Paper Doll (a Jana Lane mystery, book 1)

By Joe Cosentino

Jana Lane was America's most famous child star until she was attacked on the studio lot at eighteen years old. Now a thirty-eight-year-old beauty and mother of two living in a mansion in picturesque Hudson Valley, New York, Jana's flashbacks from her past turn into murder attempts in her present.

The local suspects include Jana's down-on-his-luck husband with a dislike for living off the fruits of his wife's young labor, Jana's sister and male friend (who both have eyes for Jana's husband), Jana's show business father, her deranged loyal fan, and Jana's young Guy Friday who covets her fame and shares an uncanny resemblance to Jana.

Forced to summon up the lost courage she had as a child, Jana visits the California movie studio she once called home. This sends her on a whirlwind of visits with former and current movie studio personnel. It also leads to a romance with the son of her old producer -- Rocco Cavoto -- the devilishly handsome filmmaker who is planning Jana's comeback both professionally and personally. With Rocco's help, Jana uncovers a web of secrets about everyone she loves, including the person who destroyed her past and threatens to snuff out her future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joe Cosentino
• Release date: Mar 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311499981

Joe Cosentino

JOE COSENTINO was voted Favorite MM Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen, the first Nicky and Noah mystery novel. He is also the author of the remaining Nicky and Noah mysteries: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas, Drama Pan, Drama TV, Drama Oz, Drama Prince, Drama Merry, Drama Daddy, and Drama King; the Player Piano Mysteries: The Player and The Player’s Encore; the Jana Lane Mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll; the Cozzi Cove series: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Moving Forward, Stepping Out, New Beginnings, Happy Endings; the In My Heart Anthology: An Infatuation & A Shooting Star; the Tales from Fairyland Anthology: The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland and Holiday Tales from Fairyland; the Bobby and Paolo Holiday Stories Anthology: A Home for the Holidays, The Perfect Gift, The First Noel; and the Found At Last Anthology: Finding Giorgio and Finding Armando. His books have won numerous Book of the Month awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions. As an actor, Joe appeared in principal roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Goddard College, Master’s degree from SUNY New Paltz, and is a happily married emeritus college theatre professor residing in New York State.

Book preview

"Paper Doll is a superbly crafted mystery with an eclectic cast of characters that will engage you and elicit some very emotional responses as you are completely caught up in the events that unfold in these pages. Everyone has secrets and the people in Paper Doll have them in spades!"

—Fresh Fiction

If you like novels that are filled with new and old Hollywood, and a range of sub-plots, you are going to love this!

—Saguaro Moon Reviews

I liked that there was enough evidence for each of the suspects to keep me guessing until the very end.

—Molly Lolly Reviews

Joe Cosentino knows how to keep his readers’ interest with every page.

—Urban Book Reviews

The setting, the characterization and the plot keep you turning the pages.

—The Book Mistress

Joe Cosentino has crafted an engaging tale of secrets, lies and deceit set in that crazy, ego driven scene called Hollywood.

—Deb Sanders

Mr. Cosentino has produced a masterpiece of mystery…. The story gripped me from the start and there were enough twists and turns, with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure, to keep hold of me until the end of the book…. Great book, can’t wait for book 2.

—Readers’ Favorite

Also by Joe Cosentino

Porcelain Doll the second Jana Lane mystery (The Wild Rose Press)

Satin Doll the third Jana Lane mystery (The Wild Rose Press)

China Doll the fourth Jana Lane mystery (The Wild Rose Press)

Drama Queen the first Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press)

Drama Muscle the second Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press)

An Infatuation (Dreamspinner Press)

A Shooting Star (Dreamspinner Press)

A Home for the Holidays (Dreamspinner Press)

The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland (Dreamspinner Press)

Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back (NineStar Press)

Cozzi Cove: Moving Forward (NineStar Press)

Coming by Joe Cosentino

Rag Doll the fifth Jana Lane mystery (The Wild Rose Press)

Drama Cruise the third Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press)

Drama Luau the fourth Nicky and Noah mystery

Cozzi Cove: Stepping Out (NineStar Press)

PAPER DOLL

A Jana Lane mystery

by Joe Cosentino

Copyright © 2014, 2016 by Joe Cosentino

http://JoeCosentino.weebly.com

Cover Art by Holly McCabe

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and incidents are fictitious and a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons alive or dead is entire coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Author, except where permitted by law.

Print edition ISBN-10: 1499279477

Print edition ISBN-13: 978-1499279474

Second Edition 2016

DEDICATION

To Fred for everything over all these years, and to the child star in all of us.

Chapter 1

1980

Eighteen-year-old child star, Jana Lane, stood deathly still. A masked figure sprang out from the shadows. Jana tried to call out, but a gloved hand covered her mouth and dragged her backwards, causing her tiny heels to scrape against the gray studio floor. She felt her heart pounding and her whole body shaking. In a dark flash, two hard knees pinned the backs of her legs onto the cold concrete. Another gloved-hand wrenched her wrists together until…

Jana?

She gasped for much-needed air. A strong hand touched her shoulder.

Another dream?

She shivered a nod.

Her husband wiped a tear off the face he once called, ‘as smooth as the porcelain doll that bore its name.’ What can I do, babe?

Hold me. Jana couldn’t face the possibility that her nightmare was more than a dream.

Brian wrapped his powerful arms around her petite body like a blanket over a baby. Tell me what you saw, Jan.

As she relayed the painful details of the nightmare, Jana placed her index finger with the bitten-off nail around her husband’s large round thumb. It felt warm and protecting.

A masked man, huh. Brian’s eyes twinkled. "You sure it wasn’t some Zorro rerun stuck in your beautiful head? He winced as she pulled at the hair on his arm. Rubbing his arm, he asked, 1960 is a long time ago. Why do you think you’re remembering it all now—twenty years later?"

I don’t know.

I think I do.

She did a double-take. What?

With a condescending nod, he said, "Your nightmares are courtesy of Scott Lane."

Jana slid out from Brian’s touch, tugged back the silk bed sheet her husband recently called, the fruits of her child labor, and sat with her elbows resting on her knees. What does my father have to do with—

All his blabber about ‘the good old days in Hollywood’ when you were ‘a star.’ It’s no wonder you’re reliving all that crap. I thought you had decided…we had decided to finally let it go. Jana…babe, I don’t want to have to glue you back together again the way I did when we first met.

"So, this is all about you?"

It’s about your mental health!

So now you’re a psychiatrist. I thought you were a— Her words raced out faster than her brain formed them.

"I’m a what? Go ahead and say it!" He rose from the bed and stared out the window at the swirled palette of orange, red, and violet over the nearby black jagged mountains. Like Jana Lane, it was perfection out of reach.

Jana cringed. I didn’t mean to disparage your profession.

"I know what you meant."

As Brian ran his fingers through the thick mane crowning his six-foot stance, Jana watched his body glow like a bronzed Greek god in the early morning sunlight. She remembered their first meeting at the Hyde Park Town Hall. He reminded her then of a boy who’d found a wounded bird, and made a vow to protect it from the storm. Yes, Brian was the anchor that saved Jana Lane after her stormy ride in Hollywood, and she would never forget it.

She lifted her arms invitingly. Come back to bed.

Brian stared at the expensive ruby-red canopy bed, where they once made love from dusk to dawn. "I have to get ready to do some important landscaping." He brushed past a French Provincial chair and closed the bathroom door behind him.

Jana rubbed her throbbing eyes and rested back against the bed’s gold circular headboard. She wanted Brian to understand about her childhood…her family…and her marriage.

She rose and peered into the spacious bathroom. Hearing Billy Joel’s Don’t Ask Me Why playing on the radio, she watched unnoticed as Brian rested his head against the glass wall of their long shower stall, whispered her name, and cried into the water droplets from the pure-gold nozzle.

Knock-knock!

She gasped at two large green eyes peering around the bedroom door. Jana identified them as belonging to the other man in her life.

Baby doll! Scott Lannery—professionally known as Scott Lane—made his entrance with a flourish.

Jana grinned at the silver hair that stood proudly on top of her father’s head like a crown, and the hooked nose that gave the supporting actor an almost regal quality. She reached quickly for her satin robe. You’re up and about early."

Standing at the foot of her bed, and displaying his once-famous profile, Scott Lane said, I couldn’t sleep…with my grandson’s big opening tonight!

She slid to the edge of the bed, and stepped into satin slippers. Dad, it’s only a school play.

Her father sat next to her and placed an arm around Jana’s bare shoulders. She pulled away without knowing why.

Hey, my grandson will steal the show tonight. He’s got the Lane genes, right? He added with a blinked tear in his eye, When you were his age…playing opposite your dad…you could out-act anybody at Gemini Pictures…at any studio…right up until …

Thinking about her dream, Jana put on the robe and fastened the belt around her waist. Dad, how come we never talk about…my breakdown?

The actor’s spine stiffened. He sounded like a pubescent choirboy. That was so many years ago. I’m just happy you’ve been well for so long now, girly girl. He sat stealthily on a gold and white settee across from the bed.

"I had another dream about Sugar and Spice."

Her father dug his fingernails into his frayed brown corduroy pants. Oh?

Joining him on the settee, Jana said, I keep seeing the man in black.

Scott’s face turned the color of his faded green sweater. As if playing to a camera coming in for a close-up, Scott Lane’s features softened. "Honey doll, you were exhausted, doing movie after movie. You had a nervous breakdown. You were not the first child actor in the old studio system to do so, believe me. Now, remember what your doctor said back then. ‘You shouldn’t force yourself to recall any unpleasant memories.’"

She felt the lines growing on her forehead. "That was twenty years ago."

"Good advice is good advice. He took both of her hands in his firm grasp. Think about the pleasant things from your past. Me bouncing you on my knee singing Oh, Susanna, how you loved it when I brushed your hair down over your eyes, and our secret whistle when I tucked you in at night. He spoke as if to a child. Hey, who’s the brightest star in the whole wide world?"

A cactus grew in her stomach.

Come on, answer like you always used to. His voice raised an octave. Me, shining over Daddy. He squeezed her hand.

Why does your touch repulse me? If I answer, will you go home?

Only if I get a kiss, too. He puckered his lips and squeezed his eyes tightly. Hearing Brian coming out of the shower, Scott said, "I’m having a wait-for-the-reviews party at my place after Devon’s show tonight. Will you come?"

She didn’t relish the thought. I’ll ask Brian.

Scott flashed a stagey sad-eyed pose. "I remember when you used to ask me everything."

The bathroom door opened. As if hearing a director shout, Cut! Scott Lane whispered, "Come over tonight. I have something very important to discuss with you. See you then."

Scott disappeared as Brian reentered the bedroom with a white towel around his small hips. As if perched on a fluffy cloud, Brian sat next to his wife on the settee and rested his knee against hers. Are you mad at me?

No. A little.

He wrapped a still-damp arm around her shoulder. I hope you know how much I love you.

Jana smiled. You’ll have to convince me.

He bent her over his lap and they shared a long, satisfying kiss. Jana looked up at his handsome face, and was thrilled to see the old Brian.

I heard voices a minute ago. Was it the TV?

Here goes. Dad stopped over.

She could feel his leg muscles tighten, as he asked, So early?

As she sat up, Jana watched the look of love drain from Brian’s face. Dad has something he wants to talk to me about.

So what else is new? Brian rose, dropped the towel onto the bed, and began getting dressed.

Facing his firm body, she answered, He isn’t a mass-murderer, Brian. He’s my father.

Brian replied with a snap of the waistband of his shorts. I hear the kids calling. They weren’t. And I have a few phone calls to make. See you downstairs. He blew her a shallow kiss, and walked out of the room.

* * * *

Fifteen minutes later, still in her robe and slippers, Jana stood in the center of her two-island kitchen as Devon—eight, and Ed—six, raced down the spiral stairs and dropped into the breakfast nook like paratroopers into a war zone. Jana served her boys hot oatmeal then groaned when they used it for finger painting on the kitchen wall.

Who’d want to stab your cruddy old mole anyway, bellowed Devon.

Ed examined the round mole on his stomach for the twenty-fifth time that week. "Mom, is my mole cruddy?"

Standing over the still hot stove, the ex-child star yawned and licked the wooden spoon of its last raisin. How to be tactful so early in the morning? Your father has a mole there too. Among other places. But yours is even more beautiful.

Egh! Devon banged his foot against the dented leg of the silver table.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it’s The Mole Brothers Show starring the Mole Man!" Buddy entered the kitchen through the French door off the veranda. A handsome nineteen-year-old, Jana’s Guy Friday was in his usual college uniform: Vassar tee-shirt, exposed white Calvin Kleins, blue jeans, and work boots tracking mud onto the kitchen floor. As he stuck his finger into the pot of oatmeal on top of the oven, Jana couldn’t hold back her grin at his pug nose and prominent dimples, which reminded her of her own at that age.

Breakfast, Buddy?

Just O.J.

Buddy gulped out of the crystal canister on the chipped marble counter and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Next, he took off his Mets baseball cap, and flipped back his long reddish-blond hair. Bedroom green eyes emerged. Lawrence Olivier never ate before a performance. Did you?

Constantly. She took the pot to the sink.

Devon dropped a raisin from his mouth onto his spoon, and flipped it inside Ed’s right nostril. "Who’s Lawrence Oliver?"

Before your time, dude. Sitting on the table, Buddy replaced his cap and wiped his nose on the sleeve containing the orange juice stain.

Not about to be left out of the conversation, Ed piped up with, It couldn’t be before Mommy’s time.

And I had to have children.

At thirty-eight going on eighty, Jana looked over the soaking pot and said to the back of Buddy’s head, Remember to pick up my tactful little darlings from school at three-fifteen.

Aye, aye, Capitan. Buddy saluted then lifted his sack full of drama books.

Two wet kisses slammed against Jana’s cinnamon-stained chin, then Devon and Ed grabbed their lunch boxes from the counter, took Buddy by the hand, and the back door slammed.

Jana ate breakfast standing at the counter. When her maid arrived, they cleaned the kitchen as Theresa gave her rendition of the latest turn of events on the elderly woman’s favorite soap opera.

* * * *

A half-hour later, Jana lay on a deep-blue raft in her heart-shaped swimming pool. Thoughts of Scott and Brian flooded her mind. Her father had always been her anchor. Her husband became her champion.

Why are the two men I love so much alike?

Watching the sun gleaming like a lemon lollipop on top of the neighboring mountains, Jana felt a light wind brush past her one-piece swimsuit, and she drifted off to sleep.

As young Jana Lane glared up in fear of the black mask looming over her, she bit at the gloved-hand pressing over her mouth, and moaned as her blouse was torn in the struggle. The hard movie studio floor felt cold on her back. The dark figure above her seemed inhuman yet somehow reminded her of—

Jana woke to a strong hand on the back of her head—pushing her lower and lower into the cavernous bottom of the pool. The taste of chlorine filled her mouth and burned her vocal cords. Her arms flapped furiously in the water.

Where’s Brian? Dad? Oh God! My children! I can’t be taken from my children.

Before losing consciousness, she sensed quick, efficient hands pulling at her hair, head and back.

The next thing she knew she was laying on the cold concrete next to the pool. Buddy pressed on her stomach, as Jana watched water jet out of her mouth like a Roman fountain.

Breathe out, said Buddy.

Buddy’s face took solid shape. Jana let out a convulsive shudder, then coughed until her lungs cleared.

Are you okay?

I can breathe. Jana choked. But I feel flush.

"Is it menopause?"

Still coughing, Jana reached into the pool and bopped Buddy on the head with Ed’s tube.

Undaunted, he asked, What happened?

I fell asleep.

Your vital signs are normal, said Buddy, pressing his thumb nowhere near her pulse.

Jana’s head stopped throbbing, and she could finally swallow again. In the pool…I felt a hand pushing on the back of my head. It was horrible.

That was me. I had trouble getting a good grasp on you—to save you.

Before that. Someone was here.

I didn’t see anybody. It must have been another bad dream.

"The hand on the back of my head was so strong."

Hey, don’t talk spooky. I’ll never leave you alone again and I’ll miss all my classes. He grinned at his new proposition. Not altogether a bad idea. He flexed like a bodybuilder. Anyway, my hands are pretty strong.

Her mind began to focus. What are you doing back here?

He squeezed the water out of his pants’ legs. I dropped the kids off at school then back-tracked to get my prop for acting class. He pointed at one of Brian’s garden shovels leaning against Buddy’s jeep in the driveway. "It’s for the gravediggers’ scene in Hamlet. He smirked. We dramatic actors in college don’t have fancy studios supplying us with props the way you did in L.A."

Good thing for me. She lifted herself up, sat on a pink and blue chaise lounge, and motioned Buddy to the adjacent cabana. When he returned, Buddy placed an oversized aqua towel around her shoulders. Jana positioned his large hand between her wet fingers. You’re right. It was probably just another bad dream. Thanks for pulling me out of the water.

Hey, what’s a Guy Friday for?

As they shared a smile, Jana thought about the instant bond she had with Buddy ever since he arrived at her doorstep three years prior. Her father was the celebrity judge on a panel critiquing student actors from various high schools, who were competing for admission to Vassar College—Jana Lane’s post-Hollywood alma mater. Highly impressed with S. Buddy Morrissey, playing Stanley Kowalski in a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire, Scott Lane recommended that Buddy receive a scholarship to Vassar’s Drama Department. At first Buddy was thrilled, but once enrolled, the stone British university-style dormitories did not fit his carefree style. Since Scott knew his daughter was on the look-out for someone to help with her children, her father suggested Jana become Buddy’s employer/landlord.

Never missing an opportunity to engage in show business chat, Buddy kneeled down next to the chaise lounge like a dog in heat. What was it like?

Not now, Buddy.

"I mean…before actors had to audition for each film with a different director and producer. When actors were signed to a studio. When you were the biggest kid star on the planet. How did it feel? Please tell me again."

Jana moved her legendary strawberry-blond locks behind her ears, then wiped a bead of water off her alabaster cheek. It wasn’t as glamorous as you think. She suddenly felt a million years away. "Back then…I was under a great deal of pressure. From the time I was six years old until I was eighteen, I did two films a year and went to classes on the set. I enjoyed the make-believe…playing so many characters in so many different locations. But the movie business is a business. An entire studio relied on me to deliver audiences—film after film. Not only the studio boss, Mr. Cavoto, but a great deal of people’s livelihoods depended on the success of my movies—producers, directors, writers, actors, publicists, costumers, set and lighting designers, sound engineers, camera operators, and makeup artists…to name a few."

But it wasn’t all bad.

The people were great, many of them much more talented than I. Jana Lane unleashed her infamous smile. "And I have