Betrayal (20 page)

“Yes, he was,” Brigitte said with a disapproving look. “I was very upset about it, and I should have told her, but I was afraid to screw up their romance if I exposed him.” Jim nodded as though he understood completely and admired her for her silence.

“I gather he had a romance with you too,” Jim said, and Brigitte looked as though she were about to fall off the couch.

“Not really,” she said, recovering quickly, “not at all. What we had was a blackmail situation. He got me drunk one night, and I ended up in bed with him, he forced me to have sex with him, and from then on he blackmailed me, and said that if I didn’t continue sleeping with him, he’d tell Tallie we had an affair. I did it to save our friendship and my job.”

“That’s a nasty position to be in,” he said sympathetically. “It must have been rough for you.”

“It was.”

“How long did that go on?”

“Three years,” she said with a martyred look.

“Why did it stop?”

“He got involved with someone else.”

“That must have been a relief for you,” Jim said, and took another sip of water as Brigitte watched him.

“It was. Does Tallie know about this?” Brigitte tried to look relaxed as she asked. “I never told her.”

“No,” he said conspiratorially, “I got it from another source, but I assumed I could discuss it with you.”

“Of course. Actually, it’s a relief not to have to keep it a secret. I would never tell Tallie, though. I think it would break her heart.”

“It probably would. She seems pretty upset about the other girl, the one he left her for, Angela Morissey, the one who’s pregnant.”

“It was a rotten thing for him to do to Tallie.”

“Do you know who told her?”

“I did. I thought she should know. It came out when she asked about the money. I finally had to tell her about that too. Hunt got away with it for four years. And she’s such a good person, she doesn’t deserve it,” Brigitte said with her bright blue eyes. “We’ve been friends now for seventeen years, ever since we went to film school together.”

“I think she started out as an actress, didn’t she?” Jim asked with interest. He looked fascinated by every word she said. And as
always,
Jack sat in a chair nearby, looking bored and half asleep, but he was listening too.

“Yes, she was in a big movie, as a supporting actress. She was very good. She hated it, though. All she ever wanted to do was direct after that. She had some offers, but acting was never her thing. She made an indie movie and the rest is history.”

“What about you?” Jim asked, and Brigitte laughed, showing rows of perfect white teeth. She had a fabulous smile, and he had to admit she was pretty enough to be an actress; she just wasn’t quite as distinctive looking as her boss. “Were you ever in movies? You should have been.”

“A few minor ones. I kind of went to film school for fun. I was never really interested in making movies, like Tallie. I did some modeling when I was in college, and then I helped Tallie make her first movie, and I had more fun working with her after that. I never had the kind of drive about it that she did.” She implied without saying it that she didn’t need to. “And let’s face it,” she said modestly, “I don’t have her talent.” At least she gave her that, Jim thought. “She’s going to be one of the legendary filmmakers of our time. I’m sure she’s going to win an Oscar one of these days. She deserves it. And she doesn’t need Hunt to make her career. She’s done it all on her own.” Brigitte sounded proud of her longtime friend, and they exchanged a smile.

“What do you think Hunt did with her money that he was taking from you?” He went back to that again, and Brigitte shrugged.

“I have no idea, spend it on other women, maybe.”

“He doesn’t seem to need the money,” Jim said practically.

“Who knows? That’s like all the Beverly Hills housewives who get arrested for shoplifting. Some people just get a thrill out of stealing other people’s stuff.”

“Did he ever give you anything, expensive gifts when you were involved with him?”

“We weren’t
involved
,” Brigitte corrected him. “I was being blackmailed.”

“Well, did he ever give you anything?”

She shrugged again. “Some nice dinners, a couple of weekends at good hotels. We went to Hawaii once, and to New York a couple of times, when Tallie was on location without me.” Jim didn’t comment.

“Was he generous with Tallie … Ms. Jones …?”

“He paid some of the bills, maid, utilities, groceries, a few things they bought for the house together.”

“And then he’d steal her money to pay for it? What a sleazy trick,” Jim said innocently, and Brigitte didn’t comment. She had said enough. “Did she ever cheat on him?”

“Not that I know of. She’s not that kind of woman. She’s really a very quiet person, and a straight shooter.”
In contrast to her assistant
, Jim wanted to add but didn’t. He didn’t like this woman, but nothing he was thinking about her showed. He had led her down the garden path very nicely, to all the places he had wanted to visit along the way. She was reveling in the attention, and what appeared to be their common interests and shared points of view about life. Jim had made interrogation an art.

“Can you think of anyone else who might be taking cash from Tallie?” Jim asked with a thoughtful look.

“Victor Carson maybe. He’s kind of a fusty old guy, and he has an expensive-looking younger wife.”

“Yeah, that’ll do it.” Jim laughed at her comment. “We’ve already spoken to him and Hunter Lloyd.” She looked surprised when he said that, and then he flattered her, and she looked pleased. He implied that he was flirting with her, and she clearly liked that too. “We saved the best for last.”

“It all stopped anyway when he left, didn’t it?” she asked with a flirtatious smile.

“It appears that way. But if it’s someone else doing it, or several people, it’ll start up again. Be sure to let us know if that happens. Right away.”

“Absolutely. I had no idea he was taking as much as he did. He took it in relatively small amounts, and it slipped right through my fingers. I never really kept track.”

“And Ms. Jones never pays her own bills or checks her accounts?”

“She doesn’t have time, especially when she’s on location, or even in town.”

“She doesn’t sign her own checks, does she?”

“No, she doesn’t,” Brigitte said primly.

“Does she ever look at her bank statements?”

“She never has. That’s why she has me. I keep it all in good order, and then send it all to Victor Carson.”

“That’s a lot for you to keep track of too,” Jim said sympathetically.

“I love doing whatever I can to help her. We’ve had a wonderful time together for all these years.”

“She told me how much she counts on you. She said she has complete and total faith in you,” he assured Brigitte, and she looked pleased. “She’s lucky to have you,” he complimented her again.

“I’m just as lucky to have her,” Brigitte said as Jim stood up, and Jack appeared to wake up and followed them from the living room back to the main hallway.

“Thanks for the tour of the house,” he said warmly. “It really was a treat. Great house you have here, and you’ve done a terrific job. You can always become a decorator if the director’s assistant market dries up,” he said with a warm smile.

“I hope it never will,” she said happily, and opened the front door.

They were gone a minute later, and Brigitte bounded up the stairs to the bedroom and took off her clothes. Tommy was coming by that night, and she wanted to get ready before he did. The FBI had taken forever, they had been there for two hours. The questions were all run-of-the-mill, but she thought it had gone well. She hoped it was the last of it, especially since there had been no outflow of Tallie’s cash since Hunt had left. There was nothing further to pursue. The mystery had been solved. And the FBI could go back to whatever else they did.

She slipped into a perfumed bath then, just as her cell phone rang. It was Tommy, telling her he would be late, but he promised to be there in an hour.

“Perfect. That’s all the time I need to get ready for you,” she said with a sultry smile that would have melted steel. He could sense her good humor even over the phone. He could hardly wait to get
there.
Their nights together were fantastic, and he was going to Mexico with her over the hiatus. To the Palmilla in Cabo San Lucas, one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. She had invited him. She was quite a woman, and he had never had so much fun or wild sex in his life.

“So what do you think?” Jack asked Jim as they drove down the hill after their visit to Brigitte. The whole setup was impressive, and she was a beautiful woman in a gorgeous house. Jack couldn’t figure out why she needed to steal and lie. She had everything going for her, and a fabulous life.

“You know what I think,” Jim said quietly with a serious expression. He particularly liked the part where she had been taken by force and blackmailed for three years thereafter by Hunter Lloyd, which had included expensive dinners, fancy hotels, and vacations. It didn’t sound like a hardship for Brigitte to go along with it.

“Are you ready to go to one of the deputies on this?” Jack asked him. “We’ve been doing interviews for weeks.” They had interviewed Tallie’s maid and gardener too, who had testified that Hunt had always given them tips and was a very generous man. They had interviewed Brigitte’s employees too, who said they never saw her, but commented on the variety of young men who went in and out of the place. When they showed them a photograph of Hunt, none of them had ever seen him at the house, but the employees of the Chateau Marmont and the Sunset Marquis had, and
remembered
them well. They had been regular guests for several years, and always seemed to be having a great time. They drank a lot of champagne, ordered room service, and never left the room. And sometimes they spent the night. It was clear they were both enjoying themselves and their stays at the hotels had been frequent and regular.

“I want to wait for the report from San Francisco,” Jim said seriously. “It’s coming in tomorrow. Let’s see what that says first.”

“Probably nothing earth-shattering,” Jack said.

“I want to go to the stores of the designers she wears too, and some jewelers. Tallie gave me some names, although she didn’t think we’d come up with anything. Everything she wears is a gift, given to her by designers and stores so she will get Tallie to wear their things.” He had been meaning to do it for weeks, but he’d been too busy. They had other cases to deal with, some of them more pressing than this. “After that, we’re through. I’m ready to make a recommendation. All we have right now is circumstantial evidence and our instincts. But it’s the best we can do. That and the fact that the victim lost close to a million dollars in cash in the past three years. That ought to do it.”

Jim was itching to make an arrest, and he knew that Tallie wanted that too. She had also been waiting for Jim to tell her that she could fire Brigitte, and it was getting more and more difficult to have her around. And Jim felt that she could do that now. They almost had enough, and it was probably all they would get. He had seen Brigitte’s bank accounts, obtained through the bank with a confidential agreement, which precluded them from telling her
that
they had released her accounts to the FBI, and she had made many large deposits in the last few years, always in cash. And the money had gone out as fast as it went in. There was no way to tell what she had done with it. But what he hoped was that, confronted with the accusation and an arrest, she would cave, confess, and agree to make a guilty plea. It would be the cleanest scenario for them all, and he was sure she wouldn’t want the embarrassment and expense of going to trial, although she looked as though she could afford it. She made a hefty salary, and there was a fair amount of money in her bank accounts.

Jim dropped Jack off at the FBI office and went home. Bobby was there, eating a pizza and watching TV with a couple of friends.

“No homework?” Jim asked, raising an eyebrow.

“All done.” Making sure the boys did their homework had been Jeannie’s department, but for five years now it had been his. Breakfast, dinner, homework, laundry, housekeeping, Little League, carpool, getting the boys to all their sports games, field trips, taking care of them when they were sick, going to doctors, back-to-school clothes and supplies, teachers’ conferences, decorating the house and tree at Christmas, Christmas cards, taking their black Lab to the vet. He was a one-man band, and there were times when he missed her so much it nearly killed him. Not for what she did, but for who she was. He had loved her since high school. He had loved her for twenty-seven years, and he still couldn’t believe she was gone. It still took his breath away sometimes.

The boys had their feet on the coffee table, watching TV, still in
their
sports clothes, and were laughing loudly. The pizza box had just fallen on the carpet facedown, and they had open Coke cans on the table that were about to spill, and often had before.

“Hey, you guys!” Jim reminded them. “Could we not destroy the house, please?”

“Sorry, Dad,” Bobby said with a penitent look, and then they began shoving each other and rough-housing on the couch. It was hopeless, but he loved having them around. He rolled his eyes and went upstairs to work on his computer. He was thinking about Brigitte Parker’s house when he did, with all its glamour and glory. It was so different from the house where he had seen Tallie Jones, which was so much warmer and more real. But there was no denying that Brigitte’s home was beautiful. And he knew how much she made. Tallie paid her a whopping salary every year, with perks, benefits, bonuses, and numerous gifts. And she had still slept with Tallie’s boyfriend. That had to hurt. No wonder Tallie had looked so ravaged the first time he met her, it had been the night after she saw Meg, and why she wanted to fire Brigitte now, whether or not she had been stealing money from her. The betrayal had been just too much to forgive. And Brigitte still thought she didn’t know. Tallie had played her part well. Brigitte was right. Tallie was a damn good actress as well as director.