The Favor; A Dark Comedy Thriller

By Victoria Wallin

For fans of The Big Lebowski and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Josh Walker is a 41-year-old famous Hollywood moviestar at the top of his career. When his screenwriter girlfriend Astrid starts collaborating with the reckless druggie screenwriter and actor Ben Harris, pinned Sexiest Man in Hollywood, it sets off a series of events which snowballs into quite a predicament for Josh when he accidentally kills Harris in a fit of rage. In a desperate state Josh turns to a 'friend' on the darker side of LA for a favor. Only thing is, now he owes the bad guys one in return. Will he be able to return the favor they're asking? Will he get arrested? Will he even make it out alive?

A roller-coaster action thriller with loads of dark humor,
set in Los Angeles, Jamaica and Canada.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Victoria Wallin
• Release date: May 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005283544

Victoria Wallin

Victoria Wallin writes women's fiction, romantic comedies, romance, historical fiction and crime thrillers!

Book preview

The Favor

A dark comedy /

crime thriller

by

Victoria Wallin

The Favor

A dark comedy / crime thriller

Copyright © 2020 Victoria Wallin

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written admission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed by a newspaper, blog or other social media.

All characters appearing in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons is coincidental.

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Autumn Wishes (Willow Creek Book 1)

A Home for Christmas (Willow Creek Book 2)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

About the Author

Chapter 1

I hated LA. It was pestered with fake smiles and desperate people, and I was stuck there. I know, I shouldn’t complain. I had made a great career there, with some 35 movies, of which several had turned into huge blockbusters. My name, Josh Walker, had become a brand. I was a movie star. Yet, here I was in a strange country with a gun in my shaking hand ready to shoot, and it was not on a film set.

How did I get myself in such a predicament, you may ask. Well, that’s a very good question. It all started with a woman. It’s always a woman that gets us guys in trouble, isn’t it? We lose our minds over women. Her name is Astrid. She’s a long-legged Norwegian knock-out with long brown hair and eyes as deep blue as the fucking fjords. She was very different from the regular young actresses I had been dating. Astrid was smart and funny, and she gave me a hard time about being famous. I fell for her, big time.

We met at a party in Hollywood Hills. There was always a party somewhere in this industry, some producer or actor inviting you into their multi-million dollar home, any day of the week. For most of the guests it was a work thing to attend, making connections, keeping up appearances, being seen. I had also once been one of the desperados, hoping a big time producer would notice me. These days I only went to parties held by buddies of mine. Young starlets were always hanging out around the pool area to pick up for an occasional one-night stand or a longer fling. My relationships didn’t last very long, I never really had much in common with any of the women I met in the industry. And it was hard to sustain a relationship when you were away shooting a film. But this time it was different.

The party was held at my buddy Brad’s house, he was an actor too. I spotted her from across the crowded room. I remember Dancin’ with Chris Isaak was playing, this guitar-driven moody, sexy song, and as soon as I saw her my eyes were locked on her. She was obviously a beauty, but so was every other woman in that room, I’m not gonna lie. No, there was something different about her and I picked up on it. She was talking to a producer I knew named Barry, and she didn’t have that starry-eyed look in her eyes that most starlets had. She wasn’t just quiet and let him do all the talking either, I watched her converse with the man for a few minutes while Isaak’s smooth voice suggested physical motion to the strokes of a Gibson guitar. From that short period of time I thought she seemed intelligent, confident and unafraid, and that was sexy as hell. You might think I enjoyed young female fans that would do anything to sleep with you, but nah, that’s mostly just awkward. I liked strong, independent women that could talk back, unimpressed with me. I gave myself a mental note to try and talk to her later, and went outside to have a smoke.

I didn’t have to wait very long. I was having that smoke out on the terrace enjoying the view of the infinity pool and the infinity beyond, when a tall long-legged woman with long brown hair came strolling out. She brought out a cigarette from her clutch purse and glanced at me. It was her. And I could tell right away she really was different. There was something in her deep blue eyes. She placed the cigarette in the corner of her mouth and gave me the one over while she searched for something in her purse. Yeah, she was sizing me up. She sighed.

Got a light? she mumbled with the cig between her teeth. Boy, did I?

Yeah, sure, I said, grabbed the lighter on the glass table in front of me and held it to her. Our fingers touched as she grabbed it from my hand. She lit her cigarette, then handed it back to me. I snatched it and threw it on the table. She took a deep inhale of the cig and I drank the last of my vodka lime. The ice swooshed around the glass and the sound made her look at me where she was standing a few feet away beside the large sofa. I crushed the stub of my cigarette in the ashtray. I wasn’t sure if I should ask her to sit down or not. For the first time in a long time a woman was making me feel slightly nervous.

Some view, huh? she said, gazing at the sunset over the hills. Yeah, there was a freaking sunset, I swear. It was pretty fucking spectacular, red, orange and pink streaks all over the sky framed by dark palm trees.

Yeah, I agreed. I felt her eyes on me as I was watching the sunset in front of us. There was a bartender in the corner of the terrace on my right side, with a small table of drinks in front of him. It gave me an idea. I’m gonna make myself another drink, I said to her, holding my glass up with melting ice cubes. Can I get you one too? I asked, hoping desperately that she wouldn’t think I was being a creep. I looked at her and stood.

Sure, she shrugged after a glance at me. I’ll have whatever you’re having, she said, and I strolled over to the bartender. Instead of letting him make the drinks I made them myself. It was just vodka on the rocks with lime and a splash of soda, and yeah, I wanted to impress her. When I came back with the two drinks in my hands she had taken a seat on the sofa, waiting for me to join her.

Here you go, I said and handed her one of the drinks. Took a seat beside her, with enough space between us.

Thanks, she said and sipped on it. She gave me a curious look. You know, you could’ve let that guy make the drinks for you, she pointed out. I sensed an accent, but I couldn’t pinpoint it.

Yeah, I know, I said and sipped on my drink.

I thought big shot movie stars didn’t have to lift a finger, she said with a coy smile and blew out smoke in the air. Again with that accent. Wow, she was making fun of me for being famous. I couldn’t hold back a smile.

I’m from the sticks in Ohio. Don’t be too impressed with me, I replied. She chuckled.

There are no bartenders there? she joked and I laughed. Was she Baltic?

No, I shook my head. We make our own drinks there, from moonshine of course, I joked back. She smiled and sipped on the drink I had made her again.

It’s good, she said.

Don’t sound so surprised, I said and lit another cigarette.

No, I mean it, she assured me.

Thanks. I used to work as a bartender when I first came to LA, I said, exhaling the smoke.

I see, she said.

What about you? I asked. I’d bet a million bucks that she was an actress.

I was an au pair when I first came to the US, she told me.

Oh, I said, a bit surprised. Taking care of other people’s kids was actually impressive. And now? I asked.

Well, I was a model for a while. I still do that every now and then, she said, removing a tiny flake of tobacco from her tongue, and I couldn’t help but glance