The fall the hollywood t.., p.1
The Fall (The Hollywood Thriller Trilogy), page 1
THE FALL
SHARI LOW
ROSS KING
CONTENTS
About the authors…
Introduction
The Hollywood Cast
Prologue
Chapter 1
Eight Months Earlier
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
More from Shari Low and Ross King
About Boldwood Books
ABOUT THE AUTHORS…
When a budding radio DJ and actor met a young nightclub manager in Glasgow in the late 1980s, little did they know that over thirty years and thousands of miles later they would still be friends.
Los Angeles-based Ross King MBE is a four-time News Emmy award-winning TV and radio host, actor, producer, writer, voice-over artist and performer. King has starred in London’s West End, appeared in over ten movies and hosted TV shows in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. He has also presented countless radio shows and pens a Sunday newspaper column. In 2018, he received an MBE from the Queen for services to Broadcasting, the Arts and Charity.
Best-selling author Shari Low released her first book in 2001. Since then, she has published over thirty novels, selling over two million books worldwide, including the recent hits One Last Day of Summer and One Day With You. Shari splits her time between Glasgow and Los Angeles, and wherever she is, she’s probably writing the next chapter of a book.
Visit Ross’s website at www.rossking.com
Instagram & Twitter – @therossking
Visit Shari’s website at www.sharilow.com
Instagram – @sharilowbooks
Twitter – @sharilow
From Ross – For David Johnston King and Isabel King, my heroes, my pals and my ‘Pops and Wee Bella’. Forever in my heart.
With thanks and all the love in the world to the best sister, Elaine, and the family, Jim, Hollie and Euan.
And to all my dear pals – you know who you are.
From Shari – For my love, John, and our family, who are everything, always.
And for the incredible women in my life for the strength, the support and the laughs that get us through everything.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to The Fall!
This is the third book in the Hollywood series featuring movie star, Zander Leith, TV producer, Davie Johnston and writing legend, Mirren McLean.
If you haven’t read The Rise and The Catch, the first two books in the series, don’t worry, because here’s everything you need to know to catch up…
Mirren McLean, Davie Johnston and Zander Leith – three Hollywood superstars who grew up together in a tough housing estate in Glasgow.
Back then, Mirren’s mother, Marilyn, was the mistress of Zander’s father, a violent gangster called Jono Leith.
Neglected, living in poverty, the three youngsters were inseparable, the family that they chose for themselves.
Until the unthinkable happened.
Jono Leith raped seventeen-year-old Mirren and her mother killed him. Not because Marilyn was protecting her daughter, but because she was consumed with jealousy that Jono had touched another woman.
Desperate to escape the horror of what had just happened, the three youngsters covered it up, burying Jono’s body under the shed in Davie’s garden.
Marilyn disappeared into the wind, and the world thought Jono had gone to ground to avoid rival gangsters. He wasn’t missed.
That could have been the end of it. Case closed.
However, as a way to process the trauma, Mirren wrote the story of what happened and, against all odds, it found its way to a Hollywood producer, Wes Lomax.
He turned Mirren’s words into a movie, The Brutal Circle, a cult hit that unexpectedly became a box-office smash, winning Mirren, Davie and Zander an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
The whole world believed it was fiction and the success brought brand new Hollywood lives for the three Scots. Zander became an A-list star, thanks to his leading role as spy, Seb Dunhill, in a hugely successful movie series, Davie went on to make millions as producer of some of the biggest shows on television and Mirren secured her position as a powerful player in the industry by writing, directing and producing one of the most iconic film franchises of all time.
But fame and fortune came at a price.
The shame and pain of finding success by capitalising on the worst moment in their lives drove the three of them apart. They didn’t speak for twenty years, until a young journalist from Scotland, Sarah McKenzie, began digging into their past.
Eventually, Sarah discovered the truth about what happened to Jono Leith, but by then it was too late. She’d fallen in love with Davie Johnston and killed the story to protect him.
Along the way, the ghosts of the past brought the hope of resolution.
Sarah’s investigation forced Mirren, Davie and Zander to reconnect, two decades after they’d walked away from each other. It wasn’t always easy. The pain was still there. Davie’s discovery that Jono Leith was his father too was tough to digest. Mirren’s mother was dead to her, but her presence aways lingered. And Zander’s demons from his childhood still pushed him towards a bottle.
But in The Catch, all of those issues were set to one side when the three famous names were targeted in a series of violent, disturbing incidents. Davie’s house was attacked, shots were fired at his gates, an arsonist set fire to his home, and he was ambushed by a stalker.
Zander was busy fighting fires of a different kind. His apartment was ransacked, he was falsely accused of a sex crime he didn’t commit, and his integrity, friendships and career teetered on the edge of destruction when he gave a positive drug test, despite being clean since the death of Mirren’s eighteen-year-old daughter, Chloe, a fellow addict that he’d tried desperately to save.
Mirren had her own demons to combat. Still grieving over Chloe, her world was rocked when Marilyn came back into her life in the most brutal way. At first, the three friends suspected that Marilyn was at the root of all their troubles, but a violent explosion at the Academy Awards in 2014 claimed Marilyn’s life, and the truth was revealed – Davie and Zander had been targeted by people they’d crossed in the past, enemies who would no longer trouble them after their acts were exposed and justice was served. And not necessarily in a courtroom.
The Catch ended with peace. With resolution. With the three of them battle-scarred but still standing.
Mirren found love with studio head Mike Feechan.
Zander married Hollie, the assistant who’d stuck by him through years of off-screen struggle.
Davie and Sarah were committed to a future together.
And all three of them saw their careers soar.
However, in Hollywood, happy endings don’t last for ever.
Sometimes they’re just the calm before the storm…
THE HOLLYWOOD CAST
Mirren’s World
Mirren McLean: Born and raised in Glasgow, now a major Hollywood player, best-selling author, Oscar-winning screenwriter, director and producer of the iconic Clansman movies, epic tales of a heroic warrior and his clan in 16th century Scotland.
Mike Feechan: Mirren’s husband of four years. CEO of Pictor, the TV and Movie studio that makes Mirren McLean’s Clansman series. Father of Jade, 16.
Chloe Gore: Mirren’s daughter, wild child, addict, troubled soul. Died in 2013 from an overdose, aged 18.
Logan Gore: Mirren’s son, gained worldwide success as former lead guitarist and singer in South City, the boy band that was on the walls of teenagers across the globe from 2012 to 2016. Now a solo artist, married to…
Lauren Finney Gore: singer, songwriter, global sensation, first came to fame as winner of Davie’s talent show, American Stars.
Marilyn McLean: Mirren’s mother, who killed her lover, Jono Leith, in cold blood. Now deceased.
Lou Cole: Mirren’s best friend of over twenty-five years, journalist, gossip queen, and editor of the Hollywood Post.
Lex Callaghan: movie star, plays the lead role in The Clansman but shuns the limelight when he’s off-screen.
Cara Callaghan: Lex’s wife, a Native American beauty who runs an equine therapy centre at their fifteen-hundred-acre ranch in Santa Barbara.
Jack Gore: Mirren’s ex-husband of almost two decades, movie producer turned mid-life crisis cliché.
Jason Grimes: a counsellor at one of the branches of Chloe’s Care – the drop-in centres Mirren funds for young addicts.
Davie’s W orld
Davie Johnston: multi-millionaire presenter/host and producer of some of the biggest reality hits on American television.
Jenny Rico: Davie’s ex-wife, lead actress on hit TV cop show Streets Of Power.
Darcy Jay: Jenny Rico’s partner both on and off screen.
Bella and Bray: Davie and Jenny’s fourteen-year old, red-haired twins, child stars of sitcom Family Three, Bella is now the next Hannah Montana, while Bray shuns the limelight.
Ena Johnston: Davie’s mother and keeper of his secrets, still lives in his childhood home in Glasgow.
Cal Wolfe: Davie’s ruthless, sharp-suited former agent. A moral vacuum in a world where all that matters is power and profit.
Drego and Alina: Davie’s loyal gardener/driver and his tempestuous housekeeper.
Mellie Santos: the mildly terrifying, caustic producer on Davie’s talk show, Davie Johnston: As It Is.
Lainey Anders: country music legend, friend, and former judge on Davie’s old show, American Stars.
Zander’s World
Zander Leith: icon, actor, action hero and star of the Dunhill movie franchise. Former loner, addict and no stranger to uninvited violence, rehab and jail cells – now happily married and has found peace for the first time in his life.
Hollie Leith: Zander’s former personal assistant, right-hand woman, and unfailingly loyal, smart-mouthed friend – now his wife of five years.
Jono Leith: Zander’s father, Glasgow gangster and one of the most evil bastards to ever walk the earth. Killed in 1989 by his mistress, Mirren’s mother, Marilyn.
Wes Lomax: Legendary studio head, with a sexual appetite that’s as ferocious as his temper.
Sarah’s World
Sarah McKenzie: Scottish journalist, who came to LA to investigate rumours about Davie, Zander and Mirren’s past lives, but fell in love with Davie Johnston. Now Davie’s fiancée, she is the author of two best-selling books on the dark side of Hollywood and is currently writing a third. She also has a new role as investigative journalist for the crime documentary show, Out Of The Shadows.
The Out Of The Shadows Team
Chip Chasner: executive producer.
Meilin Chong: investigative journalist and co-anchor.
Shandra Walker: super-smart young researcher.
Hank Travis: Head of Legal for the production company that makes the show.
PROLOGUE
THE ACADEMY AWARDS, THE DOLBY THEATRE, 24 FEBRUARY 2019
‘Fame’ – David Bowie
Myla Rivera reporting for the Fame Channel:
‘Welcome to the 91st Academy Awards, live from the Dolby Theatre, in the heart of Hollywood. And what a spectacle this promises to be! We’ll be sharing every moment right here on the Fame Channel. Behind me, the stars are just beginning to arrive for Hollywood’s biggest night, and we’ll be chatting with them soon and checking out all the fashion on the red carpet. Of course, we’ll have some hot gossip for you too, plus we’ll be sharing our predictions as to who will be heading home with the most wanted man in Hollywood… Oscar!
‘We’ll also be keeping you updated on the biggest story of the day so far, the tragic situation unfolding in Malibu right now, where an unseasonal wildfire has reportedly claimed the home of Zander Leith, a much-loved friend of many of the industry names who will be arriving this evening. Let’s take a look at the moment Zander won his Academy Award, back in 1993, for the original screenplay written by Leith, Davie Johnston and Mirren McLean.’
Cut to a VT package – The Academy Awards 1993. Actress Lana Delasso announces the winners in the category of Best Original Screenplay. Zander Leith, Mirren McLean and Davie Johnston, all barely in their twenties, take to the stage and pick up the gold statue for their movie The Brutal Circle.
Cut back to Myla Rivera…
‘At the moment, we’ve no information on Zander Leith’s location, but before today’s events, he was expected to attend tonight’s ceremony to present the award for Best Director – a category in which one of the nominees is his old friend, and no stranger to controversy this year, Mirren McLean.
‘So, be one of the billion people worldwide tuning in tonight for all the latest news, fashion, and of course, the awards. Stay right here on the Fame Channel, and we’ll be right back after these messages…’
Broadcast ends. Myla Rivera looks off camera, taps her earpiece, speaks to the producer in the gallery.
‘Billion people, my ass. Why are we still peddling that bullshit? Lucky if it’s even half of that. Okay, I need to know exactly what’s happening with Leith. Let’s run the package about his wife in the next segment, but you guys keep the cameras on the limos. Make sure you get Mirren McLean’s face on a close-up when she arrives, and I want Davie Johnston’s first words. Do your work, people. This is going to be a shitshow and we want the whole fucking world to be watching it here.’
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THE ACADEMY AWARDS, THE DOLBY THEATRE, 24 FEBRUARY 2019
‘Standing In The Shadows of Love’ – Four Tops
The limo slid to a halt in the line that stretched back from the entrance to the Dolby Theatre. Inside the cars was the action that the audience at home didn’t see. The chaos. The waiting to arrive. The last slug of straight vodka. The last line of coke. The last adjustment to a dress to ensure the greatest exposure of both the body and the star. The last-minute phone calls to publicists, screaming about the lack of coverage on the story that had been planted to ensure the flashlights on the C-lister would elevate them, just for tonight, to the spotlight of an A-lister. Even the entrance to the theatre was a façade. The shops that lined the walkway to the theatre were covered for one evening only with luxurious drapes. It would be so easy to pull back the curtain on Hollywood in every sense of the word. But, of course, no one ever did.
Six cars back from the beginning of the red carpet, in a smooth black Bentley limo, Mirren McLean was one of the last to arrive for the night’s proceedings. On the cream leather seat, she sat bolt upright, to accommodate the boned corset of her bespoke gown – a work of body-hugging, crystal-beaded artistry that had been designed for her by fashion students at the Glasgow School of Art. For the first time, no major designer had offered to dress her. Over the last year, she’d discovered who her friends were, and she’d found that there were fewer than she could ever have imagined. Now, she wasn’t sure if it was the constraints of the dress, the prospect of tonight’s public appearance, the man sitting next to her or the call she was taking on her phone that was forcing her lungs to work way too hard to get breath into her body.
‘Lou, I can’t go in there if I don’t know he’s okay,’ she told the one person who had never let her down. Not ever. Lou Cole. Editor of the Hollywood Post. The sister she’d chosen for herself when she’d met her back in 1989, a few months after she’d arrived in Hollywood. Lou Cole was Sasha Fierce with a pen, a magnificent woman of colour, a media queen who controlled the Hollywood press, who knew where the bodies were buried, and, more importantly, knew who’d buried them. There was barely a hotel manager, a club promoter, or a service-industry employee in this city who wasn’t on her list of informants. For a price, of course.
