Ryan Lock 04.5: Lock & Load Read Free Page B

stared at him. Lock stared straight back. With every second that passed the chances of Jason actually using the gun diminished.
       When Lock had decided that enough seconds had gone by, he spoke. "My name is Ryan Lock. Summer asked me to come by and speak to you."
       Jason eyed him warily, and didn't lower the gun. "Why didn't you just ring the bell?"
       "For one, that would have decreased the likelihood of you speaking to me. Secondly, there's a paparazzi parked just down the way."
       Both points were true. Directly across PCH and up the slope was a rehab center that catered to the rich and famous, which in turn meant that the paparazzi staked out this small stretch of highway hoping to long-lens some unfortunate celebrity.
       Lock continued. "I didn't think this would be a conversation you'd want to have standing out there in your shorts. Or with one of your pals at the Malibu Sheriff's Department for that matter."
       Framing it as a matter of image management seemed to do the trick. Jason lowered the gun. "I would have used it," he blustered. "Just as well you spoke fast."
       Lock followed the diminutive actor up the stairs and through a side door into the house. A plate of half eaten sushi lay on the black granite kitchen counter top next to a jug of what looked to Lock like green algae.
       Jason put the gun down and lifted the jug. "Vegetable smoothie?" he asked.
       "I'll pass," said Lock.
       Jason grabbed a glass from a cabinet and poured himself a tall one. He took a sip and made a face. "I'm trying to get in shape. Start shooting again in a few weeks. Action movie," he said. "You know I'm seeing Summer tomorrow. She could have spoken to me then."
       "I know that. That's why I wanted to speak with you first."
       The key to dealing with someone like Jason was to remember the guy had an ego the size of a planet. If Lock started barking orders at him from the get go he was more likely to become an even bigger pain in the ass. At the same time, he couldn't tip toe around him either. It would take careful handling. That was the reason he'd come without Ty, who tended to be a little too abrasive in these situations.
       "So, speak," said Jason, making a face as he chugged another inch of algae.
       "Look, we both know that women can be difficult, right?" said Lock. "I just got engaged. Great gal but we have our moments. In fact we broke up for a while after we first started seeing each other. Right person, wrong time, I guess."
       Jason glanced at him over the lip of the glass. "Look, I'm sure you know what happened so I'm not going to lie. I shouldn't have touched her, but sometimes she really pushed my buttons."
       Lock knew there would a 'but' in there somewhere. "I'm sure she did. But the fact is, you did assault her. Now she could have gone to the cops, but she didn't."
       "Yeah, and why do you think that was?" Jason asked.
       Lock could take a good guess at what was coming next. Jason clearly thought Summer hadn't pressed charges because she still held a candle for him. This was one part of the discussion that he couldn't afford to tiptoe around.
       "She didn't file a complaint because she doesn't need that kind of publicity any more than you do. You both know how the business you're in works. Save yourself a lot of trouble. Accept that it's over," said Lock. He looked around the open plan ground floor with its floor to ceiling picture windows framing the Pacific Ocean. "She's not coming back while you're still here."
       Jason sighed. His shoulders slumped. "I was going to move out today anyway. You happy now?"
       "Can I have your word on that?"
       "You can," said the actor.
       As they shook hands, Lock noticed that the actor was standing on his tip toes to close the gap in height between them. Judging by the heels of his deck shoes he was also wearing lifts.
       Gun or no gun, it was hard to be truly intimidated by a man who wore lifts. Some of the