Not Wanted in Hollywood (19 page)

So Alistair wasn’t the narcissistic jerk who
thought making an exploitative feature on the lives of strippers
was a way to win his next award. He was a gullible idiot who was
obviously easily led.

“
They had
everything in place. The idea was to get as much of the club paid
off as quickly as they could and then kill him. Very clinical plan.
Hugh saw Hammy tell Brandi about the will on some of the camera
footage and plans had to be moved up a bit. The whole thing hinged
on Denise still inheriting the club. Brandi threw a major
complication into the works. Hugh was the one who actually killed
Hammy. We managed to clean up the
audio
file enough to get that information. Seems he tried to talk
Hammy out of changing the will first. Looks like Hugh was a bit
reluctant to actually kill his father, but he had his orders. If I
had to put money on it I would think that Amber was the mastermind
behind it. Denise seems to still be carrying a lot of guilt about
giving her kids up. Hugh has some resentment but he doesn’t have
the true anger required. He might have been the one who actually
killed Hammy, but Amber was the one who pushed the whole plan
forward. That woman is a seething mass of hate for her
father.”

I was no longer surprised.

Griffin cleared his throat. “I owe you an
apology.”

I stayed silent, waiting for him to
continue.

Griffin shook his head. “The things I said to
you about Travis were unfair and I should never have said
them.”

“
I don’t
understand why you would have said those things. I would never do
anything like that to you,” I said. “I need to understand where
that came from.”

I could see
Griffin swallow nervously. “I screwed up because I was scared. When
Travis and I were partners there was an incident. We were chasing
some kid who was hyped up on drugs. We got separated. When I found
Travis again the kid was dead. Coroner said that he died from a
blow to the head, consistent with hitting his head on the ground
after being struck. I was the one who had to notify the kid’s
parents. I had to look his mother in the face and tell her that her
son wasn’t ever coming home again. She was a wreck and I was pretty
raw when Internal Affairs interviewed me. They asked me if I could
have found another way to deal with the kid, in the state he was
in. At the time I thought there had to be a way that Travis could
have dealt with the situation, where this kid didn’t end up dead. I
should have told them that there wasn’t. I know that Travis would
have done everything to save that kid. I didn’t back him up and he
lost his career over it. I know they cleared him, but my not
backing him one hundred percent put a cloud over him that he
couldn’t live with and it’s why he’s no longer a cop. I know he
loved being a cop and I destroyed his career.”

Griffin’s
remorse was palpable. “Maybe you need to talk to him about it,” I
suggested. “It would probably help him a lot to know all
this.”

Griffin nodded. “I will. I think it’s time
for this to be dealt with.”

“I understand your guilt when it comes to
Travis, but how does that relate to me?” I asked.

Griffin smiled gently. “Because of me, Travis
lost the thing he loved the most, being a cop. I was afraid that
he’d found a way to get his revenge by taking away what I love the
most.”

I stopped breathing for a moment and Griffin
tilted my chin up so I was looking deep into those emerald green
eyes.

“
I love you
Trudie. You mean more to me than anything else in my life. The
thought of losing you absolutely terrifies me. I am so sorry for
what I said. I never, ever, for one instant really thought that you
would do anything like that, but I was scared. I couldn’t bear the
thought of losing you. I didn’t realize that I was actually pushing
you away. I am so sorry. I just can’t lose you.”

I blinked back the tears that were welling in
my eyes and he brushed his lips against mine.

“
Promise me
that you are going to stay safe. Promise me that you will never get
into a situation like today again,” Griffin pleaded.

I really and
truly wished I could, but my Grandma Rita always told me to never
make a promise unless you truly believe that you could keep it. I
wanted to make that promise, I really did, but the way my life
went, I really didn’t think it was a good idea to tempt fate, so I
did the next best thing.

“I love you too.”

###

Thank you for reading Not Wanted in Hollywood. If you
enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave a review at your favorite
retailer.

Regards,

Leonie Gant

Leonie Gant
started her writing career at the age of ten when she stuffed notes
in her pencil case full of ideas for mysteries that Nancy Drew and
the Hardy Boys should really have been solving. After years of
watching mysteries play out in her head, in full, sometimes gory
color, she decided that writing them down was the best way to deal
with them.

In her life away from writing, she is a
voracious reader with not nearly enough time to make her way
through all the books that she wants to read. She enjoys
bushwalking, sewing and chocolate, possibly not in that order. She
also believes in the value of trying new things, walking in the
rain and enjoying every moment.

To find out
more about Leonie Gant and to be notified regarding upcoming books
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www.leoniegant.com

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