Not Suspicious in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 5

by Leonie Gant

  I stayed silent, concentrating on the floor in front of me.

  “I know Jolena had her problems but this shouldn’t have happened to her.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

  “That doesn’t help me,” said Ramos.

  “I know.”

  “They said you tried to save her.”

  I nodded.

  Ramos turned and walked out of my apartment. I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

  I didn’t quite know what to do next. I was concerned about Ramos. She was calm, like she always was, but it seemed to be a thin veneer. I wondered where Griffin was. I had thought that he would be with Ramos today.

  There was a knock at my door. I opened it, half expecting Ramos to have come back.

  “Detective Fletchall, what are you doing here?” I asked, surprised to see the police officer at my front door.

  Fletchall smiled. “I was in the neighborhood and had a couple of questions for you if that is okay. If you want to check with your lawyer first I can wait.”

  I smiled. “No, that’s fine. I really don’t think I have anything to add to what I’ve already given you, but if you want to come in, you’re welcome.”

  I stepped back as the detective walked into the apartment.

  “Would you like a coffee?”

  Fletchall smiled. “That would be great. It’s been a bit of a rough day. You can probably imagine.”

  I could. I had seen the effects on Griffin in the first days after he caught a case. It was a mad scramble for clues before the trail grew cold.

  “Grab a seat.” I indicated a chair at the dining table and started making a coffee for him

  “So what did you need to ask me?”

  Fletchall cleared his throat. “The word we are getting from the guys in the band is that Jolena was only at the mansion that one time when she was thrown out. Is that true?”

  I nodded. “As far as I know it is. I don’t remember seeing her there any other time. We have had quite a few people through at some of these parties but I would have thought that I would notice Jolena. She had something about her that stood out.”

  Fletchall nodded as I passed him a coffee. “She sure did. Thanks for that.” He raised the coffee to take a sip. “That’s really good, exactly what I needed. You say that you saw her at the barbecue. Do you think that she recognized you?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. She didn’t give any indication that she did. I felt a little uncomfortable about the situation so I went to speak to Dana Pickett, your partner’s wife.”

  “I don’t think I met her,” Fletchall said as he started writing things in his notebook.

  “Well, Dana and I talked for a while and then Griffin and I left.”

  “Did you tell Griffin about Jolena?”

  I nodded. “When we got home that night I told him.”

  “Do you know if he told Ramos about it?”

  “I don’t think he told her until after Jolena died. Everything happened so fast that morning, I don’t think he got a chance.”

  I heard the front door to the apartment open. I looked up and was surprised to see Griffin walking into the room. Griffin stopped at the sight of Fletchall and me sitting at the dining table.

  “What’s happening here?” he growled.

  I smiled up at him. “Detective Fletchall just wanted to have a chat about the case,” I said.

  Griffin did not return my smile, instead glaring at Fletchall.

  “How’s Ramos?” I asked, more to cut through the tension that seemed to have enter the room along with Griffin.

  “She’s getting through it,” Griffin replied and then stared at Fletchall meaningfully. “I am sure she is hoping that the case gets solved quickly so that she can start making sense of the whole thing.”

  Obviously getting the hint, Fletchall stood up. “Thanks for the coffee, Trudie. And for the talk. Griffin’s a lucky man. Not many girlfriends would be so understanding of the amount of time he spends with Liza.”

  I almost groaned. I could see Griffin bristle. The last thing I needed was for Griffin to get in an argument with one of his coworkers. I don’t know why cops seemed to always feel the need to score points off each other. I blamed the long hours and the lack of sleep.

  Fletchall made his way past Griffin, the cocky grin on his face seemed to be almost daring Griffin to take a swing. When the door closed behind Fletchall, Griffin glowered at me.

  “What was he doing here?” he barked.

  “Please tell me you are not angry with me because the detective in charge of the case of the body that I found yesterday came to talk to me,” I said with a measure of serenity that I didn’t necessarily feel.

  I watched as Griffin took in a breath and I could see him striving to reach a level of calm that wouldn’t provoke either of us to fly off the handle.

  “I hardly think that it’s appropriate for him to visit you at your home and have a coffee with you.”

  I could feel my jaw drop. “What are you talking about? You did it all the time when you were investigating cases. I couldn’t get rid of you. Everywhere I turned you seemed to be there.”

  “That was different,” Griffin said defensively.

  “How was it different?”

  “It just was. Anyway, he’s supposed to be looking for Jolena’s murderer, not chatting you up.”

  “He was not chatting me up. He just had a couple more questions for me and he was in the neighborhood. Wait a minute, did you say that Jolena was murdered?” I queried.

  Griffin nodded. “Looks like she was strangled before she went into the water.”

  “Ramos knows?”

  Griffin nodded.

  “She came here.”

  “What do you mean she came here?”

  “Ramos came to see me.”

  Griffin sat heavily on the couch. “Why on Earth would she do that?”

  “I don’t think she’s coping as well as we’re all expecting her to.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She wanted to know how long I’d known about Jolena cheating. She wanted details.”

  “Oh hell.” Griffin leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes. “Anything else I need to know?”

  “No, not really.”

  Griffin opened his eyes. “What else, Trudie? I know there was something else. You really can’t lie worth a damn, can you?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said, feeling uncomfortable.

  “Sweetheart, tell me.”

  I sat down next to him and curled into his side. “She blames me for what happened to Jolena. She said that there is death all around me and it was only a matter of time before someone close to me got caught up in it.”

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Griffin said as he put an arm around me. “She’s hurting. She got hit with the double whammy. First, Jolena gets killed and then she finds out that she was cheating on her. It’s only natural that she’s going to lash out at someone. You being the one to find Jolena and the fact you knew about the cheating makes you the most convenient target.”

  I nodded against his chest.

  “Please tell me that you are not taking what she said seriously.”

  I sighed heavily. “She’s right. Everywhere I turn I seem to trip over a body.”

  Griffin stroked his hand down my arm. “Yeah, but you also help the people who are affected by the death. In most cases you are precisely the right person to deal with the situation. Maybe there’s a reason for you being the one to find these bodies.”

  I looked up and arched an eyebrow at him. “Do you actually believe that or are you just trying to make me feel better?”

  Griffin smiled sheepishly. “Maybe a little of both.”

  I brushed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, you are very sweet to me sometimes.”

  “I’m sweet to you all the time.”

  I grinned. “Do you still have a copy of that file you made up to have me charged with assault that time
I accidentally elbowed you in the eye?”

  Griffin nodded.

  “Then that means you’re only sweet some of the time. That file was supposed to be destroyed.”

  Griffin laughed. “It’s a memento, a fond memory of when we first met.”

  I pulled away from him and stood up. “If you think that’s a fond memory, you have got some serious issues, my friend. Anyway, what are you doing home so early? Didn’t you just go to work a few hours ago?”

  “I’ve been suspended,” Griffin said abruptly.

  I dropped back onto the couch and I’m sure my mouth was wide open.

  “What happened?”

  “They’re investigating Ramos for her girlfriend’s murder and I may have told my lieutenant how much of an idiot he was.”

  “And they suspended you for that?” I asked.

  Griffin rolled his eyes. “Okay, I wasn’t suspended so much as told I had to take leave that I had accrued. I’m not to show my face in the precinct until Lieutenant Ellis has taken my photo down from the dart board in the break room.”

  “Okay,” I said slowly. “How long do they think that will be?”

  “Not sure. Usually Ramos pulls it down at some point, when she gets annoyed with seeing it up there. But she’s suspended as well so it could take a while.”

  “How often does it end up there?” I asked.

  Griffin gave me a sheepish grin, along with his most innocent look. “Pretty regularly.”

  “You really need to work on being more friendly with people,” I sighed, knowing I was fighting a losing battle.

  He put an arm around my shoulders. “Why? The people I care about are fine with the way I am. I’m not really bothered by what anyone else says. You put up with me. Why should I care about everybody else?”

  “But you’re overlooking the fact that I have an amazing ability to accept some of your less endearing qualities,” I said. “And even then, there are some days when you stretch even my almost limitless patience.”

  “And that’s what makes you special,” Griffin grinned as he stood up.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “I’m going to call Ramos, see if she needs anything,” Griffin said as he pulled out his phone.

  “Good idea,” I replied.

  As he walked away my phone started ringing and I checked the screen.

  “Hi, Monique.”

  “Ma petite, how are you today?”

  “I’m fine, Monique. What’s the problem?”

  “Why do you think there’s a problem?”

  “Just a feeling.”

  Monique was quiet for a moment. “I can’t get anyone to do security with you.”

  “Nobody?” I was dumbfounded. “You are telling me that none of your big, strong and, to most other people, dangerous security guys are willing to work with me.” Jorge had been only too pleased to enlighten me to the fact that I had an unusual reputation at the agency, but I hadn’t expected such a blanket refusal.

  “Did they give any reasons?” I asked.

  “I got lots of reasons,” Monique said waspishly. “I’m just not sure that I believe many of them.”

  Monique sounded annoyed. That did not bode well. This was a woman who was calm in the face of everything. At worst I had seen her slightly perturbed. I had never known her to be actually annoyed before.

  “I believe I may need to do some further recruitment.”

  A part of me wanted to laugh. “I think the only way that is going to work is if the current security staff aren’t allowed to speak to the new recruits. My understanding is that my reputation is pretty well known.”

  “Don’t worry, ma petite. I will find someone who is not afraid of gossip and innuendo. My Reggie has offered to do it if we cannot find anyone else.”

  That was sweet. Unfortunately Reggie was about half the size of Jorge. Despite the fact the man was lethal in the courtroom, I wasn’t sure if he would be quite as effective in the security field.

  “I don’t want you to worry about it, Monique. I am sure that Jorge and I can handle anything that happens.”

  “I worry about you, Trudie,” Monique said softly.

  “I know. Everybody seems to worry about me but I’m okay.” I hated that Monique was so concerned for me. “Jorge would never let me get hurt. If something happens to me he loses half the stories that he tells Linda.”

  Jorge’s wife, Linda, was a US Marine who was deployed overseas. I had been made aware that Jorge kept her entertained with stories of my antics. I was pretty confident that having a front row seat to those stories was the main reason he was so willing to work with me.

  “Be careful, ma petite.”

  “I always try to be,” I said quietly.

  “I know,” she sighed.

  After hanging up I turned and found Griffin watching me with a concerned look on his face.

  “Problems?” he asked.

  I put a smile on my face. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “You sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.” I could tell he was worried so I tried changing the subject. “How’s Ramos?”

  Griffin looked pained. “She doesn’t sound like she’s doing so great.”

  He looked lost as if he didn’t know how to fix this for her. The fact he cared so much reminded me why I loved him.

  “Do you want to go see how she’s doing?” I asked.

  “I can stay here with you if you have a problem.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t have a problem. Monique’s having a little bit of fun with staffing at the moment but she’ll work it out. She always does.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  I nodded. “At this moment Ramos needs you far more than I do. I know she’s hurting.”

  Griffin pulled me into his arms and kissed me on the top of the head. “You’re amazing, you know that? Fletchall’s a jerk but he was right about that.”

  I looked up and kissed him softly. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

  He nodded and reluctantly let me go. “Shouldn’t be too late.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The apartment was quiet without Griffin in it. I was becoming used to having his presence dominating the small space. A knock on the door interrupted my silence. Opening it, I found Crystal and Edwin with pizza boxes.

  “We were wondering whether you would like dinner with us.”

  I eyed off the pizza. “I can see you put effort into it.”

  “Are you going to criticize or do you want food?” Crystal queried. “At least we’re trying. We could have just turned up and expected you to feed us.”

  That was true, it had happened often enough in the past.

  Once settled at the table I turned to Crystal. “How was your day with your mom?”

  Crystal surprised me by smiling. “It went really well. I met John.”

  “What’s he like?” I asked.

  “Picture the man that you would have expected my mom to pick based on the last thirty years of her life,” Crystal said.

  “Okay.”

  “Now imagine somebody who is the complete opposite of that image. That is John.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really. Wait here a minute.”

  I watched as Crystal raced out of my apartment.

  I looked over at Edwin who was devouring far more pizza than you would expect for a man who prided himself on his toned physique.

  “She seems excited.”

  Edwin nodded, looking slightly worried. “She is. I’m kind of a little surprised. Considering what she’d told me about her mother, I figured she had given up on a normal mother-daughter relationship. It looks like it was something that she really wanted. I’m trying to keep an eye on things. I’m just worried that there is something else behind this. Considering the stories that Crystal has told me, I’m having a little trouble believing that the woman has made that much of a change in her life. Crystal’s dad is a bit concerned as well.”

&n
bsp; “How’s he coping with the whole thing?”

  “You know George. Whatever makes his little girl happy is fine with him. I can tell he’s a little worried though.” Edwin looked around surreptitiously. “He’s having Roxy and John investigated. So far they haven’t found anything but George doesn’t want to be taken by surprise. Crystal doesn’t know.”

  That was not good. “Crystal is going to lose it if she finds out that her father is going behind her back.”

  “That is why no one is going to tell her about it.”

  “Why did you tell me then? I don’t want to be keeping anything from her.”

  “Because he told me and I’m feeling guilty that I haven’t told her so I need someone else to share in that guilt.” Edwin did look torn.

  “Well, thanks for that,” I grumbled.

  Crystal walked back into the apartment with her phone.

  “I got some photos today of John and his family. Seems I’m going to be getting a stepbrother and two stepsisters.”

  She passed the phone to me and I started scrolling through the photos. John and his family looked surprisingly normal.

  “So, John lives in LA?” I asked.

  Crystal nodded as she dug into a slice of pizza. “He met Roxy on a holiday in Vegas a few months ago. Seems they’ve been pretty inseparable since then. Love at first sight from what they’ve been telling me.”

  “Is your mom going to be moving here or will John move to Vegas?”

  “Roxy is going to be moving here. She said that her husband and daughter live here so it is obviously the place that she should be.”

  I glanced at Edwin and I could see that my concern was reflected in his eyes as well. Crystal seemed to be embracing the change in her mother a lot more eagerly than either of us was expecting.

  “You’re taking things slowly, aren’t you?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t going to upset her.

  Crystal stopped eating and stared at me. “Of course I’m taking it slowly.” Her gaze softened as she looked between Edwin and me, taking in our concerned expressions. “I’m not an idiot,” she said softly. “I know the kind of woman Roxy is, I’m not going into this blindly. I’ll be careful but it’s kind of nice to have a bit of a normal family for a change.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I’m just worried about you. You know me. I’m not fully comfortable with life unless I’m worrying about somebody.”