Part 14 (2/2)
”I said go.”
Humiliated, the young woman hurried off like a schoolgirl.
”Sometimes you have to treat 'em that way,” McReynolds explained.
”And I'm sure they learn from it.”
McReynolds nodded in agreement, not picking up on the sarcasm in my voice.
”So again, Haller, what's this about?”
”It's about you, Clegg, being played for a sucker by Herb Dahl, your partner on the Lisa Trammel deal.”
McReynolds emphatically shook his head.
”No way. Legal's all over that deal. It's squeaky clean. Even the woman signed off. Trammel. I could make her a three-hundred-pound wh.o.r.e who likes black d.i.c.k in the movie and she couldn't do a thing about it. That deal is perfect.”
”Yeah, well, what Legal's missed is the part about neither one of them having the rights to the story to sell you in the first place. Those rights happen to reside here with me. Trammel signed them over to me before Dahl came along and took second position. He thought he could move up one by stealing the original contracts out of my files. Only that's not going to work. I've got a witness to the theft and Dahl's fingerprints. He's going to go down on fraud and theft charges and your choice here is to decide whether you want to go down with him, Clegg.”
”Are you threatening me? Is this some sort of shakedown? n.o.body shakes me down.”
”No, no shakedown. I just want what's mine. So you can either stick with Dahl as your partner or you can have the same deal with me.”
”It's too late. I signed. We all signed. The deal is done.”
He turned to walk away.
”Have you paid him?”
He turned back to me.
”Are you kidding? This is Hollywood.”
”And you probably only signed deal memos, right?”
”That's right. Contracts in four weeks.”
”Then your deal is announced but not done. That's how you do it in Hollywood. But if you want to make a change, you can. If you want to find a deal killer, you can.”
”I don't want to do any of that. I like the project. Dahl brought it to me. I made the deal with him.”
I nodded like I understood his dilemma.
”Suit yourself. But I go to the police tomorrow morning and file the suit in the afternoon. You'll be named as a defendant. As someone who colluded in the perpetration of the fraud.”
”I did no such thing! I didn't even know about all of this until you told me.”
”That's right. I told you and you did nothing. You chose to move forward with a thief despite knowing the facts. That's collusion and that makes my case.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled the tape recorder out. I held it up so he could see the red light was still on.
”I'm going to tie this movie up so long, the girl whose a.s.s you just slapped will be running this place by the time it's done.”
This time I walked away and he called me back.
”Wait a minute, Haller.”
I turned around. He looked off to the north, toward the sign high on the mountain that drew everybody here.
”What do I need to do?” he asked.
”You need to make the same deal with me. I'll take care of Dahl. He deserves something and he'll get it.”
”I need a phone number to give Legal.”
I pulled a card and gave it to him.
”Remember, I have to hear something today.”
”You will.”
”By the way, what are the numbers on the deal?”
”Two-fifty against a million. Another quarter to produce.”
I nodded. A quarter million dollars up front would certainly fund Lisa Trammel's defense. There might even be a piece left over for Herb Dahl. It all depended on how I wanted to handle this and how fair I wanted to be to a thief. Realistically, I'd have liked to put the guy in the ground, but then again he did find the project a legitimate home.
”Tell you what, I'm the only guy in town who will ever say this, but I don't want to produce. You keep that part of the deal with Dahl. That's his end.”
”As long as he's not in jail.”
”Put a character clause in the contract.”
”That'll be something new around here. I hope Legal can handle it.”
”Pleasure doing business with you, Clegg.”
Once more I turned and headed back toward my car. This time Clegg came up alongside me and walked with me.
”We'll be able to reach you, right? We'll need you as a technical advisor. Especially on the screenplay.”
”You have my card.”
I got to the Lincoln and Rojas had the door open for me. Once again I carefully slipped in, nice and easy on the cojones, cojones, and then looked back at McReynolds. and then looked back at McReynolds.
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