Read Blonde Ambition for Free Online

Harding said Ray Martino had told him before that Anna had cleaned up for a while, but had gone "off the deep end with drugs" when she hooked up with Howard.
       Daniel also told the private investigator that Howard was having people "lay his mom"—pimping her for sex. Daniel didn't elaborate further to Harding. However, Jackie Hatten, Daniel's godmother, told me Daniel confided in her that "he'd seen Howard give his mom uppers and downers and then guys would come to the house, talk to Howard and go in his mom's bedroom and close the door." According to Jackie, Daniel called it the "Millionaire's Club," a reference to an episode on Anna's E! Entertainment Television reality show, in which she had gone out on arranged dates with super wealthy men. Unlike the show, however, Daniel told Jackie that the men he saw, at least fifty of them in a year, would go into his mom's bedroom for hours. Then, from his vantage point hiding behind the door in his bedroom, he'd see the guys coming out adjusting their clothes and discretely palming Howard money on the way out the door. Daniel said he'd then see his mom being "all drugged out and groggy" in her bedroom.
       "Daniel definitely didn't want to say anything bad about his mom," Harding said. "He was very protective and loved his mom." And, according to Jackie and other friends of Anna's, though her sexual proclivities were wild and well known, she was adamantly against prostitution. Jackie said she and Daniel firmly believed Anna had no idea Howard was getting paid on the side. "When Anna was not sober, she was easy to take advantage of. My friend Anna was Howard Stern's cash cow. Howard was taking advantage of Anna in every way, up until, and including, her death."
       Daniel also told Jack Harding that he saw Howard give his mom drugs. "He gave everyone drugs," he told the P.I., "including me." He added that he had gotten himself off the drugs and was now clean. Harding noted that Daniel's eyes were clear that night. He was absolutely coherent, he did not slur his words or appear to be on drugs in any way.
       Daniel told Harding that the reason he wanted to go join the military was that he could learn to be a strong fighter, to "be a man and take my mom away from Howard." Then, Daniel's voice turned low, like he was scared someone was listening. "I am deathly afraid of him and very scared for my mother. Howard hates me and keeps me away from her. That's how he treats all my mom's friends. He's made her a prisoner. I want to get my mom out of there."
       Daniel said he wanted Harding to gather all this information against Howard in case Howard came after him physically and so Daniel could use the evidence versus Howard in a court of law. He said he feared what Howard would do to him, and knew that Howard did not like him because he had stood up to him a few times. "It's clear Howard wants me out of the picture," Daniel said. "So he can have complete control of my mom and all the money coming into her hands." In a will that was drafted in 2001, Daniel was listed as the sole heir to Anna's estate, which eventually could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars if she was victorious in her court battles with the estate of her late billionaire husband, J. Howard Marshall.
       Jack Harding told Daniel he'd take his case, but he would have to go to the Bahamas to investigate. He then told Daniel about his rates. "I normally charge three hundred dollars an hour," he said. "But it would be much more if I have to travel to a place like the Bahamas. You'd have to pay the hourly rate, plus travel, hotel, rental car, and food." He'd have to spend thousands of dollars because he would probably have to be in the Bahamas for several days up to several weeks to question and do surveillance on people, especially on Howard K. Stern.
       The costs, of course, were well beyond what Daniel had imagined. "I don't have any money now," Daniel confessed, "since I am not getting any