Page 40 of Wild Sentinel
“I’m happy where I am at the moment.”
“At least let me shoot my shot,” she said, offering us a seat.
We obliged.
“How’s Joel treating you?”
“Excellent.”
"Did he put you up to this?”
“Up to what?”
“The Vivian thing.”
"We’re just investigating her death.”
"The West Beverly PD wrapped that up. I don't see the point in investigating any further. You're out of state, aren't you?”
I ignored the question. "It's my understanding there was bad blood between you and Vivian."
"She poached one of my top clients. How was I supposed to feel about her?”
“I bet you were pretty pissed off.”
“I wasn’t happy. But I got my revenge.”
“How so?”
24
"Turnabout is fair play," Rachel said. "Vivian stole one of my clients, I stole one of hers.”
"Who?" I asked.
"Nick Shaw," she said with pride. "He just signed a six-picture deal for $200 million. He is now a very rich man, and with any luck, he will become the top box office draw for the next several years."
"That's a nice payday for you. $20 million," I said.
"Actually, it's 10 million. My agreement with Nick is that I only take 5%. It's how I lured him away from Vivian. I would rather take half my fee and have him as a client. It wasn't about the money.”
"I'm sure Vivian wasn't too happy about that.”
"No, she wasn't," Rachel said with glee.
"And now she's dead."
"What can I say? When bad luck comes, it comes in threes.”
"What else went wrong for Vivian before her death?”
"I had heard she made a bad investment. Lost most of her fortune."
"You don't seem too broken up about any of this," I said.
"Would you feel better if I cried?” she mocked.
I didn't think Rachel was capable of producing tears.
