Page 151 of Serving the Mogul

It was grainy, but I recognized this fucker.

With a scowl, I returned the phone to her.

“Yeah. Guy’s a dick. Used to date Tina when she lived in San Francisco,” I said. “His name is Cecil…um, I don’t know. I never got the last name.”

Her eyes widened, then her mouth flattened into a tight, firm line. Turning her back to me, she spoke into the phone. “Damn it, I knew he looked familiar. Cecil Golden. He worked with Tina in California—yes, I’m positive. I’ll send you a link to the images I’ve got once I’m off the phone. No…no, fuck off. I’m telling him. I’ll call you back soon.”

When she spun to face me, the bottom of my stomach dropped out, leaving me with a sick feeling.

“What?” I jumped to my feet.

“The fire marshals and HPD detectives working Tina’s case pulled camera footage off a neighbor’s doorbell system—you know what I’m talking about, right?”

“What the fuck…” That sick knot in my gut intensified. This was not going in a direction I liked.

“They have a photo of him going into Tina’s yard. He disappears into the hedges, then comes out fifteen minutes later. Timing fits with how the fire played out.”

“Fuck.” I pushed past Gianni and headed to my office to retrieve my phone. I had to call Tina.

“Wait…” Gianni spun and followed behind me. “There’s more.”

A dark cloud moved in on me and it felt like I was running through water. I couldn’t move fast enough to get to my phone and call Tina.

Gianni spoke as she trotted along beside me. “Another house in the neighborhood had footage of a car parked down the block. He got out from the passenger side. It looks like he had a gas can.”

I shoved open the door to my office and stopped. “The passenger side?”

Gianni nodded. “They have the plates, and have been putting together a timeline using traffic cams…” Her words trailed off.

My eyes narrowed. “Who was driving the car, Gianni?” I demanded.

A hard breath escaped her. “Simone. James, I’m sorry. The car belongs to Simone. There’s a traffic cam that caught her in the driver’s seat—an intersection near Tina’s place. Golden too. Both are easily identifiable in the image.”

“Fu-u-ck.” I snatched up my cell from the desk and patted my pants pocket for the car keys. “Simone and Cecil. Together.” I talked to Gianni as I brought up Tina’s number on my phone.

“Yeah.” Gianni lifted a hand toward me when I was about to connect the call to Tina and I paused.

“And the cops are concerned you could be a target, too.”

“Good. I’m gonna kill that motherfucker.” I hit the green call button. While it rang, I grabbed Gianni by the arm and pulled her out the door. “Come on. You’re coming with me.”

As we entered the hall, Zoey bumped into us full of questions.

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

Gianni answered for me. “We gotta go. I’ll text you later.”

I gritted my teeth as we hustled to get to my car.

Damn it.

The call went to voicemail.

* * *

“James, slow down.”

I ignored my sister.

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