Private: #1 Suspect

CHAPTER 79

Justine sensed movement behind her and she whipped around. Merv Koulos was right there, standing so close she could smell Tic Tac on his breath.

The producer’s homely face was crumpled like a paper bag and he was shouting at her, “Do you see this, Dr. Smith? Danny is having a breakdown. We hired you people to watch him, and now I’ve got a mental case on my hands. My crew is showing up on set tomorrow, and you think Danny’s going to be up for that? Every day that we don’t shoot is three hundred grand right down the-”

“We’ve got a bigger problem, Mr. Koulos. Much bigger.”

“You’re telling me? I’m going to sue you for criminal negligence. I’m going to sue you personally.”

Justine saw Rick’s light bobbing as he reached the top of the incline. She left Koulos in midrant and went to Rick.

He was winded, trying to catch his breath. He gasped, “Looks like Piper was killed by a blow to the head. Could have happened as she fell down the cliff. I can’t tell if she was pushed or what.”

Danny pulled away from his agent and lurched over to Del Rio.

“Pushed? She wasn’t pushed, ” Danny wailed. “We were sleeping. I woke up and she was gone. I went looking for her. She was supposed to be asleep…”

Barstow’s face showed shock. His voice was high, bordering on hysteria when he said to Danny, “I know, Danny, I know. Come back to the house with me. We’ll get some clothes on you. I’ve got Xanax. We’ll take care of this. Come on, Danny.”

Justine stood still, blinking in the dark, trying to absorb Rick’s terrible news.

Piper Winnick was dead in this remote place, and no one had been with her but Danny.

Justine didn’t know Piper, had never met her, but she’d met Danny. And she had contracted for Private to keep him at close range.

He’d ditched them. That was a deal breaker, and she thought that was defensible in court-but what was terrifying her now was the possibility that Danny was capable of violence, and she hadn’t seen that.

Had her ego gotten the best of her? Had she missed a signal that had cost a girl her life?

Schuster and Barstow were trying to move Danny back up the trail, but Danny was resisting, shouting at them that he didn’t want to leave Piper alone.

Koulos was back in Justine’s face. He raged, “And now, because he got away from you, Piper is dead. My movie is dead too. I’m ruined. Ruined.”

Justine was still holding her phone, but her hand was shaking.

“You making the call?” Rick asked her.

She nodded and dialed 911.