Page 6 of Rush of Jealousy

“She’s not. But she was never drugged. Whoever was chasing her on your townhouse row must have mistaken her for someone else. Or it was related to another crime.”

“But why just certain girls?”

“Probably because no one would take any girl seriously if they delve into their past. No one wants to be labeled as an escort—let alone a prostitute. Damaging someone’s credibility is basically like shattering the hope in what truth will be told.”

I flinch.

“And whoever is drugging these girls,” he continues, “knows that holding their jobs over their heads is easy blackmail to not fight back. I’m not saying I agree with it, Angie. I, too, am just trying to understand.”

This is all starting to make sense. Every piece of the puzzle is starting to fall into place, except the motive behind drugging the girls in the first place.

“Why drug anyone at all?”

“I have no idea,” Graham says angrily. “It just doesn’t add up. None of these girls appear to have been assaulted. I still pray that Penny was not a victim to some heinous act. But in her head, she is convinced she was raped. It is eating at her sanity. She has spent months in a rehab in Seattle trying to conquer the demons that haunt her.”

“Why do you have a drawer of pill bottles?”

“Because I’ve been having a few of my employees collect prescription medication from various locations for testing purposes.”

“Won’t the missing bottles be noticed?”

“I’m taking the chance that a pill or two won’t be. I also am recreating the labels on the bottles to help keep track of where the drugs have come from. I then cross reference the toxicology reports with the drugs I have in stock to see if anything aligns.”

“Which employees? I am confused.” Mainly because Graham has lots of employees from many different companies he apparently owns.

“My girls.”

I hate that reference. Despite being utterly pissed off at him, jealousy still stabs at my heart.

“From Entice,” he clarifies. “I’m having a select few take pics and confiscate a few pills for analysis. From dorm rooms. Parties. And if they get access to any client’s personal residence. I am looking for trends. Any information that may lead to a supply source or a ringleader.”

It’s a smart approach. Except some women are being used as bait. Their lives are in greater danger if they get caught. How is he determining whether one life is better than another’s?

“Do you think Mark is a ringleader?”

He shakes his head. “No. I think he’s involved. I’m nearly positive he’s the one who hurt Penny, but the smug bastard knows how to cover his tracks. I simply think he’s taking orders from someone above him.”

“So the three agency girls who got drugged are expendable?” I ask in disgust.

“No,” Graham sighs. “No one is expendable, Angie. I am completely thrown off by this recent series of victims. They were found at a fraternity. This just doesn’t make any sense. None of the male clients who are part of the agency database are in college.”

My head spins with the overload of information being fed to me. I guess that’s why Graham went to Portland General to talk with Monica. It appears that a male client might be using a River Valley student to do some of the leg work. Mark was seen with Paul doing a handoff. I want to share this information with Graham, and under normal circumstances I probably would. However, I need to do this on my own. I may be able to interview other agency girls and see if anything unusual stands out. Graham is too emotionally driven by his sister’s mental state to see clearly.

“I can see your mind is reeling,” he says, studying me. “Trying to involve yourself in solving the mystery. But you’re going to stay out of this, Angie. Let me handle it. Stay out of danger.”

I shake my head no. “You cannot control me anymore, Graham.”

“Control you? You are so fucking stubborn that the only thing my efforts did was to piss you off at me and make you not see reason!”

“I can take care of myself.”

“No!” Graham snaps. “You are staying out of this.”

“You do not get to boss me around. I am done with you thinking you have a say in my life.”

“Consider yourself suspended then. I am your boss after all. You saw the proof firsthand when you ransacked my office. All these weeks I have been trying to get you to make good choices, and now I can with simply the truth.”

My eyes glare at Graham’s icy blue pair.

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