Poppy Harmon and the Pillow Talk Killer by Lee Hollis (famous ebook reader .txt) 📗

Poppy wisely chose to ignore the judgment. “How is he?”

“The MRI showed no signs of any bruising or bleeding in the brain. He’s just got some scrapes and cuts. He’s young. He’ll bounce back in no time. Just no more dangerous driving.”

“I’ll make sure of that, Doctor,” Poppy said with a huge sigh of relief, determined to make it her personal mission to prevent Matt from blithely putting himself in harm’s way again.

Chapter 14

Poppy was not surprised to find out that late the previous evening a highway patrolman had pulled over a speeding Jaguar on the 10 freeway heading west to Los Angeles, and when the officer ran the license and registration, she was informed the driver’s name was Chase Ehrens and there was a warrant out for his arrest.

Poppy had been confident that it would not take long for the law to catch up with the arrogant movie actor after Speedy’s confession. But what did surprise her was at his arraignment the following day at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, where Chase pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted murder in the first degree, the judge had granted him bail in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars due in no small part to his high-priced lawyers who tossed out arguments like no priors, no history of violence, well respected in his industry. Chase’s manager promptly paid the bail money and the accused was now free until his trial in three months’ time.

And now on the set of Palm Springs Weekend in the wide open range of Joshua Tree National Park where Poppy and Matt were keeping watch over their client, Danika was still fiercely defending Chase, refusing to believe he had had anything to do with causing the crash that had nearly killed Matt. She had cornered the two of them at craft services where they had stopped for coffee. The gaffer was still discussing the lighting plan with the cinematographer so they still had plenty of time before Danika would be called to the set to shoot the scene.

“I know he has a hot temper at times, and can be a handful, but he is basically a good guy. I wouldn’t be defending him so vehemently if I didn’t believe it in my heart,” Danika said to Poppy and Matt, both of whom remained thoroughly unconvinced.

“A legal process has begun, Danika, so why don’t we wait and see how that plays out first,” Poppy said diplomatically.

“No!” Danika shouted, stomping her foot. “You don’t understand. Prosecutors chomp at the bit to go after famous defendants. It’s a way to make a name for themselves, get rich writing books and scoring gigs as TV pundits. It’s a racket and it’s disgusting!”

Matt stayed uncharacteristically quiet.

Poppy was confused as to why Danika was badgering them about Chase’s court case. “What is it you think we can do, Danika?”

“Matt can talk to the prosecutor, refuse to testify, ask them to drop the charges,” she said with a straight face.

“Drop the charges? Seriously, even if he wanted to do that, and I would strongly advise him against it, the prosecutor doesn’t have to listen to him. I’m sure they feel they already have enough evidence to win the case, plain and simple. A plea from Matt will not change that.”

“What’s the harm in him at least trying?” Danika whined. “Matt, I thought you cared about me. . . .”

Poppy could feel her face burning up with rage. This spoiled young actress was so obviously, so shamelessly trying to manipulate him.

“I do . . .” Matt said. “It’s just that—”

Poppy could not take anymore. “Chase is going to stand trial for nearly killing Matt, whether he personally sabotaged those brakes or had someone else do it. There is no point in discussing this any further.”

Danika reared back like a coiled snake, eyes blazing. There was a long moment of deadening silence before she hissed, “I don’t like your tone, Ms. Harmon. As a matter of fact, I no longer feel comfortable having you near me.” She whipped around to Matt and hissed, “Matt, if you want to continue working for me, I need you to fire her.”

Poppy suppressed a smile.

Matt cleared his throat and looked sheepishly at Danika. “The thing is, technically I work for Poppy. She is the boss.”

“What?” Danika cried. “But I thought . . .”

“The Flowers in the Desert Flowers Detective Agency doesn’t actually stand for Matt Flowers. The three founders are named after flowers, Poppy, Iris, and Violet.”

Danika was thunderstruck. The idea of three women old enough to be Matt’s grandmothers as his bosses was utterly inconceivable. She took some time to process all of this before addressing Matt again. “And so you refuse to do as I wish, even though I’m paying you a lot of money?”

Matt slowly nodded.

“Then you’re fired. All of you. I want you off the set now, or I’m going to call security and have you escorted off,” she snarled before stalking away.

“What do you think she’s going to do when she finds out we’re stuck here as actors with contracts and aren’t going anywhere?” Matt asked Poppy.

“It’s going to make for a very awkward day,” Poppy said, chuckling.

“I thought she really liked me,” Matt said wistfully. “And now I find out she was only interested in Chase all along, and was just using me to make him jealous. She gets off on toying with men, playing them off each other.”

“I feel as if this is all my fault. I encouraged you to pursue a relationship with her. How could I have been so wrong?” Poppy said with despair.

Matt hugged her. “You couldn’t have known. At least Danika proved one thing. She’s a decent actress. She had us all fooled.”

Greta Van Damm suddenly blew on the set, panicked eyes scanning the area, clearly disturbed by something.

Poppy and Matt exchanged curious glances and wandered over to her. Before they had a chance to speak, she zeroed in on them.