Page 71 of Triggered By Love
“Fine. I need a ride and a driver.” She got in. Rolling her eyes, she pulled out her phone and read it to him. “I’m warning you. It’s going to get very boring for you.”
“I’ll take boring now for a shot at excitement later.” He started the car and followed her directions. “I can’t wait to meet Ivanna now that I, too, am a model for you.”
“You’re not a model.” Her retort was knee-jerk, as he expected.
“And Brando was? Do I get a clothing line designed for me too?”
“Brando wasn’t a model.” Her tone stiffened, no longer light. Even though he hit a sore spot, he was going to get the information out of her whether she liked it or not.
“He might not have been, but I consider myself a model.” Jason puffed out his chest and hooked a thumb at himself. “I mean, if it walks like a model, quacks like a model, strips like a model.”
“You’re not a model,” Avery said. “You’re a volunteer.”
“Where do you get the models you use for the fashion shows?” he asked. “I’d like to apply to the agency and get paid.”
“You’re not thin enough to be a male model,” she said. “It’s not as easy as you think.”
“Still, shouldn’t I be represented by an agency, maybe even be unionized?”
“Models are not unionized. It’s not easy getting the right bookings, and you don’t get paid a lot when you’re unknown.”
“I’ll have experience after the private showing to your professor, and I’m sure he’ll give me a recommendation.”
“Doesn’t work that way,” she said. “Models at your level are more or less anonymous. You’re only a walking clothes hanger. You’re thinking of a few supermodels who are celebrities. They’re in a completely different class and have a large following on social media to keep the buzz hot.”
“Got to start somewhere.” He parked in front of an East Harlem brownstone. “Maybe Ivanna can put a good word in for me.”
“Ivanna doesn’t recruit the models,” Avery said. “She only manages the ones we get. Since I’m a small firm and on a limited budget, I can’t afford the celebrity models. I specify height, weight, and diversity requirements, and they send them to me.”
“Still, she might know the models better than you.”
“True,” Avery conceded as she got out of the car. “If you’re so interested, I’ll ask Ivanna to give you a few leads.”
That was all he wanted. Ivanna and Jason were going to be best friends. He particularly wanted to pass the pictures of the dead models in front of her and see if she’d known them. He could ask Avery, but he didn’t want to spook her until he knew more.
The brownstone did not have a doorman, so Avery buzzed Ivanna’s room. She tried several times, even tapping the Morse code forS O S.
“She’s not answering,” Jason noted. “Did she expect you?”
“I texted her from the police station,” Avery said. “Of course, she expects me.”
“Call her.”
“Ugh, you’re so bossy.” She nevertheless placed the call. It went to voicemail and she left a brief one. “Hey, it’s me, Avery. I’m at your place downstairs. You must be in the middle of something. Give me a call when you’re ready.”
“Now what?” He took a picture of the button Avery used to call Ivanna’s intercom. “You getting hungry?”
“You have the chocolate,” she said.
“Yeah, but I’m betting you’d love pupusas. I know a small hole in the wall where they’re handmade.”
“Nice try,” Avery said. “Unfortunately for you, Damon wants me to go to a team dinner with his engineers. You can drop me off at Slipstream Entertainment. I’m sure you know where it is, since you’re such a meticulous stalker.”
He’d gotten enough information from her, including Ivanna’s apartment location. Besides, he thoroughly enjoyed baiting her, although if he were honest with himself, he’d already swallowed her bait hook, line, and sinker.
After dropping Avery off at Slipstream Entertainment, Jason kept the box of chocolates and made a call to the fingerprint lab.
It was as he suspected.
