"Which hotel?"
"No hotel. A Trailer. In Riverview Park."
"A trailer?"
"A movie star trailer. Trust me, it's nice."
"What type of security do they have?"
"I'll have to get back to you on that," he said, and we terminated the call.
I contacted one of the many charter flight companies in Chicago I knew, and selected a Lear 45 for the short flight. As I boarded and waited for the engines to fire, Lou called to describe what the satellite photos had revealed about the security team guarding the actors' trailers in Riverview Park. Thirty minutes later I touched down at Hannibal Regional Airport.
Lou Kelly used to book my jets and drivers, but like I said, the trust ain't what it once was, so I've been forced to handle my own travel arrangements. Climbing down the jet's gangway, I was pleased to see my driver waiting beside a black sedan with all four doors open, as I'd specified.
"Can I trust you?" I said.
"Of course, sir."
"Your name?"
"Harrison Ford."
"Okay, Harrison. Please remove your jacket and place it on the hood of the car. Then assume the position while I pat you down."
"Sir, I can assure you-"
"I'm sure you can, and I've told you how. Now let's see you do it."
I noticed the pilots standing beside me appeared to be concerned. I shrugged at them as if to say, "What's with this guy, huh?" But that seemed to make them even more nervous, so I said, "Relax. I'm good with you guys."
The Lear captain said, "His name really Harrison Ford?"
"It's a code name. Still, you can't be too sure with a new driver."
I saw them give each other an uneasy look.
"Guys, I spent weeks checking you out. I know everything about you." I paused, looked them squarely in the eyes, and said, "Everything. I could demonstrate my knowledge of your lives, but you already seem nervous enough. Let's just say we're cool. I'm sure Harrison Ford will become a trusted friend tonight, as well. It's just that I haven't had time to check him out yet. Hannibal's a small town, and I don't have any contacts here."
My reassuring talk with the pilots didn't have the effect I intended, so I shrugged, patted my driver down, searched his car, and found nothing more sinister than a couple of tuna fish sandwiches and an unopened bottle of water. I had him climb in first, and I took the rear seat directly behind him, and we drove to Riverview Park, where I saw the movie set guards on duty.
"Keep driving," I said. He took me a quarter mile past the entrance, then I had him turn right on a road that ran parallel to the park. "Follow it to the end, and let me out. Meet me here when I call, which I'm guessing will be an hour or so."
He dropped me off and I jogged across the grass, toward the trailers that housed the movie stars. It was a short run, well under a mile, and when I came up behind Jinny Kidwell's trailer, I could see there were no guards stationed there, which confirmed Lou Kelly's suspicion that they were rental cops, not pros. I picked the lock and entered her trailer through the back door.
Once in, I realized I was alone. I knew Jinny was on site, so I decided to wait in her bedroom. While waiting, I took out a penlight, held it in my teeth, and searched through her belongings.
Forty minutes later I heard her come in the door. Lou had told me that Jinny's husband, Pete Rossman, was here from time to time, but I could tell from the sound of the footsteps out front that she was alone. She busied herself in the kitchen a few minutes before entering her bedroom.
I had my hand over her mouth before she'd gone three feet. She tried to scream, but my thumb was pressed so hard against her neck that all she could manage was a whisper.
"I'm not here to hurt you," I said, "I just want some information. Do you understand?"
She did her best to nod.
"That said, if you make a sound louder than a whisper, I'll kill you. Do you believe me?"
Again, she tried to nod.
"Good. I'd hate to harm you in any way, since I'm a huge fan. I'm only here to ask you about a company called Wish List, a guy who works with them named Rudy, and a guy with whom you recently had sex, named Buddy Pancake."
The light from the hallway illuminated her face. She appeared gaunt, and ill.
"Relax, Jinny. All I want is information, okay?"
Her green eyes were big as saucers, and full of fear. She mouthed the words, "Please. Don't hurt me."
I said. "Are you sick? I have a thing about germs."
She shook her head no.
"Anorexic?"
She shook her head again.
"I saw you last week on the Academy Awards. Nice dress."
She nodded.
"Guess the TV really does add ten pounds, huh?"
Her body was trembling. A couple of tears spilled from her eyes.
I said, "I'm going to remove my hand. For the record, I'm okay if you want to scream. But if you do, I'll have to kill the guards. I'm only asking you to whisper in order to protect them. Other than being inept, they haven't done anything wrong, and don't deserve to die. But it's your call."
I released my hold on her neck, and helped her sit on her bed.
"Can I switch on the light?" she said.
"I'd like that."
She turned the knob on her bedside lamp and looked at me. She rubbed her neck.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Let's do it this way," I said. "Why did you have sex with Buddy Pancake?"
Chapter 3
Jinny Kidwell gave me some bullshit story about paying back into the system that helped her become a star, but I wasn't buying. I covered her mouth again with my left hand, produced a switchblade in my right, and told her I was serious about getting some answers.
Jinny was a beautiful, pampered star, and I figured getting her to talk would be as easy as getting the President to do a photo op.
But I was wrong.
When I removed my hand from her mouth, she said, "It's okay if you want to kill me."
"I don't want to kill you. I just want to know why you fucked Buddy Pancake."
"You'll have to be content with the answer I gave you."
I frowned. This was new territory for me. Usually, I make a threat and people shit all over themselves. There could only be one explanation.
"You don't believe I'll kill you," I said.
"I do believe it."
"The answer you gave me about paying back into the system was a lie."
"Yes."
"But you're refusing to tell me the truth?"
"Yes. I'm refusing to."
"Why?"
"I-I can't say."
"Can't or won't?"
"Won't."
"Then I'll have to kill you." I moved the knife to the edge of her throat.
She started to cry. "Wait," she said.
I smiled.
But instead of telling me the truth, what she said was, "Before you kill me, can I call my husband and tell him I love him?"
Chapter 4
I didn't kill Jinny Kidwell at that time.
Instead, I looked into those endless eyes and said, "I'm obviously missing something. Something so important to you it's worth dying to cover up."
We sat on the bed a minute, looking at each other. Outside the trailer, maybe a mile down river, I heard a muffled whistle, as a barge prepared to navigate the next section of river.
"Maybe the best question isn't why you slept with Buddy Pancake," I said. "That was obviously a payback."
Jinny looked at her hands in her lap and said nothing.
"I should have asked about the wishes you made."
She said, "There were three silly ones, and the one I'm willing to die for."
"And this huge wish required the payment of sleeping with Buddy Pancake?"
"And giving him a million dollars in cash."
"What else have you had to do?"
"Tell my husband what I've done."
"And?"
"And I had to get him to make four wishes of his own on the website."