Hollywood Forbidden: A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller by Kelly M.Z

Author:Kelly, M.Z. [Kelly, M.Z.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2014-09-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

We were starving by the time we finished up with Claudette Shaw so I pulled off the freeway in Hollywood for lunch. It was my chance to give Buck a brief tour of the city where I lived and worked.

“From what I’m told, Hollywood owes its origins to the temperance movement. Settlers came west where they had strict laws against any form of alcohol and they had absolutely no use for actors.”

Buck turned away from me, his gaze fixing on the costumed characters on the sidewalk in front of Grauman’s, or what is now called the TLC Theater, as we passed the famed attraction. Everyone from Batman to Chewbacca to SpongeBob was on parade.

My partner met my eyes. “Wonder what they’d think if they could see this place now?”

I laughed. “They’d probably start drinking.”

We stopped at Kings Road Café on Beverly Drive and took seats on the outdoor patio. The restaurant was small, giving the impression of a small town neighborhood café, but the food was to die for and the prices reasonable. After ordering drinks and sandwiches we recapped what we’d learned from Claudette Shaw.

“If Harvey Brill was paying Derek Shaw and another kid to find girls for the Blue Hoods it seems likely that Clay Aster was also involved,” I said.

Buck took a sip of bottled water. “It would seem to fit. Maybe they got on the wrong side of one or more fellow club members and paid the ultimate price for it.”

“It’s also hard for me to believe that Carly Lucia didn’t know about any of this.”

“Or Hal Quinton for that matter.”

“Maybe they’ve both got ties to the Blue Hoods, although Quinton doesn’t seem the type.” I poured a packet of sugar into my iced tea. “It could be they had some kind of financial interest in what was going on.”

Buck’s blue eyes glazed over, his gaze moving off to where cars buzzed up and down the road. He finally looked back at me. “I’ve got a feeling this thing is a lot bigger than we thought and somebody’s going to a whole lot of trouble to keep it all covered up.”

“I think we should go back to Quinton and Lucia when we get back on the island. Maybe put them in a box at the station and get serious.”

“I’ll make a call after lunch, see what I can arrange.”

I studied him for a moment after our sandwiches arrived. He seemed distracted, bothered by the noise and traffic of the city. “I can tell you’re not much of a city boy.”

He smiled, crinkling up his eyes in that way that melted me. “Is it that obvious?”

I nodded, returned the smile. “Tell me something. What was Buck McCade like as a boy?”

“Just a barefoot kid on a bay, out look’n for whatever trouble he could find.”

“A bay?”

“A horse, light red in color. I called her Ginger.” He laughed. “We had this thing we’d do most every day. I’d saddle her up and ride out at dawn. In the spring there was this big field of clover where Ginger liked to refill her tank.

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