Hollywood Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the city’s pharmaceutical trade. I got cut off buy an aging El Camino and fell a few cars behind the delivery truck as we passed a twenty-four-hour pawn shop, but managed to cut over into the left and pass him, pulling up again directly behind the truck at the next intersection. Which, unfortunately, is where the truck made a sharp right onto a side street. I moved to do the same, but a seven-foot-tall guy in a spandex miniskirt and platform heels jumped into the street in front of my Jeep.
    I slammed on the brakes, my front bumper kissing the transvestite’s legs.
    “ Watch it, chick! I’m walking here!” he/she shouted.
    I raised my hand in a silent apology, willing him/her to get the hell out of the way as I watched the truck make another sharp right a few feet ahead of me.
    I finally navigated around the shemale, and gunned the engine. I pulled the steering wheel to the right, accelerating so fast I swear I almost took the turn on two wheels as I followed the truck’s path.
    Only as I turned the corner, the street in front of me was empty. I drove another three blocks, glancing down each side street I passed for any glimpse of the truck, but came up empty.
    Shit. I’d lost Trace.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    I pulled over to the side of the road, illegally idling in a red zone, while I scanned the empty street. Granted, this was L.A. so no street was totally empty. But at the moment I only had eyes for one white delivery truck. Of which there was no sign whatsoever.
    I leaned my head back on my seat, trying to figure out what to do. Call the police came to mind, but just as quickly I dismissed it. The cops and the paparazzi have a tentative relationship as it is. Most of what we do rides that fine line of legality and certainly falls on the shady side of morality. We weren’t exactly on one anothers’ Christmas card lists, if you get my drift.
    Instead, I grabbed my camera and scrolled through the photos I’d just taken. Unfortunately, the only ones I managed to get of the two kidnappers were either too dark or at the wrong angle to clearly make out their features. Fortunately, however, I did manage a couple clear shots of their license plates as the van pulled into the alley.
    I pulled out my cell and hit number one on my speed dial. I heard the phone ring on Tina’s end five times before a perky voice finally picked up. “ L.A. Informer , may I help you?”
    If there was one thing I knew about Tina it was that she didn’t do perky. Clearly someone else was answering her phone.
    I took a stab in the dark.
    “ Allie?”
    “ Uh… who’s asking?” the new girl hedged.
    “ Cameron. Where’s Tina?”
    “ Oh, hey, Cam,” she said, relief mixing with the perk in her voice. “Tina cut out early again today. Some self-defense class she’s taking with Cal.”
    “ And you’re answering her phone why?”
    “ Uh, well, you know. Just in case anything important came in.”
    “ Uh huh.” No wonder she’d been scooping Tina. I made a mental note to give my friend the heads-up. Forwarding her calls to her cell might be a wise idea in the future.
    “ So, what’s up?” Allie asked. I thought I heard her pop a wad of gum between her teeth and pictured her twirling a lock of blonde hair to go with the audio.
    I hesitated. I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to share the bizarre turn of events my evening had taken with the new kid. She’d yet to prove herself trustworthy in my book. However, if it was between her and the cops, there was a clear winner.
    “ I have a favor to ask.”
    “ Shoot.”
    “ I need you to run a license plate number for me.”
    “ Like from a car?”
    Again I had those second thoughts. Rumor had it Felix had hired Allie more for her double-D chest than her investigative savvy. And she wasn’t exactly disproving that idea with her genius at current. “Yeah. From a car.”
    “ Okay. Sure thing. Just gimme a sec.” I heard the phone click over to the Informer ’s