His face drained of blood but he didn’t move.
“Jessica had an affair with you,” I said. “The way I figure it when Will got in trouble he called her and in turn she called you and because of your affair with Jessica you got Will off and even got the D.A. to drop the charges against him. How am I doing?”
“You can’t prove this,” he said.
“I don’t have to,” I said. “I call Judge Henry and I’m pretty sure you’re career in California is over. Now I know by the time Will got arrested he was no longer involved with Jessica’s friend but what I don’t know is who contacted Jessica’s friend that got in contact with you. Who was the one who planned it the whole thing.”
“I knew Jessica was going to be more trouble than she was worth,” he said.
“Give me the name of the one who told Jessica’s friend to call you.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “All I know is Jessica said someone got in contact with Flo and said to call me to get that idiot Will out of jail.”
“Who’s Flo?”
“Flo is a friend of Jessica who received the first phone call from whoever set things in motion.”
“And Flo never said who contacted her?”
“I never asked.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to put it behind me as fast as possible,” he said. “My career was on the line. Do you know what would have happened if it came out that I was having an affair with the wife of the most powerful man in the Los Angeles court system?”
“Nothing good, I’m thinking.”
“Nothing good,” he repeated.
“So you really don’t know who contacted Flo?”
“Didn’t I say that?” he said as he seemed to come to his senses. “Now get out of my office.”
I had nothing else to ask him so I left.
I walked past Mildred the receptionist and smiled at her. She looked as if she would have shot me if she had a gun. Obviously she was in denial about her feelings about me.
14
By 5:07 p.m. I was sitting in my office with my feet up on my desk and my eyes closed. Ashley was at home and I was talking on my cell phone to Lieutenant Marv Seville using my Bluetooth.
“So what did you learn down in Hollywood?” he asked.
“I solved the case of an old affair that no one was investigating,” I said.
“Do tell.”
I told him about my conversation with McCallister. I was getting a headache just repeating it.
“So you busted the guy’s chops about running around with a married woman,” he said when I was finished.
“Pretty much,” I said.
“Shoulda called that Judge, wassisface,”
“Henry.”
“Yeah, call Judge Henry and spilled it to him,” he said. “Lawyer shouldn’t be able to get away with something like that.”
“No one hired me to find out who Judge Henry’s wife was sleeping with,” I said.
“Too bad.”
“Yeah.”
The window was open and the air in the office smelled clean. I liked fresh air as opposed to running the air conditioner even though I would run it in a minute if it got too hot.
“So what’cha gonna do now?” Marv asked.
“Drink coffee and wait for my heartbeat to speed up,” I said.
“You ever a cop?”
“No, was in the academy for a while.”
“Doesn’t count.”
“Then no,” I said, “I’ve never been a cop.”
“There’s a lot of rules we have to follow,” he said. “Rules that exist for a reason. Procedures and stuff to make sure things are done properly.”
My eyes were still closed as I listened to Marv talk. I didn’t know him very well so I wasn’t sure if he always talked around a subject until he got to where he wanted to go so I just listened.
“You don’t have to follow the same rules we do,” he said. “You can do some things that we can’t and then we can make a case of it from there.”
I opened my eyes and sat up in my chair.
“You’re saying I can put pressure on Will and find out who he called in the first place when he got arrested,” I said.
“I can’t tell you what to do,” he said. “But it was me, and I was a P.I., I’d lean on the guy because he don’t know your evidence might not be admissible in a court of law.”
“I’d be taking a chance that this has anything to do with what’s happening with Ruth,” I said.
“Be an even bigger chance it turns out it does and you didn’t follow up on it.”
“Good point.”
“Of course, that’s just what I’d do.”
“Point taken,” I said.
15
By 6:22 p.m. I was in Ruth’s house sitting in the living room with Will. Ruth was in her room sleeping because she had a headache. I knew the feeling.
“She get headaches often?” I asked Will.
“Off and on since I’ve known her,” he said.
He was sitting on the sofa and I was across from him on the loveseat with a coffee table between us. Lights were on in the house even though there was still at least an hour and a half of daylight left.
“So what do you want?” he asked.
“When you got busted for selling steroids you were arrested,” I said.
“Didn’t we already talk about this?”
“New angle, bear with me.”
He shrugged his massive shoulders and said nothing.
“You called someone who called someone else and that person called the wife of a powerful judge and got you the lawyer who helped you beat the case,” I said. “Who did you call?”
For a second he looked confused.
“You don’t remember who you called from jail?” I asked.
“What does that have to do with this?” he asked.
“Don’t know ‘til you tell me,” I said.
“I’m not tellin’ you anything,” he said.
“If you don’t tell me then I have to find out another way,” I said. “And that would mean asking the wife of the judge and working my way back. Now that would take a little longer but the results would be the same only along with me finding out what I want a whole lot of people get their secrets exposed as well and some of them will probably blame you. And if they had enough pull to get you out trouble in the first place then it would only be a matter of time before you get busted for something else and they make that stick.”
I had his attention. I could see his mind working so I hit him with, “I saw you in downtown Oakland the other day.”
He looked up at me.
“You been following me?” he said.
“I happened to be in the area and you were driving a Porsche.”
He swore loudly then said nothing.
“Are you in some sort of trouble?” I asked.
“You’re messing everything up,” he said.
“Will, if you’re in trouble I might be able to help you but you have to tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t tell you anything,” he said. “But I can tell you I don’t know who called the judge and got that lawyer for me.”
“Whoever you called from jail made that call,” I said.
“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “That’s not true.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I do,” he said.
“Then who did you call?”
“Why is that important?”
“Because I’m trying to find out who is stalking Ruth and your past came up so now I have to figure out if the two relate and the only way to do that is to untangle this whole mess,” I said.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There was no movement in the house and no sounds except the sounds of the house settling.
“Ruth says you can be trusted,” he said. “Is that true?”
“Trusted how, not to repeat what you tell me?”
“Yeah.”
/> “I can’t promise I won’t repeat it because if it helps me catch the stalker then I have to keep my word to Ruth,” I said.
He looked up at me from his seat and studied me for a second.
“I’m not dealing ‘roids again,” he said.
“Then what were you doing in Oakland?”
“Selling information.”
“Selling information?”
He nodded.
“Tell me about it,” I said.
“I’ve been selling information to the tabloids about Ruth Addems being stalked,” he said.
“Why?”
“For the cash,” he said.
“I thought Ruth took care of you.”
“You think I want to live off her?”
“But you’re willing to sell her privacy,” I said.
“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” he said.
“So you were meeting a reporter in Oakland,” I said.
He nodded.
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“If you tell him I told you he’ll ruin me.”
“If you don’t you’re dealings with him will come out and you’ll be ruined anyway,” I said. “Being a trainer to actors I can’t imagine you getting much work if this comes out. But I might be able to find out what I want and keep you out of it.”
“Really?” he said looking hopeful.
“I can’t make any promises but I’ll try.”
“Lance Cole,” he said. “Works for a magazine called The Exclusive Literary Lifeline.”
TELL, cute.
“How do I get in contact with Lance Cole?” I asked.
“Go to the magazine website and you can email him and if he thinks you have a story worth telling he’ll get in contact with you.”
“Okay,” I said. “But if I can get you off the hook with this Lance guy you’re going to tell me who you called from jail, deal?”
“You get me off the hook with Lance I’ll tell you what you wanna know,” he said.
I went back to my office.
16
I sent an email to Lance Cole through the magazine website with the implication that I had information about who was stalking Ruth Addems and it took three days for him to get back to me and set up a meeting. Ruth didn’t have any problems during that time and there wasn’t much I could do but finish painting my office. My email was set up to go to my phone like a text message so by the time I heard from Lance my office was back in order.
We set up a time for later that afternoon so all I could do was wait.
I was sitting in my office when a tall Black man wearing jeans and a Cal Berkeley football jersey walked in. His hair was short and he had a neatly trimmed goatee. Definitely the same guy I saw talking to Will that day in downtown Oakland.
“You Rey?” he asked.
“Lance?” I said.
He nodded as I stood and we shook hands. Lance was taller than me by maybe an inch making him about 6’1” and he was thin with white even teeth.
“Have a seat,” I said.
“I like the way you dress,” he said.
I was wearing a white A’s jersey with loose jeans and white Nikes.
“So you have information about Ruth Addems being stalked?” he said.
“Something like that.”
“I’d heard she hired a local P.I.”
“Private Investigator,” I corrected him.
“Heard you were touchy about being called a P.I.,” he said. I fought the urge to punch him in the mouth. “What I didn’t know was that she had hired you.”
I shrugged.
“I know a little something about you,” he said. “And you’re not meeting with me to give me any information, so that means you want something from me.”
I smiled.
“Yeah,” he said. “I was told you were a boy scout who wouldn’t sell out a client. Had to meet you for myself.”
I shrugged.
“So what is it you want?” he said.
“Will Leismuller is selling you information,” I said.
“Yes,” he said as if I’d asked him a question.
“He’s about to stop,” I said.
“Why would he do that?”
“Because I’m saying so.”
“And I’m supposed to be okay with this?”
“I’m not really concerned with what you’ll be okay with.”
“Can’t stop Will from not contacting me but I do have proof he was the leak and I can print it, should he decide to stop feeding me information.”
“That wouldn’t be good,” I said. “So what if I give you another angle.”
“Like?”
“Like I’m working on it and can give you my word that you won’t walk away empty handed if you let Will off the hook.”
He sat and looked at me for a few seconds then said, “I get the exclusive.”
I nodded.
“They say your word is good,” he said.
“If I actually knew who ‘They’ were I’d probably be excited about that,” I said.
Lance looked at me for a second trying to decide if he would trust me or not.
“Okay,” he finally said. “I’ll hold off. How long do you need?”
“Shouldn’t be long,” I said.
“Will hasn’t been giving much new information as of late anyway,” he said.
Then he handed me his business card and I gave him one of mine.
“I’ll wait to hear from you,” he said.
Then he walked out of my office. One problem solved and about a thousand more to go.
17
“Lance Cole won’t be bothering you anymore,” I said to Will.
We were standing in front of Ruth’s house. The sun was bright and the street was quiet.
“How did you manage that?” he asked.
“Not your concern,” I said. “Now let’s have the name of the person you called the night you got arrested.”
He looked around as if anyone really cared what we were talking about. I waited for him to feel safe talking to me. Somewhere I could hear the faint sound of a golf ball being hit and it reminded me that there was a golf course right behind the house. I half expected someone to yell ‘Four!’, but no one did.
“You have to promise to keep her out of this,” he said.
“I’ll do what I can,” I said. “But you know how this works.”
He nodded and said, “Mildred James.”
“McCallister’s receptionist?” I said.
“My Aunt,” he said.
It made sense. She would know about McCallister’s affair and Will being her nephew was motive to get the ball rolling to get him out of jail.
“Why didn’t you just tell me this before?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to get her involved,” he said. “Me getting arrested all those years ago has nothing to do with Ruth getting stalked.”
I was starting to believe him.
“I need you to call your Aunt and tell her I need to talk to her and that she needs to talk to me,” I said.
“Okay,” he said.
It was time for another trip to Hollywood. Oh boy.
18
By 10:42 a.m. the next morning I was back at the law offices of McCallister, Durahm and Ayala. This time I didn’t bother getting a hotel room or renting a car. I took a cab directly from Burbank to the law offices. I didn’t plan on staying overnight.
I talked to Mildred and she said Will had called her and she would speak with me but it would have to wait until she went on her lunch break so I had over an hour to kill.
I stood outside the building watching people come and go. The last time I was there I’d worn slacks with a shirt and tie, this time around I was in a black Raiders jersey with black loose jeans and black Nikes with a white swoosh. No one who walked past seemed impressed. In fact a couple of women gripped their purses a little tighter and one guy in a suit walked as close to the building, away from me, as he possible could withou
t brushing the wall as he went past. I still had it.
At 12:03 p.m. Mildred walked out of the building. She was maybe 5’6” and thin and her red hair was even brighter in the sunlight. She walked with her back straight and showed dignity without looking arrogant. I met her at the front of the building.
“Anywhere you’d like to go for lunch that doesn’t require driving?” I asked. “I took a cab from the airport.”
She looked me up and down and said, “A cab actually picked you up?”
“Thought I was a rapper,” I said with a smile.
She didn’t smile. Nice to know she hadn’t changed.
“There is a deli a couple of blocks from here that I enjoy,” she said. “I don’t have to be back until one thirty so there is no rush.”
We walked in silence.
The place was called Joe’s Deli and it looked nice enough. There were tables set for outside eating as well as some inside. Mildred wanted to eat inside out of the sun. I went along and thought Ashley would have wanted to sit outside. The prices for a pastrami on whole wheat, chicken salad and two ice teas was ridicules. But I paid without complaining.
“What has my nephew got himself involved with this time?” she asked when our food was in front of us.
“He’s not the real issue right now,” I said.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“He’s living with an actress by the name of Ruth Addems,” I said.
“Still?”
“You know he’s with her?”
“Of course I do,” she said as if it were a silly question.
I decided to go with it and see where it would lead.
“How long has he been with Ruth?”
“Since before his arrest,” she said. “Before that he took up with many women. I don’t approve of his involvement but what can you tell kids these days?”
“I agree totally,” I said.
She looked up at me and said, “Young man, are you mocking me?”
“No,” I said. “I just tend to be a little old fashioned about things.”
She studied me as if trying to decide if I was playing games then nodded very slightly and began eating her salad. I tried my pastrami sandwich and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth what I had paid for it.