Nancy Grace - Death on the D-List

“PLASTIC FREAK!” The headline quoted her from the set and the cover picture beneath the headline was a still-frame grab off The Harry Todd Show as she threw a gallon of icy slush onto Todd’s head.

Hailey shook her head. She knew no good could possibly have come from appearing on TV. What a horrible idea.

But she still had a soft spot for Russo. He reminded her of every kid that got picked on, kicked in the lunch line, not invited to birthday parties, the odd one left standing alone when sides were choosing teams on the playground. She knew that he was the one that always got spiked first during schoolyard dodgeball.

Through the diner window, she spotted Tony get out of a cab at the corner, rush up the sidewalk, and hurry into the restaurant. His eyes scanned the room until he spotted her and came over.

“You look amazing !”

Didn’t this guy have any other adjectives in his vocabulary?

“Thanks. How’s Todd? Has he dried out? I guess he’s still mad.”

“Actually no, he’s not mad at all. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. He wants to apologize for the way he treated you on the show. And it doesn’t hurt that your episode turned out to be the second highest-rated show we’ve had in two years, and that’s saying a lot!”

“Oh, really? What was the first?”

Russo glowed. “The Leather Stockton show! We had her last live, one-on-one interview, less than a year ago when she got drunk and ran her car into a storefront at a strip mall… Or maybe it was a McDonald’s… or both. Anyway, it was right after her husband gambled away all the money, you know, that investment guru… What’s his name?”

“I haven’t kept up with Leather Stockton’s marriage…” She said it with a hint of sarcasm, which was completely lost on Russo, especially when he was discussing ratings.

“Oh yeah, Kenny DePaul. Used to be a big deal on Wall Street, then turned into the financial planner to the stars. Tons of celebs lost money. Anyway, she got drunk after the husband lost all the money. Big mess. She came on to talk about booze and rehab, you know, image repair. We re-aired it the night she was murdered, patched in with the Snoop shots of her body being wheeled out to the ambulance on a gurney. Numbers through the roof… amazing ratings ! I only wish she could die all over again! But now we’ve got Prentiss Love!”

“Congratulations, I guess…” Hailey didn’t know exactly what to say about Prentiss Love’s murder, on the heels of huge ratings over a dead body in a pool house. She’d read about Stockton’s murder in the papers. “Back to Stockton. Wasn’t her body found in Eric Saxton’s house in the Hamptons? Has he been cleared? He was at Sundance, right? I think I read that…”

“Oh yeah. It was his house all right. He wasn’t home. He had nothing to do with it, is what I hear. Anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about…”

“What can I get you two?” The waitress appeared at Hailey’s elbow.

“I’ll just have hot tea with skim and the chicken Caesar.” Hailey had had plenty of time to look at the menu waiting for Russo to show up.

“I haven’t looked at the menu, I’ll just have the same but no tea. Diet Coke for me.”

The waitress smiled at Hailey. “I read in the papers what you did to that slimy lawyer. I wish I could do the same to the one that closed on my apartment out in Queens. Right in the head, I’d give it to him. Right in the head.”

She turned on her heel and still muttering to herself, pushed through the swinging doors leading into the kitchen before Hailey could begin explaining it was self-defense. Did it matter? People believed what they wanted and they seemed pleased at the thought Hailey murdered a lawyer with a dentist’s drill. So be it.

Back to the business at hand. “So what’s so urgent you had to meet and couldn’t talk on the phone? I did what you wanted, I came on with Todd to talk about violent crime. It was awful. So what… He wants to sue me for throwing water on him? Bring it on. He’ll be a complete laughingstock for a lawsuit over getting wet. Plus, I could always counter-sue. Don’t start with me.”

“No! No! That’s not it at all!” Tony was alarmed at talk of a lawsuit with Hailey Dean. He knew she had a 100 percent win record as a felony prosecutor, she’d never lost a case. And that was on behalf of other people… much less if she were the target…

“No! Harry wants you back!”

Hailey couldn’t believe her ears. “Wants me back ? On the show? Why in the world would he want me back on? I don’t believe that for one minute. What’s going on? And don’t try to lie about it. I’m beginning to know you.”

“Okay. It’s not Harry. It’s Sookie. She wants you on. It’s the ratings. They shot up when you were on. The phone lines lit up and the e-mails poured in. We’ve gotten tons of viewer response.”

“But Todd hates me… hates everything I stand for. It was awful. Why would I do it again?”

The salads came. As the waitress turned to leave after setting the plates down between them, she said it again: “Right in the head. I’d do it if I could… right in the head…”

Hailey couldn’t summon up another denial. People seemed to love that she killed a defense lawyer. The fact she stabbed him in the side of the head with a whirring dentist’s drill only added to their joy.

“Did that waitress just spit in our food?”

“What?” Hailey had no idea what Tony was talking about.

“I think when she was talking to you, some saliva came out of her mouth. I think it landed in our food.”

Hailey tried to take it in without laughing.

“Tony. She did not spit in our food. Plus, even if saliva did actually come out of her mouth when she spoke, which I did not see at all and I was looking directly at her, she was a good three feet away from our plates.

“Even gunshot residue only travels about three feet. So if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about a little spit… or a sneeze coming from across a football field. And as to doing the show… no. Thanks, but no. I’d tell Sookie to her face, but I’ve never met her. Does she ever leave her mansion in the apple orchard and actually come into work?”

“No. She doesn’t have to. She can think much better out there than in an office. Plus, she’s got me to do everything for her. We talk all day .” He was clearly thrilled he had the ear of the powers that be.

“Plus, she’s busy. She’s just found romance again after the husband ran off with a teenager. But I can’t tell you who it is. He’s a lawyer and he’s married. You might know him.”

“I have no interest in who may or may not be dating a married lawyer. And her job sounds pretty cushy to me. Sitting in a mansion looking out the window and thinking all day while servants wait on you… Whatever… I guess it works .”

“How’d you know about the servants? You know she actually makes them wear uniforms.”

“So happy to hear it. I was just guessing.”

“She’s going to be upset you won’t come on.” He sounded worried.

“Don’t care. I was upset when Todd threw Will’s murder in my face.”

“Sookie sent you flowers! Didn’t you get them?”

“BS, Tony. You did that and I know it!”

“Okay! I did send them! How did you know that? But it was for her ; in her heart she wanted to!”

Hailey took a few bites of the salad, giving him a hard, long look while she chewed. Silence didn’t bother her in the least, but Russo was the type who needed to fill the void with chatter. Hailey had learned a lot this way over the years. The less you talked, the more you learned.