“Do you happen to know whether Russell had any enemies?” Bailey asked. “Anyone who held a grudge against him?”
We knew that Brian was our kidnapper, but we didn’t know whether he was in league with someone else. Since Warden Patricia wouldn’t leave, and she-like Brittany-had known Russell for a long time, Bailey had wisely decided to use the opportunity to grill her too.
Patricia gave a bark of a laugh. “Anyone who held a grudge? There’re probably thousands. Every actor-”
I’d heard this litany enough to repeat it in my sleep. I shook my head. “We’re talking about something out of the norm. Very few actors or producers are going to do something as crazy as kidnap his daughter just because he didn’t hire them or buy their script.”
Patricia gave me an incredulous look. “You don’t know much about this town, do you?”
I knew enough to say I was sick of hearing about “this town.” And all the people in it. Besides, I’d lived here long enough to know that although there were vampires in the industry, there were a heck of a lot of smart, talented people who were just decent, hardworking folks.
At that moment the bouncer came in and announced that the script had been delivered. Should he sign for it?
Looking annoyed, Patricia sighed and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
Brittany had been leaning on the arm of the sofa, staring off, but I noticed that when she’d heard the bouncer mention a script, her brow had furrowed.
“You okay, Brittany?” I asked. A thought of some kind? Was it possible?
Brittany nodded. “Yeah. You got me thinking about Hayley…and the script…it reminded me. Back before Russell was a big director, when he was a co-producer on my show. It was when he’d just sold his first film script, Wonderland Warriors-you’ve heard of it, right?”
“Maybe,” I said. The name was somewhat familiar.
“It was huge. Wonderland Warriors was what made Russell. Tommy said Russell stole that script from him.”
“Tommy? Who’s that?” Bailey asked.
“He was a writer on Circle of Friends.” Brittany peered at us hazily. “You’ve heard of Circle, right?”
We both nodded. “Of course,” I said, eager to get her to refocus on this Tommy guy. “So Tommy said Russell stole the script for Wonderland Warriors?”
Brittany nodded. “Yeah. Tommy always wrote by hand on a legal pad. He was kinda strange. But I always thought he was a pretty good writer.” She started to drift off again, so I quickly reeled her back in.
“What happened when Tommy accused Russell of stealing his script?”
