Page 19 of Tangled
She smacked the paper down on his desk. It was indeed a picture of him and Scarlett in the parking lot of Roxy’s. He remembered the exact moment. He’d set a hand on her stomach, steadying her. She’d looked up at him in surprise, a wry but intimate smile on her lips. That was the image Ava had chosen to download.
“Her name is Scarlett Mitchell and, as luck would have it, she worked with Kara for years. You definitely have an in if you want one. I’m assuming you do, or you wouldn’t have wanted me to track her down, right?” She paused, expecting him to answer, no doubt. He was too lost in the smile on Scarlett’s face to oblige, though.
“Although I will say, I think Roxy’s has gone downhill. Do you know who came walking through the parking lot a few minutes after you?” she asked. He looked up. “Jason Katz.”
“Should I know who that is?” he asked.
She made a face. “He’s a top dog in one of the LA drug cartels. That’s not really your scene, so probably not.”
Brad stilled. “Blond guy. Kind of a square head?”
Ava hesitated. “Maybe it’s more your scene than I thought. Is there something we need to be worried about?”
He rolled his eyes and scowled at her. “Come with me,” he said. She eyed him, then followed him out. After telling his assistant, Tana, that he’d be back before his next meeting, they made their way to his apartment.
Ava looked at him funny when he knocked on his own door, but he wanted to give Scarlett a heads-up before he walked in. He didn’t even know if she was awake, but the last thing he wanted to do was startle her.
“I’m here,” she said as he pushed the door open. He looked to his right to see her in the kitchen holding a mug, likely tea.
“I brought someone,” he said, stepping in with Ava following. Scarlett watched with quiet curiosity, but Ava, not surprisingly, wasn’t so sanguine.
“Oh my god, you found her!” Ava exclaimed. “You just asked me yesterday to track her down. How did you find her? Wow, I’m Ava,” she said, marching forward, her heels clacking on the hardwood. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like Mearg Tareke?”
Scarlett’s gaze flickered to him as she took Ava’s outstretched hand.
“Ava works with Ethan at HICC,” he said. “She’s Sabina’s second-in-command. Less than thirty minutes before Ryan and I found you, I’d asked her to track down the CCTV footage from Roxy’s and find you. I couldn’t let that night be the end of us,” he added quietly, repeating what he’d told Kara.
Scarlett studied him. A hint of a smile appeared, more in her eyes than on her face, then she switched her attention to Ava. “Nice to meet you, Ava,” she said. “I’ve heard great things about HICC.”
“She’s also my soon-to-be sister-in-law. She and Mitch are getting married in July,” he added.
Ava huffed. “For all my sins,” she muttered.
Brad chuckled as he ushered the women to the small breakfast table. Scarlett was up, which was a good sign, but she still looked exhausted. “What’s he done now?” he asked.
Ava rolled her eyes. “He took Eleanor sledding yesterday. He liked it so much that in the middle of the night, the furry nugget dragged all our snow boots, jackets, hats, and gloves up from the mudroom to our bedroom, and I damn near broke my neck tripping on them this morning.”
Brad laughed as he started making a pot of coffee. “Eleanor is their pet raccoon,” he explained to Scarlett.
“We rescued him after a fire killed his family—or at least we think that’s what happened,” Ava said. “He was ten weeks old, a little singed from the flames, but otherwise okay. He’s been with us ever since. He’s almost six months old now.”
“You have a raccoon as a pet, and his name is Eleanor?” Scarlett asked.
“There’s a story there,” Brad said, joining them at the table and setting a mug in front of Ava. Scarlett glanced at the coffee and blanched. He left his own mug on the counter and took a seat beside her.
“A story for another time. Now, what’s this story?” Ava said, wagging her finger between him and Scarlett.
“Did Sabina get a call from Ryan last night or this morning?” he asked.
She frowned. “She did, actually. Something about bringing in a few boxes of personal items belonging to a potential murder victim. I figured it was stuff from the woman they found yesterday, but he hasn’t been by yet, so I don’t know.”
“It’s not,” Brad said as Scarlett took a slow, deep inhale beside him. As if fighting a bout of nausea. He wanted to ask her how she was feeling but didn’t want to call attention to her state.Ryan, Mari, and Kara knew, but they hadn’t discussed telling the rest of his family.
“First things first, though. Can you tell Scarlett what you told me?” he asked.
Ava eyed him, then reached into her bag and pulled out another photo. “His name is Jason Katz,” she said, sliding the picture over. Front and center was the man they’d both seen at Roxy’s. The man who, Brad would wager, had been the one to pull the trigger.
“Do you know who he works for?” Scarlett asked, looking less peaked than seconds before.
