Page 190 of Triggered By Love
“He’s wearing the same black-on-black attire most models wear when they’re off,” Avery remarked. “Same as the photographers.”
“Why does everyone wear black-on-black?” Jason asked.
“To not distract from the outfits on stage.” Avery hit the arrow key. “Let’s see what he does.”
“He has his hand inside his jacket.” Jason pointed to the man who Avery would never have picked out of a lineup. He was too ordinary looking.
“I see Ernesto now,” Avery said as she advanced to the next image. “See how he stands out? Wearing a tan suit in a sea of black. Look at that orange tie and how it doesn’t match. Double-breasted is so out of style.”
“I can’t look at him. It’s so unfair. Because he stuck out like a sore thumb, he got killed.”
“He still had a gun, toy or not,” Avery reminded. “In the heat of the moment, you couldn’t have been able to tell. Plus, with the tan suit and orange tie, it would not have contrasted enough. The jury can get you off.”
“If I screwed up, I’ll take the punishment.” Jason’s voice was as tough as rusty nails. “Go to the next one. I want to see what happened.”
“Okay,” Avery said. She and Brando were beaming at each other. In the next one, they started walking down the runway. Photographers were jockeying for position. Saul must have been positioned behind Jason and Alida.
In one of the photos, Avery saw the back of Jason’s head. Alida was inconsiderate and wore her hat inside, blocking the view of the person behind her who was craning his neck to the side.
That was Larry Leach, and next to him was Harvey, dressed as a woman in a polka-dot dress. In one of the photos, his feet were too big for a woman’s.
“Look what Harvey’s wearing,” Avery said. “Polka-dots and dorky looking clogs, of all things. That should have been a dead giveaway.”
“I didn’t pay her any attention,” Jason said, shaking his head. “It was a good disguise. For sure, no man would have been checking that thing out.”
Avery chuckled as the horsey-looking woman next appeared on the other side. “Looks like he went over to talk to the chief.”
“Oh yeah, they’re in cahoots.”
“There.” Jason pointed to Ernesto. “Look who’s behind him.”
“Your chief. What is he doing? Now I wish Saul took a video.” She advanced the image, worried they’d miss something.
“I see a gun. Enlarge it?” Jason asked excitedly. “Yep. It’s a handgun. Not a toy.”
“Where? In your chief’s hand?”
“This sucks so bad,” Jason said. “Chief Grimes shot Brando, and I shot Ernesto.”
“I almost don’t want to go to the next image,” Avery said. “Look at Brando. He was so full of life.”
A sob choked through her as all of it slammed into her again. The pride in Brando’s face as he looked at her was exactly the way she remembered. They were approaching the turnaround.
“I’ll look. You can lean on me.” Jason sounded resolute, like a sea captain facing towering waves head on.
The next photo appeared. There was a handoff.
“Are they trading guns?” Avery hardly dared to breathe.
“Stupid fool,” Jason growled. “Grimes is such a prick.”
“I can’t look at the rest,” Avery said. “We need to call the authorities and turn this in.”
“Not before I upload all the images to the cloud,” Jason said. “I’m sorry, Ave, but it looks like we’re going back to New York City. We have to hand carry this back. I don’t trust the mail.”
“Who are we going to give the memory card to?” Avery asked. “How did it get into my purse inside a condom wrapper?”
“Ask Saul,” Jason said. “I think we should hand this card to your father’s lawyer. I don’t trust the police chief for obvious reasons. I think Saul is in danger. We’d better call him.”
