“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Kent offered. “That provision was in Craig’s contract, and he used it to hire Chaz and me.”
“You mean his drug dealer was on the payroll?” I asked.
“I would suggest that you go in a different direction with it, but yeah, he was,” Kent admitted. “Craig had the studio pay him, and then he paid us. Actually, the studio insisted on it when he hired Chaz.”
“Good call,” Ms. Dixon said sarcastically.
“I still have to do her background check and everything else before we can hire Lexi,” Caryn stated.
“You might be a cat lover,” I told Lexi.
“Hey, I thought you loved Bandit,” Halle complained.
“No, I love you. Bandit’s just okay.”
“Don’t believe him. He treated that cat better than he did his kids,” Mom observed.
“I think my juvie record is sealed, so I should be good to go,” Lexi said, not missing a beat, then added, “And I like cats.”
She then turned and looked directly at me, her face expressionless. I just gave her the Dawson stare back, but saw my mom’s amusement out of the corner of my eye. It was clear Lexi really wanted this job, and she seemed to be able to hold her own with this crowd.
“I could probably use her now,” Kent said. “She could be David’s PA when he’s in LA for his J-drama, and then when he travels this summer and next fall. In the meantime, she has at least one connection we could use.”
“My dad,” Lexi guessed.
“Would you be uncomfortable if we asked you to get us meetings with him?” Kent asked.
“As long as you don’t expect any special treatment because of me. Me being his daughter will only get you so far.”
“Before we get too far into this, Lexi and I need to talk,” Caryn said.
“I understand you wanting to be my PA; we talked about that at the party, and I agreed. Why are you here today?” I asked.
“Halle invited me,” Lexi explained.
“Lexi saw the accident, and we talked at the scene. She called me earlier with some additional information I think everyone needs to know,” Halle said.
We took a break, and everyone got drinks from the sideboard to give Caryn and Brook a chance to have a serious discussion with Lexi. I wasn’t sure why Brook was involved, but I decided I would just let them work it out.
When we started again, I looked over at Brook, and she gave me a simple, guileless nod.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s move on.”
With that out of the way, Flo took the lead.
“Last night, at a party, Halle and Brook were forced into a bedroom by Zander Lewis. For those of you who don’t know him, he was costarring in the film Love Letters with Halle James. He got his start in the TV series Gossip Girls.”
I rolled my eyes because that meant about as much to me as telling me someone was in that vampire or werewolf show. Flo continued.
“David hit his alarm when he noticed that the girls were missing.”
“Good job on that,” Fritz interrupted.
Halle squeezed my hand in agreement.
“We located them and were able to secure their release,” Flo said.
I could see my mom’s eyes narrow. The mother bear in her sensed that Flo hadn’t shared everything.
“When we were ready to leave the party,” Flo continued, “David suggested that there might be video surveillance on the bedroom Zander had used. It turned out that there were cameras.”
Jackpot!
“I’ll need copies when you get a chance,” I said with a straight face.
“Ow!”
Brook had slugged my injured arm. Bitch! Note to self: It’s okay to think it. Never, ever, say it out loud.
“What were you just thinking?” Mom asked.
I’d forgotten that she had Tami’s ability to do that Jedi mind thing. She smirked when she read what I thought about her unhelpful question.
“Portions of the video have been released to the police,” Flo said, with emphasis on ‘portions.’
“Do we need to block them from wanting the entire video?” Ms. Dixon guessed.
“There was more on it than what happened last night. If the contents got out, it would cause problems,” Flo said with certainty.
Now I really wanted to see the video. Fritz gave me a look that said I had a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening. That meant I did have a chance, though, right?
Flo turned the meeting over to Fritz to describe the accident.
“We’d just left Zak Verwood’s home and were driving towards the main gate. From a side road to the right, a Lincoln Navigator attempted to hit us broadside in what I believe was an attempt to disable our car. At the last moment, I swerved, which, unfortunately, put the front passenger seat in a position where it took the brunt of the impact. David was rendered unconscious.
“I was able to extract the other passengers from the vehicle, and they seemed to be uninjured. During that process, I instructed Wolf Tams to call 911 for David, as I assessed he was in no further immediate danger of attack. I then approached the SUV and found the front passenger door and one of the back doors open. In the driver’s seat, I found one of Zander Lewis’s security people who’d been with him at the party,” Fritz said.
I frowned because it sounded like Fritz was testifying. I wondered if he and Flo had worked together to get their stories straight. Fritz had a background in this type of stuff. I guessed he had just reverted to what he’d done in the past.
Fritz continued, “I was able to talk to the driver, and he admitted that Zander had ordered him to ram our car. His primary target was Halle James, who had upset him by thwarting the passes he’d been making at her. He thought it would be a bonus to catch Brook Davis, because Brook had disabled him during the confrontation at Zak Verwood’s house, and he wanted payback.”
More like Halle and Brook had given him a major beatdown.
“I’ve been in contact with the police since the accident,” Flo said.
“Lexi, you said you witnessed some things. How do you fit into all this?” I asked, trying to solve further the mystery of why she was here.
“I left the party shortly after you did, and saw the SUV hit your van, as well as Zander and his security running from the accident. Afterward, I talked to Halle, and she shared why she thought he did it. I also talked to my dad about Zander without mentioning David or Halle. Dad told me he knows of at least three prior cases of girls who have been with him against their will,” Lexi explained.
I felt myself get mad. I wondered what it would take for the good-old-boys club of Hollywood to come tumbling down. Lexi’s dad was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. How many of these types of incidents did he know about and not do anything? Was he directly involved in any of them?
“If he had done something about it, my son might not have been almost killed,” Mom said as her eyes bored into Lexi.
To Lexi’s credit, she didn’t even flinch.
“He’s well aware of that, and some news has already gotten to him about the incident, but it didn’t come from me. He knows I’ve started working for David, and when I asked, he gave me the girls’ names. I gave them to the police,” Lexi responded.
My mom didn’t look away, but she gave Lexi a slight nod.
“The police found cocaine in the back seat of the SUV. The driver told them that it was Zander’s,” Flo said.
“Have they caught him?” Dad asked.
“They found him and the other security person early this afternoon,” Fritz said.
“We need to get busy,” Frank said.
◊◊◊
Chapter 22 – Seize the Day Sunday October 9
We took a short break before the key players gathered back together. Kent scored big points in my book when he had food brought in. Brook made me a plate, and I caught my mom’s eye. Mom shook her head because I don’t think she thought of Brook as being so domestic, for lack of a better word. Brook had kept a close eye on me ever since I’d been hurt. It was a side of her I hadn’t seen before.