Page 172 of Triggered By Love
“And you’re going to just lie there and take it?” He snickered at the cop who acted like a hipster half the time, down to the triangular soul patch which he insisted the nurses keep for him.
“Do I have a choice?”
“If you bring in the big fish, you can plea bargain.”
“Except Grimes is in the chain of command,” Blade said. “Honestly, I do what he tells me, and he doesn’t tell me where he’s getting the orders from.”
“Why did Tatiana call you stupid? Does she have the hots for you?” Jason quirked an eyebrow to give Blade a hard time.
“She says I should have waited for Adam Schitt, or Trent Gallagher, to shoot first. But of course, I couldn’t. He would have shot both you and Avery.”
“Why was Trent’s gun shooting blanks? If Tatiana was on your side, why did she point that out?”
“Don’t know.”
“Who is she working for? The chief or someone else?”
“Don’t know.”
“Or won’t say.”
“I actually don’t know. She’s ingratiated herself to the police force, but I heard she’s dating both Larry Leach and Richie Overton.”
“Woman gets around, doesn’t she? Don’t tell me you don’t have any theories.” He leaned the chair forward so it looked like it would tip. “Come on, don’t you trust me? I can help you.”
“Why would you?”
“I want the kingpin. The guy calling the shots. As long as he’s out there, I can’t rest.”
“I wish I knew,” Blade said with a vacant look in his eye.
“Who do you think? Overton or Leach?” Jason would continue to press him until he broke. “You must have some suspicion.”
“The case can be made for both,” Blade said. “Word is Orson Leach is in love with Avery, but he’s impotent. He wants Avery to himself and got rid of that firefighter. He’s gunning for anyone else interested in Avery—like you and that football player. Larry pays off the hitmen.”
“Why hasn’t Richie been hit? He’s been asking Avery to go with him to shows.”
“Maybe Orson knows Richie has no chance.” Blade grimaced, shifting in the hospital bed.
“What’s your theory on Richie and the Overtons being involved?”
“Isn’t it obvious? They don’t want Avery’s father to win the election. If Bill Overton loses to General Cockburn, his presidential ambitions will be over.”
“They’d kill Avery for that? I thought Richie liked her.”
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter to me,” Blade said. “I’m looking at the chain gang.”
“Not if you can turn in Grimes,” Jason suggested. “Be a whistleblower.”
“I can’t do that.” Blade’s face flashed with fear.
“Then do the time,” Jason said. “I’m pretty sure you panicked and stuck the poisoned quill into Avery. I bet you didn’t know the quills were poisoned until Riley told you.”
Blade’s eyes bulged the same way a pufferfish’s eyes bulged right before they expanded into a prickly pear. “I didn’t, but…”
“But you were told to make sure Avery got poked by me, weren’t you? Maybe during a selfie together, you’d give me a nudge.” Jason watched Blade’s miserable face carefully. “Too bad for you, I had the porcupine headdress removed from the scene. You didn’t know how you could complete your mission, and when Riley called you, you panicked. You came prepared with a quill to frame me, didn’t you? You couldn’t get me and Avery together in the elevator. I tried to make it to the door, but it closed on me.”
Spittle sputtered from Blade’s gaping mouth, and the heart rate monitor sped up, pinging at a higher frequency. His respiratory rate increased and so did his blood pressure.
