Hollywood Murder Read Free Page A

letters, what she’d said about Donald Regis and Kellen Malone, and that Collin Russell had been friends with her at one time. I took a moment, filling them in on our conversation, and telling them that Malone was Russell’s son and he was a member of the Revelation.
    “What?” Natalie said. “I thought Russell was gay.”
    “He is, but he was married at one time. He and his wife have been divorced for years, but Malone is his son. He also told me that Malone threatened to kill him if he ever told anyone that he’s his father.” I told them how Russell was deathly afraid of his own son. “He also told me that the Revelation had a hitman back in the eighties. His name was Ryan Cooper.”
    Mo regarded me with one eye, just as she’d done earlier with Nana. “Let’s take a step back. Did you say Malone is part of the Revelation?” I again confirmed what Russell had told me. Mo’s enormous breasts rose, then deflated. “This is some serious shit.”
    “What do you know about the organization?” I asked.
    “Just that anybody who crosses ’em ends up dead. We gotta reevaluate how we investigate this case.”
    “Not to worry, Mo,” Natalie said. “I got me some new judo moves and took a class on fifty ways to be a ball-buster.”
    Mo maintained her serious expression. “This is way bigger than a bunch of balls, baby sis.”
    I met Mo’s dark eyes. “You’re genuinely concerned, aren’t you?”
    She nodded her head, looking slightly off balance with the chartreuse wig. “If Jean Winslow, your love-daddy, and now Donald Regis were all whacked by Kellen Malone and the Revelation, and they know that we know…” She swallowed. “I think we need us a new strategy, something that will protect our identities.”
    “You mean like one of them witness protection programs?” Natalie asked. “I wanna be a redhead named Claudia Le Bleu, and speak in a French accent.”
    I looked at Natalie, wondering where she came up with her fantasies. “Sorry, Claudia, but a protection program isn’t an option. But, Mo’s right. I want us all to back off and stay out of things until I decide how to handle this.”
    “What you gonna do?” Mo asked.
    “I’m not sure, but I need to tell Lieutenant Oz about everything. I don’t know if we have enough for this to rise to a formal investigation, but I need to run it all past him.” My gaze moved between the two of them. “In the meantime, I need your word that you’ll stay out of everything. You can do some research on the group, but that’s it.”
    Mo agreed. Natalie said something about us having cold feet, but gave in when Mo also told her that she needed to back off.
    I stood up and got Bernie’s leash. “I’ve got a busy day at work tomorrow, so I’m going to call it a night.”
    Mo got out of her chair and came over to me. “We heard you’re gonna be on that TV show Hollywood Detective. ”
    I’d almost forgotten about agreeing to do the documentary about how detectives in Hollywood operate. “Leo Kingsley, my new partner, and I agreed to look into a cold case, but I’m not looking forward to having a camera crew and a reporter following us around.”
    “Kate’s gonna be a star,” Natalie said. “Maybe you’ll get your own series and become rich and famous.”
    “Baby sis and me could be your agents,” Mo said. “Maybe we can negotiate the big bucks for you.”
    I snapped Bernie’s leash on his collar. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll settle for my quiet little life of poverty and murder.”
    Natalie came over to me when we were at the door. “I almost forgot to mention, me and Mo have been doing some security work for that celebrity chef, Marlon Pavarotti. He’s teaching us how to cook and make exotic drinks. Marlon agreed to come by tomorrow night and whip up some of his specialties.”
    “You and Bernie are welcome to stop by,” Mo said. “Marlon’s teaching baby sis to make one of his new drinks. It’s called a Dirty Harriett.”
    I