eCHAPTER SEVENTEEN

March 11, 2002 Sunday

It was a good interview, thought MacLean. The actress was quite polite, having years of theatrical training before moving to Hollywood. She and her fiancé had been recently engaged but wanted to keep it secret until she finished her next movie. He was working for a rival company and she did not want to compromise anything.

"So when did you first meet?" MacLean had asked her.

"At a benefit dinner for orphans," she said, showing perfectly white teeth. She had been born in Kentucky of a poor family and the studio had spent thousands on dental implants and caps to replace her broken, decayed, and missing teeth. "Bradley and I were taken with each other. He came from Tennessee, poor white trash as I was."

MacLean would not know it if he had not done his research. Her accent was so upper class and her manners divine. The actress who had starred in a few local- good—girl- leaves- her- small- town- meets –with- a- cad,- and finally- marries- a- decent- cowboy-movies was a Baptist as was Bradley, and like him, had grown up with old country values. To this date, they had not slept together. The wedding would be next year when the movie would be finished. "And what if it does not?" he asked, knowing that things happened.

"Well I guess we had better elope," she said with a laugh.

As it was, the interview went successfully. She got up to leave and that is when MacLean saw him. He checked his pocket, taking out the photograph. Yes, tall, pale skin with freckles, and blue eyes. Only he had brown contact lenses and that blonde definitely was a wig because the man in the photograph had a receding hairline and his natural hair color was light reddish brown not yellow. It was the Dead Beat. The reporter started to get up, but it was too late. By the time, he reached the door and paid the tab, the tall man had left.

MacLean was sure that Miss Parker and Jarod would be disappointed so he decided to get them, especially, Jarod a little gift. The book on Scottish history would do for Miss Parker, and what he got from the men's department would do for Jarod.

He drove to Miss Parker's beach house just in time to see the lawyer and Broots plus (it looked like a population explosion) Ethan, Debbie and several children. He told Miss Parker of seeing the scum, but he got away before he could corner him and handed them the packages. Miss Parker was pleased to get hers, but Jarod's eyes lowered as he handed his back.

"What you don't like it?" asked MacLean.

Miss Parker pushed Jarod aside, and took MacLean to a corner. "He can't accept it."

"I thought it would keep his clothes cleaner."

"MacLean, you know what Jarod is. Do I have to spell it out for you? Starts with an S, the second letter's an L. He's supposed to be ready when I want it, do you get my drift? Look take it back to the store, I'll give you some money," she said, handing him a slip of paper. "That's his size. He can wear navy, black, or blue and he does need a new jacket. Make an excuse, the wrong size, color, anything."

After Jarod told him that the jacket had to be easy fitting with a lining, deep inside pockets, two outside pocket he could put his hand in (and also keep a weapon concealed), stain resistant (blood stains and gun powder slides off), the reporter got in his car and drove back to the commercial district.

Once back in the store, he told the salesclerk that it was the wrong size and the man preferred to buy his own. MacLean then went looking in the jacket department.

The money he had was the right amount and the saleswoman who had excellent taste said that, "this one looks perfect. You say he's tall, brown hair which turns auburn in Summer and brown eyes with beige to olive skin? We do have it in a taupe, but I would suggest the dark navy blue." She opened it to show the lining "Hand stitched. It's a classic and note the inside pockets have enough room to put his passport and wallet, plus it has two packages of extra buttons not just a few, and if he runs out, the number's on the ticket and they're always in stock. Shall I wrap it or do you want it in a bag?"

"Wrap it please."

"Thank you. I hope your brother will be very pleased."

MacLean hoped he would not have to lie again. It would have been easier a few years ago when men buying something for other men were not suspected of something else.

He bought some sandwiches, not wanting to impose that much on Miss Parker. She did have that whole 'nation' that had invaded her and from what he suspected, they were mostly Dominants with the extremely large appetites. The warning he and the other reporters received from the government that it was "either them or us' did not apply just to the Dominant tendency of taking out guns and shooting every human in sight or breaking their necks. Their metabolism was faster and they did not have the feast or famine gene that many homo sapiens had.

He drove past a Church, seeing the message on the billboard on Acts 16. This was a sure sign there were Dominants in the area. This Church had preached a series of sermons on John and now suddenly it was changing to the story of responsibility in running your household. MacLean remembered because he had done an article called "The differences between the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Churches. Which one leads to God?" And this particular Church was featured as an example of its denomination. He wondered when ministers would preach on "servants obey your masters in the flesh," and not apply it to the employer and employee relationship.

When MacLean saw the Dead Beat, he was walking south. Taking out his pocket the reporter checked to see if there were anything of significance like a yacht club in that area, but the club Jarod had already checked, was to the west of the town. Dead Beat would have to go considerably out of his way past the private beaches to get there from here. This meant that Dead Beat had come here from another town. MacLean had a convincing feeling that it was to the South, but there was still that small town with the yacht club to the North. Besides, he knew there was a computer television show in San Francisco and since Broots and Lambourni wanted to get in on the audience, they would want to go to the town in the North.

However, the Dead Beat could leave his area and head back North, while they were going south, and yet he had not made a move. This meant that the town in the South, Saint Pedro or Paul (MacLean was not sure which) and it had to have a compelling reason for Dead Beat not to leave. MacLean decided to check up on it as soon as he got back to the beach house.

Jarod was pleased with the jacket even though it really was not his, but Miss Parker's and he did let MacLean use the computer, but not for long.

The next morning, everyone took off for San Francisco. The Hertz people felt that God had smiled on them. Imagine renting two of the high end Cadillacs! The girl at the counter beamed as she handed them the customary insurance forms, a brochure of the finest restaurants, and everything necessary for Lambourni, Broots, and Ethan who now, thank to the Mechanic, had his own driver's license with Ethan di Angela on it.

The only one disappointed was Debbie. She had been looking to get on the TV Judge show.