A Death In Beverly Hills by David Grace Read Free Book Online Page A

was firm and dry. "How do you like this place? One of my little hideaways where the tourists can't find me." Travis swept his arm in an expansive gesture as if proclaiming the La Paloma part of his personal domain. "It's just the three of us tonight, Elena had a thing," Travis said referring to his current girlfriend. Travis paused, then broke into a sour grin. "Actually, she's pissed at me. She doesn't have Lynn's sunny personality. Everything's a freaking drama. I guess that's what I get for dating an actress." Tom spotted a white-coated bus boy and waved him over. "Bring me a nice red, French. Champagne for you Lynn? Steve, what's your poison."
    "I'll have whatever you're having."
    "Great choice! You got that son?" Travis pressed a twenty in the kid's palm and turned away.
    "Lynn, you look terrific, as always. You hit a home run with this lady, Steve. If I had had any sense I'd have dumped Sally Sizemore the instant I laid eyes on Lynn, but timing is everything, right? My loss is your gain." A waiter brought their drinks.
    "I couldn't agree with you more, Tom." Steve let his words hang in the air like a toast and clinked Travis's glass.
    "Happy days," Lynn said when Tom's goblet kissed hers.
    For a man having girlfriend trouble, Travis seemed in high spirits, regaling them with celebrity anecdotes and inside jokes. A few times he slipped into reminiscences with Lynn about some society family or charitable function and Steve used the void to order another drink.
    "So, Steve," Travis said shortly after their meals arrived, "I understand that you were a cop before you joined the D.A.'s office. You ever in any hairy situations while you were on the street?"
    "I was shot at a couple of times. Luckily, they missed." Steve smiled and cut a piece of veal.
    "You get the chance to shoot back?"
    "They frowned on us letting the bad guys get away with that sort of stuff."
    "So, did they?"
    "What?"
    "Get away."
    Steve paused and glanced at Travis's glistening face above the candle flame. His teeth were so white that he seemed like the Cheshire Cat, slowly disappearing until only his smile was left behind. "No," Steve said, putting down his fork. "They didn't get away."
    "So you took care of business, both times?"
    "Yeah." Steve finished his last swallow of wine.
    "See, Steve, that's how you're different from the phonies in my business. If any of them had put a guy down, that's all they'd talk about and every time they told the story there'd be another bad guy in the mix. See, that's why I wanted to meet you.--"
    "Excuse me?"
    "Lynn told me a little about you, the kind of stand-up guy you are." Steve gave Lynn a quick glance that seemed to bounce off unnoticed. "I'm doing a new film, In The Dead Of Night . I play a lawyer who used to be a cop who's defending this beautiful woman who's accused of killing her cheating husband. We need to hire somebody as the technical advisor."
    "If you're going to play a defense attorney--"
    "There are going to be some flashbacks to when the hero was a beat cop. And here's the twist, when he was a cop he was involved with the defendant, crazy about her, but she dumped him for the husband. Now, years later, she begs him to defend her, and he's still crazy in love with her and he keeps remembering being with her during his days as a cop. So, we'll have to get an advisor for the cop stuff and one for the lawyer stuff." Travis pointed his finger at Steve like a cocked gun. "Bam, two birds with one stone. We'd only need you for a few days of actual shooting, maybe you could schedule some vacation time, and you'd have to look over the script and give the director your notes."
    "I--"
    "There's a ten grand payday in it. Not like you guys need the money, but, hey, that would cover a nice little getaway for you two down to Saint Barts. Am I right?"
    Steve glanced at Lynn who was working so hard at not showing any emotion that in the dim light her face looked like a marble mask.
    "Maybe somebody from the studio could