Fade to Blue by Bill Moody Read Free Book Online

stuff.”
    “No, I’d prefer someplace we can talk. You know where Point Dume is?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Okay. Turn in the road there. There’s a restaurant at the bottom of the hill by the beach. Half hour?”
    “See you there.”
    I park Ryan’s BMW and look across the parking lot to a strip of beach, suddenly realizing that’s where the trailer James Garner lived in the
Rockford Files
series. Inside, I find Grant Robbins already in a booth by a window, drinking coffee and staring at the ocean. He half rises to shake hands and signals a waitress.
    “Thanks for coming. It was just too wild last night.” He’s dressed casually in slacks and a sweater.
    “No problem.” I order pancakes and sausage.
    “Over easy with bacon and toast for me,” Robbins tells the waitress. She pours some coffee for me and leaves us.
    “First things first,” Robbins says. He looks around, making sure we’re out of earshot, although there are only a few people scattered about. “That was really something you did yesterday. Ryan is very grateful and so am I.”
    I shrug. “No big thing.”
    “Yes it was. A very big thing, and keeping it quiet is even bigger. You do understand that don’t you?”
    “I haven’t called the
National Enquirer
if that’s what you mean.”
    “I’m sorry,” Robbins says. “I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”
    “Why did he do it?”
    “Who knows. He can be careless, reckless even. Trying to impress you. I don’t know. Look, Ryan is this young guy, competent actor, who quite suddenly became a big movie star. He makes millions per picture. He’s been thrust in the limelight in such a big way, the pressure sometimes gets to be too much. You’ve seen these new kids. Money, fame, drugs, arrests, scandals. Ryan has money, power, fame, control, but he can’t swim.”
    Robbins stops as the waitress brings our order and refills our coffee cups. He digs in then looks at me. “Ryan just wanted me to talk to you, kind of reassure him.”
    I wondered when that had happened. Sometime during the party? “Tell him he has nothing to worry about with me. Is that why we’re meeting here?”
    “Not entirely. I know you must have some questions you’d probably not discuss in front of Ryan.”
    “Actually, I do.” I take a few bites of my pancakes thinking about it. “I can show Ryan about the piano, but he has to realize that it’s up to him to work it out. I can’t do it for him.”
    “No problem there. He’s obsessed. He’ll put in the time. I guarantee it, and he’ll try to become your friend in the process. Believe me, he’s very impressed with you, both as a person and a musician.”
    I look up at Robbins. “Am I missing something?”
    Robbins gestures at me with his fork. “You’ve earned your place. You studied, practiced, nurtured your talent, and overcame a tremendous setback when you had that car accident.” He glances at my right wrist. “Still give you any trouble?”
    “Sometimes.” I flash back to the months of physical therapy, the counseling before I could return to playing full time. “It was a long road to recovery.”
    “Exactly,” Robbins says, “but you did it and also survived some other pretty scary experiences.”
    He knows it all without going into detail. “I got myself into those situations,” I say.
    “You also got yourself out. Ryan admires you for that. It wasn’t a script made up for a movie. That was real life. You dealt with a real serial killer and helped bring her down.”
    I push my plate aside. “We don’t really have to go into that do we.”
    “Of course not,” Robbins says. “I’m sorry for bringing it up. I’m just trying to tell you where Ryan is coming from in regard to you.”
    “So what about this new movie. You were serious about me scoring it?”
    Robbins looks genuinely surprised. “Absolutely. We just have some contract details to work out.”
    “To do even some preliminary sketching it would be nice to know what