Sedona Law 6 by Dave Daren (ebook pdf reader for pc .TXT) 📕

a conflict of interest in joining Phoenix’s company. I had noticed AJ said very little about the studio project. Was it because she had reservations? Plus, we didn’t need enemies in the Sedona film community.

Leila emerged from the bathroom, looking a little deflated but grabbed her purse with what dignity she could find.

“Thank you for your help,” she mustered out.

“I know you’re not for sale,” I said. “I totally get artistic integrity and all. I’ve been in the entertainment world a long time. I know what your work means to you.”

“Exactly,” she puffed her chest out.

“You want to say something to the world,” I continued. “Your truth, your vision. No one can take that away from you.”

“Where are you going with this?” she asked.

Smart woman.

“But, say,” I continued. “If you were for sale. Just, hypothetically speaking… “

I threw up my palms in surrender.

“Not that you are,” I assured her. “But just so that I know where the market in this town is. You know, we’re new players and all. I’m just interested to know where the industry in town is. If you were, hypothetically for sale, how much would you sell for?”

“Cut the shit, Henry,” she rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re doing.”

I shrugged and pursed my lips. “And you know what you were doing, coming in here with a line like that. No one ever asked you to sell. And if you were that threatened, you could have sent that message through Phoenix. But, you chose, to come out here, and tell me, the investor behind the curtain, in person, that you weren’t for sale. Why was that, Leila?”

“Because I think you’re bullying AJ,” she shot back.

“Really?” I asked. “I have not said a single word to her about the studio. Not. One. Word. I purposely left that between her and Phoenix. So that’s not why you’re here. Tell me Leila, why are really here?”

“Alright,” she sat back down in front of my desk. “Before Jerry’s death, Steele Productions was the number one independent production studio in the county. And you can say what you will about Jerry, I’ll agree he had his flaws, but he poured a lot of money into that place.”

“Most of it was borrowed through underworld loan sharks that led his untimely demise,” I said.

“No,” she countered. “His untimely demise was due to his wandering dick.”

“Both statements are equally true,” I said. “Continue.”

“However,” she said. “When he died, the money dried up, the studio was shuttered, and the whole enterprise was shrouded under a bad name.”

I shifted in my seat. I knew all of this, and she knew I knew all of this. Why was she telling it to me?

“And I’ve been holding on to whatever remains of that studio,” she said. “But you come along, with your moneybags, and your Hollywood contacts, and you’re going to blow us out of the water.”

“Then join us,” I said. “You know every camera operator, every actor, every sound tech in town. They know you. They like you. They trust you. We need you on our side. So, I’m only going to ask you this one more time, Leila. How much to buy you out?”

I leaned back in my chair and let the question hang in the air for a moment. I knew I didn’t need this much of a dramatic effect to get her to sell. She wanted to sell, she just couldn’t ask for it. I just thought I’d give her the courtesy of the negotiation scene. Besides, I was bored. I had been looking at bank records all day. This was much more interesting.

“Okay,” she rubbed her hands together. “I’d have to talk to AJ, of course. It’s down the middle.”

“Of course,” I said.

“But,” Leila pulled a pencil off my desk, and scrawled on a sticky and slid it to me. I read the number and smirked inside. The number was probably more than the company was worth for sure, but it was well below what I wanted to pay.

“Done,” I said.

Her eyes widened. “Okay. Well that that’s. “

“Get with AJ,” I said. “And I’ll double check with Phoenix. As long as everything checks out, come back tomorrow, I’ll have a check and the paperwork.”

She looked shocked.

“Well, thanks,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She left and I texted Phoenix the news. I was actually glad to buy them out. It would eliminate any awkwardness with AJ. Leila sold the company, AJ got a cut--a nice chunk of change. Now, Leila was joining with Phoenix, and if she wanted to remain on board, that was entirely her decision. I had, in the process, also secured Leila Jaxson. Which was a pretty big score. Not bad for a morning’s work.

Now back to who did or didn’t smuggle the elephant tusks into the Matthews backyard.

I needed a fresh angle on this case, so I went back to the police photos of the Matthews backyard. There were the piles of tusks in a shed. There were several views of the tusks. There was another piece of evidence we hadn’t known about. A suitcase, with her luggage tag on it, with residue from the tusks. I rubbed my face. She was busted, and there was no way around it.

She was going to jail for a long time.

I texted Vicki. Where are we on Irwin Montague?

She texted back. They’re looking for him. Hot on his trail.

Deja vu. I replied.

When we had met Irwin, he had been involved with a drug dealer named Shawn Drake who led us on a pretty involved car chase through most of Arizona. I was personally involved in it at one point, until the cops got there. But then the whole thing ended in a fantastic rain of glass as the police chased him back