Not Happily Married in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 2 (5 page)

After getting ready for the day I contacted the hospital to
find that Adele was finally able to have visitors. Arriving at the hospital I
felt a strange shiver pass through me. Two months ago I had been in this same
building after being shot by a murderer intent on hiding their crime, an
experience that I never wanted to repeat. I had come out of the experience
physically sound but I still had some nights when I woke from a nightmare
covered in sweat. Knocking on the door to Adele’s room I heard her quiet voice
call out for me to come in. Opening the door I saw Adele lying in the bed
looking very frail. The private room had been made to look as little like a
hospital room as it was possible to get. Near the window which looked out onto
the carpark stood Adele’s lawyer, Elliot Powell. His face was creased in
concern and I could see that I had interrupted a discussion that he had been
having with Adele.

Elliot’s wife Miranda Powell sat next to Adele on the corner
of the bed, looking through her medical chart. I was momentarily taken aback by
the invasion of privacy until I remembered that Miranda was a plastic surgeon
at one of the private hospitals. Miranda looked like the poster child of
plastic surgery. She was one of those people who even though she was in her
late forties she was looking fabulous and believe me when I say that fabulous
is the right word for her. Flawless skin, beautiful hair and a figure that
could stop traffic she looked like a woman who should be acting in movies next
to the stars she operated on. I have to admit that between Miranda’s stunning
beauty and Adele’s delicate looks I was feeling a little self-conscious,
considering I hadn’t even taken the time to do more than brush my hair, pull it
back into my standard ponytail and throw on a minimal amount of makeup.
Actually I should be honest with myself, it would take a lot more work than I
was willing to endure to put me into the league of these two women.

“Oh Trudie” Adele said holding out her arm towards me. I
gripped her hand and was surprised at the fragility that I felt in it.

“Are you alright, you poor thing. What you saw yesterday
must have been so traumatic for you.”

“I’m fine” I said squeezing her hand.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Elliot interrupted. “The
police aren’t telling us anything other than Eric was found dead with Adele.”

Miranda interrupted. “Surely this can wait until later,
Adele has already been through so much, the last thing she needs is to hear
about this.”

Adele smiled at Miranda and patted her on the hand.

“I know you are trying to protect me Randi, but I need to
know what happened. The last thing I remember is going to bed, my bed, two
nights ago. Next thing I know, I wake up here and they’re telling me that Eric
is dead. I need to know what happened.”

“I can’t tell you much” I said cautiously, desperately
trying to work out what I could tell her. Adele was my client but I did not
want to do anything which could compromise Griffin’s investigation. “I arrived
yesterday morning, the house was quiet so I went looking for you. I found you
both in Eric’s room, in bed together. There was blood on his side of the bed. I
checked that you were breathing and then called for an ambulance. The police
got there almost immediately and the ambulance was right behind them. After
that I got taken to the police station. I was kept there for a while but I
couldn’t tell them anything more than that.”

“So you didn’t see anything else, a car leaving, anyone
strange around the property?” Elliot asked.

“I’m sorry, there was nothing unusual except for the house
being quiet.”

“I’m so glad that whoever did this wasn’t still there when
you walked in” Adele said quietly squeezing my hand once again.

“I just wish you hadn’t been there” said Miranda, tears in
her eyes as she put an arm around Adele.

Elliot walked over and squeezed his wife’s shoulder. Looking
at them I remembered what Adele had told me about her lawyer and his wife. The
three of them had known each other for years, along with Adele’s first husband.
They had gone through school together and always been a tight knit group. Adele
had told me that she wouldn’t have made it through the death of her first
husband without their support. It looked like they were going to need to
support her through the death of another husband.

Adele gave a small smile. “I need to talk to Trudie about
some things. Could we have a few moments?”

Elliot and Miranda nodded and after both of them gave Adele
a kiss on the cheek they left the room.

“Sit down here Trudie” Adele said patting the bed.

“What did you want to talk about” I asked as I sat down.

“I’m going to be expected to organize the funeral for Eric”
she said. I though the way she phrased that was interesting. “I need you to do
that. I can’t deal with any of this. I won’t deal with it. Can you take care of
it?”

“Of course I can” I said soothingly. “I need details on
Eric’s family so that I can coordinate with them.”

“Eric never talked about his family but before we got
married I had a private investigator look into his background. By the time the
investigation started I had gone to Vegas with Eric and married him. By that
point I didn’t want Eric to find out what I had done, so I paid the
investigator and told him to get rid of the file. He might still have some
information.”

“Do you have a name for me?” I asked, wanting desperately to
know how she could be so stupid as to have Eric investigated and not do
anything about it. Within the first few minutes of meeting the guy, every
instinct in me had started blaring that there was something suspicious about
him. It was too late to do anything about it now, we just had to deal with the
fallout. Or rather, I was having to deal with the fallout. So far in my life I
had never had to organize a funeral for a person. I had to organize a funeral
for a pet pig for one of my clients once, I was hoping that some of the same
concepts would apply.

“He’s the one that BillieJo Freeman used before she got
divorced, do you know him?”

I shook my head. No I didn’t, but Monique would. That was
just the kind of information she would have. BillieJo Freeman had been the
glamorous wife of famous NFL quarterback Wayne Freeman. Everyone knew she was
on the way out, and they also knew that she had a punishing prenup that was
going to leave her with absolutely nothing. BillieJo hired some private
detective and in no time she got her divorce with a very healthy payout and a groveling
apology online from Wayne about how he did her wrong. Nobody knew what the
investigator had found on Wayne, and BillieJo wasn’t saying, but it must have
been bad. That investigator then became the go to man in LA for anyone wanting
to get the goods on a cheating spouse.

“I’ll take care of it” I said confidently.

“Thank you Trudie, you’re such a treasure” Adele said as she
lowered herself back on the bed and closed her eyes.

Recognizing a dismissal when I saw it, I murmured a quick
goodbye and walked out. Outside the room I found Elliot and Miranda Powell
waiting.

“Is she alright?” asked Miranda worriedly.

“I think she wants to sleep.” I said.

The two of them looked at me expectantly as if they wanted
me to tell them what she had talked about.

“Adele’s asked me to organize the funeral for Eric” I said
turning to Elliot. “Do you have any information regarding what sort of service
he would want or Adele would want? She hasn’t really given me anything to work
with.”

“We didn’t know Eric very well. Adele married him suddenly
and she kept him away from us as much as possible” Elliot said.

I nodded understandingly. When you make a mistake, the last
thing you want to do is flaunt that mistake in front of the people closest to
you, and Adele’s mistake had been huge.

Walking into Monique’s office I realized that maybe I should
have called ahead and given her a heads up about what had happened to my latest
client. I was surprised to find my friend Edwin sitting at the reception desk
of Monique’s office. He was talking on the phone and actually put a finger up
to stop me from saying anything.

“I know you really need someone but unfortunately we don’t
have anyone available at this moment. I will put you on the list but I can’t
promise anything.” Edwin winced.

“They hung up on you didn’t they?” I said as he put down the
phone.

“They did” he said, his very proper English accent sounding
out of place.

“What are you doing working here?” I asked him.

“Need the money” he said, “and Monique loves the way I sound
on the phone.” He grimaced.

Monique was right, Edwin had a divine voice for the phone. A
proper English accent but a deep voice that women found intoxicating. He was an
aspiring actor and had moved to LA looking for his big break. He had
everything, the movie star good looks, the beautiful voice and the soulful eyes
that just screamed out that he needed to be in one of those romantic movies.
The only problem was, the man could not act to save his life. I had seen him in
a play in some very out of the way theater. It was almost painful to watch.
Modeling he could do, and had done to support himself, but it just wasn’t
enough for him. He wanted to be something more than a model and had decided
acting was for him. In the meantime Edwin took on jobs to supplement his
income. He had met Monique when she was at my place once and she sometimes offered
him work when it was available.

“How do you deal with these people all the time Trudie?” he
asked. “They are rude and demanding and I just couldn’t do your job.”

“You’re too pretty to do my job” I said. “You’d have women
climbing all over you in no time.”

Edwin blushed. That right there was why he was wrong for the
movie and modeling business. The man still blushed when somebody complimented
him.

“Is she in?” I asked.

“Yes she is and she looks free at the moment, I’ll buzz you
in.”

Walking into Monique’s office I could see Monique getting
off the phone from Edwin and greeting me with that smile of hers. Monique’s
office reflected her perfectly, elegant without being overdone. I had met
Monique Petit during a particularly trying job as a nanny in London. She had
been impressed by the way that I dealt with an unusual and stressful situation,
and had recruited me for her agency. When I first met Monique I had been
impressed with the way that she held herself when she walked into the room. A
tall beautiful dark skinned woman she commanded attention everywhere she went.
Monique is who I want to be when I finally get around to growing up. She never
lets anything stop her. She is the ultimate slash person. That is
model/actress/businesswoman/real estate mogul. Monique has never let anything
get in her way and has created her own little empire. The agency I work for is
only one part of her kingdom.

“How are things going with Adele and Eric?” she said as I
sat down.

I looked startled, sure she would have heard. Usually her
information is impeccable.

“Eric was murdered yesterday morning” I said slowly.

“I hadn’t heard” Monique said, “I flew in from France
yesterday so I’ve been a bit out of the loop. What happened?”

“I’m not sure” I replied. “I walked into their house
yesterday morning when I got to work and found both Adele and Eric in bed. Eric
was dead and Adele was passed out. I called the police and spent most of
yesterday dealing with that. I should have called you but I kind of got caught
up with it all.”

“Do you need Reggie?” Monique asked.

Reggie Goodman is Monique’s husband and one of the best
lawyers in LA. I have used Reggie during previous encounters with the LAPD.
Reggie is almost the physical opposite to Monique but the two of them are
devoted to one another.

“I think I’ve got it under control. I haven’t been
threatened with arrest or deportation yet, so I’m doing better than usual” I
replied wryly.

Monique nodded smiling.

“One thing though, Adele has asked me to organize the
funeral for Eric. It’s a little out of my comfort zone so I’m not really sure
who to contact.”

Monique pulled out a card and passed it to me. “This is
Tomas, he organizes funeral events, memorials, all those kinds of things. Whatever
you need he will be able to do it.”

Holding the card I mulled over the fact that I had never in
my life realized that anyone other than a funeral director organized funerals.
Sometimes it hit me how far away I was from home and this was one of those
moments.

“Also, I need to know the name of the private investigator
in the BillieJo Freeman divorce case.”

“Why would you need to know that?” Monique asked curiously.

“Adele used him to get information on Eric when she first
started seeing him, but ended up doing the quickie Vegas wedding thing before
the investigation was finished. She never ended up getting the file, because
she felt that it was a betrayal of her wedding vows to look into his
background. Now though she wants to let his family know and invite them to the
funeral.”

Monique just looked at me.

“Yes I know” I said, “bad decisions all round in that
situation.”

“Well if she used the same investigator as BillieJo, that
would be Travis Cooper.” Monique quickly looked at her computer and wrote down
some details on a piece of paper. “He’s very good at his job, I’ve never needed
to use him but I know Reggie has in some of his cases. It does take a bit to
see him. From what I understand he is very busy and has a waiting list a mile
long. It could take you a while to get an appointment.”

“I need to get in pretty much immediately” I said.

“I’ll call Reggie and see what he can do” Monique said,
smiling gently.