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

The next morning I let myself into Adele’s house. Usually I
would find Adele outside with her muse as she would call it. Adele credited the
nature around her as the inspiration for her work. She had been hit by a stream
of inspiration in her latest project. Almost every morning for the last two
weeks I had found her outside. Looking through the house I could not find any
sign of her or Eric. The cars were in the garage so I knew they had to be home.
Heading towards Adele’s bedroom I knocked quietly on the door.

“Ms Wesson” I called out as I tried the doorknob. I slowly
opened the door calling out again in case she didn’t hear me. The room was
empty, but the bed looked as if it hadn’t been slept in which was very unusual.
Dropping my head I contemplated my next move. The only room I hadn’t checked
was Eric Wesson’s bedroom. The couple slept in separate bedrooms, something I
found incomprehensible, but hey, it wasn’t my marriage. I tried calling her
cell only to hear it ringing on the bedside table. Adele never went anywhere
without her cell. Reluctantly walking to Eric’s room I knocked quietly on the
door.

“Ms Wesson, are you in there?”

When there was no answer I knocked again, a little louder. I
put my ear up against the door, trying desperately to hear something to
indicate that I did not need to open it. There was complete silence.

“Ms Wesson,” I called out loudly. “I am coming in now, I am
concerned for you.” I cringed. That didn’t sound strange at all, but I really
did not want to enter this room.

When the door was opened I saw the bed and strangled back
the scream that rose in my throat. There, lying on the white sheets was Eric
Wesson, blood covering the pillow underneath his head. Next to him lay Adele
Wesson. I couldn’t see any blood around her. If it wasn’t for the blood, the
two of them would look like they were just sleeping peacefully together. I
crept towards the bed. I could see Adele’s chest rising and I put my hand on
her shoulder.

“Adele, wake up.” I shook her gently but she didn’t open her
eyes. Raising my voice I yelled louder and shook harder. “Adele, wake up.” No
response.

I grabbed my cell out of my pocket and called emergency.
When it answered I rushed ahead giving the address.

“Please, I need someone here right now. I just got to work
and my boss and her husband are in bed. There is blood everywhere. I think she
may be alive but I don’t know about him. There is so much blood.”

“Are you in any danger?” the dispatcher asked.

“I have no idea” I said, belatedly looking around realizing
that I could have walked in on anything.

“Can you find a place that’s safe?” she said.

“I don’t want to leave her” I said softly. “I think she’s
still alive.”

“I’ve got police and paramedics coming. Everything is going
to be okay.” The dispatcher’s calm voice grated over my jangled nerves.

I heard a crashing noise from the front door.

“I think they’re here” I said.

“That’s good” she said. “Now whatever you do, follow the
police officer’s directions. If they don’t have to worry about you, then they
can concentrate on your friend.”

“Okay” I said and gulped as a cop stepped in the room and
pointed a gun at me.

“Hands up” he yelled.

“I’m the one who called” I said as I put my hands above my
head, holding up the cell phone. “I’ve got emergency on the line.”

The cop took my phone and spoke to the dispatcher.
Paramedics raced into the room and started working on Adele and Eric. The cop
led me out of the house and sat me down on the front porch.

“What happened?” the cop asked.

“I don’t know. I work here for Adele Wesson. I got to work
about half an hour ago, same time as I always do and I found them like that. I
left about seven last night and they were fine.”

The cop nodded and started taking notes. A paramedic came
over and put a blanket around my shoulders.

“Thank you” I said.

“Not a problem, not a pretty sight in there. I figured
you’re probably feeling a little shocky.”

I looked up at him. “Is that a medical term?”

He grinned and I noticed he had a nice smile, kind and
gentle with a small dimple in his chin.

“No, not really. It’s before you actually go into shock,
when you’ve seen something that you keep replaying in your mind.”

I shivered. “Yes, well I think that qualifies. I don’t think
I’ll be forgetting that scene in a hurry.”

He put his hand into a pocket and pulled out a small
chocolate bar. “Here have this, you’ll feel better with a bit of sugar in you.”

I looked at him carefully. “My mom’s advice about strangers
and candy is going through my head right about now.”

He smiled again and his brown eyes lit up. He put out his
hand. “Then we shouldn’t be strangers anymore, my name is Ben.”

I looked at him for a second and then grasped his hand. “I’m
Trudie and now that you’re no longer a stranger I’ll take that candy bar.”

Ben handed it over and I unwrapped it and popped it in my
mouth.

“Feeling any better?” he asked.

“Yeah I guess so.”

I turned to the cop behind me.

“Any chance I can go to the hospital with Adele so she’s not
alone?”

“Afraid not. Homicide are going to need to speak to you.”

“Eric didn’t make it?” I asked softly.

“No he didn’t” the cop said distractedly.

I bent my head fighting back the tears. I didn’t know why I
was upset. I hadn’t particularly liked the man. He had made my two weeks
working for Adele difficult, but yesterday he had been alive and vital, and
today he was dead. I felt an arm go around my shoulders and looked up at Ben’s
sympathetic face. I leaned my head against his chest and just let someone else
be strong for a while. After a few minutes of leaning against Ben’s warm chest
and feeling his hand stroke my arm in sympathy I heard a throat being cleared.
I pulled away from Ben and looked up, right into the face of the one man I had
hoped I would not see.

The last time I had seen Detective Jake Griffin, his face
had been worn and unshaven after sitting by my bedside for three days while I
was unconscious after being shot. In the morning sunlight he looked great. His
black hair was a bit longer than when I had seen him last. Those rebellious
curls that grew at the ends were making a concerted effort to be more
pronounced. His height and broad shoulders seemed to block everything else out
of my line of sight. His green eyes though looked angry. In fact he looked
really angry. His eyes were locked on the arm around my shoulder. He flicked
out his badge.

“Detective Griffin, Homicide” he said to Ben. “We need to
speak to the witness alone please.”

Ben nodded but was slow to remove his arm and I could tell
that it annoyed Griffin.

“You going to be okay?” he asked softly.

I shrugged as I pulled off the blanket and handed it to him.

“Probably” I said. “Thanks for the chocolate.”

He smiled. “Anytime, I’ll just remember to stock up again
for next time we meet.”

I smiled back at him and watched him as he walked off.
Knowing there was no way that I was going to put off the inevitable, I looked
up into Ramos’s impassive face and Griffin’s scowling one.

“So are we doing this here or down at the station?” I asked.

“Station” Griffin growled, spinning around and walking off.

Getting up I directed my next question to Ramos. “What about
my car? Can I drive it to the station so I have a way of getting home?”

Ramos didn’t even have the grace to look apologetic. “You
know the drill, crime scene techs need to look at it before we can release it.”

“Great” I muttered.

Ramos touched me on the arm. “Sorry Trudie, I really am.”

Yeah, weren't we all.

I was even more sorry when I was left to wait in the
interrogation room for almost an hour. Griffin and Ramos had left me in there
saying they just had to get a couple of things and would be a minute. An hour
later, I was out of patience. Getting up from my chair I headed for the door,
only to have it open as I was reaching for the doorknob. Griffin came through
and my libido, which had taken a vacation while I was dealing with Eric Wesson,
came roaring back.

“Going somewhere?” asked Griffin.

“Actually yes” I said while taking a step back from him. Not
far, just far enough that I was out of temptations reach. Despite the fact my
head wanted nothing to do with Detective Griffin, my body was remembering that
kiss, and was having a real hard time concentrating on anything other than the
fact that his shirt was pulling tight across that chest. My lips felt dry and I
swiped my tongue across them. Griffin seemed to zero in on the action and all
of a sudden I started feeling very warm.

“I’ve got to go” I blurted out.

“You haven’t answered our questions yet” Griffin said.

“Then maybe you should have started asking them about an
hour ago” I said, the annoyance clear in my voice.

“Seems you haven’t changed” Griffin said.

“What the hell do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Still can’t do anything the easy way.”

Okay, I’d just about had it. I sat down.

“I don’t know what kind of game you are playing, keeping me
sitting here for an hour, but we’re not playing it anymore. You have ten
minutes to ask any questions you want, and then I am walking. You can’t hold
me, so when the ten minutes are up, I am out of here and if you need to speak
to me you can contact me through my attorney.”

Griffin quirked his eyebrow. I’d forgotten how much that
particular habit of his ticked me off.

“Very well we’d better get started quickly hadn’t we?” he
said as he sat down. Ramos, who had followed him into the interrogation room
took her seat beside him. “Tell us what happened this morning.”

“I got to work at about eight, same as I always do. I let
myself into the house. Usually there is noise happening at that time but I
couldn’t hear anything. I looked through the house to see if I could find
Adele. I went to Eric’s bedroom last, knocked on the door, and opened it and
found Eric and Adele in bed. Blood was on the pillow underneath Eric. I went up
to the bed and saw that Adele was still breathing. I couldn’t tell anything
with Eric. I called 911 straight away and waited until police arrived.”

“When was the last time that you saw them before this
morning?” Griffin scribbled on his notepad.

“Last night, about seven just before I left.”

“You have been working with Adele Wesson for two weeks, is
that correct?”

“Yes it is.” I wondered where he’d got that piece of
information.

“Why did Adele Wesson hire one of Monique Petit’s PAs? My
understanding is you guys are used for difficult placements. Was Adele Wesson a
problem client?” Griffin asked.

“Oh no,” I said. “Adele is lovely, honestly one of the
nicest clients I’ve ever had.” Of course with my clients, we weren’t really
talking about the best examples of humanity but still.

“Then why were you sent?” asked Ramos.

I really did not want to go into this.

“Is there a problem?” she asked.

I drew in a breath. “The problem is not Adele Wesson, it is
her husband Eric. In the past he has made the working environment difficult for
Adele’s staff.”

“Is he abusive?” asked Ramos.

I really did not want to go into this. I know Eric’s
behavior was not on me. That being said I was embarrassed talking about it.
Looking down at the table I continued.

“Eric Wesson has a habit of seducing Adele’s staff, usually
within the first few days of employment. Once he gets them into bed he ignores
them and this can cause hurt feelings and at times, lawsuits.”

“And you have been there two weeks” Griffin said and I could
see that he was dying to ask the next question, but I was not giving him the
answer.

“Yes two weeks.”

Griffin looked at Ramos. The annoyed look on her face was
priceless.

“Did you have a sexual relationship with Eric Wesson?” she
asked.

“No, I did not.”

“You’re saying that a man who seduced every one of his
wife’s employees never tried to seduce you.” Griffin sounded almost
disbelieving.

“No, I am not saying that” I said. “Over the last two weeks
I have written up nineteen sexual harassment reports against Eric Wesson. Wait
a minute, make that twenty two. I did up a report last night for the three from
yesterday.”

“Twenty two” Ramos said sending a warning glance at Griffin.
“What exactly was he doing?”

“It would depend on his mood and opportunity. He would try
to corner me, brush up against me or talk to me suggestively. He flirted
constantly.”

“Why the hell did you stay?” Griffin asked and I could see
from the look on Ramos’s face that she had wanted to ask that question.

“I don’t do the easy jobs. I knew going in what the problem
was, but Adele needed an assistant to get her through to finishing her latest
novel. Eric Wesson was not dangerous. He was just persistent and he couldn’t
understand why I didn’t get in bed with him. The man exuded sex appeal. I don’t
think anyone had ever said no to him before. He’d ramped it up a bit in the
last few days but I was a challenge to him. If Monique had thought I would be
in any danger I would not have been placed there. The reports I write are for
Monique and they are just a record in case there is an issue that we haven’t
anticipated or planned for. Before placement Eric was informed that I had his
number and he was not to try anything, but the guy was like a moth to a flame.
Could not understand the word no.”

“So you were willing to stay in a situation where you were
sexually harassed on a daily basis.” Griffin sounded incredulous and just a little
bit judgmental.

That made me angry. “This kind of thing happens to women all
the time. I could have walked away at any point. Most other women can’t do
that, especially not in this economy. If I walked away I would have possibly
been replaced with someone else who couldn’t cope with it. Adele’s first
assistant after marrying Eric was a nineteen year old who was absolutely
devastated when she slept with him and he then tossed her out of the bed.
Nothing the man did was illegal. I hate to speak badly of the dead but he was
just a lousy human being. He never touched them first. It was a game of his
that he would tempt them into touching him first.”

“How were the two of them yesterday when you left?"
Ramos asked.

“They were arguing.” I shrugged. “They were always arguing.”

“Do you know why?”

“Adele had just walked in to find Eric had cornered me against
the desk in the study. I used the distraction of her entering the room to
withdraw from the situation. She apologized to me for what had happened and
when I closed the door I heard them start arguing about it. It always happened
that way.”

“What do you mean?” Ramos leaned forward.

“They had a strange relationship. Eric would sleep with
anyone. I think Adele is still hung up on her first husband who died and
doesn’t really care about anything Eric did as long as it didn’t impact on her
work. They had separate bedrooms but they’d argue and then have sex. She once
told me that despite his faults Eric was sublime in bed.”

“Why would she tell you that?” Griffin asked frowning.

“I don’t know” I said frustrated. “People tell me all kinds
of things that they wouldn’t talk about normally.”

“Yes” said Ramos, “but if she’s trying to keep you out of
his bed why would she tell you he was so good. I would think that you would
keep that information to yourself.”

“Honestly” I said. “I don’t think she cared if I slept with
him, just as long as I kept working with her and didn’t try to sue them.”

“That’s pretty messed up” said Ramos.

“Yes it is, but that’s why I get paid the good money,
because I deal with the messed up ones. Now I believe your ten minutes are up.
Is my car ready to go?”

“Why the hurry, did you manage to get a date at the murder
scene this morning?” Griffin said as he leaned back in his chair scowling at me.
I was beginning to think my mom’s warning was right. When you make faces like
that all the time and the wind changes, they do become permanent.

Ramos jumped up. “Your car’s all ready” she said brightly.
“If you could just follow me.”

As I left the station I looked back and saw Griffin leaning
against the door frame watching me thoughtfully.