The Malibu House by Tasmina Perry

Author:Tasmina Perry [Perry, Tasmina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sunflower & Co
Published: 2024-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Natasha had only been to Pasadena once before. She had met a boy named ‘Karl’ in the queue for In-N-Out Burger on Sunset Boulevard, and he had invited her to a party that night. The long drive hadn’t been worth it. Karl had done beer bongs and turned into a leery jock; his house had been the only highlight. With white pillars on either side of the door and a wide lawn down to the sidewalk, it had been like an establishing shot in an eighties teen movie. It was perfect, assuming you could ignore the death metal rattling the windows and the reek of hydroweed.

‘Are you okay?’ asked Will, glancing across. They’d driven up in Will’s not-quite-classic Volvo listening to a 90s mix tape – Eels, Teenage Fanclub, late-period Lemonheads – but Natasha had gone quiet as they approached downtown Pasadena. It wasn’t just Karl; it was Natasha’s memories of that whole period. Her college years hadn’t exactly been happy. Ambitious from the outset, Natasha had spent too much time in the library and had failed to find her tribe in her freshman year. Over-compensating in her sophomore and junior years, Natasha had partied hard, then fallen into an ill-advised relationship with a very good-looking visiting professor who had left her gun-shy and cynical.

Her recent adventures into the LA dating scene hadn’t bolstered her hopes for finding a hot, successful, decent guy. She knew that Los Angeles had a reputation for being brutal for single women. Too many men with Peter Pan complexes who didn’t want to settle down and others who were only interested in relationships that could further their careers. Natasha had met them all.

‘Sorry,’ she said, looking across at Will. ‘Just thinking about the story.’

It was a lie, but she wasn’t about to share her sad tale with Will Anders. She didn’t need sympathy; she needed a promotion.

‘So what did you find out about this Helen Kampf?’

It had been Natasha’s job to research the whistleblower’s background, and Will’s job was driving up north LA. It wasn’t how Natasha wanted to spend her Saturday afternoon, but Will had convinced her that they needed to put in some overtime if they were going to keep up the momentum on the story.

‘Didn’t find much,’ she said. ‘Helen Kampf graduated from UC Irvine in the early noughties, she was a political science major, then she started out interning with congressman Bernie Hart.’

Will nodded. Hart had a reputation as a fair, dedicated politician.

‘She moved to the LA county planning department a year later, and she’s been there ever since.’

‘Is she from Pasadena?’

‘Close enough: Eagle Rock.’

He nodded. ‘Explains the address.’

Natasha checked the map on her phone. ‘Left at the stop-light, then two blocks down.’ This part of town consisted of modest detached houses, the lawns far less clipped than she remembered in Karl’s neighbourhood, but there were swing sets and bikes, hints of family life. Will had spotted it, too.

‘Is Helen married? Kids?’

Their source, the wronged mistress Jenna Brooks-Price, had given

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.