Page 139 of Triggered By Love
“Thank goodness you’re back,”Kerry greeted Avery at the door of her Manhattan apartment. “They won’t go away.”
“Who?” Avery peered over her shoulder and cowered back, bumping into Jason. Saul and Ivanna were in her apartment, sitting around her design table.
“What are they doing here?” Jason wedged his body between Avery and the two coconspirators. He advanced on them in an authoritative manner.
“We came to lay everything on the table,” Saul said. “We’re not the bad guys.”
Ivanna lurked behind him, blinking with a deer caught in the headlamp look. “I made all of the feather, fur, and scale headpieces you need, and I’m ready to work with the models again.”
Avery’s jaw dropped as she stared at Ivanna. “Are you okay now? How is it you were able to make all the accessories while in a coma?”
“You were never in a coma, were you?” Jason accused. “Filing a false police report is a crime.”
“I can explain,” Saul said, blocking Jason from Ivanna. “It’s all my fault.”
“I’ll agree with that,” Jason interjected. “I ought to have you arrested. Calling in the bomb threat is felony reckless endangerment.”
“He was only doing it to protect me,” Ivanna said. “He’s taking a big risk coming here.”
“Then let me ask you one question first.” Jason took out his notebook and pen. “Where were you on the night of last year’s Manhattan Fashion Week?”
Saul wrung his hands and looked at Ivanna, then at Avery, before casting his gaze down at Jason’s feet. “I was in the back row.”
“You were there?” Avery asked. “I thought you had an alibi.”
“I got my coworker to lie for me,” Saul said. “I knew something was going to go down, but I didn’t expect Brando to get shot.”
“We should all sit down,” Ivanna said. “When Saul and I put our heads together, we realized I was in danger.”
“Okay, let’s all sit and calm down.” Avery dragged Jason onto the sofa next to her. While she sagged onto the cushion, he remained perched on the armrest.
Kerry sat opposite to them on the loveseat, and Finn came out of the kitchen with a tray of veggies and fruit.
“Go ahead,” Jason said to Saul. “Do you mind if I record you?”
“Not at all. I know a lot of this might be illegal, but I’m worried about Avery’s safety. That’s why I called in the bomb threat. I wanted the venue moved because I suspected something was going to happen.”
“Why don’t you tell us what happened last year?” Jason prodded. “Then we’ll get to your speculations.”
Saul rubbed his palms on his jeans. “All of you know my brother, Garm, and my buddy, Hugh, died of overdoses after going to certain parties. The person who placed them at the parties is Alida Adams and the modeling side of it is represented by Ivanna’s sister, Clarissa.”
“It wasn’t Clarissa’s fault,” Ivanna cut in. “She wasn’t aware of the parties. She booked the models for their potential, but Alida was the one who gave them extra credit if they attended the parties.”
“Wasn’t Clarissa a party planner for a congressman?” Jason asked. “Sounds like she was doing double duty.”
“I don’t know,” Ivanna said. “She never mentioned that to me.”
“It was Alida who pressured the models to give the clients a good time,” Saul said. “My brother couldn’t bring himself to do some of the acts, so he was given drugs. Joselito told me they’d gone to a party where Avery’s professor was holding a fundraiser for Congressman Overton.”
“Overton was involved?” Avery felt her blood chill. “Was Richie at the party?”
“Joselito would know, but I’m assuming he was there,” Saul replied. “We don’t know who was responsible for my brother’s death, but we do know he wouldn’t have taken meth if Alida didn’t force him to work the parties.”
“Are you sure she forced him, or she offered him better placements if he attended the parties?” Jason asked. “I feel bad that your brother died, but he wasn’t a child, and he made his own choices.”
Avery winced at the suspicious way Jason viewed the situation. When it came to ambition, people gave up a lot of free will for a shot at success.
Saul shrugged and heaved a sigh. “Maybe it was childish, but the only way we could get back at Alida was to cause her events to fail. We badmouthed Ivanna’s sister and got our model friends to go to other agencies. Then we played pranks on Alida’s events. Someone let loose a swarm of cockroaches at the ribbon-cutting Alida set up for Mayor DeBrassos at Gracie Mansion. Someone else swapped all the model photos in Clarissa’s FacePlant account with farm animals.”
