Breaking Hollywood (46 page)

‘Three dysfunctional kids, bonded by poverty, neglect and the need to belong to something that doesn’t come with the risk of a slap or the vicious stab of the cruellest of
words.

‘They form a family, one that balances on a seesaw of hope that they’ll escape and acceptance that they probably never will.

‘Lizzy and Zac fall in love; they hatch plans; they look beyond the mire of despair life has delivered to them until Sonny Cole delivers a different fate.

‘For years, he’s been betraying his wife, spending night after night with Lizzy’s mother.

‘But now he wants more.

‘He wants Lizzy.

‘And what Sonny Cole wants, he takes.

‘But it’s the last thing he ever does. A betrayal too far. A horrific act of violence that is met with lethal retribution.

‘And when the screen fades to black, you know.

‘You know that you’ve just watched a creation of cinematic brilliance.

‘And you know how three twenty-something Scots ended up standing in front of the entire cast of Hollywood royalty, picking up an Oscar for one of the best movies that was ever
made.’

‘Holding Back the Years’ – Simply Red

Mirren

Someone in the room. Someone there. A touch. Her hand. Someone . . . Heart beating faster, can’t breathe. Oh God, no. No. No.

‘Mom? Mom?’

Logan’s voice. Open your eyes. Her boy. Her boy was there.

Smiling.

Mirren forced her eyes to stay open, to see him.

‘Hey,’ he said.

Head. She couldn’t move her head. Her eyes scanned the room. A hospital room. She was in a hospital bed. Someone there, in the corner. Who? Coming towards her now. Brad Bernson.

‘What happened? Tell me what happened.’ She didn’t recognize the throaty rasp as her own. Her neck hurt, her vocal cords, her head, everything.

Logan’s eyes looked searchingly at Brad, on the other side of her bed now.

‘Mirren, it was Marilyn. She was in the street outside the hotel. We think she was carrying some kind of device, and it exploded when she reached your cars.’

Heart racing, blood pumping so hard, excruciating pain in her head. And fear. So much fear.

‘Where is she now?’

A shade on Brad’s expression.

‘She’s gone, Mirren. She died in the explosion. It’s over.’

And Mirren’s world went dark again.

‘Everybody Hurts’ – R.E.M.

Zander

Hospital waiting rooms. The closest thing to hell on earth. How long had he been here? Hours? Felt like days. Beside him, Lex Callaghan, both of them bloody, dishevelled, both
staring straight ahead at the white double doors in front of them.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Lex’s hands clench into fists, then flex, then fist, then flex. The actions of a man on the verge of despair.

Inside those double doors, his wife, Cara, on a table, surrounded by strangers.

Zander reached out, put his hand on Lex’s shoulder, said nothing.

They’d been brought here in the same ambulance, the one that rode behind Cara’s.

Hers got priority. Female inside, life-threatening injuries, stopped breathing, cardiac arrest, intubated at scene, blood loss critical.

By the time they’d arrived, she was already in theatre and Lex had refused to go to A&E. His wife was behind those doors, and he was waiting until he could be with her.

Zander understood. At the ranch that morning, she’d told him she’d help him heal. Now it was her turn – it was her turn to find her way back.

Until then, Zander was going to stay by both their sides.

‘We Found Love’ – Calvin Harris & Rihanna

Sarah

‘I don’t give a fuck. The media blackout stays until we know what we’re dealing with. I’ll speak when I’m ready and they can go screw
themselves.’

Sarah had no idea who Davie was speaking to, but whoever it was definitely got the point.

‘Davie, you need to stay in bed. The doctor says . . .’

He stopped, looked at her, eyes challenging. Sarah met the gaze, held it. He buckled first.

He climbed back onto the bed, wincing as he moved.

Behind her, Hollie came into the room.

‘Any word?’ Sarah asked urgently.

Hollie shook her head.

‘She’s still in theatre. Lex and Zander are waiting up there.’

‘And Mirren?’ Davie asked.

‘She’s OK. Logan is with her. Lou is on the way. She’s going to be fine.’

Sarah felt the tears spring to the back of her eyes and she blinked them away. If she was religious, she’d be thanking God right now.

There was some activity outside the door, voices, and Sarah got up, looked out of the window. Mike Feechan was arguing with one of the cops posted outside. Sarah opened the door.
‘It’s fine, officer. He’s with us.’

The cop stood to one side and let Mike pass. Sarah gave him a grateful smile as she closed the door behind him. Hollie and Davie both eyed him expectantly.

‘Tell me, Mike,’ Davie said simply.

Mike stood by the side of the bed, black suit, tie, unflappable.

‘Positive ID. It was Marilyn McLean.’

‘I saw a woman running towards me. Why didn’t I recognize her?’

Mike sighed. ‘She looked nothing like the photographs we had. Black hair, not blonde.’

‘You sure it was her?’ Sarah asked.

‘Yep. Positive ID from her fingerprint scan when she entered the country. We had a contact in the feds rush that one through. Passport in her bag too.’

Hollie looked at him quizzically. ‘I don’t get it, Mike. Why? Why?’

Mike shrugged his shoulders in resignation. ‘The CSIs are still at the scene; cops are reviewing footage. The truth is, we don’t know yet. And the only person who can tell us is
dead.’

His words silenced the room for a few moments. Marilyn McLean. Dead. If it didn’t terrify them, it would be laughable. The woman travels thousands of miles, comes up with some messed-up
plan, and now she’s dead.

Sarah’s eyebrows knitted into a frown. ‘She didn’t do it all.’

Only when she saw that everyone was staring at her did she realize she’d said that out loud.

‘What are you talking about?’ Davie asked, irritated, confused. Shit, this wasn’t the time. She should have left it, let things settle.

But now she’d started . . .

She dipped into her bag, retrieved her tablet, fired it up. The others waited in silence until she pulled up an image. A freeze frame. The Guilloti press conference the week before. ‘This
guy here,’ she said, pointing at the bodyguard standing behind Adrianna and Carlton Farnsworth.

‘You thought you recognized him when you saw that clip up at the ranch,’ Hollie exclaimed.

Sarah nodded. ‘I did. Couldn’t say where from, though. Took me a while to put it together, but now I’m sure I saw him a few weeks ago with Raymo Cash in LIX. The security
cameras there will back it up, but I’m positive. If he was with Raymo Cash, I’m guessing he was planning the attack on Zander. If he did that, I think it’s logical that the other
stuff was connected.’

‘I don’t get it. Adrianna Guilloti did all this to Zander?’ Hollie asked, confused. ‘But she wouldn’t . . . I mean, why would she? They were together. They had a .
. . thing.’

‘I don’t think it was Adrianna,’ Sarah said. ‘Look at the guy’s eyeline in this shot.’

All four of them stared at the image as Sarah magnified it. The bodyguard’s gaze wasn’t directed at the woman in front of the camera.

‘It was her husband’s guy?’

Sarah nodded. ‘I think so. Mike?’

Mike Feechan nodded. ‘I’ll have my people check it out.’

‘So it was, what? Revenge?’ Hollie’s voice had stepped up a notch, bordering on shrill. ‘He did all that stuff to Zander because he was fucking his wife?’

‘Through the Barricades’ – Spandau Ballet

Davie

Davie was tired. So tired. The morning sun was scorching through the windows, but he wouldn’t let Sarah close the curtains. He wanted to see sky. How ‘movie of the
week’ was that? All he wanted to do was to lie here, hold Sarah’s hand and look at the daylight.

He must have had a severe knock on the head that the docs had missed.

Mike Feechan had gone, back to his office to update his team and get them moving in the right direction. They knew what had happened now, but they didn’t know all the whys. Adrianna
Guilloti’s husband looked square in the frame for all those fucked-up things that had happened to Zander. The guy had a reputation for being shady. He was also richer than God. A dangerous
combination for someone who could have believed he was in danger of losing his wife? It was up to Mike to get the answers on that.

All that mattered now was that Marilyn couldn’t do any more harm.

‘Hey?’ A voice at the door. Mirren in a chair, Hollie pushing her.

Davie felt a huge lump form in his throat and realized that he was about to cry. Shit, what had happened to him? There was definitely a concussion going on here somewhere.

Sarah moved back to let Hollie push Mirren to his side, put her hand over his, her eyes full of unshed tears too.

‘You OK?’ he asked, choking on the words.

Mirren nodded. ‘Davie, I’m so, so sorry. Marilyn . . .’ She lost the rest as she put her hand to her mouth to stop the sobs. Davie leaned over, wrapped his arms around her, not
caring that stretching hurt like fuck.

‘She’s gone, Mirr. It’s done.’

He held her until her shoulders stopped heaving.

‘I can’t stand that I came from such an evil bitch, Davie. The things she’s done . . .’

‘We don’t think she did them all,’ Sarah said gently.

‘You don’t?’

Sarah shook her head, then told her everything. The connection between Raymo Cash and the Guillotis, her assumptions as to why.

‘So Marilyn didn’t try to hurt Zander?’ Mirren said, more thinking out loud than asking a question. ‘That makes sense,’ she said, before laughing. Laughing. But it
was a twisted laugh, one that was steeped in bitterness and hate.

Davie put his hand on hers, squeezed it tightly, trying to stop the hysteria that was clearly building. ‘Mirren, it’s OK. It’s OK.’

‘Of course,’ she spat. ‘Perfect fucking sense.’

‘Marilyn would never hurt Zander, because he was Jono Leith’s son. But she would go after you. Of course she would. She was there when you and I were together, knew how much I loved
you, how much I wanted to be with you back then. I took away the man she loved. So it makes perfect sense that she would want to do the same to me.’

‘I Will Always Love You’ – Dolly Parton

Mirren

Mirren couldn’t bear to look at the devastation on Lex Callaghan’s face. She’d been there, knew how much it hurt to face losing someone who was part of your
soul. How long had it been since anyone spoke?

An hour? Two?

She’d asked Hollie to bring her up here after she’d spoken to Davie. He was fine. Zander was too. Lou was here now, downstairs, sitting in a chair in her room, fending off press and
calling the shots. Beside Lou, Logan had fallen asleep on her bed, and Lauren was on her way in to support him. Her world was almost complete.

Almost.

The lift doors opened and Sarah appeared with a tray of coffees, passed them round. ‘Davie is sleeping. Thought I’d make myself useful. Any news?’

Mirren shook her head. ‘None.’ Sarah handed a coffee to Hollie, then sat down next to her, seeing what Mirren had already spotted. Everyone’s gaze was trained on those white
double doors. Hollie’s eyes flickered between the doors and Zander, the doors and Zander, as if she just had to keep checking he was there, he was safe, he was in one piece.

Mirren saw that she loved him. In the midst of the carnage, the worry, the terror and the prayers, there was a tiny piece of goodness.

A tiny piece of hope.

At that moment, the doors swung open, and a doctor who wore the posture of a weary man, of someone who had been in surgery for twelve hours, who had been the one person between Cara’s life
or death, walked towards them. Lex was already on his feet, heart breaking in front of them, raw emotion pouring from his soul.

‘Mr Callaghan?’

Lex nodded, unable to speak.

‘Your wife sustained a life-threatening wound in the explosion. As you know, a piece of metal lodged in her throat, cutting her windpipe. She stopped breathing and was intubated by a
doctor at the scene. Mr Callaghan, it was touch and go, but we managed to repair the damage. It’s too early to say for sure, but I think she’s going to be fine.’

As the tears ran down her face, Mirren gave a silent prayer of thanks.

Now her world was complete.

‘I’ll Stand By You’ – the Pretenders

Zander

Lex held out his hand to Zander. ‘Thanks, man. For being here.’

Zander said nothing, just nodded, smiled, hugged him. He didn’t know Lex Callaghan well at all, yet right now he felt like there was no one he knew more. They’d barely spoken, just
sat there, side by side, for hours. Some things didn’t need words.

Lex said goodbye to Mirren, Hollie and Sarah, then followed his wife’s bed along the corridor to the recovery room.

Zander, still in the suit he’d worn last night, headed for the women sitting on the chairs behind him.

Hollie stared up at him as he walked towards her, eyes wide, hair ruffled, tear streaks down her face.

He leaned down, hugged Mirren, kissed her cheek, told her he loved her. He did. He had never been more grateful than he felt right now.

Sarah stood up, put her hands on the arms of Mirren’s chair. ‘Come on, I’ll get you back downstairs. Lou will be causing havoc by now.’

Not the most subtle departure, but Zander appreciated it. And then there were two of them – him and Hollie – in an empty room.