Hollywood Games: A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller Read online

  Gooch had brought in some breakfast muffins and I nibbled on one, overhearing the brothers complaining.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m also on the streets before the day’s out,” Harvey chimed in, apparently taking up Gooch and Glade’s cause.

  I had trouble seeing Harvey on patrol. “Maybe they’re going by age and you’ll catch a break.”

  Harvey sighed. “Is that a crack about me getting old?”

  “No. I was just trying to be optimistic.”

  Edna came back in the room as Harvey’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, I got ahold of Clausen. They just got the video feed from a couple of businesses in the area. He and McDaniel will be here in a few minutes so we can take a look.”

  A half hour later the two detectives joined us in the conference room. They’d downloaded the security footage from three separate businesses in the area to a laptop. The first two shots were from long range and all we saw was the Chevrolet skidding out of control and crashing into a building. The third video showed something else.

  “Play it again,” I said, to Clausen, my heart rate spiking at what I’d seen. “Someone in the Mercedes did the shooting.”

  The middle-aged detective rebooted the video and we clearly saw an older model blue Mercedes moving through the intersection and opening fire on the Chevrolet. We couldn’t make out the identity of the shooter but the license plate was captured by the camera.

  “Somebody go run the plate,” Edna bellowed. “NOW.”

  Kyle Gooch dashed out of the room. He returned five minutes later with a DMV printout announcing, “You’re not going to believe this.”

  “Don’t make us fucking wait for it,” Edna shouted. “Who’s the car belong to?”

  “That realtor from the TV show Hollywood Gold—Wesley Breen.”

  CHAPTER FORTY THREE

  As Pearl drove me and Harvey to Wesley Breen’s house I called Casey Ross. We’d meant to talk to Jiggy Biggs’ former agent but hadn’t gotten around to it. After the conversation ended I turned to Pearl. “Ross, at first, denied knowing King and Biggs were dealing drugs, but finally admitted that he’d heard the rumors. He thinks King was the one behind most of the dealing, but denied knowing about any of the details, including his gang involvement.”

  “Anything on Breen?” Pearl asked.

  “Ross told me that Breen stole an extremely wealthy client from Biggs a couple of months before the homicide. The guy ended up buying a thirty million dollar estate.”

  “He had both motive and opportunity,” Harvey said from the backseat next to Bernie. “Biggs was probably angry as hell, maybe threatened Breen, who paid him back.”

  I said to Pearl, “I’m going to call Basheeba. Maybe she can get a message to Wayland and his gang that we might be onto something and head off any more violence.”

  I made the call, giving the reporter the details about what we’d learned. She said she’d try and contact Wayland, but couldn’t make any promises.

  Wesley Breen lived in a mid-century modern home that, according to what Harvey told us, was modest by the neighborhood standards. “These homes start at ten million and head north from there.” He pointed to a nearby house on a hill that had a view of the city. “Jennifer Aniston lives there.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I took one of those tours of the movie star’s homes when I moved here. If you’d like I can take you by Tom Cruise’s house and even show you where the king of rock once lived.”

  “Thanks, maybe another time,” I said as Pearl pulled to the curb.

  Wesley Breen’s door was answered by his assistant, Maggie Norris, who immediately recognized Harvey and Me. “Mr. Breen is indisposed. You’ll need to come back another time.” She started to close the door but I pushed it open. “Where is he?”

  Norris’ snarl reminded me of an English bulldog. “He’s taking a bath. It’s his private morning ritual.”

  “He’ll have to play with his rubber ducky another day,” I said, pushing past her into the house. Pearl and Harvey followed me as we went down the hallway with Norris shouting out a protest behind us.

  I swiveled back to her just before we entered the master suite. “Not another word or I’ll put you in handcuffs.” She started to say something, but I pulled the cuffs out of my purse dangling them in front of her and cutting the protest off in mid-sentence.

  We found Breen in his tub soaking in something that looked like seaweed. He sat up when we entered, demanding to know why we were there.

  “Get out of the tub, get dressed, and we’ll talk,” I said.

  Breen reached for the cell phone next to the tub. “I’m going to call my lawyer.”

  “Have it your way,” Pearl said. “But you’ll spend the next several hours at Hollywood Station being processed for murder charges.”

  “What? This is outrageous.”

  “No,” I said. “Murdering Jiggy Biggs, starting a gang war, and then sitting around in a tub of seaweed is outrageous.” I tossed him a towel. “Call your lawyer or talk to us now, it’s your choice.”

  Breen came out of the tub spewing obscenities. After he’d found a robe and calmed down Harvey asked him about the seaweed.

  “It’s a Chinese tapeworm that has antioxidant properties,” Breen said.

  “You’re sitting in a bathtub with a tapeworm?” I said, shaking my head.

  “It’s quite dead but it does wonders for my skin. You should try it sometime—if you’ve got a spare ten grand lying around.”

  I turned to Pearl. “Is everyone in Hollywood nuts?”

  He smiled, exposing the gap in his teeth. “I believe they are.”

  After Breen complained that we’d ruined his day, we all took seats in the living room.

  “I demand to know what’s going on,” the realtor said.

  “What’s going on is that your car was on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland the night before last, at the scene of a shooting that killed two Blood Nation gang members.”

  “What? That’s preposterous. I was home all night. Maggie can vouch for me.”

  I turned to his assistant who was vigorously nodding her head, but remained silent.

  “I’m sure she’s very trustworthy,” I said to Breen. “But the fact is your car was photographed by security footage with someone inside who opened fire on the occupants of the other vehicle.”

  The realtor sighed, his confident exterior waning for the first time. “This doesn’t make any sense. I don’t even own a gun.”

  “We understand that you stole a client from Mr. Biggs a couple of months back,” Pearl said. “Someone who ended up purchasing a multi-million dollar property.”

  “I didn’t steal anyone. Jiggy’s client lost faith in him finding the property of his dreams, so I took over and helped him out.”

  “I’ll bet you also helped yourself to a healthy commission,” I said. “And I’ll bet Biggs was none too happy about it.”

  Before the realtor could respond, Harvey chimed in, “And when Biggs expressed his unhappiness you felt threatened.”

  “I won’t deny that Jiggy was unhappy with me and that we exchanged words but I didn’t kill him.”

  “You not only killed him,” Harvey said, playing the bad cop role. “You set Jerry King up to take the fall for the homicide by planting the murder weapon in his car.”

  Breen started to tear up. “You’ve got to believe me. I had nothing to do with his death.”

  “I’m still trying to piece together your relationship with King,” I said. “How did you get him to set up Rafi Wayland and Blood Nation for his drug dealing?”

  His tears came harder. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

  I pulled a printed copy of the surveillance video out of my purse, showing his car at the scene of the drive-by shooting. “Unless you can find a way to explain this away, Mr. Breen, I’d say it’s time that you did call your lawyer.”

  Breen took the photograph showing the classic Me
rcedes in the intersection. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “Do we look like we’re kidding?” Harvey asked.

  “This isn’t the car I drive. It’s used by…” He looked over at his assistant. “…I gave it to Maggie to use for everyday chores.”

  We all turned to Maggie Norris who finally broke her silence. “I can assure you that I haven’t been involved in a drive-by shooting and I haven’t driven that car in over a week.”

  “Why is that?” I asked.

  “I was planning to sell it through a consignment broker, but it’s had some mechanical problems. It’s been in the repair shop.”

  CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

  “What Maggie Norris told you is the truth,” Eric Glade said later that afternoon as we reassembled in the conference room at Hollywood Station. “We checked with Valencia Motors over on Burbank in North Hollywood. They work on classic cars. The Mercedes had been there since before Jiggy Biggs was murdered—something to do with a transmission problem.”

  “Then how did it get on Hollywood Boulevard?” Edna asked.

  The lieutenant had pulled the brothers off afternoon patrol duties at the last minute and sent them to the garage. So far, there hadn’t been any further street violence, but night would be falling shortly and we knew our luck wouldn’t continue to hold.

  “According to the manager of the shop, a guy showed up there two days ago,” Gooch said. “He said he was buying the car from Breen’s assistant and paid the repair bill in full—almost three grand.”

  Edna didn’t hide his irritation. “So who was the guy?”

  “Not sure,” Glade said. “But he was with a girl the manager recognized. He said he’d seen her on Hollywood Gold and would never forget a body like hers. He didn’t get a name but I’m sure he was talking about Coco Zee.”

  Edna’s gaze moved around the room. “Now I’m really fucking confused.”

  “Maybe Pearl and I can help with that,” I said. “We called Coco a little while ago. She admitted that she was with Parker Rose when he picked up the car two days ago. He’d made arrangements to buy the classic car and was planning to give it to Gloria Powers as an engagement gift.”

  “She said they parked the car at the realtor’s office two days ago and left it there,” Pearl confirmed.

  Edna’s forehead was still knitted together. “I still don’t get it. What is Jiggy Biggs’ former girlfriend doing with Gloria Powers’ fiancé?”

  “After putting a lot of pressure on Coco, she finally admitted that she and Parker Rose are in a relationship. She said he recently made a decision to leave Powers for her and decided to leave the car as a parting gift.”

  The pieces of the puzzle we’d been trying to put together for the past week were finally coming together for Pearl and me as I explained, “I think Gloria Powers murdered Jiggy Biggs because her wealthy, younger boyfriend, Parker Rose, was cheating on her with Biggs’ girlfriend, Coco Zee. It could be that Powers went to Biggs house planning to kill Coco, but when she wasn’t at the estate she murdered Biggs, probably because she was worried that he would tell Rose they’d been in a relationship.”

  “Powers then set up Jerry King to take the fall for the killing by putting the murder weapon in the trunk of his car,” Pearl said, taking up the story. “She knew that King was dealing drugs to the UG because she’d sold a property to the gang’s leader, Levon Trenton, a couple of years ago.”

  I put the final piece of the puzzle, as we thought we understood it, into place. “Trenton seized the opening that the murder of Biggs created. He went to King and told him he had two choices. Either die in jail at the hands of one of his gang members or cooperate in setting up Rafi Wayland. The UG’s supply of heroin was drying up anyway, so Trenton burned those in the chain by giving up their names to King, who in turn told us and the FBI. Jerry King knew that he’d be given immunity and a new identity when everything was over. It was a way to save himself and start a new life.”

  Edna nodded, apparently satisfied with the scenario. “It’s going to be dark in a couple of hours. I want Gloria Powers in custody before dark. Maybe we can head off a gang war, after all.”

  Forty-five minutes later, Pearl, Harvey, and I had taken Sunset Boulevard from Hollywood almost to the ocean. Along the way we passed by an expensive enclave of homes called the Pacific Palisades. Gloria Powers lived in a sprawling Spanish estate there, on a tree lined street overlooking the ocean.

  As Pearl, Harvey, and I knocked on her door my phone rang. I answered the call, hearing Natalie’s frantic voice on the line.

  “Mo, me, and Lindsay are with Coco Zee at Biggs’ house, Kate. Gloria Powers is trying to break in and she’s got a gun.”

  CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

  We broke every speed limit making the trip back to Jiggy Biggs’ house in the Hollywood Hills where Coco Zee had been staying. It wasn’t bad enough that my friends were in danger, my sister was with them. I’d never forgive myself if anything bad happened to Lindsay.

  As Pearl drove, Natalie stayed on the line, providing me with some additional details. “We’ve been following Coco for the last couple of days and realized she’s been hooking up with that rich bloke, Parker Rose. Mo and me talked to Rose a little while ago. He admitted the affair with Coco and said that Gloria Powers was jealous. She planned to kill Coco the day Jiggy was shot. When Coco wasn’t there, Gloria shot Jiggy and…”

  I heard some shouting in the background and for a moment thought the line had gone dead. “What’s happening, Natalie?”

  I heard her voice on the line again. “We’re all in the downstairs safe room but Gloria’s outside trying to get in.” I heard a couple of popping sounds before Natalie’s voice pitched higher, now frantic. “She’s trying to blast the lock open, Kate. We need help.”

  We blew through a couple of intersections and arrived at Biggs’ house a couple of minutes later. As soon as we entered the unlocked front door we heard shouting and a couple of more shots being fired from somewhere in the lower portion of the massive residence.

  We went down a stairway and stopped in a hallway where we’d heard the shots. Bernie was pulling against his leash as I called out. “We have the house surrounded, Gloria. You need to come out, now.”

  Powers’ voice came from somewhere down the hallway where she couldn’t be unseen. “I’m not going anywhere. That little bitch stole my fiancé and now she’s going to pay.”

  “We know about everything that happened,” I said. “You went to Jiggy’s house to kill Coco but she wasn’t there. You shot Jiggy instead.”

  “What?” There was a burst of staccato laughter. “I’m afraid you’ve got it all wrong, Detective.”

  Bernie was still growling. I gripped his leash tighter and said, “Then set me straight. Tell me what happened.”

  “Coco realized Jiggy was cheating on her. When she found out he’d hooked up with me she went ballistic and killed him.”

  I glanced over at Pearl and Harvey, wondering if what she’d said was true. If Powers was telling the truth, it meant that Pearl and I got it wrong and Parker Rose had lied to my friends. I called down the hallway. “Why didn’t you say something to us before about this, why all the secrecy?”

  Powers voice began to break, her emotions taking over. “Parker lied about everything. He said a friend of his had shot Biggs. He told me the only way he would stay with me was…if I set up Jerry…by planting the gun used in the murder in his car.”

  “And you did what he told you?”

  There were lots of tears, her voice wavered as she said, “Yes, I loved him. I would do anything for Parker.”

  “And what about Rafi Wayland? How did he fit into everything?”

  Her voice firmed. “Rafi had nothing to do with anything that happened.”

  “It was Levon Trenton, wasn’t it? You knew Trenton from selling him a house and he used Biggs’ death to set up Wayland by using Jerry King.”

  I heard the resignation in Powers’ voice. “Jerry agre
ed to the arrangement after he’d been framed, only because he knew it was the only way to save his own ass.”

  “What about Wesley Breen’s car? Two nights ago it was at the scene of a shooting of two of Blood Nation members on Hollywood Boulevard.”

  “Parker said he was going to give me the car. I don’t know anything more.”

  I let out a long breath. “If everything you’re telling me is true, you’re going to get out of this pretty much unscathed.” I heard Natalie’s voice on the line again as I said, “You need to walk down the hallway and give yourself up so we can clear everything up.”

  I put my phone up to my ear as I heard Natalie’s frantic voice, now whispering, “It’s Coco. She’s unlocking the door and coming out with a gun.”

  We had no choice but to move down the hallway. Seconds later we heard gunshots. We came around a corner and found Gloria Powers on the floor, shot through the head.

  I turned in time to see Coco Zee turning toward me, training her gun in my direction. Harvey shouted, “Drop the weapon.”

  It was too late. Coco had passed that critical point when an officer’s training kicks in. Harvey had no other choice but to take the shot. He fired his service revolver three times, hitting central body mass.

  Coco Zee, the woman who killed Jiggy Biggs and had almost started a gang war, was dead.

  CHAPTER FORTY SIX

  We spent the rest of the day and most of the night at the crime scene with SID. We then returned to Hollywood Station where Parker Rose had been brought for an interview. After a lot of back and forth discussion, Edna insisted that Pearl and I handle the interview. Harvey wasn’t happy about it and stomped off in a fit of anger.

  After introductions, Pearl and I got down to business, asking Rose what he knew about Jiggy Biggs’ murder.

  The wealthy entrepreneur was in his mid-forties with a shock of blonde hair that was fading to gray. Rose was handsome, and surprisingly confident and relaxed, given that he was in a police station being interviewed about his involvement in a homicide. It occurred to me that maybe because he was wealthy he thought he was invincible.