Not Suspicious in Hollywood: Not in Hollywood Book 5

by Leonie Gant

  “Ladies, could you please look up.”

  We all looked up at the ceiling to see holes with pen marks around them.

  “See those holes up there. That is what happens when rule number three is not obeyed. You point the muzzle of the gun too low and accidentally shoot the floor. I am now going to introduce you to a concept called ricochet. A bullet hits the ground and it can bounce anywhere. The best case in this situation is that you add to my collection of holes in the ceiling. Worst case scenario is that you hit one of your group or, more importantly, me. That is not going to happen so I want you to remember rule number three like it was printed on your brain.” Billy glared at us all meaningfully. “Rule number four is that you never have your finger on the trigger until the moment you mean to shoot the gun. You are not in a war zone where reflexes are important and every second counts. You can take your sweet time with aiming and squeezing off each shot. I do not want to see fingers on triggers until the moment you take your shot.”

  After a cursory look over our group Billy chose me to begin the demonstration. I doubted it was because he could see my inherent sharp shooting abilities. I think it was more to do with the fact that I looked to be the calmest person in this part of the range. He placed the handgun on the counter in front of me and I gently picked it up. I wrapped my hand around the grip. It felt surprisingly more comfortable than I had thought it was going to.

  “Now, I need you to point the gun at the target and line it up,” he said from behind me.

  I brought the gun up and did my best to aim it. I could feel my arm shaking a little. Whether it was from the unfamiliar weight of the gun or from nerves, I wasn’t sure.

  “When you feel that you’ve got it aimed, squeeze the trigger.”

  I took in a quick breath, held it and fired the gun. I felt the recoil up my arm and took a small step back.

  “Not bad,” said Billy as he retrieved the target.

  It wasn’t great either. At least I hadn’t missed the target completely but you could tell that there was very little chance of me winning any sharp shooting competitions in the near future.

  “It was a fine first effort,” Miss Betsy praised, her enthusiasm a little over the top considering the actual placement of the bullet.

  “Absolutely,” said Crystal.

  “Sure it was,” Billy said, slightly less enthusiastically.

  Before long Billy had us all lined up and was yelling encouragement. Megan and Sally seemed to be even more unsure about using the guns than I was. At least I was hitting the target on a reasonably regular basis.

  Crystal and Miss Betsy were putting us all to shame and I could see Billy nodding appreciatively. I looked over at Roxy’s target. For a woman claiming never to have used a gun, she seemed to be doing pretty well.

  After a while I stepped back and grabbed a drink of water. I had to admit that when we had first arrived, I had doubted the wisdom of this exercise. Putting Roxy and her seemingly reluctant future stepdaughters in a gun range seemed to be what I would call a recipe for disaster but I could now see the wisdom behind it. Crystal and Miss Betsy had placed themselves between Megan and Sally, and Roxy, minimizing their contact and the potential for conflict. I swallowed some water as Billy collected my target.

  “Not bad,” he said grudgingly in what I’m assuming was him trying to be generous to a paying customer.

  He passed over the target and I had a chance to look at it myself. ‘Not bad’ seemed to be the most accurate description. It wasn’t particularly good either but it wasn’t as if I was looking at taking it up competitively.

  The door to the range opened and I looked over. I was surprised to see that Ramos had entered the gun range. Her features tightened when she spotted me, before deliberately turning and taking her place at one of the lanes.

  Miss Betsy came up and stood beside me. “Isn’t that your boyfriend’s partner?”

  I nodded.

  “She doesn’t look like she is too happy with you.”

  That was a bit of an understatement.

  “Her girlfriend was murdered a couple of days ago at the place where I’m currently working.”

  “And she is blaming you for it somehow, isn’t she?” Miss Betsy asked shrewdly.

  “Yeah.”

  Miss Betsy looked over at Ramos again. “Whatever happened, you have to know that it wasn’t your fault.”

  I hugged Miss Betsy impulsively. I loved her sense of loyalty. She had no knowledge of any of the facts regarding Jolena’s death but she was still completely sure that I was not involved in any way at all.

  “It doesn’t matter what I know or what I think. She’s grieving and I understand that. Griffin’s helping her as much as possible and he’s told me that she has a lot of good people around her. The best thing is for me to stay out of her way.”

  Miss Betsy looked thoughtful. “Maybe she just needs something to distract her for a little while.”

  I had a bad feeling that I knew where this was heading. Miss Betsy straightened her shoulders and walked over to Ramos.

  Crystal came up behind me. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know,” I said slowly, “but I have a feeling that our little party is about to expand.”

  “God, I hope so,” muttered Crystal. “This has got to be one of the most uncomfortable bachelorette parties I have ever been to. It looks like John’s daughters hate Roxy.”

  That was patently obvious although considering how Ramos felt about me, I didn’t know whether her addition to the group was going to help the dynamics.

  Crystal lowered her voice. “I think they’re going to try to stop the wedding.”

  I wasn’t surprised. Those two women had that determined look in their eyes. They were ready to protect their father from whatever supposedly stupid move he was about to make. I wasn’t saying that they were wrong. Roxy would definitely not be my first choice of life partner for my father. But the man was an adult, fully capable of making his own decisions. That’s the thing about family though. They sometimes get so caught up in protecting those they love that they forget they can’t bulldoze their way over other people’s decisions without some fallout happening.

  Miss Betsy finished her conversation with Ramos and came over to where Crystal and I were standing.

  “She’s coming with us to the club,” she said triumphantly.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “What club?” Crystal asked suspiciously.

  Miss Betsy’s eyes twinkled. That should have been my first clue.

  “She’s grieving at a gun range. That is not right and it is not healthy.”

  I wasn’t really sure how dragging Ramos to a club could be considered healthy either.

  “And in answer to your question, Crystal, we are going to a club that I go to with my gardening group for some drinks after being in here. Just to finish off the day.”

  Considering we were already in quite possibly the most miserable bachelorette party ever, how much worse could it get?

  Chapter Nineteen

  I had to revisit that question as we stood in the very out of the way club that Miss Betsy had brought us to. Megan, Sally and Ramos had identical expressions on their faces. None of them wanted to be here and they were making that very obvious to everyone around them.

  “Miss Betsy,” the bartender called out her name, waving us through.

  Miss Betsy smiled and acknowledged several greetings from staff and patrons. Why did it not surprise me that the bar where everyone knew Miss Betsy’s name was one which had shirtless male waiters?

  “I’m not sure if this is such a good idea,” Crystal whispered in my ear.

  “I think we lost the choice when you asked Miss Betsy to organize this.”

  “Lesson learned,” murmured Crystal.

  “Bit late for Roxy though,” I said. “She wanted a bonding experience with her new stepdaughters. I heard miserable circumstances can bring people closer together.”

  W
e looked at the four women who were now seated around a table, studiously ignoring each other and us.

  “I don’t think that’s going to work tonight,” Crystal said.

  I hoped Miss Betsy wasn’t feeling too badly about the way the day was panning out. I don’t think she could have come up with anything that these women would have been happy with. They seemed determined not to enjoy themselves. I looked over to see Miss Betsy flirting outrageously with one of the waiters. Seemed she was okay with it.

  For the next hour I counted the minutes until the world’s worst bachelorette party could finish. I kept glancing in Ramos’s direction. After I did that for the hundredth time, she sighed heavily.

  “What, Trudie?”

  “I just want to make sure you’re okay,” I said quietly.

  “I’m stuck here trying to think of a polite way to extricate myself without hurting your friend’s feelings, but other than that I’m fine.”

  I was surprised. I had assumed that Ramos wouldn’t care that much about hurting Miss Betsy’s feelings. Obviously Miss Betsy had endeared herself more to Ramos in a five minute conversation than I had managed to do in the year we had known each other.

  Miss Betsy came over to the group. “Well, ladies, anyone interested in skydiving?”

  That was one way to bring a bad bachelorette party to a screeching halt. Megan and Sally almost broke a speed record giving their excuses. Roxy smiled apologetically and followed the two women out of the club.

  “How about you three?” Miss Betsy asked with a slightly fiendish look in her eyes.

  “No,” chorused Crystal and I. Unlike Ramos we had no compunction about saying no to Miss Betsy. We had known her too long and been involved in too many of her schemes to blindly follow her lead.

  “I think I’m going home,” announced Ramos.

  “Maybe next time, dear,” Miss Betsy said gently and I could actually see the steel exterior that Ramos presented to the world melt at the compassion in Miss Betsy’s eyes.

  “I’ll think about it,” she said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been skydiving.”

  I wasn’t surprised Ramos had already tackled the whole jumping out of an airplane thing. In direct contrast, the thought of doing it terrified me so much that I felt sick.

  As we walked out of the bar, I noticed that Ramos had stopped and was rummaging through her bag.

  “Do you need a ride home?” I asked her.

  She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I need to go back in anyway. I think I left my phone at the bar. I must have taken it out when I was paying for a drink.”

  “I can help you look for it if you like.”

  “No, Trudie,” she said firmly. “I’ll be fine. I had it earlier so I know I only just put it down.”

  “Okay,” I said awkwardly. What exactly did you say to someone who blamed you for wrecking their life?

  Ramos sighed. “I’m fine, Trudie. Really. I just need some space to get my head back in the game.”

  I nodded sharply. “I’ll see you later.”

  I walked over to where Miss Betsy was waiting for me. My eye was caught by a car that looked slightly familiar in the darkened corner of the parking lot.

  Miss Betsy looked over to me. “Do you recognize that car?”

  I should have known that she would be the one to pick up on my concerns.

  “I think I remember seeing it at the gun range,” I said thoughtfully.

  “And now it’s sitting outside a bar which isn’t overly well known. It seems to be a bit of a coincidence, doesn’t it?”

  I nodded, glancing back to where Crystal had cornered Ramos who looked as if she was desperately trying to make her getaway.

  “Is there a reason for any of us to be followed?” Miss Betsy lowered her voice as her brow furrowed.

  “I have no idea,” I replied.

  “One way to find out.”

  I watched in horrified shock as Miss Betsy strode purposefully over to the car. The engine started up and the car sped off down the street. But not before I caught a glimpse of Marty Fletchall behind the wheel.

  Miss Betsy stood resolutely in the middle of the parking lot, studying the fleeing car.

  “Did you see him?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “Any idea who it was.”

  “He’s a cop who is working the murder of Ramos’s girlfriend.”

  “Do they think that poor, sweet girl had something to do with her girlfriend’s death?”

  I nodded. “There is a slight possibility that they are following up on.”

  Miss Betsy sighed. “People are so dumb sometimes. Anyone could tell that she would never do anything like that.”

  Miss Betsy had obviously decided to include Ramos in her circle of protectees.

  “I’ll talk to Griffin about it when I get home tonight. He might be able to follow up and see what the hell is going on.”

  I was beginning to feel annoyed and protective on Ramos’s behalf. An emotion I was sure that she would be keen to discourage.

  Crystal, having finally released Ramos from her social torture, walked up to us. “I’ve missed something, haven’t I?”

  “We don’t know,” said Miss Betsy. “Maybe. We need to check with Griffin first.”

  “Like that doesn’t sound ominous,” said Crystal.

  The ride home was quiet as the three of us were lost in our thoughts.

  Miss Betsy broke the silence. “Well, that was a truly unpleasant day.”

  “That it was,” I agreed.

  “It wasn’t anything you did,” Crystal was quick to assure her. “I didn’t realize the level of animosity towards my mother from John’s family.”

  Miss Betsy shrugged. “I’m not worried about it, sugar. Some people are just determined to be miserable. Wouldn’t want to be in the groom’s shoes at the moment though. I think they will be having some serious words before the wedding.”

  “You want to come and see the fireworks?” asked Crystal.

  “Isn’t it a little late for an invitation?” asked Miss Betsy.

  “Unfortunately, it seems that a large proportion of the groom’s side has decided to boycott the wedding. There are seats available for the show. You can bring one of the guys from the club as a date if you like.”

  I hated to hear the defeat in Crystal’s voice.

  “What’s going on?” I asked gently.

  Crystal turned to me. “I shouldn’t care how this wedding goes. Roxy has completely ignored me my entire life and I’m caring about the fact that some guy’s family is assuming that the ten time married ex-showgirl is a bad bet in the marriage stakes. I want to defend her even though I know that it is pretty much an impossible task. Why do I want to do that?”

  “Because, despite many reasons not to be, you are a good, forgiving person.”

  Crystal slumped back in her seat. “That’s just great.”

  Chapter Twenty

  When I walked into my apartment I found Griffin in the living room.

  He turned off the television. “You’re home a lot earlier than I was expecting.”

  “It wasn’t really the raucous night that most bachelorette parties are. We were a bit concerned that the stepdaughters-to-be would do some serious damage to Roxy if we kept it going until everyone got too drunk and started saying what they really thought about the situation.

  “That good, huh?” Griffin said with a grimace as I sat next to him on the couch.

  “I think they are just being protective of their dad. Roxy doesn’t exactly inspire confidence when it comes to marital devotion. I’m guessing there have been many family discussions between those two women and their father regarding his choice of bride.”

  “But other than that, it was good?”

  I frowned thoughtfully. “Good might be overstating it. Tense and uncomfortable might be more accurate. And it didn’t improve when Ramos joined us at the gun range.”

  “You were at a gun range?” I could see Griffin smi
ling.

  “Yes, I was.”

  “How did you do?”

  “We established that shooting a handgun is not one of my talents but, fortunately, I will always have my winning personality to fall back on,” I said dryly.

  Griffin laughed.

  “And after the gun range we went to the bar where Miss Betsy goes with her gardening club.”

  Griffin quirked an eyebrow. “I know how you work, Trudie. You said it that way because you are hoping that I will get the impression that it was a tame night out but you forget that I know Miss Betsy. Exactly what kind of bar was it?”

  Foiled again.

  “There were no strippers as such,” I said in a rush.

  “Oh, because that’s a great way to explain a situation.”

  “It was just a bar where the waiters were shirtless. There was no touching or grinding or anything that could possibly be construed as inappropriate.”

  “Oh, well, that’s good to know,” Griffin said with just a touch less sarcasm than I was expecting. “Wait a minute. Are you saying that Ramos joined you?”

  I nodded.

  “Why on Earth would Ramos join Roxy’s bachelorette party?”

  “Miss Betsy saw her at the gun range and felt that wasn’t a healthy way to deal with her grief.”

  “I agree with her there but I wouldn’t have thought that joining you lot would have been a much better way to deal with her grief,” Griffin said.

  “Quite possibly true,” I agreed. “But Miss Betsy was pretty determined and you know how that usually goes.”

  Ramos probably never stood a chance.

  “How was she?” Griffin asked quietly.

  “Surly, pissed off with the world.”

  “So, normal?”

  “Pretty much,” I agreed.

  “Did she enjoy herself at all?”

  I shook my head. “But in all fairness, I don’t think anyone really enjoyed themselves today. I’m not really sure how the wedding is going to be tomorrow, or whether it even goes ahead. John’s daughters really do not want him marrying Roxy.”

  “Guess we’ll see tomorrow,” Griffin said thoughtfully.

  We sat quietly for a moment.

  “Can you give me a good reason for Detective Fletchall sitting outside both the gun range and the club we went to?”