Page 77 of Triggered By Love
Jason nodded knowingly. “I don’t like Avery being associated with models who end up dead.”
“I don’t either.” Richie’s voice lowered to a barely perceptible growl.
“So, how do we stop it?”
“I’ll pull some strings if you can get Avery to accompany me toThe Schitts.”
“Answer one question. Do you know Garm Guillory?”
He pursed his lips as if considering and shook his head. “We don’t deal with real names in this business. You ought to know that.”
“Unless they’re dead. Who killed Garm? He worked the fundraising circuits and attended fashionable parties. Rubbed shoulders with people in your circle. What I want to know is who did meth with him? Whose DNA did we collect from his body? Whose firewall are his images encrypted behind?”
Richie’s face turned ashen, and his jaw slackened. He swallowed before closing his mouth and tilting his head toward the doorway.
“Get out.”
“Admission of guilt?”
“Not taking your bluff. You’ve been overruled a long time ago. This isn’t about the male models and your imagined meth murders.”
“Call off your dogs.” Jason leaned over the lounger in a dominant position. “If you harm one hair on Avery’s head or anyone in her family, you’ll wish you never laid eyes on me.”
“Spare the threats, Detective. You have no idea who you’re dealing with. You look out the window and you see young men and women. No one over the age of twenty-three. What you don’t see are the eyes looking out those windows at them. This is bigger than a few accidental deaths, and if you’re smart, you’ll take these tickets and go with Avery to the show.”
He opened a drawer and threw an envelope at Jason who caught it with one hand.
“Deal.” Jason let himself out without looking back.
The three bodyguards flanked him.
“Time to go.” Graybeard slapped the Locs sunglasses in Jason’s palm. “You come back again, and you’re a dead man.”
Jason didn’t care. He’d delivered his message and had seen the whites of Richie’s eyes, which were not exactly white. The guy was still a drug user, and no amount of teeth whitening, caps, or cosmetic surgery could cover up the physical ravages of an addict.
As he got into the rental car, his phone rang.
About time his boss caught up with him. Not a coincidence.
Jason put the large square sunglasses on and glanced at the mansion. “Yeah, Burnett here.”
“What the hell are you doing in Southampton?” Chief Gavin Grimes barked.
“It’s my day off. Thought I’d go to a beach party.”
“You’re all over the news. I don’t like my investigators making news. You hear that?”
“I haven’t given any interviews.” Jason drove out the gates and down the narrow lane.
“There were cameras at The Big Bean. General Cockburn’s security detail accused you of kidnapping his daughter Avery, and then you and she get into a wreck on the Taconic State Parkway. I’ve been fending off reporters all day asking if I’m reopening the Brando Bonet case.”
“Are you?”
“Hell no!” Grimes screamed. “I don’t want you anywhere near the Bonet case. You killed the shooter. End of story. Stop fueling the conspiracy theories.”
“Except Avery Cockburn is still in danger.”
“From no one but you. I’m warning you, Burnett. Stay away from her.”
