought I was going to wait for him again he had another thing coming. I was
rising out of the chair when Griffin walked into the room and sat down in the
chair opposite me. I slowly lowered myself back into the seat and waited
silently for him to start speaking.

“Trudie” he said.

“Really” I shot back. “At the funeral home I was Miss Eyre,
why the lack of formality now?”

Griffin grimaced. “Trudie, I’m in a difficult position. This
is my case and as usual I’m finding you right in the middle of it.”

“Not my fault” I said.

“No” he conceded, “but the fact of the matter is that I am
trying to build a case and everywhere I turn there you are. I have to tread
very carefully.”

“So what is the problem, why did you arrest Adele?”

“Last night we executed a search warrant on Adele Wesson’s
home. We found a gun in her safe.”

“Why did you search last night? The place has been a crime
scene for days.”

“We didn’t know about the safe until yesterday. It was
missed in the original search.”

“Then how did you find out about it…” my voice trailed off.
“You overheard me talking to Adele yesterday when you were at my home” I said.
“You used that information for your search warrant.”

“Yes I did” Griffin said looking me straight in the eye.

All of a sudden I realized something else.

“The phone call last night. You weren’t calling to talk to
me, you were just making sure that I wasn’t at Adele’s house so you could do
your search warrant without tipping her off.”

Griffin nodded and that weird feeling in my stomach lurched
up into my throat.

“Why were you really at the funeral home this morning?” I
asked, part of me not wanting to hear and part of me needing to hear.

“We put surveillance equipment in the room as we wanted to
capture anything that was said that could be incriminating. We weren’t sure if
we would be able to do it, normally access would be a problem.” he said.

I continued for him.

“But there I was and I told Tomas it was fine to have you
there, not thinking for one moment that you could possibly be using me.”

“I wasn’t using you” said Griffin through gritted teeth.

I smiled coldly. “Yes, you were. Well now you got precisely
what you wanted, could you please explain to me why I am here?”

Griffin went to say something else, but took one look at my
face and obviously thought better of it.

“We need to know if Adele knew about Eric’s first wife.”

“As far as I am aware she didn’t know.”

“Were you aware of Eric’s first wife?”

“I only met Ruby for the first time yesterday. I informed
her of the funeral believing her to be a friend. Her speech today was as much a
surprise to me as it was to everyone else.”

Griffin looked at me expecting me to continue. Fat chance of
that happening. I would answer his questions but that was it. No way was I
trusting this man with any more information.

“On the morning of the murder we found gunshot residue on
Adele’s hands, do you know of anywhere that she would have got the gunshot
residue?”

“No.”

“Do you believe Adele killed her husband?”

“No.”

“Do you have any idea of anyone else who could have killed
Eric Wesson?”

“No.”

“Are you planning on answering any of my questions with
anything other than a yes or no answer?”

“No.”

“Dammit Trudie, stop being so stubborn. This is a murder
case and it’s a little more important than the fact you have got your feelings
hurt. I did my job and I’d do it exactly the same again.”

“Good to know” I said. “As you’ve got everything about today
on tape I don’t think there is any need for this to continue. I don’t think
Adele killed her husband but you know what, at the moment I’m having serious
doubts about my intuition when it comes to the people I believe in. I have no
idea who killed Eric. I do not have any further information that will help you,
so talking to me is a complete waste of your time and my patience. If you have
any further questions for me you can direct them to my lawyer, Reggie. I’m sure
you remember him, because I know he remembers you.”

With that I picked up my purse and headed for the door. Griffin
jumped up and grabbed my arm.

“Trudie, don’t be like this. You don’t understand, I have a
job to do.”

I shook off his arm. “You’re wrong” I said. “I understand
perfectly well. You used me. It may have been for all the right reasons but at
the moment I don’t like you very much. So, like I said if you need to speak to
me, do it through my lawyer.”

Holding my head high I walked away, feeling his stare right
between my shoulder blades but I’m proud to say I didn’t falter, not at any
point during the walk through the station, not on the car ride home and not on
the walk into my apartment. I held it together as I peeled off my clothes and
stepped into the shower. Only in there was I finally able to let go and for
today it wasn’t tears. No, I was angry, really angry. Part of me kept repeating
that he was only doing his job but there was a bigger part of me that felt
betrayed. I really wanted to hit something, preferably an arrogant detective,
but wait a minute, I was never going to see that arrogant detective again. Once
I had that thought the tears did start. After a good cathartic cry I found
myself in my most comfortable sweats tucking into a large tub of ice cream.

An insistent knock on my door distracted me from the ice
cream headache I was trying to give to myself. Looking at the door I just did
not feel up to dealing with anyone and decided to ignore the knocking. It
eventually stopped and I could hear footsteps walking away. I breathed a sigh
of relief and got back to drowning my sorrows in the ice cream tub. Next thing
I heard was those footsteps returning and the scratching of keys in the lock. I
dropped my head not even bothering to look up as Crystal walked in. She took
one look at my position on the floor, in sweats that were so worn they could not
be seen outside the front door and hugging a tub of ice cream, and shook her
head as she grabbed a spoon and sat next to me.

“Those keys are only supposed to be used for emergencies” I
said as she tried to grab a spoonful of ice cream.

“This obviously is an emergency” she said as she managed to
fill her spoon. “So what did Detective Hottie do?”

“What makes you think it was him” I grumbled, “and anyway
from now on he’s Detective Dumbass.”

“Ouch” Crystal grimaced. “What did he do?”

“He used me to make a case against my boss for murder.”

“That’s a new one” she said, “but what do you expect? All
men are jerks only after one thing.”

“Bad time?” Edwin said from the doorway.

“No, no” said Crystal waving him in. “I was just saying men
are jerks after one thing.”

Edwin paused as he sat down. “You do realize that I am a
man.”

“Well yeah” said Crystal as she licked her spoon, “but I
don’t think of you as a man, not in the normal sense anyway.”

I winced at Edwin’s crestfallen look which he wiped away
quickly. Crystal treated Edwin as her gay best friend. Unfortunately Edwin was
very straight and had a crush on Crystal. He was also a struggling actor.
Seeing as Crystal had struggling actors hitting on her all the time in the hope
that she would cast them in a blockbuster movie, Edwin was biding his time
until he made his own way in the acting world. Then he would pursue Crystal.
The only stumbling block in this grand master plan that he had told me about
one night, when he was very drunk, was that Edwin was a really bad actor. He
was gorgeous, which was a point in his favor, but despite the endless acting
lessons the man gave new meaning to the word wooden. Unfortunately he hadn’t
quite worked that out for himself yet and I wasn’t ready to destroy his dreams,
so the three of us went ahead as if everything was perfectly normal.

“So what man is proof that the entire gender is worthless”
Edwin said as he grabbed his own spoon.

“Detective Dumbass” Crystal said still licking the spoon
with Edwin watching her avidly.

“I thought we were going with Detective Hottie.”

“Not anymore, not after what he’s done.” Crystal said with
relish as Edwin passed the tub of ice cream to her with a look of anticipation
on his face.

I grabbed it and wrenched it back.

Edwin frowned. “So what did Detective Dumbass do that was so
terrible that he is being held up as an example of all that is wrong with men.”

I looked at him sourly. “You know you weren’t invited.”

“Yes, well I’m pretty sure that Crystal wasn’t invited
either, but here we are. Just look at us as your own personal therapy session,
full of judgment and bad advice.”

“He overheard something Adele said to me on the phone and
used it to get some incriminating evidence from her house. He called me last
night to make sure that I wasn’t near Adele’s house so he could do a search warrant,
and he bugged Eric’s coffin today by using me to get access to the funeral
home. He did all this without telling me.”

Edwin looked at me quizzically. “Hasn’t he just done his job?
He’s a cop looking for a murderer, isn’t he supposed to do anything it takes.”

Both Crystal and I looked at him.

“Or not. Bad Detective Dumbass.” He popped a spoon of ice
cream in his mouth.

“Look” I said, “logically I know he was just doing his job,
but right at this moment I feel used. I thought something special was happening
between us but now I feel like he betrayed me.”

“I understand” said Crystal.

Edwin popped up an eyebrow.

“No, hear me out. I had a date last night with a guy and we
started talking about what constituted cheating in a relationship. He was telling
me that as a guy he doesn’t think kissing is even close to cheating. And I said
that it didn’t matter what he thought constituted cheating. If I’m the
girlfriend, it matters what I think is cheating, because it is about my
feelings and how hurt and betrayed I felt. That’s exactly the same here.
Detective Dumbass thinks what he did was the right thing, but you feel hurt and
betrayed. Doesn’t matter what he thinks because it’s your feelings at play
here. It only matters what you feel. If you can’t deal with what he’s done,
then it is better that you give him the flick.”

She sat back, proud of her analogy and looked expectantly at
Edwin and me.

“What?” she said looking confused at our expressions.

“No,” I said, “your thinking is sound. I’m just wondering
why you are discussing what constitutes cheating on a first date. Were you guys
establishing some ground rules for the future or something?”

“No of course not. I worked out I wasn’t seeing him again
within the first thirty seconds.”

“Then why didn’t you leave?” I ventured.

“Are you kidding, they make the best dates when there is no
trying to impress while you are holding out for a future date. I get to have
the most awesome conversations. I start asking questions and next thing I know
guys just start letting it all hang out.”

“And you think that is a good thing” I said slowly.

“It’s great” Crystal said. “When both of you know that it’s
not going anywhere but you’re still willing to finish the date it means you can
say anything.”

“Which brings us to a conversation on cheating on the first
date.”