The FBI Thrillers Collection Books 6-10 - Catherine Coulter [215]
“And not having much luck,” Savich said. “MAX is pretty upset about the whole thing. He just can’t seem to find anything, as of yet—no credit-card trail, no employment trail, no purchase of a vehicle.”
Sherlock said, “So we’ve decided to ask him, straight up. What do you think, Dane?”
“Why not the direct approach?” Dane said and shrugged. “It’ll give us a story to check, not that it’ll matter. I’m beginning to believe that none of them is telling the truth.”
“At least everyone is consistent,” Savich said.
Sherlock’s cell phone trilled the leading notes to the X-Files theme. “Hello?”
“This is Belinda Gates. We’re in really deep trouble here. Maybe.”
“What happened?”
“I was watching a cable station last night, nine o’clock. I saw The Consultant, the third episode.”
“Oh no,” Sherlock said, “we are in trouble.”
Three hours later, LAPD Detective Flynn, feeling harassed, said to the group of ten people crowded into Dane’s Holiday Inn room, “The program director, Norman Lido, of KRAM, channel eight locally, said Frank Pauley from Premier Studios sent him the episode and gave him permission to show it, told him they’d canceled the show, but maybe KRAM would like to pick it up. He liked the episode, showed it last night. This particular cable channel reaches about eight million people here in southern California.”
“Didn’t the idiot know why the show had been pulled?” Dane said. “The whole world knows.”
“Claims he didn’t know,” Flynn said, shrugged. “Of course he’s lying through his teeth. Why, I ask you, would any person with any sense of ethics want to air this show?”
The answer was money, of course, but it hung in the air, unspoken. He’d probably been paid a bundle to show the episode.
Flynn said, “When I told him it was all over the news, the jerk smirks and tells me he never watches the networks, they’re a bunch of has-beens. I told him that even minor stations like his had it plastered all over their local news. The jerk just stood there and pretended to be surprised. It was really close, but I didn’t slug him.”
“Why didn’t Belinda Gates call me last night?” Sherlock said. “Right after she saw the show?”
“We’ll ask her,” Delion said.
“She didn’t know what her husband had done?”
Delion shrugged. “Don’t know yet. But Sherlock and Savich are off to see Pauley. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say. Depending on what he does say, I’m ready to haul his ass off to jail or stake him out in the middle of Pico Boulevard at rush hour.”
“At least there haven’t been any reports yet of any murders similar to the ones committed in episode three,” Flynn said.
“No news is good news, I guess,” Savich said. “When we spoke to Pauley by phone, he claimed he didn’t know anything about this, that he never gave a copy of any episode to anyone. We’re going to go see him again, and Belinda as well. Delion thought Sherlock would do best with her. Dane, you stay in bed and try to get yourself healed. Nick, you keep out of sight; the media is going to be crawling all over the studio.”
“No,” Dane said. “I’m okay, really. I want to come see Pauley with you.” He paused a moment, then said, “I really need to do this, Savich.”
After a pause, Savich said, “All right, Dane. We’ll pick you up in about fifteen minutes. But I think this is the last time you guys should be out and about here in LA. There’s just too much media interest, and I’d just as soon not take any more chances with Nick’s safety. Or yours,” Savich added, looking at Dane’s arm.
Nick just looked at him and said, “I’ll get your clothes together for you while you take a shower.”
“Thank you.”
“Be careful of your arm.”
Frank Pauley stood in the middle of his office, his arms at his sides, and said without preamble to the four people who’d just been ushered into his office, “It’s like I told you a couple of hours ago, I did not send that damned episode