“Caryn called me,” Dad said to change the topic. “She talked to the PR team, and it sounds like the studio is shutting down Halle’s movie for now. She said that the insurance company wouldn’t continue to cover them until an internal investigation is done. It seems that the director, producer, and several studio execs have to answer for not acting on Halle’s complaint.”
“What about Zander? Did he make bail?” I asked.
“He was charged with a violent felony and denied bail for now.”
That put a smile on my face.
◊◊◊
Talking to Dad had made me realize that I should call Halle and see how she was doing. She answered on the first ring.
“What did you do to Bandit?” she complained. I heard him meowing in the background.
“What’s his problem?”
“I have no idea. He goes to the sliding glass door and throws a fit. He never did that before.”
“No wonder he was such a wimp when he moved in with me,” I said, realizing that he’d only been inside when he was with Halle. “I did you a favor and toughened him up. Bandit wants to go outside.”
“He might get hurt or run away,” Halle worried.
“Bandit’s not stupid. He knows where his food and ear-scratches come from.”
I heard the door slide open.
“He seems to like it. He stopped complaining. Oh, my God, he is such a boy!” she then exclaimed.
“Why, what did he do?” I asked.
“I need to go save him. He took off running and fell in the pool. I’ll call you later,” Halle said and hung up on me.
I would have to talk to Fritz and see if he could get me the video footage of Bandit’s first adventure being free in Halle’s back yard.
While I waited for Halle to call back, I called Zak.
“If you didn’t call me today, Bec was going to make me call you tomorrow.”
All I could do was laugh at him. I never expected I would ever see the day that Zak Verwood would have a steady girlfriend who bossed him around. I would have bet he was destined to be a Hollywood playboy for the rest of his life. It went to show what a good woman could do.
“I wanted to thank you for throwing the party. Everyone said they had a good time.”
He wanted an update on how I was feeling—another question from his girlfriend.
“Is she there?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Put her on. Believe me when I tell you that you won’t ask all the right questions or get enough information.”
“I’m starting to figure that out. Let me put you on speakerphone so we won’t have to repeat anything,” Zak suggested.
Bec had all kinds of questions about what happened. She said the Zander incident was the talk of the town. She wanted all the details, but I played it off as if I had no idea what was going on. To be honest, I didn’t know, but I got the sense that Bec might be a bit of a gossip.
I was glad when Halle called back, and I was able to tell Zak and Bec that I had to take her call.
“How’s Bandit?” I asked.
“Wet and pissed-off. It looks like he’s had enough of the great outdoors for now. Last I saw him, he disappeared upstairs somewhere.”
“How’ve you been?” I asked.
“I’ve been hiding out at home. The paparazzi are camped out front as we speak. Frank suggested that we let things calm down some before I make my next appearance. He doesn’t want to compress the news cycle on this one. Frank says he wants this to play out over an extended period.”
“Why?”
I always felt if there were a scandal, you would want to get it over with as soon as possible. Then I stopped and thought about it for half a second. Halle’s movie still hung in the balance. She needed the leverage to keep them from sweeping everything under the rug and possibly pulling the plug on Love Letters.
“Don’t answer that. I have a good idea as to why Frank would want that,” I said.
“To hold him, the police had to charge Zander on Tuesday. They added to his charges today.”
“What’s the list?”
“They went nuts. There is a total of seventeen charges, ranging from assault and battery to attempted kidnapping to vehicular assault to drug charges. Bev Mass stopped by the house to talk to me and my mom. She said that the DA charged him with everything he could think of, on the theory that some of the charges would eventually be thrown out. The DA will also use all the charges in their negotiations with Zander’s lawyers. She said that when we started suing everyone in our civil suit, the criminal charges would help our case, even if they don’t stick.”
“You’re thinking about suing?”
“Yes, we are.”
It didn’t go unnoticed that somehow, I was involved in suing.
“Zander’s lawyers are pushing that Brook and I should be charged with battery for what we did at Zak’s. Bev said that we could be charged, but no jury would convict us.”
“Then again, you are in LA,” I said without thinking.
People from the Midwest, rightly or wrongly, viewed California as the bastion of the ‘Far Left’ where violence was frowned upon, even if it was to protect yourself. I still remember the gun salesman saying that terrorists had rights too when I suggested that during a terrorist attack, it would be okay to shoot them.
“Then again, I am Rita James’s daughter,” Halle shot back.
“I keep forgetting that’s your get-out-of-jail-free card,” I teased.
“You can be an ass sometimes,” Halle huffed.
“Oh, really?” I asked.
“Yeah, really. Every time you walked away from a conversation at the party, people were whispering, ‘What an ass,’” Halle shot back.
“Oh, My Gawd! I suddenly know what it feels like to be sexually harassed!”
“I don’t think that’s what they meant.”
“But I’ve been working out. Do you think my butt is still too big?” I simpered.
“Not that again. I’m trying to be serious here. Bev said it was a good thing that Brook left the state before the police saw the video. She really could have been charged.”
I would have to warn her. Bev Mass was a state’s attorney first and tried to ferret out every possible crime. When I’d been in the middle of the Brandon stuff, she’d had a hard time not going after me over how I’d gotten police records. The only mitigating factor was that DAs care about conviction rates. That didn’t mean that Brook and Halle might not be charged, though. I just doubted that it would ever see a courtroom.
“I’ll talk to her about it and make sure she takes the necessary precautions. More than anything, I think it’s just a way for them to try to intimidate you. Zander’s lawyers want you to back off and will do whatever they can to make that happen,” I warned.
“That’s what my mom said.”
“What about the movie? Are they going to recast it?” I asked.
“No word yet. It looks like the studio is dragging its feet to see how this all shakes out. Saul is pushing to get the movie moved to another studio. He doesn’t think they’ll ever finish it. Kent talked to Lexi, and she’s arranged a meeting with Paul Andon to see if his studio has any interest.”
“Sounds like they hired Lexi.”
“Yeah. She seems like a nice girl. She’s excited about being your PA,” Halle shared.
“When I first met her, I thought Lexi was a bully,” I admitted.
“Rumor has it something happened to her, and she’s changed. She no longer hangs out with her old crew. From what I’ve seen, Lexi’s a mystery. One moment she’s confident, and you can see she’s a force to reckon with, the next she seems hesitant.”
“Sounds like she’s just trying to find her way. I’m sure that working for the first time can be challenging,” I suggested.
“Maybe. I think there’s more to it than that, though.”