Free Twelve to Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery) by Lauren Carr

multi-millionaire movie producer holding a power meeting at the Blue Whale Pub? No way.
    Lenny nodded.
    “Who set up the meeting?” Mac asked. “Your agent?”
    “Actually, Cunningham’s assistant did,” Lenny said. “They put me up in the penthouse suite at the Wisp last night. Five-star treatment the whole way.”
    “You call this place five star?”
    “She must have picked the wrong place,” Lenny replied.
    “Why didn’t you stay at your agent’s house?”
    “Janice’s hubby, Austin, was a bastard,” Lenny swore. “He blamed me for everything. He was the one who convinced Janice to abandon me. Ever since she brought me out here, Austin was riding her ass to dump me again. Last year, he banned me from their house after I tripped and landed on top of their dining room table in the middle of their fancy dinner party.”
    Recalling that the passcode for the Stillman’s security system had been changed in the last month, Mac asked him, “Could Janice or Derrick have given you the security passcode for their home here on Deep Creek Lake?”
    Lenny scoffed. “Why would they? Austin flat out said that I am not allowed to set foot on their property. Besides, that paranoid old man changes the code after every trip out here.”
    Thinking over this information, Mac scratched behind his ear. “If that was the case, then why would Janice have arranged for you to meet with Ronald Cunningham here? Why not in the city?”
    With an expression of exaggerated ignorance, Lenny made a broad gesture of shrugging his shoulders.  
    Mac took his cell phone from his pocket and hit a button on the screen.
    “Who are you calling?” Lenny held up the gun.
    “Ronald Cunningham.” Mac spoke into the phone. “Alexis…how are you this fine Saturday? Is he there?”
    “You have Ronald Cunningham on speed dial?” Lenny asked.
    “He can’t make those movies about my life without my permission, can he?” Mac replied before turning back to the phone. “Ronald? No I haven’t signed them yet. Hey, are you negotiating to sign Lenny Frost for a role in the Forsythe films?” Not wanting Lenny to see the answer in his face, Mac turned away. “Could any of your people have been talking to his people? That’s what I thought. I’ll have my business manager call you next week. Thanks. I’ve got to go.”
    When Mac turned back around, Lenny’s face was as red as his hair used to be.
    “Lenny, I’m sorry,” Mac said in a soft voice while raising his hands up in a sign of defense. “Ronald Cunningham has no intention of reprising your role from the first film. He doesn’t even have the rights to make the movies because we’ve been unable to reach an agreement. Why would he have signed you up when he still doesn’t have the rights to make the movies?”
    “They set me up.”
    “Yes, someone did,” Mac said. “Someone lured you to Deep Creek Lake so that you would be in the vicinity when they killed your agent and her husband, and had you come here to…” Not having an answer, Mac glanced around.
    “They’re out to get me!” Abruptly, Lenny raised the gun and aimed it at Mac’s face.
    Barking, Gnarly jumped up to his feet.
    “Halt!” Mac held his hand straight up while ordering Gnarly to stand down.
    Abruptly, the joy of the ballgame and the beers was over. Edith backed as far away from the bar as she could get. Keeping his eye on the gun, Carl slid in behind the bar and ushered her behind him.
    “They’ve always been jealous of me,” Lenny said.
    “Who, Lenny?”
    “Them!”
    “Who are they, Lenny? Tell me so that I can help you,” Mac said. “Who would want to frame you for killing Janice and Austin Stillman? Who would want to kill them and why?”
    “I don’t know!” Lenny grasped the side of his head with one hand while waving the gun in Mac’s direction with the other. “I loved Janice! She was the only one—even my parents thought I was a loser—but Janice believed in me. I’d live with them for