became her escape route, the vehicle that could take her places she’d never been before and she wanted to be a part of it.
Jenny knew that the Hollywood dream was nothing more than a fantasy. Something that existed only in cliched romantic books and films, and she’d read and watched plenty of those. She had to admit she was a dreamer, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Maybe she’d be the lucky one. She had nothing to lose.
At the age of fourteen she started her first job as a popcorn girl. Jenny saved every dime she earned and by her sixteenth birthday she had enough saved up to leave that godforsaken town behind. She swore she’d never go back to Idaho. Jenny never found out about her mother overdosing on sleeping pills only a week after she’d left.
Hollywood was everything she’d expected it to be. A magical place full of beautiful people, lights and fantasies, but the harsh reality of life in the City of Angels was a far cry from the illusion she’d created. Her savings didn’t last long and with no professional training the rejections started piling up like dirty laundry. Her beautiful dream slowly began to turn into a nightmare.
Jenny was introduced to D-King by Wendy Loutrop, another struggling wannabe actress. At first she’d rejected every proposition he’d made her. She’d heard all the stories about beautiful women coming to Hollywood dreaming of becoming a star only to end up working the streets or for the porn-movie industry. Jenny was determined not to give in. She didn’t want to become just another failure story, but her pride had to play second fiddle to her survival instinct, and after several months of phone calls and expensive gifts D-King had himself a new girl.
Jenny never noticed the hand pouring a colorless liquid into her champagne glass. Her eyes were still set on the dancing crowd.
‘Hi there, babe, can I buy you a drink?’ a tall, blond man standing to her right asked with a bright smile.
‘I already have a drink, but thank you for the offer anyway,’ she replied politely without locking eyes with the stranger.
‘Are you sure? I can order us a bottle of Cristal. What do you say, babe?’
Jenny turned and faced the tall blond man. He was smartly dressed wearing a dark-grey Versace suit, a crisp white shirt with a stiff collar and a blue silk tie. His green eyes were his most striking feature. Jenny had to admit he was an attractive man.
‘What’s your name?’ she said forcing a smile.
‘I’m Carl and it’s a pleasure to meet you,’ he said offering his hand.
Instead of shaking it Jenny had a sip of her champagne. ‘Look Carl, you’re quite a handsome guy, I’ll give you that’ – her voice now taking a very sweet tone – ‘but trying to pick up a girl by flashing your money around is not a great idea, especially in a place like this. It makes us feel cheap, unless you are looking for a bimbo – is that what you are looking for? A pro?’
‘Oh . . . No!’ Carl fumbled with his tie nervously. ‘Sorry, that’s not how I meant it, babe.’
‘So you ain’t looking for a party girl to show you a
‘No, of course not, hun. Just trying to have a friendly drink, and if there’s any chemistry between us . . .’ He left the sentence hanging in the air with a shrug of his shoulders.
Very gently, she ran her fingers down his tie before pulling him closer. ‘It’s a pity you’re not looking for a party girl,’ she whispered into his left ear.
Carl’s smile evaporated into a confused look.
‘I could’ve given you my pimp’s number, he’s right over there.’ She pointed to the VIP area with a sarcastic smile on her lips.
Carl half opened his mouth as if about to say something but no words came out.
Jenny drank the rest of her champagne and gave him a sexy wink before moving away from the bar and into the ladies’ room.
The eyes still followed her.
Jenny was re-applying her lipstick when she started to feel faint. She knew something was wrong. All of a sudden she felt hot and feverish. The walls seemed to be closing in on her. She found it hard to breathe and moved towards the door as quickly as she could. She needed to get out of there.
As she stumbled out of the ladies’ room the entire place spun around her. She wanted to go back to D-King’s table but her legs weren’t responding. Jenny was about to collapse on the floor when a pair of hands grabbed her.
‘Are you OK, babe? You don’t look so good.’
‘I don’t feel too well. I think I need . . .’
‘You need some air. It’s too stuffy in here. Come with me, I’ll help you. Let’s step outside for a while.’
‘But I . . .’ Jenny had started to slur her words. ‘I need to tell D . . . I have to go back to . . .’
‘Later, babe, now you just need to come with me.’
No one noticed Jenny and the stranger walking towards the club exit.
Four
‘Yes, Detective Hunter speaking.’ Hunter finally answered his cell phone after the sixth ring. His voice was deep and the words came out slowly, giving away how few hours sleep he’d had.
‘Robert, where the hell have you been? The captain’s been after you for two hours.’
‘Rookie, is that you? What time is it?’ Hunter’s new sidekick, Carlos Garcia, had been assigned to him only a week ago after the death of his long-term partner.
‘Three in the morning.’
‘What day?’
‘Shit man . . . Monday. Look, you’d better come and have a look at this, we’ve got a really screwed up homicide on our hands.’
‘We’re Homicide Special Section 1, Carlos. Screwed up homicides is all we do.’
‘Well, this one’s a real mess and you’d better get here quick. The captain wants us to run this show.’
‘Uh-huh,’ Hunter replied indifferently. ‘Gimme the address?’
He put his cell phone down and looked around the small, dark, unfamiliar room. ‘Where the hell am I?’ he whispered.
The thumping headache and the terrible taste in his mouth reminded him of how much he’d had to drink the night before and he sunk his head deep into the pillow hoping that would soothe the pain. Suddenly there was movement next to him on the bed.
‘Hi, does that phone call mean you have to go?’ The woman’s voice was soft and sexy with a hint of an Italian accent. Hunter’s surprised eyes fell over the half-covered body lying next to him. Through the little light coming into the room from the lamp posts outside the window he could just about make out her outline. Quick memories of last night flashed through his mind. The bar, the drinks, the flirting, the cab ride to a stranger’s apartment and the long dark-haired woman whose name he couldn’t remember. This was the third woman he’d woken up next to in the past five weeks.
‘Yeah, I do have to go. I’m sorry,’ he sounded casual.
Hunter got up and started looking for his trousers; his headache was more prominent now. His eyes quickly got used to the dimly lit room allowing him to see the woman’s face better. She looked to be thirty or thirty-one years old. Her silky, dark hair hung about four inches past her shoulders framing a heart-shaped face with delicate sculpted nose and lips. She was attractive, but not in a Hollywood-movie-star way. Her uneven fringe suited her perfectly and her dark-green eyes carried an unusual and captivating sparkle.
By the bedroom door Hunter found his trousers and underwear – the pair with blue teddy-bear prints.
