“Thank you,” I said.
“I hope you don’t expect this treatment all the time,” Brook teased.
“Good Lord, no, we’ll have people for that,” I shot back.
“While I’m sure we could, I hope not.”
“I agree,” I said, getting serious. “I’m just happy you weren’t hurt.”
“It scared me when they hauled you off in the ambulance. Don’t ever do that again.”
“If you knew how much this hurt, you’d know that that will never be something I’ll try again if I can help it.”
I considered asking her about her conversation with Lexi, but decided not to rock the boat. They seemed to be good with each other, and it might be better if I remained ignorant of the details right now.
Our conversation ended when the meeting started up again. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but Bev Mass started things off.
“You need to make a decision. You have a short time before the police knock on your door and lock down all your evidence. They’ll take the videos and want to keep them under wraps until the trial. They don’t want this tried in the court of public opinion, nor do they want the videos leaked to taint possible jurors. As an officer of the court, I would strongly recommend you let the police handle it.”
Bev paused to let that sink in.
“Let’s talk reality. If Zander’s smart, he’ll get a bulldog of an attorney who will do everything he or she can to make sure those videos never see the light of day. I can already hear him spouting off to a judge that the chain of custody was broken when Flo gathered the video evidence at Zak Verwood’s home. Then we have Halle and David’s security people handling dashcam, bodycam, and any other video evidence that was taken at the crash site. There is a strong possibility that, with the right judge, all that evidence will be tossed. Zander’s goal will be to turn this into a he said/she said argument.”
Bev stopped and looked around the room. I didn’t want this idiot walking or getting off lightly. He’d threatened two women I cared deeply about, and I couldn’t even get myself to the bathroom without my dad’s help.
“I’m going to remove myself from the room at this point,” Bev said. “I shouldn’t be in the room when you make your decision. No matter which way you’re leaning, I just wanted to point out that you have a short window in which to decide. I’m sure you all know what I would do.”
I knew exactly what she would do. This was the woman who kept prodding me about how I’d obtained the police reports that ended up linking all the rapes to Brandon. She was very much by-the-book. I appreciated that she’d basically advised us that if we decided to take this into our hands and release it, we needed to do it quick! We watched her pack up her things and leave the conference room.
“She’s right,” Frank said. “You need to decide if you want to get out in front of this thing or let the police handle it. There’s a risk that Halle and David could face some backlash. It could also spill over onto Rita. Hollywood doesn’t look kindly on people exposing the ugly side of the business. For example, I expect David dodged a bullet this past summer when Kimberly Fillmore didn’t come forward with her allegations against Laurent Vance.”
The whole Cuban thing had been a mess. Laurent had sent Kimberly to my room to spend time with me. When I found out, it was too late; we’d already slept together. I’d encouraged her to come forward and even had Saul contact the studio about it. Kimberly had decided she didn’t want to risk never working again and had simply left the film. Laurent’s accident pretty much made the whole issue moot. In a way, that might have been a blessing in disguise for everybody, including Laurent.
“Zander is well-connected,” Saul shared. “But I think there’s enough that’s happened that we don’t have to worry about studio executives working behind the scenes to either protect him or do you harm. My best guess is that he’s gone far enough off the reservation for them to shun him.”
“What do you think?” I asked Brook and Halle.
“If it were up to me, I’d go scorched-earth on his ass,” Lexi chimed in.
Everyone seemed surprised by her response. She looked around the table, and I saw in her the same steel I’d seen when my mom confronted her.
“I know how my dad’s brain works, and believe me, he thinks the same way most top execs do,” Lexi said. “Hollywood is all about doing favors or having leverage on your competition. Someday, you will need to call in your markers or use whatever dirt you may possess to get something done. Zander has something on someone if he has survived three sexual harassment situations and has come out on top,” she explained.
“You’re saying they’ll defend him again?” Brook asked.
“Only if you give them a choice. If you make him radioactive, they’ll run from him. Get as much information out there as you can and make it overwhelming,” Lexi suggested.
“I agree with her,” Rita said. “I think the police side of this is secondary.”
“What about my movie?” Halle asked.
“The short answer is that at a minimum they’ll have to recast Zander’s role. I’ll make sure of that,” Saul said. “Worst-case scenario would be them shutting down production and the movie not get made.”
I saw my friend absorb that possibility. It took her a moment to respond.
“I say we take him down,” Halle finally said, and then turned to me. “You’re okay with that?”
“Absolutely,” I agreed.
“Then, we need to get working. I’m going to need you to stay for an extra day so we can hold a press conference,” Frank told me.
“Whatever it takes,” I agreed.
Then I couldn’t help getting an enormous grin on my face.
“After all, for once, it’s not as if Coach Hope can have a cow about me missing practice, right?”
Somehow, even with all the pain, I felt lighter.
◊◊◊
Brook, my mom, and my dad were flying home tonight. Before they left, I wanted to talk to Brook about this weekend, both the sexy stuff and her interest in my business. While we did that, Mom and Dad stayed in the conference room to talk to Caryn, Kent, Frank, Saul, and Jack and Bev Mass.
Halle and her mom left after saying goodbye. I would see Halle tomorrow at whatever Frank set up with the press. Lexi was excited about her new job. Caryn gave Lexi a job application and arranged to meet with her this week while Caryn was in town.
“How are you feeling?” Brook asked when we were finally alone.
“Like I was in a car accident. I actually understand what that means now,” I complained.
“Poor baby. Want me to kiss your boo-boo and make it all better?”
I had several inappropriate suggestions for my girlfriend, but decided I still wanted her to be my girlfriend.
“Talk to me about what happened with you, Cindy, and Halle,” I said to keep myself out of trouble.
Brook’s smile left her face. Apparently, she either heard something in my voice, or I gave something away with my face. While I wanted Brook to be happy, I had concerns that Cindy might have forced the issue as far as girl-on-girl action was concerned. There was a current pop song playing on the radio with a line that talked about wrecking the singer’s reputation. Cindy was the girl that would do that for you.
It wasn’t that I was mad about what had happened. When I left the girls alone together, I had a good idea of what was about to occur. I just wanted to touch base with Brook and make sure she was okay with it. I knew that she and Halle had experimented with it when I was with them. At the time, Brook was tentative but seemed to have fun once things heated up.