Chapter 30
Nick’s face went stiff, and his eyes rounded when I flashed my badge. He was too coked up to notice it was the wrong county. The up-and-coming movie star swallowed hard and wiped the residual powder from his nose.
"I understand you used to be repped by Vivian Steele?”
"Yeah. What's it to you?”
"I'm investigating her death."
His brow wrinkled with confusion.
"I know West Beverly has a suspect they like in the case,” I said. “But I'm not certain.”
“I heard that guy shot himself.”
"How would you characterize your relationship with Vivian?”
"I don't have a relationship with Vivian anymore. Vivian is dead."
I gave him a flat look.
"She was very special to me. Gave me a start when no one else would.”
"So why did you leave her?”
Nick took a deep breath. "That's a good question. I'm glad you asked. To tell you the truth, I regretted leaving her. It was a bad decision on my part. Vivian stood by me through everything.” After a sigh, he said, "I guess I got greedy. Rachel offered to take far less, and every dollar counts.”
"$200 million is a nice payday.”
Nick smiled. "Yes. Yes, it is. I'm very blessed."
"I bet Vivian was pretty upset with you.”
Nick frowned. "Yeah. She was. And I really hate that we went out on bad terms.”
It was all starting to come together in my mind. "Did she threaten you? Threaten your career?"
The muscles in his jaw flexed. "No. We had some unpleasant exchanges. But she never threatened me."
"Are you sure? Vivian was pretty well known to have dirt on everyone. Did she have dirt on you?"
He laughed. "I’m squeaky clean.”
"I see that."
"Look, it was great meeting you. Do you want an autograph or anything?”
I forced a smile. "No. Thank you.”
Nick started away, but I caught up to him. "Just one more thing. Where were you the night Vivian was murdered?”
He scoffed, "What!?"
"You heard me.”
"I don't have to say shit to you.”
"Would you prefer to go to jail for felony possession of narcotics?”
Nick frowned and glanced around, looking for someone to save him. "I was with some girl.”
"I’ll need her name.”
He scoffed again. "You expect me to remember these sluts’ names?”
I dug into my pocket and handed him a card. "In case you suddenly remember."
He took the card, looked at it, and tossed it on the ground before walking off.
I rejoined Flynn, JD, and Scarlett.
Flynn was giddy. "Did you see the look on his face when you flashed your badge? I thought he was going to have a heart attack.”
"I see why nobody likes that guy,” I said.
“People have a lot of money invested in him,” Flynn said.
“I think Vivian knew where all his skeletons were buried. I bet she threatened to wreck the whole deal and drag him through the mud.”
"That might be motivation to shut her up," Jack said.
I called Isabella and asked her to do a deep dive and look for anything that could corroborate my theory. Nick Shaw had jumped to the top of my suspect list, but anybody involved in his six-picture deal could have had a hand in Vivian's demise.
We mixed and mingled and stepped poolside, enjoying the evening. Flames in the fire pit flickered, glowing faces. The sea breeze drifted across the cliffs. It was a beautiful evening.
Nick didn't stay long. He got the hell out of there.
Joel arrived and greeted us with a handshake and a bro hug. I caught him up to speed on everything.
"I told you, they’re covering something up," he said, feeling somewhat vindicated.
"I don't have proof of anything yet," I replied. "But I'm working on it.” After a pause, I said, "Did Vivian mention anything to you about Nick?”
"Only that she felt betrayed. The guy was a nobody when she found him. He'd still be a nobody.”
"What kind of dirt did she have on him?"
Joel shrugged. "Vivian took all of her secrets to her grave."
My phone buzzed with a call from Isabella. I answered and held the phone to my ear. "What have you got?"
"I think you’ll find this interesting. I looked at Nick’s cell history.
Something odd happened about six weeks ago.
His phone was at a bar on Sunset until about 1:00 AM.
Eclipse. He left the club and went back to his house in the hills, according to the cell records.
Then he called Vivian's phone at 2:33 AM.
Why would he need to call his agent at that time of the morning? "
I shrugged and played devil’s advocate. "Maybe he met somebody at the club and wanted to talk business. A studio exec, director, producer, who knows?"
"All well and good," she said. "But after he called, Vivian's phone goes off the grid."
"Battery died," I said, offering a potential theory.
"A little less than an hour later, Nick left his house. 15 or 20 minutes after that, Vivian's phone pops up on the grid at Nick's house and calls a burner in Culver City, then goes off the grid again."
It was looking suspicious.
Isabella continued, "That burner phone in Culver City goes off the grid. It never comes back on the grid. That person dumped the phone."
I started putting all the pieces together.
"Nick didn't leave the club alone. Why would he?” It didn't take an advanced degree to sort it out.
"He brought a girl back to his house, probably fed her a bunch of drugs, and something happened.
Something problematic. Something so distressing, he had to call his agent.
Then his agent called a fixer." I looked at Joel, and he shrugged innocently.
"Sounds reasonable to me," Isabella said.
Then it clicked. "There's a missing girl.” I dug in my pocket and pulled out the flyer the guy had given me on Melrose. “Molly Dean. Look into her and see what you can find.”
"I'm on it," she said before ending the call.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket and asked Joel, "How far would Vivian go for a client?”
"The ends of the earth. Whatever it took.”
"Would she go as far as to cover up a murder?"
Joel hesitated. "Depends on the client."
"How about a client looking at a $200-million deal?"
He frowned, not wanting to think that way about Vivian.
"Who would she call if she needed to dispose of a body in a hurry?”
Joel shrugged. "I don't know.”
I gave him a doubtful look. "Please,” I scoffed. “She probably had a fixer on speed dial. I'm sure half the people in this town do.”