Shooting for the Stars Read Online Free PDF Page B

taken something in the bathroom that relaxed her enough to let her guard down momentarily. Maybe it was because I was such a friendly, likeable guy who people just wanted to pour their hearts out to. Or maybe it was a combination of all of those things.
    At one point, I’d asked her about the gun in her jacket.
    â€œHow did you know about that?” she asked.
    â€œI’m a hotshot investigative reporter, remember?”
    She smiled.
    â€œWhy do you need a gun?”
    â€œIn case I have to shoot somebody.”
    â€œSeriously.”
    â€œNo reason.”
    â€œThere’s always a reason for a gun.”
    â€œIt’s no big deal. I just have it in case there’s ever any trouble.”
    Abbie talked more about Laura Marlowe’s background, expanding on some of the things I’d read in the bio clips. She told me things she’d uncovered about:
    Laura’s mother and how she’d pushed Laura to become an actress since childhood.
    Her father, who ran out on the family when Laura was a littlegirl and then came back to try and cash in on her success after she became rich and famous.
    Laura’s first agent, who had stood by her during the struggling early years of trying to make it in show business—a woman who had almost become a surrogate mother to Laura—but then was abruptly fired by the mother as soon as Laura hit it big.
    And how Laura—like something out of a real-life Hollywood fairy tale—inexplicably emerged from obscurity to land the part in Lucky Lady that made her an overnight sensation and the biggest movie star in America.
    Abbie shook her head at the incongruity of it all.
    â€œDid you ever hear the quote from Lauren Bacall about what it takes to become a big star? Bacall said, ‘Stardom isn’t a profession. It’s an accident.’ That’s what happened to Laura Marlowe. Hell, that’s probably the way it happens for most of the people in this business.” She shrugged. “Maybe even me.”
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    I tried to push her more on the serial killer angle she’d been talking about, and how it might connect to the Laura Marlowe murder. But she didn’t divulge any more details. The same when I asked her for more details about why she thought Ray Janson didn’t kill Laura and if she had any idea who might have been responsible.
    â€œI’m just curious,” I said to her at one point. “Why did you start investigating the Laura Marlowe case again?”
    â€œIt’s a good story.”
    â€œBut why now after thirty years?”
    â€œI obtained some new information.”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œI can’t tell you that.”
    â€œWill you do it on the show?”
    â€œNot this show. Maybe eventually . . .”
    â€œAnd you won’t tell me who your source was? Even off-the-record?”
    â€œA good reporter never reveals a source, Gil,” she said. “You should know that better than anyone.”
    It wasn’t until the end of the interview that she opened up to me again in a genuine way like she did at the beginning.
    â€œI really enjoyed talking with you, Gil,” she said as she walked me to the door of her office.
    â€œMe too,” I said.
    â€œWe should do this again.”
    â€œDo what?”
    â€œTalk.”
    â€œDo you mean another interview?”
    â€œNo, I mean we could just talk sometime. Like over a drink. Or dinner.”
    â€œYou and me?”
    â€œYes,” she laughed, “that would be the pairing.”
    I was having trouble grasping all of this. It seemed as if she was asking me out. On a date. Or something like a date. But that couldn’t be right. I mean she was Abbie Kincaid, the big TV star. She wouldn’t ever want to spend time with a guy like me, would she? Well, apparently she did.
    â€œWhy me?” I blurted out.
    â€œI need someone to talk to.”
    â€œYou must have a lot of people around you that would love