Not Wanted in Hollywood (15 page)

“
She can stay
with me,” said Susan.

Brandi smiled
at her appreciatively.
I hoped that
Brandi was going to take the opportunity that Susan was
offering.

Griffin turned to me. “I need to take you
home now Trudie.”

“
Just give me
a second,” I said and quickly downloaded the rest of the audio
files from Alistair’s recorder.

After
returning the recorder to Alistair I informed him that I was going
to go home and would most likely be working from there tomorrow, as
my face had gone past painful and was now in the excruciating point
of the healing process. Alistair wasn’t happy with my proclamation
but as I had never actually seen Alistair happy with anything, I
wasn’t even going to bother trying.

Griffin drove
me home with single minded determination. He might have been in the
car with me, but I knew that at this moment his mind was with Ramos
as they were looking at a break in the case. At least it kept him
from returning to whatever it was that he had been about to say to
me before Brandi interrupted us at the club. I wasn’t going to take
it personally.

What I did take personally was him saying
goodbye and driving off with barely a word to me when we got to the
apartment building. I had come to an understanding about how
important Griffin’s work was to him. Right at this moment I was
sore and now that I thought about it, I was hungry. I hadn’t had
anything to eat since that painful lunch with Griffin’s mother
which seemed to have happened a long time ago. Walking into my
apartment I threw my keys and laptop on the table and headed
straight for the
freezer. Pulling out the
tub of ice cream, I figured it could perform double duty. I could
eat the ice cream to satisfy my hunger and I could hold the tub
against my cheek to try to calm down the bruising. The ice cream
would be multitasking. Definitely a good plan.

Sitting on
the floor eating ice cream out of the tub while holding the tub
against my face, I contemplated exactly how this assignment had
ended up with me in such a ludicrous position.

My
cell
rang
, interrupting my contemplation.
I was caught. One of my hands was holding a spoonful of ice cream
heading for my mouth. The other one was holding the tub pressed
against my face and was giving me sweet, sweet relief. I had to
make a choice. With a sigh I put the tub down and put the spoon in
my mouth as I grabbed for the phone.

“Ma petite, you are finally home.”

I swallowed
the ice cream. “How do you know that Monique?” You’d think after
all the time that I had known Monique that I would have finally
worked out how she seems to know everything. “You have surveillance
in my house don’t you?” I said, the horror in my voice evident. I
really hoped she didn’t. Sitting on the floor in my living room
with a tub of ice cream held against my face, while scooping
spoonfuls out to eat was definitely not one of my finest moments
and I really hoped nobody ever saw me like this.

Monique laughed. “Of course I don’t ma
petite. Jorge gave me a report and I gave you enough time to get
home. Simple really.”

Of course. Simple.

“What can I do for you Monique?” I asked.

“
It is not
what you can do for me, ma petite. It is what I have done for
you.”

My forehead
crinkled as I tried to think. In my defense it was late and I think
I’d swallowed that last spoonful of ice cream too fast, because I
had given myself an ice cream headache.

“
The
information about your man’s mother,” Monique said
patiently.

Oh, right, that information.

“What did you find out?” I asked
curiously.

“
Only what I
am sure you have already surmised,” said Monique.

“
Spoiled
brat, trust fund baby. Never held a job in her life and has spent
all her adult years partying,” I said. “Of course I’m just
guessing.”

“
You would be
exactly right,” said Monique and I could hear the disdain in her
voice. Monique had worked long and hard for years to build herself
up to where she was now. She was a strong, intelligent woman who
had always had a goal and she had been relentless in her ambition.
A woman like Angela Copeland was anathema to everything that
Monique believed in.

“Could she possibly want to get in touch with
Griffin as part of some mid-life crisis?” I asked. “Maybe she has
regrets about what she did and wants to make it right.”

“
Oh Trudie,”
Monique said in that tone she uses that tells me that my simple
naiveté is so appealing, yet so stupid at the same time.

“I really don’t think that Angela Copeland
has any regrets about the way she has lived her life. What she does
have is a father who is ill.”

“Griffin has a grandfather?” I said. “Neither
of them have ever told me about any family other that Angela.”

“
I am
guessing that the grandfather does not even know about Griffin. My
information is that Angela has a tendency to disappear from his
life on a constant basis. The people I spoke to say that chances
are George Copeland does not even know that Angela was married and
he definitely doesn’t know about the child. My information says
that if he had known there would have been a very different outcome
to the situation. George Copeland is a very determined man. He
would have wanted his grandson.”

I understood now. It was possibly better for
Lee that Angela’s father had not known about the baby boy she had
given birth to. At least it meant that he could raise Griffin
without interference from someone with very deep pockets and the
influence to go with it.

“
George
Copeland is currently ill. His company is looking at succession
planning. A lot of the perks that Angela Copeland is so fond of
come through the
company
,” Monique
said.

I understood.
Angela did not want her son in her life because she regretted
abandoning him. She wanted him because he had a possible economic
value. I did not understand how someone could be that selfish and
uncaring about her own child.

“
Thank you
Monique,” I said as I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my
nose.

“
If there is
anything else I can do for you Trudie, you know you only have to
ask,” Monique said before hanging up.

I leaned back against my couch, sighed and
put the ice cream tub against my face.

The next morning I threw myself into my work. I
was having trouble with a particular part of the recording and
started downloading software to try to clean it up. I was
concentrating on what I was hearing so hard that I almost missed my
cell ringing
, where I’d left it in my
bedroom.

“
Hello,” I
said a little
breathlessly
, hoping it was
Griffin.

“Hello Trudie, it’s Angela.”

Angela, Angela. I had to stop and think for a
moment until my brain kicked in. Oh right, Angela.

“
Hi Angela,
what can I do for you?” I asked, while wondering where she had
found my phone number.

“
I’ve been
trying to get hold of Jake but he isn’t answering the phone,” she
said, her voice dripping with concern.

“
He’s on a
case at the moment,” I said. “When that happens you generally don’t
get any contact for days.” Sadly enough that was true. When there
is a homicide case, minutes count. I had become used to the early
morning phone calls which signaled me losing all contact with
Griffin for up to a week at a time.

“Oh
,” said
Angela regretfully. “We had so much fun yesterday, I was hoping to
catch up with him again today.”

Obviously Angela remembered our lunch
completely differently to the way I remembered it.

“
Why don’t
you come and meet me for a coffee?” she said cheerfully.

I really
didn’t want to, but I had a feeling that Griffin’s mother was
determined to insinuate herself into his life, however she could.
With Griffin unable to be contacted, it looked like buttering up
the girlfriend was the next order of business.

Sitting in
the cafe that Angela had suggested, I knew this meeting had all the
hallmarks of a very bad idea. Unfortunately by the time I started
to think that a phone call saying my car had broken down and I
couldn’t make it was in order, Angela was standing at the door, her
eyes sweeping the area. When she saw me she couldn’t hide the
slight look of distaste. Admittedly I hadn’t exactly dressed up for
her and despite the fact I had once again tried to hide the
bruising with makeup, I still looked quite the sight. Angela sat
down opposite me.

“Are you sure you should be out Trudie?” she
asked, her eyes glued to the makeup that was caked onto my
face.

“
I got hurt
during a robbery yesterday after lunch,” I said. “One of those
things unfortunately”.

“Where do you work?”

“
I’m a
personal assistant. I have various clients in differing locations,”
I said
airily
, hoping that I was being
appropriately vague. Despite the fact she had only just started
showing an interest in her son, there was no way that I was telling
the mother of my boyfriend that I was currently working at a strip
club. Some things are just not meant to be shared. Lucky for me the
woman only had the ability to pretend interest in me for a very
short period of time.

“
I’m so glad
we have this opportunity to get to know each other,” Angela said as
she grasped my hand on the table. “It’s so important to me that I
have a chance to get to know my son.”

I cocked my head to one side. “Why?”

“What do you mean why?” she said coldly,
pulling her hand back. She still kept the smile going though.

“
Why is it so
important for you to get to know Griffin now? He’s thirty years
old. Surely the time to get to know your son was when he was a
child and needed your hugs. Maybe when he was a teenager and needed
some guidance. Those were the times when he would have welcomed his
mother wanting to be a part of his life.” I knew I was probably
overstepping my bounds, but I was very much afraid that this woman
was going to hurt Griffin badly. If there was anyone who could hurt
him it would be his mother.

“
You are
being very impertinent,” Angela said frostily.

Yes I was,
and frankly, my mother would be appalled.

“
Let me make
a suggestion as to why I think you are so interested in having Jake
back in your life. Your father is not well. All of a sudden he is
looking at the legacy he is leaving behind and all he has is you.
Considering what I’ve found out about your father I am guessing
there have been a few discussions between the two of you about the
way you have led your life. A man that ambitious and driven would
have hoped for a child with the same qualities. Unfortunately you
seem to be the complete opposite to your father don’t you? I’m
guessing that inheritance issues have been coming up, so you’ve
decided to hang in front of your father the only carrot you have. A
grandson. A strong, honorable grandson, with his work ethic and
determination.” I shook my head. Not for the first time I wondered
how this woman could possibly be Griffin’s mother. “Using your son
for your own economic gain is reprehensible and in this case it
won’t work. Griffin isn’t going to be as easily manipulated as you
obviously think he is.”

“
What would
you know?” Angela hissed and I was relieved. Now I could see the
real woman, not the fake one she had been presenting to us. At
least now I could see who I was going to be protecting Griffin
from.

“
I know that
Griffin doesn’t need a mother who is only using him. I would
suggest you find another way to get your inheritance,” I said as I
rose from the table.

I could feel the wave of anger aimed at my
back as I walked out. I felt sick. I had just made an enemy of
Griffin’s mother. It may not have been the wisest decision I
made.

I was going to need some time to work out how
I was going to explain to Griffin that I had completely alienated
his mother. Of course, because that is the way the universe worked
for me, Griffin was waiting in my apartment when I got home.

“
I was just
about to call you,” he said waving his phone around.

“
No need
now,” I said tightly.

“Where have you been?” Griffin asked
slowly.

“
Out,” I
said.

Griffin waited for a couple of seconds.
“What’s going on here Trudie?”

“
Nothing,” I
said brightly, wondering how long I was going to have to keep this
up before he gave up and left. I should have remembered that
Griffin was made of sterner stuff than that.

He sighed.
“Trudie, I need you to be honest with me. Something is going on and
you need to tell me what that something is, because I can’t read
your mind. Lord knows I wish I could because it would make my life
so much easier.”

It was the
exasperation in his voice that got me. “I just met with your mother
and now she hates me,” I said.

Griffin stopped. “Why does my mother hate
you? Actually, no, let’s start at the beginning. Why did you meet
my mother? Wasn’t yesterday’s lunch enough of a torture for
you?”