Box Office Poison by Phillipa Bornikova

Author:Phillipa Bornikova [Bornikova, Phillipa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Contemporary, Fantasy, Urban
ISBN: 9780765326836
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2013-08-06T07:00:00+00:00

14

Pizer gave me the less then happy news when I arrived at the office: David wasn’t going to be in today, so I got to preside. Which raised the question: why? It wasn’t like vampires took sick days.

“Is he in LA?” I asked Pizer.

“I believe not,” was the cautious response.

I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what that meant. David had been called back to the New York office to report. Since we were maybe halfway through the arbitration, that could only mean one thing. He was reporting about me and my latest adventure. Which meant I was once more under scrutiny from the senior partners. So you better do a kick ass job today, came the unwelcome thought.

Since I had to do David’s job, I figured I could use David’s office. This was nothing against Merlin, but if I was going to play judge for the first time in my life and the partners were turning their attention to me, I wanted time to gather my wits and confidence, and that was a process better done in private.

Two cups of coffee later, and Junie let me know the parties had assembled. I gathered up the files, a legal pad, and several pens and headed to the conference room. Jeff was in his usual position, seated in a chair against the wall. There were shadows under his eyes, and he seemed smaller and thinner, as if the events on the Warner lot had diminished him physically as well as emotionally. We didn’t speak, and he even looked away as I passed. Trying to avoid any hint of impropriety? Or was I just a painful reminder. I know how seeing him affected me. I shook off the memories of that day and settled at the head of the table. Sheila LeBlanc stood and gave a small tug to straighten her gray jacket. There was a large, somewhat abstract pin of a jaguar pinned to her lapel. The way it was placed made it appear it was about to savage her left breast.

“Before we start with evidence I want to bring to your attention a disturbing discovery.” Her eyes shifted to where Jeff sat in his usual position against the wall.

“Very well,” I said.

“We have learned that Mrs. Montolbano—Kate Billingham—is a member of a cult religion known as the Phase Change Center, based on Álfar beliefs. We wish to determine if Mr. Montolbano is also a member of this cult. If so, it might explain his sudden and unwarranted intervention, some could even say intrusion, into this case. These are important issues, and they should have been heard before a court of law, not in an arbitration.”

Jeff’s spine stiffed as if he’d been hit with a cattle prod. The reaction did not make me happy. Generally that meant something had hit a nerve. I noticed that Qwendar on the other side of the room shot Jeff a look that was hard to interpret.

“It seems an odd time to be raising this issue, Ms.

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