Page 61 of Triggered By Love
“She’s supposed to be dating the football star,” Blade said. “Nice try.”
“Don’t you find it interesting that Avery, whose father is running for Congress, is connected to one of the dead models?”
“Which one?”
“Garm Guillory was the brother of Avery’s friend, the barista who got beat up outside of Lushpuppies.”
“Interesting,” Blade said. “How close is Avery to this barista?”
“Friendly, and I think she’s trying to help him get into fashion photography.”
“Okay, but this connection is stretched thin. What’s the other one?”
“More direct,” Jason said. “You know the woman I was dating, Alida Adams. She’s Swanson’s publicist and Avery’s a client, too. Alida put on the fundraiser for Overton’s reelection where another model was found dead. She’s angling to get involved with Avery’s father through her.”
“Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”
“Not when you’re doing publicity. There’s no harm in being the power consultant for both sides,” Jason said. “It’s all a big game as far as the Hampton crowd is concerned.”
“Then Avery’s your link,” Blade said. “You better keep her up there wherever you are and let me do the digging.”
“I should be the one.”
“Unless you want to trade places with me,” Blade said. “Leave Avery in my capable hands. I’m sure I can keep her both busy and safe.”
Jason refused to let his partner goad him. He’d square things up with him later. He wasn’t supposed to be emotionally involved with a witness, so he’d better remember well and act like he didn’t catch the innuendos.
“It’s better for you to talk to Alida and Matt,” he conceded. “I’ll track down Richie and get Avery to spill all she knows.”
He hung up when he heard Avery knock on the door.
“Are you okay?” she asked sharply. “What happened?”
Either she had a radar for trouble, or she was peeved at his brusqueness when he walked out on her.
Feeling guilty, he tucked his phone under his armpit and wrapped a towel around his waist. “I’ll let you have the bathroom. Sorry.”
He opened the door, and she rushed in, bumping into him. “Damon called. He went back to my apartment to look for me. He said they trashed the place and stole my design notebook. All my sketches are gone.”
“Did you have them backed up anywhere?”
“No, you don’t get it.” She practically shrieked. “Those are brainstorming sketches. Ideas. They’re the genesis of my designs. I have to go back.”
“It could be dangerous,” he said. “Let me call Damon and speak with him. The notebook is gone, and they might have set a trap for you, knowing you’d run right back.”
“I don’t care. I can’t run away from my problems. Besides, I have a meeting with Ivanna to go over the model lineup and measurements. I still have to check the final fitting and match the accessories with their makeup. There’s too much to do. That’s why I ran away from Chase, because I knew he’d keep me from going back to the city.” Her words tumbled out so fast she could barely catch her breath.
Jason put his arms around her and held her still. He kissed the side of her head. “We have to be smart about this. I’ll go with you, but first, I want to speak to Damon. Can you tap his phone number in for me?”
“He’s really upset.”
“You won’t be able to avoid him if you go back.” Jason handed her his phone. “Call him for me.”
“Fine. All of you are overprotective,” Avery grumbled but tapped in the number. She handed the phone back to Jason and shoved her way into the tiny bathroom.
The door locked with a click.
“Damon Cockburn?” Jason said when the call was answered. “I’m Detective Burnett. Mind if I ask you a few questions?”
