Reel Stuff (13 page)

Em ordered chicken cacciatore, and I had a New York strip
steak. At prices I never would have paid, even if it had been my money. Thank God, it wasn't. James was going to be very jealous. He was a culinary major and dreamed of visiting iconic restaurants in the United States to see if they matched their reputations. This one, in my humble opinion, did. The food, the service, they were impeccable. However, at these prices they should be.

“All right, Em. We walk in tomorrow. This Bavely chick agrees to rep you. Then what?”

“Here's what I've been thinking.”

I was glad one of us was thinking. At this time I had no idea what we were going to do.

She sipped her second Cosmo, tilting her head back to let the triple sec-lime juice-cranberry vodka mix slide down her throat.

“Juliana has a professional office, so chances are she keeps files. On her computer, certainly, but paper files as well. Skip, you and I already have paper files on my acting career and we just started. Already we have a paper résumé, photographs, and this union card. If we have files, trust me, she'll have files.”

I nodded, still not certain where this was going.

“She owns this business. It's her agency, so I think she keeps personal files as well as business files. If you're organizing one side of your life, why not organize the other side of your life in the same space?”

“You think it's that simple? She's got her insurance policy in her office in a paper file? It's right under our nose?”

“My dad does,” she said very matter-of-fact. “In his office, he keeps his personal papers in a file drawer where he keeps business deals, information on vendors, collection reports—he owns his business and it's more convenient for him to have all his personal stuff right there too.”

“So you're suggesting—”

“Somehow, I'll distract. You go through the files. You distract, I'll do the same. Let's try to get Bavely and Londell out of the
immediate area, and we'll check out files, desk information, anything we can learn.”

“I can't believe there isn't an easier way to find out.”

“Think of one. I have no idea what insurance company she would use. Where do you begin to look for something like that? And the other thing is, Ashley asked us to check on the unfaithful angle, remember? If we had access to her files or her computer or cell phone, I would think we stand a good chance of seeing if there was or is a relationship going on with someone else.”

Em was right. If, and if was a big part of this, if we could explore her social life, we could see if she had another love life.

“It's not like we haven't broken laws before.”

“I know, I know,” she said. “There's always a slim chance we could get caught. I mean, there are no perfect plans.”

“And then what?”

“With my charm? Come on, Skip. All I have to do is blink my eyes, pout my lips and—” Her eyes left mine and drifted over my shoulder. I glanced back and the muscular actor Dwayne Johnson was walking by. His attractive Asian companion had stopped to talk to two men at a table near ours, and Johnson stopped at Emily's chair.

“You are a very beautiful woman.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Striking. You should be in pictures.”

I was sitting right there, totally ignored.

She beamed her headlight smile at him.

“If you only knew,” she said.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Making love in a city almost three thousand miles from home didn't make it any different. Distance didn't seem to make the experience more intense, but making love to a bona fide actress, that was off the charts. This lady had been an extra in an Ashton Kutcher Nikon Camera commercial and here I was naked with her in bed. Hot stuff.

Making love to someone that Dwayne Johnson found very attractive? A very heady experience. I was in rare company and totally aware of that. Emily was a special person on many levels, and why she chose to spend her charms with me, I have no idea. It's always been a mystery.

After a steamy encounter, one that seemed to relive some of our passion from the last forty-eight hours, we both took a breather, staring at a dark, flat screen mounted in the armoire.

“That was pretty intense,” she said. Thank God, she spoke first.

“We're both in a fragile state. Not sure what we are doing and not quite sure if this new idea will work.” I put my arm around her nude body, caressing her soft, tanned skin.

“Dwayne Johnson thought I was hot, Skip. The Rock.”

I got up and went to the bathroom, returning in my jeans and T-shirt. Walking down to the Coke machine, I reflected on what we were doing. Em had actually devised an interesting way of getting close to Juliana Londell. What we'd planned was devious, underhanded, and illegal. Em's grand idea had James written all over it, and that scared me.

I brought back a Diet Coke and an orange soda, plus a Hershey bar. We'd both worked up somewhat of an appetite.

“Look, Skip, Jay Leno has Logan Lerman on.”

She'd turned on the TV and was sitting up in bed, topless, adjusting the volume.

“He's here, in town.”

“And?” I questioned her point.

“I mean, think about it. They're all here. This is the movie capital of the world. I'm saying, within ten miles of us, there are hundreds of movie stars. You and James, you trade movie quotes like girls trade clothes or jewelry. And this is where they come from. Those quotes. Pretty cool.”

It was pretty cool. And tomorrow, I was going to accompany someone who'd always wanted to be an actress, to her first audition. And together, we'd see if we could pull it off. If she could convince Kathy Bavely that she was an actress. We'd find out if Emily Minard, after one day in Hollywood, could convince a talent agent to represent her. When thousands of would-be actors went agentless every day. Yes, tomorrow would be very interesting.

I thought there was a good chance she could pull it off. There were times I thought she was going through the motions even with me. And I fell for it every time.

And as for Dwayne Johnson, yes, that encounter was still on my mind. I'd seen him in
The Tooth Fairy
, and the man could not act his way out of a tutu. The only thing that muscle-bound idiot had going for him was his good taste in women.

•       •       •

I woke up early. Eight o'clock Miami time, five o'clock in L.A. Walking outside, I marveled at how different and yet the same Los Angeles and Miami were. The freshness of the morning air was tainted with the stale odor of exhaust and smog. Palm trees and concrete, impersonal cement-block and stucco-covered buildings sprung up everywhere and just looking down the street we were on, I could see the ugly urban sprawl. Miami, for all the current attempts at being the cultural center of the South, was still trying to find itself, with a serious case of urban sprawl and decay of its own.

But there was a swagger to L.A. that I'd already picked up on. I could feel it in the people that we'd met, the businesses that we'd visited. This was a city that was street-smart. It was a movie capital and it knew that everything was pretend, just for show, and you got a sense that the city and the people who lived here believed they could get away with just about anything.

Even a murder, clear across the continent.

They could get away with just about anything here, and I hoped that swagger and attitude rubbed off on us.

When I got back to the motel, Emily was dressed in some very stylish yellow Capri pants and a top that bared her stomach. It appeared as if she'd tied a flower-patterned scarf over her breasts and that was it. With her blonde hair swept back and just a hint of makeup, Em was ready to take on Hollywood.

I couldn't take my eyes off of her, and neither could the people we passed as we walked to a small breakfast bar down the block.

“Do I get the part?” she asked.

I took a second gulp of coffee before I answered.

“If you don't get it, I want to meet the lady who does. You are breathtaking, Em. Breathtaking.”

“It's nice to hear, even if you are somewhat prejudiced.”

An hour later we drove the car back to Juliana's office and walked in.

I glanced into the far office and saw Bavely at her desk. A tall, thin brunette was busy filing papers in the far room.

Glancing at Em, I whispered, “Can't be Juliana. Not if she's pregnant. Must be the missing secretary.”

“Well, hello.” Kathy Bavely looked right past me to Em.

“I'm back.”

“Oh, I can see that.”

I reached over the desk and handed her a manila envelope with copies of the head shots and two copies of her résumé.

“Sit down. Let me look at these.”

Leafing through the photos, she nodded. “Not bad, but we'd have to get more expressions. And maybe do the hair in a number of styles. Still,” she studied one in particular, “you don't take a bad picture, do you?”

Em just smiled.

“Well, I see you've done some work, obviously nothing to brag about, but you've got a foundation.” Pursing her lips, she dismissed the résumé and studied Em for a long ten or fifteen seconds.

“You've got a SAG card?”

Reaching into her purse, Em pulled the newly minted card from her wallet.

“That's good enough. It appears you're serious about this career.”

“I know the parts I've had are pretty sketchy, but I really am a very good actress. When I take on a role, it becomes mine. I live it, I breathe it, I believe it, and—” She paused.

“And?” Bavely asked.

“The audience believes
me
. I'm very believable. And isn't that what this business is all about?”

The lady nodded, starting with a slight nod then moving her head up and down with a serious appreciation for what she'd just heard. Hell, I was nodding. Em had proven to me she was an actress. I'd never seen Em pretend so convincingly. Well, once in a while I thought she was faking it, but—

“If we develop this relationship,” Bavely tapped one of the photos on her desk, “you would sign a contract.”

“Of course.”

“You would be available for casting calls almost any time of the day and sometimes the evening. This can be a twenty-four-hour business, Miss Minard. From casting calls to acting jobs.”

“Understood.”

“You would take my advice, get new head shots, and treat this as a career choice, not a game.”

“Yes.”

“One final thing I want you to do.”

“Okay.”

“I want you to come back after lunch. Let's say, two o'clock.”

“I can do that,” Em said.

There was no ‘the two of you.' I may as well not have been there.

“I have to run you by Juliana.” Bavely rolled her eyes. “I told you she isn't accepting new clients, but she has to pass approval on anyone I sign. It's—” she paused taking a deep breath, “it's the way it is.”

“So,” I asked, “this isn't a partnership?”

She turned away from us, not answering the question.

“Just be here. Okay?”

“Should I be a little worried that she won't like me?”

Kathy Bavely studied Em again, like a butcher would size up a lamb chop, giving both of us the creeps.

“Oh, she'll like you. Trust me. I'm positive of that.”

We, or at least Em, were going to meet Ashley Amber's sister,
Jason Londell's wife and the soon-to-be mother of Jason Londell's child. This introduction was going to be very interesting.

She did a little shopping. Em wanted to see what Rodeo Drive was all about and she had the money to do it. I made a quick call to James, letting him know what was happening.

“She's what?”

“Got an agent. Juliana's partner is going to rep her. I can't believe it happens like this, but it does.”

“You're nuts. Crazy. What the hell are you two thinking? This is off the chart, Skip. There's got to be an easier way to get that information.”

“James.” He was hot, but I was calm and collected. I needed to settle him down and I knew how to do it. “This is exactly what you would have done.”

“Yeah? You think?” He hesitated, the overheated passion in his voice cooling down in a matter of seconds.

“No question. You would seize the moment and jump right in. You know it, I know it. It's your trademark. When in doubt, fake it.”

“Okay, you're right.” Subdued in less than a minute. “Just hurry up, pardner. Things are a little tense back here.”

“Tense?”

“Security isn't happy that you aren't here. You're still under contract, you know, and there's some question about where you are and what you're doing.”

I did know I was under contract.

“I haven't told anyone the truth, Skip. They think it's a touch of the flu. But we're short a man, and the sooner you can get answers to your questions—”