Page 183 of Triggered By Love
“Oh, really? Who’s the lucky man?”
“Secret.” She made sure the assembled camera crew could see the huge rock. Lifting her face, she let Matt put the lei on her. “Thanks.”
When she looked down, she noticed his striking athletic shoes. They were one-thousand-dollar designer sneakers. “Nice shoes.”
And then, inspiration struck. She should get a few ideas to expand her Cocky Heroes line.
“Mind if I take a picture of your shoes?” She flipped out her camera phone.
“Only if you do a selfie with me, pretty girl,” he said.
She posed for a few selfies and then took a picture of his feet next to hers. “Cool shoes.”
“I saw them on that guy’s feet, and I had to have them,” Matt said, laughing. “Sorry if they’re not your design.”
“No, no, it’s okay,” Avery said. “Which guy’s feet?”
“The one who almost killed us in front of The Big Bean. He stepped out of the car right in front of me. I could have tackled him, but I was more concerned about you.”
“Why, that’s awfully sweet of you.” Avery deflected from the shock in her heart. Jason had talked about the distinctive shoe, but he hadn’t gotten a good description from the witness.
“Miss Cockburn, are you thinking of doing designer cross-trainers to add to your Cocky Heroes line?” a reporter asked.
“I’m definitely going to be adding sports heroes,” she replied.
“We’re definitely cocky,” Matt said, and everyone laughed.
As Avery got into the cab, she wasn’t laughing. She texted the picture of Matt’s shoes to Jason with the message,Matt says the perp who did the hit and run job was wearing sneakers like this. Didn’t you say Larry Leach wore fancy ones?
* * *
Jason was running lateto the airport, but he had to check out the shoes. After getting the image of Matt’s cross-trainers, Jason recalled the guy who hit him in front of Popo’s apartment was wearing the same brand of shoes.
He ran into an upscale sporting goods store and asked the sales associate about the shoe.
“Oh, yes, we have them in stock. On sale for a thousand dollars, even, no tax today only.”
“Thanks, I’ll just take a few pictures, but I have a plane to catch.” Jason took out his phone while the salesman smirked and walked away.
He caught a cab and brought up the picture of Larry Leach’s shoes—the one he secretly took after questioning Larry about the box of chocolates.
They were an exact match.
Larry Leach. That sneaky bastard.
He couldn’t get on the flight now. Not if he wanted to arrest Larry. It was too bad that Avery would have to go without him.
He called her. “Hey, Ave. The shoes are an exact match to Larry’s. You know what? They also match the guy who clobbered me outside of Popo’s.”
Avery gasped, then said, “No, no. It can’t be Larry. He has an alibi for both times. Remember, he was at Orson’s design seminar that Saturday? And the time you were talking to Popo, he was on the phone with me, and he was at home, because I heard Orson yelling at him in the background.”
“I’ll have to check it out. I won’t be able to make the flight.”
“Jason.” Avery’s voice held all kinds of warning. “I thought we agreed not to tip our hand. We’re going to get on the airplane and let nature take its course. I already flashed my five-carat ring. The news of me accepting the engagement will get back to the perp, and he’ll call me to finalize the deal. Meanwhile, the emails are going out to the abusers, and they’ll turn on the blackmailer. Tips will come in on the tipline, and you can sift through them and nail the murderer.”
“I have to trust you on this, but I wish we had Saul’s memory card. He insists he left it in the camera and says Blade waylaid it.”
“In that case, we’ll just have to catch the perp without it,” Avery said. “I’m sure you can do it with the evidence of the designer sneakers. You just can’t let the perp know, or he’ll throw his shoes away.”
