Candy Everybody Wants by Kilmer-Purcell Josh

Author:Kilmer-Purcell, Josh [Kilmer-Purcell, Josh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Devlin checked into the Hotel Carlyle at 7:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. It was the hotel where CBS had always put Devlin up back when they needed him for network upfronts and morning show promos. Neither Jayson nor Devlin had any cash left, having spent it all at the club and on cab fare.

Luckily one of the Carlyle’s desk clerks recognized Devlin from years past, and Devlin was able to convince him that he’d just arrived on a storm-delayed red-eye from L.A. When the clerk couldn’t find a reservation, Devlin explained that there must simply been a snafu with the network’s internal travel agency, and promised to clear it up the next morning. Though it was left unspoken, both Jayson and Devlin knew that the ruse could only last for a day—two at most—before they were kicked out.

Devlin snuck Jayson in a side entrance, and they both slept for a few fitful hours before dawn when Devlin snuck Jayson back out so that the hotel wouldn’t notice anything suspicious—or at least anything more suspicious than Devlin’s story already was. Jayson spent Christmas day wandering the empty New York streets after having stolen a jacket from a coffee shop patron who left his chair to use the restroom. He’d never stolen anything before and was plagued with guilt, but tried to justify his actions by assuming his victim must have far more jackets at home than the homeless Jayson did. He had instructions to stay away from the hotel until 9:00 p.m. when Devlin thought it would be safe to sneak him back inside again.

As he walked block after block, Jayson grew more frustrated trying to strategize a way out of their situation. His biggest frustration was knowing he had the money from the Bon Appetite advertising campaign in some bank, somewhere. He regretted leaving Harley in charge of all his finances, having signed the papers from the production company naming Harley as his guardian and business manager. He didn’t suspect any foul play on Harley’s part, but neither did he expect Harley to return to the townhouse to face felony charges simply so that Jayson could get some of his cash.

Jayson tried to distract himself by pretending that he was in an ABC Movie of the Week as a homeless teen who stumbles upon a wizened old bag lady played by Ann-Margret. She would have a scruffy dog—which would turn out to be an angel. He was writing the script for Tears for Santa Paws in his head when he walked by a deli and saw the Christmas afternoon edition of the New York Post.

There it was, in seventy-two-point type on the front cover:

COPS BUST MOVIESTAR&HIS HO-HO-HO’S. Just below it was a huge

photo of Harley leaning against his piano. Jayson waited until the Pakistani man behind the counter turned around to make a fresh pot of coffee before he stole a copy. Stealing was growing frighteningly easy, he thought.

Back in their illegal hotel room that night, he and Devlin pieced together the events that led up to the Christmas Eve raid.

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.