“He directed hundreds of TV shows before he retired and some of the baby writers he worked with then are big-time showrunners now. He could start paying back the child support by introducing you to some of them. If he doesn’t, you’ll put him in San Quentin, though it probably isn’t much worse than where he is living now. Have you ever been there? The whole place reeks of adult diapers and breath mints.”

Eve’s shoulders were so tight that the rigidity was spreading up her neck, too. She’d have a bad headache soon if she didn’t release some of the tension. She rolled her head and her shoulders but it didn’t help.

“I know what you really want and you can forget it,” Eve said. “You’re too old to play me anyway.”

“I know that. I’d be your captain,” Jen said. “Tough, but sexy.”

“I’m not going to sell myself as a movie or TV show and I sure as hell am not talking to Vince.”

“Hollywood will be calling, and when they do, you can be ready with a writer, maybe even a script, and get this made on your terms,” Jen said. “People wait a lifetime for an opportunity like this.”

“You mean that you have,” Eve said. “This is all about you trying to exploit me to make your own dreams come true.”

“Why not?” Jen said. “If it wasn’t for you kids, I could have become a star.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I couldn’t have a career and be a single mother. So I chose motherhood over stardom.”

“You’re delusional,” Eve said, her voice rising. “I raised Lisa and Kenny. I packed their lunches. I took them to school. I made their—”

“You love playing the martyr,” her mother interrupted, dismissing her grievance with her signature wave, which only pissed off Eve more. “But I’ve seen this performance a thousand times and I know all of your lines.”

Eve’s phone rang in her bathrobe pocket. She took out her phone and answered it without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“We just got the warrant,” Duncan said. “We’re staging in the Gelson’s parking lot. I’ll pick you up in five minutes.”

Thank God, Eve thought, getting up from her seat.

“I’ll meet you outside.” Eve ended the call and faced her mom. “This has been a real treat but I have to go and search a man’s home for pieces of the family that he butchered.”

Jen smiled at her daughter. “Now that’s a new line but it’s still very much in character. You could play Joan of Arc.”

Eve went upstairs to get dressed without saying goodbye to her mother.

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY