Page 121 of Triggered By Love
Could Ivanna have wanted her or Brando killed?
Was she so jealous and upset that Avery hadn’t taken her on as a design partner that she paid Ernesto to kill Brando and wound her to the very core of her soul?
Ziko, the witness at the model apartment, had said it was a man who paid. Or had he assumed? He hadn’t seen who was in the black limo, and he didn’t get a plate number either. Jason had tried the two phone numbers for the model bookers, but there was no answer. The phone numbers were for burner phones, and he wasn’t able to trace them.
Jaheem was useless. When pressed to the location and identity of the parties he claimed he was so good at, he clammed up. He couldn’t even be induced to talk for money. He said he valued his life more.
Then there was Larry Leach and Tatiana Renzi, the two who met at Mrs. Bonet’s apartment building. Larry was an influential bundler for campaign contributions and an old family friend. His father was Avery’s mentor. She’d never thought Larry was dangerous, but that was before Jason uncovered an interesting factoid.
Avery was a beneficiary in Orson’s will. She didn’t inherit everything, but apparently, she would share equally with Larry and Harvey. Was a third of Orson’s estate a reason for the Leach brothers to get rid of her?
As for Tatiana’s role. She seemed to have her fingers in many pies. The witness claimed she was friends with Joselito, but Jason suspected she and Larry had a tempestuous relationship, including domestic abuse. Was she two-timing him? Keeping the sexy dragon man for her wild side?
Jason went as far as suspecting Alida’s brother, Cory, the computer nerd. Avery figured it was jealousy, because Cory had a crush on her and Damon was always hinting at them getting together.
She’d told him Cory was a teddy bear or an overgrown Ewok. He was too disorganized to hire hitmen and too oblivious to the danger of figuring out how to pay them.
Jason was even more ridiculous when it came to Richie Overton. For one thing, Richie hired good and competent people. He had high and exacting standards for all of his bodyguards, chauffeurs, and valets. Avery had dismissed out of hand that Richie would ever have hired the likes of Ernesto Gomez, a guy who so obviously didn’t fit in at the fashion show that Jason had noticed him immediately. The hit and run attempt with the clumsy taxicab and the wraparound sunglasses were too tacky for Richie’s notice.
Nope, all Richie wanted was to blow coke up her nose and blow his dick into her panties.
Jason had even made a case for Brando’s buddy, Trent Gallagher. Supposedly, Trent was jealous of Brando for being promoted over him. Trent was with Brando when Avery was rescued from the burning building. Avery rolled her eyes at the way Jason described Trent’s grinding jealousy at his buddy not only winning a promotion, but getting the beauty in distress. Although to his credit, Jason didn’t think Trent wanted to kill Brando. He only wanted to scare him and had hired the incompetent Ernesto to wave a gun around when it went off.
Then there were the theories about Alida and even Larry Leach being targets. It turned out Larry had been sitting behind Jason and Alida at the fashion show. They had meticulously made a list of every person they knew of who might have wanted either Alida or Larry dead. Foremost would be the relatives and friends of the dead models, but once they included would-be enemies for Larry, the list ballooned to every person he could have cheated out of an investment.
Avery was concerned that Jason could have been the target, but he waved that off saying there were plenty of opportunities to get to him—like when he went hunting upstate. To humor her, he went over every person he imagined to be an enemy, even dragging in the gun shop owner who he claimed had a beef with him for writing a lukewarm review about the lack of ventilation inside the shooting galleries.
As for Avery, when Jason pressed her on what her theory was, all she could think of was that Brando had died because of her. She hated to admit it, but her father was ahead in the polls, and the incumbent congressman felt threatened. She couldn’t see Richie or his father hiring a hitman, but she wouldn’t put it past a donor who supported Overton trying to take her father out of the race by hurting her. Instead, he’d missed and hit Brando, and this year, if he tried again, it could be her.
“You’re deep in thought,” Jason said as he pulled into the parking garage underneath Orson’s building. “Don’t look so worried. I can handle it.”
“Just don’t piss him off,” Avery reminded. “He’s an old man in a wheelchair. He’s also a germaphobe.”
“Good thing, because if he paws over me, I might kill him.” Jason growled. “But I won’t, since you stand to inherit a third of his estate.”
“I don’t want it.” Avery made up her mind so fast it shocked her. “In fact, I’m not doing the show anymore.”
“That won’t go well,” Jason said, putting the car in park. “He’ll remove you from his will.”
“Good riddance.”
“Have you ever tried to quit before?”
“Yes, after Brando died, I called him and told him I could no longer do it. He laughed. Told me to bring someone I didn’t care about.”
“Why do you do it?” Jason’s expression was somber. “What does he have on you?”
“Everything. I’m sure you can guess.”
“I’d rather you told me.”
She almost covered her face, but remembered not to mess up her makeup. “I’d rather you see.”
* * *
Jason tried notto let on how worried he was about Avery’s state of mind. She was jittery, sweating, and breathing too fast. If he hadn’t been with her day and night, he would have thought she was on drugs again.
He’d asked Kerry to observe her, and Kerry swore she wasn’t using. But addicts had a way of keeping secrets from even their closest confidantes.
