A Face in the Crowd

By Joe Manfredi

What begins as a simple act of gratitude, movie actress Jessica invites her friend Joe up to her house in LA for a vacation. From there, things go bad.

Jessica is the target of a deranged killer, intent on taking her life for reasons she doesn't know. Each attempt has failed, due to Joe's being there, but how long can Jessica's luck last? Together, they hope to unravel this mystery and end this reign of terror. But how can they when the killer could be any one they meet? How can they find one face in a crowd of people?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475907834

Joe Manfredi

Joe Manfredi is the hopefully best-selling author of "A Face in the Crowd." He currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

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Copyright © 2012 by Joe Manfredi.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-0782-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-0783-4 (ebk)

iUniverse rev. date: 06/26/2012

Contents

Chapter 1   The Invitation

Chapter 2   The Apartment

Chapter 3   The Morning After

Chapter 4   Waking up With What Feels Like a Hangover

Chapter 5   Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Chapter 6   4 Months Later

Chapter 7   Welcome to L.A.

Chapter 8   My Date with a Movie Star

Chapter 9   Re-shoot

Chapter 10   For Your Convenience

Chapter 11   What Do You Do After Filming a Movie?

Chapter 12   The Meeting

Chapter 13   How to get Around Without Being Noticed

Chapter 14   Jumping at Shadows

Chapter 15   Something Happened On The Way From The Doctor

Chapter 16   Soiree

Chapter 17   Exhausted, Not Worn Out

Chapter 18   Sleepless Night

Chapter 19   Things Always Seem Clearer in the Morning Light

Chapter 20   Piecing the Puzzle

Chapter 21   Late Night Visitor

Chapter 22   Taking a Moment

Chapter 23   Shining Stars

Chapter 24   The Terror, Horror and Drama Facing Jessica

Chapter 25   Follow That Trail (Such as it is)

Chapter 26   The Inevitable Fight Scene

Chapter 27   We Got The Guy, Now What?

Chapter 28   One Last End To Tie Up (Or Whatever)

Chapter 29   How It All Comes Together

Epilogue

For Tiny, who shall never be forgotten

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would first like to thank my family for supporting me, one way or another, while I wrote this book. It took longer than it should’ve, but it wasn’t as good the first time I finished it either.

I would also like to thank Tiny, my bunny, who was both literally and figuratively by my side every step of the way, except this last stage.

Finally I would like to thank the woman who inspired this story in the first place and who became my muse for it with each plot device. So even though we never met, and chances are we never will, thank you Jessica Alba for inspiring me.

Chapter 1 

THE INVITATION

There were times when she could still feel it: The feel of the wind on her face and blowing her hair, the adrenaline rush, the tingle running over her skin and rushing through her entire body as she jumped from building to building. Breaking and entering, the game of cat and mouse she played with the security guards, there were times she missed it. Then there were the fights she sometimes felt she couldn’t win, but she fought anyway and always came out on top. All this with the adversity she overcame, and of course, the incredible satisfaction she felt whenever she helped someone, whether friend or stranger. There were times she shouldn’t have come out. There were times she didn’t. There were times she wouldn’t have if she didn’t have friends watching her back.

It had been a couple years, but she was at it again, and it felt as though she’d never stopped. All her skills were at their peak, her senses as sharp as ever and of course, her trusted friend watching her back through electronic devices and video surveillance. A simple adjustment of her senses, and she can see any invisible security beams. Her mission was relatively simple: Break into a building, find a certain disk, expose the truth. Business as usual or so it used to be.

A couple of years ago, the mission changed, or the rules did. She and others like her had been exposed, and she’d been forced into hiding. The world knew of them now and there was no going back. She had tried leaving once, soon realizing she couldn’t because they needed her. Not someone like her, specifically her. She had knowledge, experience, skills, and a sense of leadership like no one else she’d ever met. Almost no one, but he was dead, he couldn’t help. Always a loner by nature, she had found herself in a new role, that of leader, spokesperson, and guardian to others. Whatever happened to these people now and forever would be a result of her actions, her leadership.

This wasn’t something she wanted, but it was the hand fate had dealt her. And, she sometimes speculated, maybe it was something she needed, just as she was what they needed.

Two days ago, she’d been called by a friend of hers, a friend who was still fighting his own crusade his own way. She’d helped him with it for a while and he in turn helped her, but that was before she had other responsibilities. He still helped her when he could. They still worked together, but not nearly as often now, and usually only when he really needed her help. Those times were few and far between which is why she was so surprised to hear his voice on the phone. They met in his apartment an hour later.

What he needed this time was a computer disk, which under normal circumstances would’ve been held in one of the most secure facilities in the city. The building was quite secure, though not as much as one might expect for the information on the disk. The disk itself contained names and records of highly placed individuals whose personal activities were not entirely legal. No one would ever think of looking for it in any place less secure then Fort Knox.

If we could get this disk, he’d explained. We could bring down nearly half the city officials in a single blow.

Which is where I come in. she’d replied, and he nodded.

Which is what brought her here tonight.

She stopped suddenly as she approached a corridor, her eyes fixated on a shadow moving toward her position. ‘Great.’ She thought, slowly backing up into the shadows. She knew there’d be security, but her Intel showed it would be light. Her Intel, it seemed, was wrong.

Damn.

What’s up? the voice from her ear communicator spoke to her.

Guard. Thought there wasn’t any security on this floor.

Wasn’t supposed to be. How many?

One.

Need a distraction? Might take a minute.

No. I got it.

As soon as the guard looked the other way, she ran, bolting right toward him. He barely saw her, turning at the last possible second before her fist collided with his head, sending him to the floor and unconsciousness. She smiled, satisfied. He didn’t see her long enough to make an ID.

‘Still got it.’ She thought.

She savored her minor victory for no longer then a few seconds. She didn’t know when he might need to call in and she wanted to be long gone before backup arrived. She turned to head down the corridor, when she came face to face with another guard, this one with a gun pointed directly at her.

Jessica? he said as he pulled the trigger.

Even with her enhanced speed, there was no way she could dodge the bullet.

Jessica? Wake up.

What? she asked, completely astonished. How did he know her name?

Jessica. You okay?

Her eyes blinked, her head shook, and it took her a few seconds to realize where she was. She turned to Logan, the handsome, confidant, dark haired man in the driver’s seat. He was a friend and former co-star of a hit prime time science fiction series that had, sadly, only lasted two seasons. They had also dated for a time, though he was thirteen years older than she was. It was his attitude and his charming smile that had attracted her to him. They remained friends even after the relationship ended. Obviously there was still some awkwardness between the two of them from time to time, but they never let it bother them. Sometimes, he even made jokes to ease it. No real reason for it, that was just his nature and she went along with it sometimes.

He was on his way to an audition now, which he felt could save his own suffering career, and had offered to drive her. She didn’t have the heart to tell him he wasn’t a very good actor, but she accepted the gesture.

She was a modest person herself, and even though she worked hard at it, she didn’t always see herself as a star. In her own eyes, she was an actress doing her job. She didn’t let that change her, and that included not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings, while most of her colleagues wouldn’t give it a thought.

You alright? he asked again.

She looked down at the envelope in her hand, the contents of which she’d read numerous times in the past week. It was an invitation to appear at a convention for her show, even though it ended a few years ago. She hadn’t heard about it before and the calls she made to find out about it didn’t seem to turn up anything. The strangest part was that she was the only one who received an invitation in the first place. While she was the title character in the show, she wasn’t its only star, and she wondered why none of her other cast-mates were invited to appear. It was also strange that it didn’t go through her agent like all her other appearance requests. The whole thing seemed weird to her, which might be why she accepted the invitation.

Yeah. She replied. I just dozed off.

Okay. Just thought you’d like to know we’re almost there.

Thanks. She smiled at him, he smiled back politely. They both returned their focus to the road ahead, all signs of pleasantries gone. It was like that a lot lately. For a while he wouldn’t even talk to her, not until she eventually forced the issue. Things became a bit better after that. Now it seemed that while they were civil, they weren’t really friends. They said they were, but it was clear to anyone who looked there was tension between them. What she didn’t know was why.

The two of them had originally met while auditioning for a television program about a reluctant heroine hiding from her enemies in a post-apocalyptic future. Both of them had gotten their parts(the leads) and the show was a hit. Even they didn’t know why it was cancelled after only a couple seasons, and without any major plot threads tied up. Sure, someone wrote a series of books to do just that, but it wasn’t the same.

But after the series ended, both of them went their separate ways, with Jessica quickly becoming one of the most sought after ladies in Hollywood. She was never sure if it was because of her acting abilities or because of how she looked in a bikini. She never agreed to do a movie without reading the script first. Some of her friends had told her things like, Oh, this producer’s so great, or This movie’s gonna be so big or even You could work with him. He’s so dreamy. and yes, this person actually used the word dreamy. But Jessica didn’t care about any of that. She was a professional and if she didn’t like the script and had no say in any changes, there’s no way she’d do the movie. Damsel-in-distress and eye candy roles were not for her. She liked characters with depth and actually did something, not wait around to be rescued. She’d done that enough as a teenager. She was twenty-seven now, and although she had an exotic, well-kept body (the result of a healthy diet and plenty of exercise), long lustrous black hair, piercing brown eyes and naturally full lips and could easily make a career just by being beautiful for a long time to come, she’d always felt that what was inside was far more important then what was outside. Not that anyone complained about her outside, of course. Once she was stable enough in her career, she could afford to be picky and only do the movies she felt good about, not just whatever comes up.

Then last week, she received the invitation in the mail to appear at a convention for her show, a convention to be held in Ottawa, Ontario. It wasn’t a convention she’d ever heard of before, so she did some checking, including calling up some of her former cast-mates. It was Logan who told her it was genuine, the first time it was being held. He couldn’t appear himself, since he had an audition, but he would drive her there if she wanted to. Since she still wasn’t sure about it, she thought a familiar face would help her out. It didn’t, not really. But it was a generous offer.

The car pulled into a parking lot in an area that didn’t seem like the most upscale. Logan parked it, looking around a bit. You sure this is the right place?

Jessica looked at the invitation, then at the number on the building a few meters from where they sat. This is it. She passed it to him so he could take a look.

Doesn’t exactly scream ‘convention,’ does it?

No, but not every place can be as nice as the ones in L.A.

I don’t like this. Look, maybe I should come with you, just in case.

Hey, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.

Okay. He reluctantly agreed. But I’ll be back first thing in the morning to pick you up.

I thought your audition was tomorrow morning. She said, getting out of the car. In Toronto. That’s a long drive, isn’t it?

He drove off without another word, just an annoyed grunt.

She just rolled her eyes, shook her head, turned around and started looking for the convention center. As she turned, she threw her arms up in frustration at the retreating vehicle. It still had her luggage in it, not that she could do anything about it now. He’d gone too far in a literal sense and she knows he doesn’t have a cell phone. She really didn’t know why she was surprised.

Every time. She muttered to herself. She looked around, then at the building.

The convention center looked as though it had seen better days. It actually looked more like an old run down building that should be condemned if it wasn’t already. She double checked the address on the invitation as well as the number on the building and looked back to the street sign to verify the she was on the right street. It all fit. She tried the door only to find it locked. This didn’t come as very much of a surprise. She looked in the window. Just as she expected: Empty. It didn’t look like anyone’s been in there for months, maybe years.

Excuse me. She tried to stop a man passing by on the sidewalk, stepping in front of him. He just walked around her as though she wasn’t there. She tried again with another person, the same thing happened. The third person, on the other hand, stopped. Can you tell me where the Convention Centre is?

Right there. He pointed to the building behind her, the same one she looked inside, and walked away.

Nice. She muttered.

Hey, is everything alright? came another voice.

She turned, startled. She hadn’t expected anyone to be behind her, let alone to speak to her. But here was this man, about her age, give or take a couple years, with a helpful attitude. He didn’t look very safe, dressed all in black with a long overcoat, plus a few hours in a tanning salon wouldn’t kill him. Perhaps, though, it was yet another example of appearances being deceiving, something she’s seen a lot of in