Elegance

By David Manoa

Seduction is my game infiltrating a movie studio investigating a link to a possible Heroin supplier. With my partner Detective Anna Beckett, things didn't turn out like we expected...

Contains content for mature audiences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Manoa
• Release date: Mar 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311418029

David Manoa

I am a writer based in Auckland, New Zealand.I write mainly contemporary romance.My interests are Rugby League, Cars, Gaming and Bodybuilding.

Book preview

Elegance

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David Manoa

Copyright 2016 David Manoa

SMASHWORDS Edition v1.2

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The author asserts the moral right to be identified as

the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, information storage and retrieval systems, or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the author, with the exception of a book reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

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Author note: Included in this edition is ILLUSION. The alternate story/prequel with Dr. Michael Angel and Bianca Wilde. Click on the link below to access.

ILLUSION by David Manoa

Sione Suarvea

Taniela Consolidated

The hallway outside Chads Office.

10am.

She gazed up at me with those sultry eyes, she licked her lips. I mirrored with mine. I breathed in closing my eyes, I opened my mouth expecting the deep kisses, of her repressed and denied desire. I visualized us, going into the stationery room, the adrenaline, still in our system. I would sweep the paper off the desk. Tearing away at her clothes with my teeth. Tongue suckling smooches to her neck.

She gave me a hug.

I flinched opening my eyes, mouth open, not what I usually expect.

But hey, I'll take it.

Time slowed or perhaps the perception of it. Anna Beckett’s body felt rigid for a moment she relaxed, then said, Sione you can let go...

I can't… I've melted in your arms.

Get your ass off me! she shoved me away, force that of a man. Gosh, can't you take anything seriously?

No, not really. I winked, Only you.

She rolled her eyes.

I opened the folder, the first page is the coroner's report on the burn victim. His name was Daniel Hookman. Executive producer and financier that worked on all the One Man Army Movies. I flick through to a photo of a man. The suspect, Victor Walters. I examined his features, he had a thin, gaunt face. Eyes small and beady. He had brown hair with a terrible comb-over reminiscent of Donald Trump but without the thickness to cover his baldness.

Nice haircut, I say as my eyes shift to Anna. May I receive the executive summary? I take we are investigating a homicide with this gentleman here as the prime suspect?

Wrong on both counts. I'm checking a possible thread into a drug operation.

Says here, he is a movie director based in Australia and Hollywood. My assumption he's some overstressed, probably undersexed from the appearance of him. He appears to indulge in chemical pleasures to soothe his fragile mind.

Right on one count, Sione. That pleasure would be heroin and Victor could be holding on to a truckload.

I take out my smartphone to google him. A new use I adore about these gadgets. It's funny but people seem so attached to their phones in this age. If you actually added the hours you stared at the screen, it would be more than the time you engage with actual people. I scrolled down his online history. Nothing out of the ordinary. He's married with one son. Divorced two times before. I check his filmography to investigate the evolution of his career.

I say, So this gentleman started off as a director for music videos, did quite right for himself too. Michael Jackson, Madonna, a few rock bands. Then he's progressed to Hollywood doing action films. Humm... One Man Army 1, 2, and 3.

I loved those movies.

Those were horrible. A homoerotic film filled with a non-sensical plot.

Anna put her hands on hips, eyes flashed with defiance, "That's your opinion. I quite enjoyed it to be honest. It’s nice to view a movie and leave your brain at the door and be mesmerized by mindless action and violence.

I respectfully disagree. I was forced to endure all three on an 18-hour trip from Dubai.

Is that so? Did they put a gun to your head? she asks.

The dangerously attractive flight attendants should have pulled the trigger. I'd seen everything else. Apparently if you fly with Emirates, you receive a comprehensive selection and the service is impeccable.

So? she says, The hell that got to do with anything?

I pause to calculate, Just a tip. So we are investigating this guy to uncover his supplier, is that right?

Yes.

And we are going to investigate the homicide of Daniel Hookman right?

No, but I want use this as an angle to put us on the investigation and boot out the team on the case. she says. Read the file properly.

Apologies, I focused more on the pictures.

I heard her sigh. I examined it closely that the producer who was burnt alive died due to an accident on the set of another production.

So Victor it seems, is changing genre.

Yes. He is currently directing a pilot called Cinderella in Sydney.

Australia huh?

Yes.

My brother is there correct?

Yes. But not on this assignment.

Perhaps we will cross paths again.

Not likely.

The secrets you keep hidden from me, Anna. Sometimes I wonder when you will trust me unconditionally. After all, we’ve been through. The deception… The betrayal.

She scratched her head. Don’t get all Shakespearean on me Sione. Take a f’n concrete pill. We fly out to Sydney tomorrow to pay a visit to his production company.

His own?

Yes. Walters Studio out in Manly.

On the surface of it all, it seems to be a waste of time from the information and intensive research I just done.

She laughed, Please enlighten me with your wild theories Sione.

A director like him would possibly have direct contact with heroin supplier in my experience from attending red carpet releases, always has an out of place guy. Roughed up individual with gold chains and bling that is a magnet for movie stars to ask for their shot of coke.

You're so full of it!

I'm not, seen it with my own eyes, I have. I used to frequent those circles.

What the hell were doing at there?

I was invited like anyone else. I've met a number of celebrities, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt all of them passionate and polite individuals. I found them interesting the world that they live in. Fame, fortune all quite fascinating. I say, And the women and the clothes they wear... gorgeous.

Bullshit...

I swear it's the truth, Anna. I think my personal insights into the movie business will be invaluable for this one.

Well as long as you shut up and do as I say, that will be enough insight for me. Don't be late for our flight. 7 am start.

You going to bring the concrete pills too?

How about a clip over the ears?

I paused then gave her the folder. She tried to snatch it, before I held it giving her resistance, No, ma'am.

***

Anna Beckett

Sydney International Airport

10:30am

There is something irritating about Sydney Airport I can’t put a finger on. With noticeable delays you get, just to embark out of the damn place. Customer service is terrible. Immigration officials have a scowl worse than me. The place is also in desperate need of renovation. Sione and I are in a queue so long, it stretches across the length of the floor. Travelers are weaving around us while the Airport Security rustles about like cops on a power trip. To top things off, a camera crew are filming a show called Border Patrol. Already we’ve been in line for two hours, and this woman and child in front of us, creates a scene by not declaring the food in their luggage.

"I ton unterstand," the woman says, as the officer fines her stupid ass for being so ignorant.

The declaration forms in your own language. The officer points out the section for her to read. The woman reads the form and becomes horribly embarrassed. When the Border Patrol officer stings her with the fine and takes away the undeclared items. The woman is visibly upset.

I turn to Sione, who is watching adjusting his cufflinks, He is wearing a single breast gray tartan type suit. White shirt and blue tie. He lifts a hand and rakes through his black hair, before it rests on his chin. He strokes his angular jaw and glances at me.

What? he says, Something you are admiring milady?

No. I'm thinking whose table cloth you butchered to make that suit of yours?

He smiles, "Elegant isn’t it? My tailor, Mohe Mimi, who is based in Hong Kong, does them for me. Suits off the rack don't fit my aesthetic body type.

Whatever.

It's true. I can show you sometime in the shower.

I roll my eyes, when the woman is balling her eyes out. Her daughter explaining the situation to her.

"We can't afford to pay! We have no money!" Border