Not Wanted in Hollywood (3 page)

“What?” said Travis, instantly on alert.

I pointed down. There lying on the floor of
the alcove was Hammy Pollard with a whip that I remembered from
Amber’s dominatrix act wrapped around his neck.

Travis instantly squatted down beside the
body and checked Hammy’s pulse. He looked up at me and shook his
head. I wasn’t surprised. I really didn’t think that the shade of
blue on Hammy’s face was a natural hue. Travis fished his phone out
of his pocket.

“
I’m going to
have to call this one in,” he said regretfully, which confused
me.

Of course we had to call it in. Dead man on
the floor, you instantly called the police and they called in
Homicide. All of a sudden I could see why Travis was looking at me
with some pity. Even if Griffin was not working this case, I knew
how the police worked. He would be told that his girlfriend, once
again, was at a murder scene, at a strip club where I had been
working for two weeks without telling him. I was so screwed.

That really horrible feeling you get in your
stomach when you know that you have messed up badly, continued to
grow as the strippers and bar staff realized that there was
something that
had gone horribly wrong.
It amplified as I had to deal with Alistair and Hugh and explain to
them that filming a murdered man as a money making exercise, could
be construed by some as bad taste. It became even worse when the
police and the paramedics turned up. By the time Griffin strode
into the building, his eyes searching everywhere, I felt so sick I
thought I was going to embarrass myself right there, in front of
the stage where the police had gathered everyone. When Griffin’s
eyes met mine, I saw relief. That didn’t last long though. His eyes
flicked sideways and saw Travis standing next to me and fury
momentarily washed over his features. He then settled into the cold
cop face that I knew and really didn’t like, especially when it was
pointed in my general direction.

If I didn’t know that he was mad before, I
would have realized it when he and Ramos spoke to every single
person in the building, before heading towards Travis and me. By
this stage fatigue had overtaken fear as my number one concern and
I was yawning widely as Griffin and Ramos walked up to us.

“
Are we
keeping you up?” said Ramos sarcastically. Usually I am quite
understanding with the way Detective Liza Ramos feels the need to
subtly point out, that I am not one of her favorite people to see
at a crime scene. I understand our relationship is based on the
whole familiarity breeds contempt mentality. Tonight though, I had
spent the last few hours in a state of heightened anxiety. I felt
sick and I was really tired.

“How long is this going to take?” I asked,
possibly a little harsher than I should have considering the
circumstances.

I could hear Travis’s swiftly indrawn breath
behind me. Griffin’s features tightened.

“
As you and
Mr Cooper were the ones to find the body, we will be requiring you
to accompany us to the station for a formal interview,” Ramos
said.

For a full
five seconds, and I do blame the fact that I was tired and sick
with worry, I contemplated not going. They couldn’t make me,
especially if I got Monique’s husband, Reggie, to come and perform
some of his attorney magic.

Ramos realized quickly where my thought
processes were going. “I could arrest you if you aren’t interested
in coming willingly. I have no problem with doing that.”

“
I’m always
willing Liza, especially when it comes to you, you know that,”
boomed Travis behind me.

As he stepped around me he knocked my arm
with his shoulder. I looked up to see him raise his eyebrows at me.
I got the message. I was being an idiot. If I could just get
through this interview I could go home, curl up in bed and try to
work out the exact moment when I had started making a mess of
things. All this time Griffin hadn’t said a word to me. He hadn’t
asked if I was okay after finding a dead body, he had barely looked
in my direction. I knew he was mad but he didn’t show it at all. He
had simply closed off. I hated when he closed off.

At the police station Travis and I were
separated and I was left in an interrogation room while Ramos and
Griffin were with Travis. Once again I was given plenty of time to
contemplate how much of a mess I had made of this situation. I had
felt guilty about not telling Griffin about the job at the strip
bar for the entire two weeks, but at no point had I been able to
work out how to tell him in a way that wouldn’t end up with me
arguing with him. I had taken the easy way out and it had come back
and bitten me in the butt. Not much I could do about it now. I laid
my head on the table and I didn’t know whether it was finding the
body, the stress of the last few hours or the realization that the
day that had started with me happily kissing Griffin was ending so
badly, but I could feel tears pushing at the corner of my eyes.

The door to
the interrogation room opened suddenly and Ramos and Griffin came
through. Both of them looked annoyed. I could understand that.
Travis Cooper was gifted in his ability to annoy people and thanks
to his past history with Griffin, I had no doubt that he would have
been in fine form tonight. Now it was my turn. Considering the
looks they were giving me, I was not expecting to have an easy
time.

“
Trudie,”
said Ramos. “I wish I could say that it was a surprise to see you
here, yet again, but we all know that I would be lying. Griffin is
in this room, but thanks to your relationship he can’t really be
involved.”

I sneaked a
glance at Griffin. Considering the coldness of the expression on
his face, I don’t think anyone was going to believe that he was
biased in my favor.

“
So, did you
want to tell me why you were working at Hammy’s Gentleman’s Club
tonight?”

I am working for Alistair Hopkins on a
documentary film about the strip club culture. Alistair had
organized to have cameras set up in the club. The crew consisted of
myself, Alistair and the cameraman Hugh.”

“How long have you been working in the club?”
Ramos asked.

“
Two weeks,”
I said.

I could see Griffin’s jaw tighten.

“What exactly was your job at the club?”
Ramos asked without missing a beat.

“Same as it always is. Personal assistant. I
did whatever the client needed. I fetched, I carried, I typed, I
dealt with those people who wanted to kill my boss and I did my
best to blunt his ego.”

“Alistair Hopkins was a problem?” Ramos
ventured.

“
My clients
are always a problem,” I said.

“Did Alistair ever have any arguments with
Hamish Pollard?” Ramos asked.

I had to stop for a moment before I realized
that Hamish was Hammy.

“They argued, but then they argued with
everyone.”

“What kept the relationship going?”

“
Money,” I
said, “pure and simple. Alistair wanted this film to go ahead and
he was paying Hammy very handsomely for the privilege of taping
everything that happened in that place. I had heard that Hammy was
in debt up to his eyeballs, so he was willing to do whatever
Alistair wanted, but he wasn’t happy about it.”

“Do you have any ideas about who would want
to kill Hammy?” asked Ramos.

I shrugged. “It could have been anyone. Hammy
wasn’t the most pleasant human being. I know that pretty much all
of the girls could barely stand to be in the same room with
him.”

“The guy died from strangulation. Whoever did
this put a whip around his neck and pulled. I somehow don’t see a
stripper being that strong.” Finally Griffin actually spoke to
me.

“
You’d be
surprised,” I said. “The girls need huge amounts of upper body
strength. I’ve been practicing on the pole and I’m having
difficulty just doing the basic moves, because I’m not strong
enough to lift my body up that high.”

“
I’m sorry,
I’m going to have to stop you there,” said Ramos. “I really want to
truly appreciate this moment. You’ve been learning how to use a
stripping pole?”

Realizing what I’d revealed, I glanced at
Griffin. He truly looked stunned. At least he couldn’t say there
weren’t any surprises in our relationship.

“Yes, well, we sometimes have downtimes
during filming and over the last couple of weeks I’ve become
friendly with some of the girls. They have a couple of poles in the
back of the club so that the performers can warm up before they go
out on stage. Some of the girls have been teaching me how to use
it.”

“
I have to
say,” said Ramos, “since we’ve known each other, I have become used
to your little quirks and the way you get yourself into unusual
situations. I know that you and the unexpected cross paths many
times. I have to say though, that I never thought I would hear you
tell me that you had been working on a pole in a stripper
club.”

I rolled my eyes. “It was out the back. I
never went on stage. All my clothes stayed on. People do this kind
of thing for fitness all the time.”

“
Strange,”
said Ramos. “I didn’t really think you were a fitness kind of
person.”

I narrowed my eyes. Ramos was enjoying this
moment way too much, even more than I would expect. I’m not saying
that the woman actively disliked me. I think I was just more of an
irritant in her life.

“
Why exactly
were you going to a secluded area at the back of the club with
Cooper when you found the body?” Griffin asked.

I could tell that Ramos was annoyed with him
hijacking her line of questioning.

“I was trying to transcribe some notes for
Alistair out the front and was having trouble concentrating. Travis
has been in the bar for the last week or so working and keeping an
eye on me.”

“
What do you
mean keeping an eye on you?” Griffin interrupted.

“
Travis came
in one night for work and found me there. He was concerned that I
was working somewhere that he didn’t approve of, so he’s been
coming in this week to make sure I was okay.”

Griffin’s
features tightened. I’d given up even the thought of putting a good
spin on all of this mess. I screwed up. I knew it, Griffin knew it.
Even Ramos knew it.

“
I decided to
go out the back to somewhere quieter so I could concentrate. Hugh,
the cameraman, had shown me the alcove when we started there and I
had used it when I needed some quiet time, because it was secluded
from the rest of the chaos. Travis came with me because he was a
bit tired of the club and wanted a break.”

“
Travis was
tired of seeing the naked women?” Ramos sounded disbelieving and
when you put it like that I could understand why. I had spent the
last two weeks surrounded by men who couldn’t get enough of seeing
naked female flesh.

“When we got to the area, I flicked on a
light and saw Hammy there. Travis confirmed that he was dead and
called the police.”

“Did you see anything out of place, anyone
around, anything at all?” asked Ramos.

I shook my head.

“
Had you seen
anything earlier in the night that looked out of place?” she
asked.

“Earlier I had come across Hammy bailing up
Amber about wanting her to do more with her act. I had also heard
arguments between Hammy and Alistair but then both those men argued
with everyone. In the two weeks that I had worked there I had seen
or heard Hammy arguing constantly. If you’re looking for someone
who wanted to kill him, believe me you will have a list of suspects
a mile long.”

“How about you?” asked Griffin.

“What about me?” I asked.

“Had you argued with him?”

“
No,” I said,
beginning to get annoyed. “One time he watched me while the girls
were trying to teach me how to use the pole and he made some joke
about me being better as a waitress than on the stage, but I never
treated anything he said as being serious. The man looked at all
women as income streams. I didn’t fall into that category so I was
disregarded.”

Ramos slammed
shut her notebook, drawing both Griffin’s and my
attention.

“
I think we
have all we need for now,” said Ramos, looking from me to Griffin.
She rose quickly and walked out, leaving me with the man who I
could tell was still working his way through some anger.

“
Can I go?” I
asked, breaking the silence.

“
I’ll take
you home,” Griffin said, with a note of finality as if daring me to
argue.

A smart woman
would have kept her mouth shut. I, of course, never professed to
being a particularly smart woman when it came to my actions with
the man in front of me.

“
I know
you’re busy, I can grab a cab and find my own way home,” I said
gently. In my defense I was trying to help. A murder means that
Griffin has work. He’s a dedicated cop. I know this and I’ve
learned that sometimes I just need to take a step back when he has
work to do. Usually he appreciates my understanding. Tonight didn’t
seem to be one of those times.

He looked angrier at my offer. “I will be
taking you home.”

He shoved back his chair and stalked out of
the interrogation room. I followed behind him. I was not looking
forward to this. I almost groaned when I saw Travis was still
waiting for me. He looked around Griffin.

“Do you need a ride home Trudie?” he
asked.

“
No she does
not need a ride home,” said Griffin through gritted teeth. “I am
taking her home.”