Sedona Law 5 by Dave Daren (romantic novels in english .TXT) 📕

to talk to about how I feel about it, because the only person I would talk to about it, is him.”

“That’s a frequent feeling for someone experiencing a loss,” Vicki told her gently.

I wondered about this side of Vicki. She’d suddenly become this shower-dousing-grief counselor. She must be watching a lot of Dr. Phil behind my back.

“Now,” Vicki went on, “tell me about the day of the crime.”

“Well,” Allison frowned, “Jerry stayed the night here.”

“Here?” Vicki echoed

Allison nodded. “Yeah. He stayed here most nights.”

I chuckled, and she looked at me.

“I’ve been to his place,” I said. “I know why.”

“Yeah,” she wrinkled her nose, “he had some … problems. Anyway, he was in a foul mood that night, because Alfred had been arguing with him and told him he was boycotting the set. Jerry told him that was fine by him and told Alfred not to come back ever. We spent the night going over and over the argument with Alfred.”

“What did Alfred say?” Vicki asked.

“Ugh,” Allison groaned and shook her head, “I don’t even remember. It was one of those arguments where it’s hashed over and over so many times that it just gives you a headache. Basically, Alfred said what Jerry was doing was illegal, and that he would go to prison for what he did and all of this stuff. I don’t even know.”

“Prison?” Vicki repeated.

“Yeah,” Allison said. “There was some stuff with money that wasn’t … he wasn’t very honest.”

“Like what?” Vicki asked.

“I’m not sure,” Allison answered. “He never told me much of the details. But all I know is that he was just shady with money. So, Alfred told him he would turn him in for all of this shady money stuff, and Jerry told him he couldn’t prove anything, and that everything he did was right and that Alfred could go to hell. So, they went back and forth like this, and Jerry stewed about it all night, and everyone in the house was in the film, so it was a huge deal in the house. Everyone was talking about it, and talking about Alfred and how awful Alfred was. Which, the truth is, I didn’t think he was that bad. I thought he had some good points. But I couldn’t say that there.”

“Right,” Vicki said. “Did you have any indication Alfred might do anything violent?”

“No,” Allison sighed. “He didn’t say anything, or seem any one way. Which is why the whole thing surprised me. I didn’t think he was the type.”

“He may not have been,” Vicki said. “So, what else happened?”

“Well,” Allison continued, “Jerry and I stayed up late that night, going over and over the argument long after everyone had gone to bed. In the morning, my roommate Maddie made breakfast for all of us, and then we all left for the studio. Jerry and I rode together, and then, he had a bunch of stuff to do at the studio. That chick, Leila … she was being a … well, anyway … she had a lot of stuff she needed him to do. So, he was running around like crazy trying to make her happy.”

“Leila and Jerry had a strained relationship?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t say strained,” Allison replied hesitantly. “She’s … let’s put it this way. She’s really good at her job as an assistant. She’s very organized and can be very opinionated and bossy. Which is good for that job. But it also means she’s a bitch sometimes.”

I picked up on a strain in her monologue. “Was there any romantic history between Leila and Jerry?”

Allison laughed. “I told you, I love Jerry. But Leila is too strong for him. She would eat him alive.”

“Okay,” I said. “So, Jerry’s running around like crazy getting bossed around by his edgy, opinionated assistant.”

Allison nodded. “Exactly.”

“Go on,” I encouraged her.

“So,” she continued, “he’s making copies, and Ken comes up to him and was all like freaking out about something. I don’t even know.”

“Well, what did Ken say?” Vicki asked.

Allison sighed. “Ken had been mad for a while because of the last film. Jerry and Ken argued like cats and dogs through the whole film, so they started the new film with all of this baggage.”

“Which is why Ken walked out that morning,” Vicki supplied.

“Yeah,” Allison said, and a shadow passed over her face. “So anyway, Jerry and Ken got in a heated yelling argument in the copy room. They only stopped because Leila told them she was opening the doors for everyone.”

“I had no idea this was all going on,” Vicki mused as she glanced at me. “We were there.”

Allison smiled slightly. “Jerry was scared of you guys.”

“Scared?” Vicki repeated with a frown.

“Yeah,” Allison said. “He … was a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy, and he didn’t always do everything by the book. So, he worried you guys would call him out on his shit and maybe even sue him.”

I snickered because, based on what I was finding out about his habits, he might have been right.

“Well,” Vicki said, “it’s all water under the bridge now.”

“Yeah,” Allison murmured and dropped her eyes sadly.

“So,” Vicki prodded gently, “what happened after Leila shut the argument down?”

“Then people started coming in, and Ken and I went into the cast room to start running lines,” Allison replied. “And then rehearsal started. And of course, Ken walked out.”

“Right,” Vicki said. “We were there for that.”

“Yeah,” Allison nodded, “and then, Alfred came in, and I remember thinking it was bad. But I didn’t know it would be that bad.”

“When did you leave the studio?” I asked.

“I asked Jerry if he wanted me to stay,” she responded. “He said he wanted to deal with Alfred alone, and he said, and I quote, ‘This