Adventures of Hollywood Jim Ch. 74

"Incredible...absolutely fucking incredible...look at this, Jim." he said without looking at me.

Every channel he switched to were images of Police lights flashing outside the same house and words like "HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER'S HOME RAIDED" "DRUGS, & PROSTITUTION AT PRODUCER'S HOME" "POLICE RAID" scrolling on the bottom of the screen.

"You know what these all have in common?" he asked, still not looking at me.

"Uh, what?"

"You know what's incredible?" he added

"What?"

"That once again...you have caused an incredible FUCK UP AT OUR EXPENSE!" he roared.

"JUST WHEN I THINK YOU CAN'T DO ANY WORSE, YOU DO!!!"

"Chuck, l-let me explain..."

"WHAT GOES THROUGH YOUR MIND?"

I was speechless.

"How do you know I was there?"

"Oh!" he said matter of factly "Gary's lawyer called me...from the Prison lock-up no less! He said Gary didn't see you getting the once-over from the LAPD and wondered why not!" he yelled "We get these invitations every year from that sleazebag and every year, I find a reason NOT to go, but you...Noooo! You decide to go even after Jeff told you to be careful!"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"You could've gracefully declined! Tell him you got the flu! Getting your hair done! Or made an appearance, then left after saying hello to the host! Jesus Christ! First, your little fling in Mexico nearly costs us the Pepsi account, then we get sued and you get shot by some crazy guy..."

"Who used to be YOUR partner!" I yelled back "Or do I need to show you the hardware I got as a result?"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW THIS LOOKS? HOW MY ASS IS ONCE AGAIN IN A SLING THANKS TO YOU? NEW YORK HASN'T CALLED ME YET BUT I KNOW THEY WILL AND I'M GONNA HAVE TO APOLOGIZE FOR YOU ONCE AGAIN!"

Chuck continued to scream and yell until I could take no more.

"CHUCK, IF YOU'RE SO MAD WHY DON'T YOU JUST FIRE ME!" I yelled back at him "RELEASE ME FROM MY CONTRACT!"

"THAT'S NOT A BAD IDEA!" he yelled back.

We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"UNFORTUNATELY...I CAN'T!" he said as he pulled out a file and slammed it on his desk.

"Counselor, explain!" he said to Michael.

"According to the terms of your contract" Michael began "...you cannot be terminated under these circumstances, plus your knowledge of Artists Unlimited's connection to Gary and VCX raises some conflict of interest issues that would take a long time to explain."

Now Jeff spoke up.

"This might turn out for the better. Gary's lawyer plans to initiate termination proceedings related to his contract, we'll be rid of Gary Mackas and his crew by the end of the week."

"His company was always on the verge of chapter 11 anyway." Michael added "And the IRS is looking into his finances too."

"Uh, what about, uh..." I stammered.

"Scott?" Michael answered "The LAPD found some coke on him, plus it took about a dozen cops to hold him down. So he's got resisting arrest on top of everything else. I found out through the grapevine that Gary planned to do some kind of deal with him, that's off now until their legal cases are settled."

"If Scott's not in rehab now, he will be soon." Jeff added.

"And if you're not out of this office in 30 seconds, you will be too." Chuck said in a low, menacing tone without looking at me.

I left the office.

I locked the door to my office and sat in my chair looking out at LA.

"Nice view, huh?" I heard behind me.

Roger Sullivan sat up from the leather couch he'd been laying on. Roger had been my attorney when East Coast Image was bought by Artists Unlimited, and his laid back, yet efficient, style was always valued.

He sat up and took a sip from a water bottle nearby.

"So, Mount Tyler erupted, huh?"

I nodded.

"Look, give it to me straight, am I in trouble here? Jeff and Michael say I'm not, my contract and all."

"They're right, it was a little provision I put in there. I thought it might come in handy someday."

"What about legally? Could I be prosecuted?"

"Were you at the party?"

"Yes."

"Were you there when it was raided?"

"No."

"There's your answer. Circumstantial evidence doesn't always hold up. Even I avoid using it if I can."

"Could Scott sue me?"

"For what?"

"We had a big fight there. I'm sure he had hard time walking out of there."

"He's claiming he has no memory of ever being there in the first place, says he had some kind of blackout. Supposedly he had a noseful of coke when they nabbed him. Maybe he's protecting you with his blackout story."

"Scott? Protecting me? Not from the way he fought me."

"Protecting what's left of his reputation, maybe?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"There's another detail I'm trying to confirm. They might've had someone undercover there."

"Wait a sec, they had someone inside?"

Roger nodded.

"What for?"

"Not sure, I'm still trying to confirm that."

"Do you know where Scott is now?"

"I'm guessing Vegas."

"Vegas? Why there?"

"Probably thinks he can have some anonymity there. As opposed to, say, Montana. He's got some connections there he might be looking up."

"What kind of connections?" I asked fearfully.

Roger gave me a reassuring smile.

"The legitimate kind if you must know. They'll probably advise him to enter rehab while Gary's case is being deliberated."

"So I should do nothing until then?"

"You've got nothing to worry about, even if they did bring you in, the prosecutors on these cases aren't gonna waste their time with you." he said before adding "They've got a dozen cases more important than yours."

He looked at his watch, and grabbed his briefcase.

"I'll bet my Lakers floor seats on this." he said as he made his way to the door.

"It's a slam-dunk, huh?"

Roger shot me a winning smile and wink of his eye as he walked out.

That night as I was feeding Smokie, my cellphone buzzed with a text message from Laura.

"I was right!" was all it said.

What could that mean?