Hollywood Prisoner: A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller Read Online Free Page A

“I met this guy in Starbucks the other day, and he’s…”
    “No,” I said firmly. “I’m not ready for another relationship. This isn’t about the kind of relationship you’re thinking about. It’s about trying to move away from the fear that has consumed my life since my father died and trying to see the beauty and goodness in the world.”
    “That’s gotta be tough with your job,” Mo said. “Hey, I just remembered. I heard that Russell idiot finally got what he had coming.”
    “Do you think Ryland finally whacked him?” Natalie asked.
    I had no idea how they knew about Collin Russell being dead, but my friends had a way of knowing things almost before I did.
    I was noncommittal. “It’s hard to say.”
    Mo took a gulp of her drink, pursed her lips, and exhaled. “Maybe you’ll know more after you search his place tomorrow.”
    What she’d said took their inside knowledge to a new level. “How did you know about that?”
    She smiled and adjusted her red wig. “Word gets ‘round, especially when it comes from a guy who owes us his sanity.”
    I realized that she was talking about my former partner. “Charlie?”
    She shrugged, but otherwise didn’t respond.
    Charlie Winkler had recently come back to work part-time. He’d almost made the fatal mistake of marrying a detective named Jessica Barlow, who had promised to pay off his gambling debts. My friends had registered Charlie on a website for people who were about to make really dumb mistakes and asked for financial help. Our former landlord, Nana, had taken pity on him and paid off his debts, saving him from having to marry Jessica.
    “I’ll betcha that Harlan Ryland bloke is behind everything,” Natalie said, going back to our discussion about the upcoming search of his estate. “Maybe you’ll find proof he offed your daddy.”
    “Maybe,” I said, still trying to be non-committal.
    She and Mo went on for a few minutes, asking me more about my near-death experience. After I told them I felt less fearful about my life and relationships after hearing the voice, Natalie downed the last of her drink and said, “Speaking of relationships. I think Izzy’s cheatin’ on me.”
    “Cheatin’?” Mo said. “If that’s true, we need to make him disappear.”
    Izzy Cluck was a magician. He and Natalie had been together for the better part of the past year. He seemed remarkably normal, despite his chosen profession.
    “I think he’s hookin’ up with one of the assistants in his magic show,” Natalie told us. “I’m gonna get the low down on what’s going down, then I’m gonna work on a payback. The truth is, Izzy can’t brush his teeth while peeing, let alone do real magic.”
    “What you got in mind, baby sis?” Mo asked, rubbing her hands together. “We need to do something to make sure he gets the message.”
    “I’m not sure, yet. Maybe I’ll slap the bum’s ass, use his own magic on him, and change him into a warthog or a hyena with horns.”
    “Speaking of a hyena,” Mo said. “I heard that Nana’s hookin’ up with Claude’s brother Boris.”
    Our eighty-something former landlord’s husband, Claude, had dropped dead on their wedding day, resulting in Nana inheriting his considerable fortune. His brother Boris had contested the will. I’d recently heard that he’d succeeded in getting half of Claude’s net worth back and half of his brother’s former estate, which he was now occupying with Nana.
    Over my protest, Natalie poured us all another drink and said, “Nana’s pretty stressed out ‘bout everything. I heard the bloke looks like some kinda ghoul, just like the rest of the family.”
    “He needs the world’s biggest makeover,” Mo said. “I seen him once, and he looks like he crawled outta a grave.”
    “You mean he looks half-dead?” I asked.
    “Worse than that.”
    “I heard he used to be the mayor of Transylvania,” Natalie said. “He had a reputation for givin’ out vampire hickeys.”
    My