“You’re probably better off not knowing.”
“You’re probably right, but I need to know. This is my life we’re talking about here,” I said.
I flipped through the script some more.
“Are you just going to sit here and read the script all through dinner?”
“Sorry. I’m just really unsettled.”
“I understand that. I’ll tell you what, though. Why don’t you take the script with you and read it when you get back to your room?”
“Wait. I can take this script with me?”
“Sure. It’s all yours.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. I’ll just have one of the production assistants print me out another copy.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Trust me, it’s no problem. It’s your life story, after all.”
“Well, I thought it was. I’m not so sure about that now.”
“Sabrina, can I give you some advice?”
“Of course.”
“Hollywood operates by its own set of rules. Just keep that in mind when you’re reading the script.”
“That’s a pretty ominous warning.”
“It’s just the truth. The sooner you understand that, the easier it will be for you.”
“Sounds like a car chase and a standoff aren’t all I have to worry about,” I said.
“You’ll find that out when you read the entire script. In the meantime, how often do you find yourself eating at a celebrity-filled restaurant with an actress footing the bill?”
“Never. Until now.”
“Exactly. So why don’t you sit back and enjoy this experience?”
I nodded. “That’s a good call.” I put the script in my purse.
I spent the rest of the meal talking with Hope and having some good laughs.
A few hours later, I arrived back at my hotel and went over the script line-by-line.
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, I had the limo driver take me directly to the studio. I wanted to have a few words with William Richman.
Unfortunately, as I entered his office, the waiting room was completely empty.
I wondered where Richman’s receptionist, Audrey, was.
When I heard to the sound of a female and male voice coming from Richman’s office, I approached the doorway.
That was when I spotted Audrey and William inside the office giving each other sensual looks.
They were so wrapped up in flirting with each other that they didn’t even notice me in the doorway.
After a few seconds of standing quietly, I made my presence known. “Mr. Richman,” I said.
William and Audrey both turned to me with shock in their eyes.
“Mrs. Carlson, I wasn’t expecting you,” William said.
“I know. But something has come up that I want to talk to you about,” I said.
“Can it wait?” he asked.
I shook my head. “It’s urgent.”
He sighed. “All right. In that case, come on in and take a seat.” He looked at Audrey. “Will you please excuse us?”
“Absolutely, Sir,” Audrey replied.
Audrey left the office and closed the door behind her.
William leaned back in his chair. “So, what’s the big emergency?”
“I read the script,” I said.
A big grin came to his face. “Look. I appreciate you coming in to tell me how great the script is, but that doesn’t exactly constitute an emergency.”
“I think there has been a big misunderstanding. I didn’t come here because I think the script is great.”
He gave me a blank stare. “Why are you here then?”
“Because I have some major problems with it.”
William squinted. “Wait. You didn’t like it?”
“That’s putting it lightly.”
He looked at me like I had two heads. “I don’t understand. This script is a surefire winner. I have no doubt in my mind that this show is going to be a huge hit.”
“You’re probably right—”
He cut me off. “Then what do you have to complain about?”
“It’s just that this show was supposed to tell my life story and there are a number of things in this script that didn’t actually happen in my life.”
“Such as?”
“The car chase, the standoff at gunpoint—”
“You mean, the best parts?” he replied.
“That’s your opinion,” I said.
“You’re the first person I have spoken to who doesn’t agree.”
“Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but since this is supposed to be my life story, I think mine should count for more.”
“Let me just stop you there. You keep getting caught up on this whole ‘life story’ angle.”
I threw out my arms. “Well yeah, why wouldn’t I? Which leads to another one of my complaints—”
He interrupted me again. “You seem to be missing one key thing here. Sure this series is based on your life story, but in the end, it’s a work of fiction, not a documentary. In order to tell the most compelling story possible, some creative liberties have to be taken.”
“Some? I’d say too many. I mean, pushing the car chase and standoff aside for a second, there are all kinds of other changes. How about the name of the character based on me, for example? For some reason, her name is Victoria Sassy.”
“That one is simple. I just thought it had a better ring to it. Especially since we’re going to call the show Sassy Sleuth.”
I grimaced. “That’s another thing I have a problem with.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I understand all your concerns. But like I said, I’m trying to tell the most compelling story possible.”
“So you’re not going to change any of this?”
He shook his head.
My forehead wrinkled. “Wait. But this isn’t right. You should tell my story how it actually happened. You can’t just rewrite history.”
He laughed. “Sure I can. This is Hollywood. I can do whatever I want.”
I winced. “I just figured you’d rather be accurate—”
“No. I want to make money. Lots and lots of it. And the way to do that is to tell the most entertaining story possible.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “No, this isn’t right. It’s my life story we’re talking about here.”
“Technically, it’s Victoria Sassy’s life we’re talking about.”
“I can’t believe you’re not willing to listen to reason.”
“Mrs. Carlson, there is a distinction you don’t seem to be getting. I bought up the rights to your life. Now that I have those, I can do anything I want with them. And I’m going to do what’s best for my bank account.”
“This is crazy.”
“No. This is Hollywood. If you didn’t like it, you shouldn’t have sold me the rights to your life.”
“I didn’t know you were going to do this.”
“That’s not my problem. A contract is a contract. Besides, as I remember, you were compensated quite generously.”
“This isn’t about money,” I said.
He scoffed. “Everything is about money. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to running my television empire. After all, my new yacht isn’t going to pay for itself.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but he got his words out first.
He gave me an icy stare. “We’re done here. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
It was like talking to a brick wall. No matter what I said, I knew I couldn’t break through. So instead of wasting anymore of my time, I reluctantly turned around and made my way toward the exit.
As I walked out of Richman’s office, I saw Audrey turn around at her desk and look back at William. “Mr. Richman. Your wife on line one.”
“Thanks, Audrey,” William said.
Chapter Fourteen
I needed some fresh air. When I left Richman’s of
fice, I decided to take a walk. Half an hour later, I found myself on the studio back lot staring down a set modeled to look like a New York City street. It was hard to explain how surreal of an experience it was to be a small town Northern California woman on vacation in Los Angeles looking at a spot-on replica of a Manhattan street.
I took a seat on the steps of one of the brownstone apartments and stared out into the distance.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t keep my frustration at bay. I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs, but at a studio like this, that would no doubt draw the attention of half a dozen security guards. Instead, I silently grumbled to myself.
The events of the day had me so rattled that I didn’t even notice Hope Hadley walking toward me.
“You look like you could use a cupcake,” Hope said.
My eyebrows rose. “I certainly wouldn’t turn one down. Are you offering?”
“Absolutely. But first, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?”
“I didn’t realize my emotions were so transparent. Was it really that obvious that I need sweets?”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be to anyone else, but I know a dessert craving when I see one.”
I laughed. “They really did find the perfect actress to play me, didn’t they?”
“I’d like to think so,” Hope said. “Now, tell me what’s going on. Is Hollywood getting you down?”
“It certainly isn’t putting me in a cheery mood.” I let out a sigh. “You know, when I first got here, I wondered why everyone seemed to be so disillusioned, but I’m starting to understand why people walk around with jaded looks on their faces.”
“I’m afraid that Hollywood isn’t all glitz and glamor.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Oh, the stories I could tell you,” Hope said.
“Like what?” I asked.
“I’ll spare you the details.”
“Fair enough. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to reopen old wounds.”
“I’ll just say this. You’re not alone. A few years ago, I went on so many failed auditions that I started to wonder if I’d ever get to taste success.”
“Wow,” I said. “And now look at you.”
“Exactly. But this isn’t about me. It’s about you,” Hope said.
“No. It’s about the script.”
“Let me guess, Richman wasn’t very receptive to the notes you had.”
My eyes widened. “That’s putting it lightly. He looked like he’d rather get a root canal than listen to anything that I had to say.”
“I wish I could tell you that surprises me, but it doesn’t.”
I threw out my arms. “I thought he would welcome my opinion.”
“I’m sorry he didn’t.”
“So am I.” I groaned. “It’s just crazy to think that I don’t even get a say in how my own life story is told.”
“Unfortunately, Hollywood operates by its own set of rules.”
“It’s a shame that no one bothered to give me a rulebook going into this.”
“You have to learn them as you go. For example, the producer always gets the last word. And sometimes, the producer gets the only word.”
“That’s a lousy rule.”
“I agree. The problem is, you and I aren’t the ones making up the rules.”
“You can say that again.”
“I wish I could change things. But all I can really do is say this—even though Richman made some changes, your life story is still going to be told. Not everyone can say a TV show is being made about their life,” Hope said.
“True,” I said.
“And let me tell you, I’m going to do my best to make sure it’s a really good show.”
“I know you will. Thank you for that.”
“You’re welcome. Now why don’t we go get that cupcake? I know where to get some delicious ones,” Hope said.
I got up from the stoop and began walking with Hope.
Unfortunately, we didn’t end up getting very far.
As we reached the end of the row of brownstone façades, a Security Guard went running by us holding a walkie-talkie.
While he streaked by, I heard a male voice speaking over the walkie-talkie. I was only able to make out one sentence, but what I heard was chilling.
“A dead body has been found at Richman-Terwilliger Productions.”
Chapter Fifteen
Hope and I followed the security guard. When we reached the front of Richman-Terwilliger Productions, we saw that a group of security guards had clustered in front of the building. By the looks of it, every guard that worked at the studio was there. And they were not welcoming to onlookers.
One thing was abundantly clear. Unlike back home, where I had David to escort me to the scene of a crime, I was completely on my own here. Not to mention, completely out of luck. There was no way these guards were going to let me set foot inside the building.
The same went for Hope. Apparently, her celebrity status could only take her so far, because the guards prevented her from getting anywhere near the front door. All we could do was stand around and gawk like the other onlookers that had started congregating in front of the building.
While I craned my neck, I also tried to get some information out of one of the security guards, but he gave me nothing to work with. He also remained tightlipped with Hope as well. It was maddening, but neither of us were able to get a single detail out of the security guard.
A few minutes later, a number of Los Angeles Police Department squad cars rushed to the scene. In short time, the entire area became a zoo of police activity. A perimeter was set up, yellow police tape cordoned off the area, and my level of frustration grew.
I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know what was going on. Being kept in the dark was both an unfamiliar situation for me, and an uncomfortable one. I didn’t know what happened, but I was determined to find out.
***
It took almost an hour, but the first nugget of information finally trickled out.
I saw a member of the forensics team carry an evidence bag out of the building. Inside the bag was a bloodstained award statuette.
A shiver went down my spine.
I recognized that statuette. I had seen it on William Richman’s desk earlier.
A number of other questions rushed into my mind. Whose blood was on the statuette? Was it William’s? Had the statuette been used as a murder weapon? Or was I wrong on all accounts?
When I spotted Audrey Hill exiting the building a few minutes later, I knew she represented my best chance of getting answers.
Audrey scuttled toward her car with her head down.
I left the crowd and tailed her.
Hope saw me move toward Audrey and decided to join me.
Before Audrey reached her car, I caught up with her in the parking lot.
“Audrey,” I said.
Audrey reluctantly turned around. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she looked at me. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”
“What happened in there?” I asked.
Audrey’s face was completely pale. “Trust me. You don’t want to know.”
I grimaced. “Is it that bad?”
“It’s the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” Audrey said.
I stared at her with sympathetic eyes. “I am so sorry to hear that.”
Audrey grabbed her car keys from her purse. “Look. I really want to get as far away from here as possible.”
“I understand.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think you do.”
“Have you forgotten who you are talking to?” I said. “Trust me. I have seen things that would scare the daylights out of most people.”
“Okay, so maybe you do know what I’m going through.”
I nodded. “Unfortunately.”
“Then you should know how much I want a cocktail right now.”
“I’ve been there, all right. And I’ll let you get one. But I just want to ask you
a few things first.”
Audrey winced. “Can we please do this some other time?”
“It may be hard for you to understand, but I think it’s important that we have this conversation now—”
She cut me off. “Hard? Try impossible. I mean, after what I just saw—”
“What exactly did you see?” I said.
Audrey’s forehead wrinkled. “Why are you so interested in what happened? If anything, you’re better off not knowing. I wish I could erase what I saw from my memory.”
“I know you don’t understand, but maybe if I know what happened, I can help,” I said.
Audrey threw out her arms. “William is dead. How can you possibly think that you can help?”
My eyebrows rose. “Wait a minute. So William is the victim, then?”
Audrey nodded.
Hope gasped. “I can’t believe it.”
“How do you think I feel? I’m the one who found his body,” Audrey said.
“I’m so sorry. That is truly awful,” I said.
“I can’t stop thinking about him. My mind keeps flashing to the sight of his lifeless body on the ground in his office. No matter what I do, I can’t make that image go away,” Audrey said.
“Alcohol will definitely help with that,” I said.
“Why do you think I’m so desperate for a cocktail?” Audrey said.
“Just a few more things before you go,” I said. “Can you explain the events leading up to you finding his body?”
“I was coming back from my break. When I walked into the office, I saw William on the ground,” Audrey said.
“Did you rush over to him?” I asked.
Audrey nodded. “Yeah, but he wasn’t breathing. There was a huge gash on his head.”
“Was the bloodstained award statuette beside him?” I said.
Audrey’s nose crinkled. “How did you know that?”
“I saw a member of the forensics team walking out of the building with it,” I said.
“Oh,” Audrey said.
“When you came back to the office from your break, was anyone else around?” I asked.
Cupcakes with a Side of Murder Page 4