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“I talked to both Susan Woodley, the director for Love Letters, and Charles Conte, our studio liaison. They brought me in to complain about my performance, and I explained what had happened in my trailer with Zander. I told them about him making unwanted advances and groping me. They said they understood, but I needed to be more professional and work through it.”

“Do you know what the studio did with your complaint?”

“You’ll have to ask them. I’m sure they will be open about what steps they’ve taken to protect me and other women from Zander on this and future films,” Halle said.

I barked out a laugh, and Rita gave me a look. We all knew they had patted Halle on the head and told her to be a big girl and suck it up.

“What do you plan to do when you go back on set?”

“Nothing, because I am sure this will never happen again,” Halle said.

There had been a heated discussion about how she should handle that question. Halle wanted to get on her soapbox and let her justified indignation fly. Rita had explained the facts of life to her. If she did, she would be labeled a problem child and would be quietly blacklisted. The good old boys were still in power, and if you threatened their world order, you would never work there again. She had come right up to the line when she said that Zander was only doing what prior experience had taught him he could get away with. The implication was clear, but she hadn’t said out loud that Zander wasn’t the only sexual predator in Hollywood.

“You think he will ever see the light of day?”

“This is LA. Who knows?” Halle said to lighten the mood.

“Are you and David A. Dawson a couple again?”

Halle looked over at me and smirked.

“He wishes,” she said, and then got serious. “Actually, David has been a good friend to me and my family ever since I first met him on the set of Star Academy. He seems to turn up when I need him the most. David was there for us right after Trip was shot. He was there when I needed him this weekend. He is one of those special guys mothers hope their daughters will bring home. I would be happy to date him. The only problem is David already has a girlfriend who loves him, and she and I are close friends.

“I was glad he was there the other night to keep Zander away from me. I’m devastated that because he defended me, he was literally blindsided by a predator who considers vehicular assault and attempted kidnapping perfectly acceptable ways to resolve issues. You have no idea how relieved I am to find out that the big goof is going to be okay.”

“If his girlfriend dumps him …?”

“I’ll be there to pick up the pieces. The only problem is that she knows what a great guy he is and is smart enough not to ever let that happen,” Halle said.

Rita leaned over and whispered to me.

“Brook was just put on notice.”

◊◊◊

Ms. Dixon arranged to have a lawyer go with me when I was interviewed by the police.

“We’re considering charging Halle James and Brook Davis with battery,” the detective said.

“We’re done. Get me out of here,” I told my new lawyer.

“You can’t do that. You’re a material witness,” the detective exclaimed.

“Watch me. As soon as I hit the street, I will seek out every camera I can find and repeat what you just said.”

What a rookie. My mom was much more intimidating. Right on cue, the door opened, and another detective came in. I looked him over and couldn’t decide if he was supposed to be playing the part of badder cop or good cop. His glare was better. You would think that living in LA, you could get some acting classes so you’d be believable. The new detective saw I wasn’t worried. I might have been, but I’d taken another pill just thirty minutes before, and it was kicking in.

“Terry, go get me a coffee. You want anything, kid?” he asked.

“I could go for a Coke.”

It looked like I was now with the ‘good cop.’

“Hey?” I asked.

“What?”

“Why do you guys think you have to intimidate everyone? If you want me to tell you what happened, just ask me,” I reasoned.

“Terry’s going through a messy divorce. His old lady put a restraining order on him today so he can’t even see his kids.”

I could see why she might do that.

“I’m Detective Drum. Did Terry read you your rights?”

I looked at my lawyer and then back to the detective. Then I looked around the interview room. Had I just been punked? They both started laughing. I began to wonder why I needed this lawyer. I planned to have a long talk with Ms. Dixon the next time I caught up with her.

“Sorry about that. I just got done interviewing Rita and Halle James, and they said you could take a joke. Consider this as payback for making my job harder after that interview you all gave this morning. Now I’m going to have the press up my butt every step of the way. I understand Beverly Mass told you to let us handle things,” Detective Drum complained.