Ballistic Kiss (Sandman Slim 11)

“The little prick tanked my career. Thirty years I worked in this business and Chris ruined me overnight. Other people too. Like that little girl who was supposed to play his kid sister.”

I lean forward on the sofa.

“Wait. Forever Yours, Forever Mine was a movie?”

“Of course. What kind of detective are you?” She practically shouts it at me.

“It was Stein’s last movie?”

“And mine, as it turned out.”

“What happened?”

Thivierge sighs and steam flows from her frigid lips like there’s a dying dragon down inside her someplace.

“It was a big-budget project. One of my biggest, and sure as shit Chris’s biggest. It was the movie that was finally going to put him up there with Dean and Brando. Then, in a weekend, it went to hell.”

“What happened? Was somebody out to get him?”

She makes a face.

“No one ruined Chris but Chris. He was doing a lot of drugs by then. More than ever. Still going to the play parties in the hills. When the studio got wind of it, they figured that they could paper over it all with money and stories about what a young stud Chris was.”

“Why didn’t it work?”

“You have to remember this all happened a long time ago. Less enlightened times. When it finally got back to the studio that Chris was as interested in other men as the women, well, the executives blew their tops. I managed to talk them down and get the movie back on track. But Chris had plenty of other problems, including some woman. She was no good for him.”

“How do you know?”

“She had her claws into him. The jealous type. Chris couldn’t make a move without clearing it with her. An out-of-town publicity event? He had to clear it with Mommy. A late-night photo shoot? Same thing. It was revolting. They used to send each other notes and call each other at all hours of the night. You can guess how each call ended.”

“Forever yours. Forever mine.”

“Bingo. It got so I was sick of hearing it.”

“But the movie was still going forward?”

“Sure. But then something happened between Chris and Mommy. All he’d say is she wanted something he couldn’t give her. That was the end. He disappeared for days. Went on a real bender. When he resurfaced he promised to be good, but it didn’t last long. That’s when the thing with the girl happened. The one who was supposed to play his kid sister. Did you find that in your files, Mr. Detective?”

“This is the first I’m hearing anything about it.”

She shakes her head. I don’t know if it’s at me or Stein. Both probably.

“The fool gave her cocaine. Fifteen years old and he was letting the kid dip into his stash. She ended up at the Cedars-Sinai ER.”

“And that’s when the studio killed the movie?”

Thivierge shakes her head.

“Killed everything,” Thivierge shouts. “Killed the movie. Killed Stein’s career. The little girl’s career. And mine.”

“No offense, but I know a little bit about Hollywood history. How is it Forever Yours, Forever Mine isn’t up there with the Fatty Arbuckle scandal or Bob Crane’s murder?”

“Because the studio buried it. The script, actors, crew. They used the whole movie budget. Everyone involved was paid off. The papers and TV people. I’m still living on the last of the payout they gave me. When it’s gone, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

I think about it for a minute.

“With all due respect, Ms. Thivierge, even paying off people, you can’t keep something like Forever Yours, Forever Mine a secret. There had to be something more to it.”