Page 15 of Tell Me Your Desires
“I’m absolutely sure. We did not argue.”
Jaime dug her notepad out of the pocket of her blazer. “Then why did you leave her a message saying,” she checked her notes for the quote. “‘I wanted to apologize for tonight. I should never have allowed things to go as far as they did. I crossed the line. It’s something that will never happen again.’”
Lady A’s nostrils flared slightly with anger. “That was a private message, Detective.”
Jaime shrugged. “Privacy went out the window the moment someone carved Miss Freeman up like a Thanksgiving turkey.”
“Baros!” Max glared at her, patting Lady A’s hand as she started quietly crying. “I apologize for my partner’s lack ofdecorum, L….” Max ran his hand through his salt-and-pepper, short-cropped hair. “Is there something else we can call you?”
Lady A was still glaring at Jaime with tear-filled eyes. She ignored Max’s inquiry about her name. “Am I under arrest?” She wasn’t asking either of them in particular, but Jaime answered.
“Depends on your answers. What did you do that caused you to apologize? Did you feel bad after killing her?”
Lady A stood, shrugging Max’s hand off. “I didnotkill Maisie.”
Jaime took a step closer. She was already pushing Lady A hard. “What were you apologizing for?”
It was a dangerous move considering her fingers itched to touch Lady A’s hair to see if it was as soft as it looked.
“Why did you call Miss Freeman at three-fifteen in the morning?”Were you just trying to establish an alibi?Jaime kept the last question to herself.
Lady A drew a deep breath in through her nose and held it for a few moments before blowing it out. “If you must know,Detective, yesterday was Maisie’s… birthday.” Again, the pang of sadness that Maisie had been murdered broke Lady A’s heart. “She bought herself a session. With me.”
“Did you do things she didn’t consent to? Is that why you killed her? So she wouldn’t report you?” Jaime ground her teeth together. This woman was throwing Jaime off her game. She was usually more tactful than this, playing her hand close to her vest.
“Could you excuse us for a minute?” Max cut in. He took Jaime by the arm, walking to the far side of the room, out of earshot. “What the fuck is going on with you?” he whispered roughly.
“Nothing.” Jaime pulled away from her partner. “What the fuck is wrong withyou? Care to help me out here?”
“Iamhelping you by stopping you from fucking this all up, Baros. We need info from her, but you keep browbeating her likeyou are, and she’s going to clam up. We won’t get another shot with her without a lawyer.”
Jaime snorted. “You think prostitutes have lawyers on retainer?”
“Jesus, fuck, Jaime, get your head out of your ass! You saw this place. They probably have a whole fucking army of lawyers ready to cut our fucking balls off. Take it down a few notches, Baros. In fact, let me do the talking.”
“I got this,” Jaime growled, pissed that her professionalism was being questioned.
“No, I don’t think you do. I’m taking over. That’s a fucking order, Detective.”
Max rarely threw his higher rank in Jaime’s face. When he did, it was usually for Jaime’s benefit. Too bad her crappy attitude didn’t see that this time. Still, she saluted him sarcastically.
Max’s lips thinned, a clear sign of his annoyance with Jaime. He shook his head and walked back to Lady A.
“I’m sorry. Please understand that our main objective is to find the person responsible for what happened to Miss Freeman. I think it’s put us all on edge.” He offered Lady A a small smile. “Now, if we could go back to yoursessionwith Miss Freeman. Did something happen…”
Lady A held up her hand. She was shocked, devastated, and fucking angry. How could anyone accuse her of hurting someone like Maisie? “Maisie and I had sex. It was something she paid for, something she wanted. And something she could have stopped at any time if she was uncomfortable. My message was my own unease. She is…wasmy assistant and way too young for me. Whether she paid for me or not, I should have drawn clearer lines. I needed her to know there would be no repeat of last night.”
“Well, that was certainly taken care of,” Jaime muttered under her breath. She clamped her mouth shut. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. But she relaxed slightly when Lady A had no reaction. Jaime stretched her neck from side to side. She needed to get a grip on this anger she felt—an anger that inexplicably magnified after hearing Lady A and Maisie had sex.
“Can you tell us where you were between two and four a.m.?” Max asked calmly, still eyeing Jaime with obvious disappointment.
“I left here around two-thirty. I said goodnight to Maisie, who I assumed stayed to help clean up as she normally did. I got home around three-ten, three-fifteen.”
“Did you make any stops?” Jaime asked, watching the woman carefully.
“No.” Lady A didn’t like being out after dark, and she certainly wasn’t going to stop at some random shop that just happened to be open in the middle of the night.
“Is there anyone who can verify you were home?” Jaime gripped her pen tightly as she waited for Lady A’s answer. Did this woman have a husband? A wife? Kids? It wasn’t out of the ordinary for women in this industry to have a separate life outside the profession. Hell, she’d known women who were married with kids and on the PTA board and worked at one of the few brothels that were still in business.
