CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kari arrived at Elite Vision the next morning to find the agency in a state of barely contained chaos.
The sleek reception area she'd visited the day before now felt tense, the atmosphere charged with something that made the receptionist's smile falter when she recognized Kari walking through the door.
"I'm sorry, we're not taking visitors today," the receptionist said, her voice pitched higher than before. "There's been a... we're dealing with an internal matter."
"I'm here about Tayen Stern. I spoke with Diana Shepherd yesterday."
"Diana's not available. No one's available." The receptionist glanced toward the back offices, where Kari could hear raised voices. A door opened and closed. Someone was crying. "Please, if you could just come back another time—"
"What's going on?"
Before the receptionist could answer, the door to the back offices swung open and a woman emerged.
She was in her fifties, tall and striking.
Her silver-blonde hair was cut in a sharp bob, and she wore a cream-colored suit that probably cost more than Kari's monthly salary.
But her face was drawn, her eyes red-rimmed beneath expertly applied makeup.
"Who are you?" The woman's voice was clipped, impatient, the voice of someone accustomed to controlling every situation she entered.
"Detective Kari Blackhorse. I'm looking into the disappearance of Tayen Stern."
"A detective. Wonderful." The woman pressed her fingers to her temples. "I'm Jessica Vance. I own this agency. And as you can see, we're in the middle of a crisis, so unless you have a warrant, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"I don't have a warrant. I'm not here in any official capacity. Tayen has an aunt who's been looking for her for two years."
Vance frowned at her thoughtfully. "Oh, my. I had no idea."
Kari watched Vance's reactions carefully. "Ms. Vance, Tayen disappeared the same day Amanda Escalante died. I don't think that's a coincidence, and I don't think you do either."
Vance glanced back at the door she'd come through, then seemed to make a decision. "Come with me. We can talk in my office."
As Kari followed her across the reception area, she noticed a young woman sitting in one of the white leather chairs near the window.
The girl couldn't have been more than nineteen, with dark hair and delicate features.
She was crying quietly, her shoulders shaking, mascara streaking down her cheeks.
A woman sat beside her, speaking in low, soothing tones.
Kari recognized her from her previous visit: Diana Shepherd, the talent coordinator.
Diana had her arm around the girl's shoulders, her posture gentle and protective.
As Kari watched, Diana reached into her bag and produced a small packet of tissues, pressing them into the girl's hands with a murmured word of comfort.
There was something genuine in the gesture, Kari thought. Something that didn't match the polished corporate facade of the rest of this place. Diana looked up and caught Kari's eye, offering a small, tired smile before turning her attention back to the crying girl.
Vance's office was larger than Diana's, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Arts District.
The walls were covered with framed magazine covers and photographs of famous faces, a shrine to decades of success in an industry built on youth and beauty.
Vance settled behind a massive glass desk and gestured for Kari to take one of the chairs opposite.
"The girl out there," Kari said before Vance could speak. "What's wrong with her?"
"She just found out about Amanda. They were friends." Vance's voice was flat, exhausted. "Most of our models found out this morning. The news is spreading, and everyone's upset. Amanda was well-liked."
Kari remembered what Jade had told her, that the agency had claimed Amanda went home. "When did you plan to tell them? Her roommate thought Amanda had gone back to wherever she came from."
Vance's expression tightened. "That was a miscommunication. Diana spoke to the roommates before we had all the facts. She didn't know Amanda was... she was trying to protect them until we understood what had happened."
"Protect them by lying?"
"By delaying information that would cause them pain."
Kari leaned forward. "Which is it, Ms. Vance? A miscommunication or a deliberate delay?" She let the question hang for a moment. "Because those are two very different things."
Vance hesitated, then smiled uneasily. "I misspoke.
Diana didn't have all the details when she first spoke to the roommates.
When she learned what had actually happened, she.
.. she made a judgment call about how to handle it.
She thought it would be easier for the girls to hear it later, once we knew more. "
"A judgment call to tell them their friend had quit the industry and moved home, when in fact she was dead."
"It was a mistake. Diana was trying to be kind, and it backfired." Vance sighed. "She's been with us for years. She cares about these girls. Sometimes caring makes you do stupid things."
It was a better answer than the first attempt, but Kari still didn't buy it. The lie Jade had been told wasn't a clumsy attempt at kindness—it was a complete fabrication, detailed and specific.
Vance leaned forward, her hands flat on the desk.
"Look, Detective, I don't know what you think is going on here, but I can assure you that Amanda's death was a tragedy.
A young woman with substance abuse problems that none of us knew about.
It happens in this industry more often than I'd like to admit.
The pressure, the competition, the constant scrutiny of their bodies and faces. Some girls can't handle it."
Kari thought about what Blake Montgomery had said, that Amanda was religious about her health, that she didn't use drugs. She thought about the paramedic who'd noticed the scene was staged. But she kept her expression neutral.
"What about Tayen Stern? Can she handle it?"
"Tayen is..." Vance hesitated. "Tayen is complicated.
She came to us through Image Management about eighteen months ago.
Classic discovery story: beautiful girl from nowhere, desperate for a new life, willing to work hard.
And she did work hard. She built a following, got some decent bookings, was starting to break into the higher-tier jobs. "
"But?"
"But she was fragile. Emotionally, I mean.
The rejection got to her more than most. And in the last few months, she'd been pulling back.
Missing calls, showing up late to shoots, turning down jobs she should have taken.
" Vance shook her head. "I thought she was burning out.
It happens. Not everyone is cut out for this life. "
"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?"
"None. Her roommate doesn't know. Her booker doesn't know. Diana doesn't know, and Diana was closer to Tayen than anyone here." Vance shook her head, looking frustrated. "If I knew where she was, I'd tell you. A missing model is a liability. It makes the agency look bad. It makes me look bad."
There it was, Kari thought. The bottom line.
Not concerned for Tayen's well-being, but concerned for the agency's reputation.
She felt a flicker of disgust but pushed it aside.
People revealed themselves in moments like this, and Jessica Vance had just revealed that she saw her models as assets rather than people.
"I've been trying to reach Image Management—the company that recruited Tayen," Kari said. "What can you tell me about them?"
Vance's face grew guarded. "Image Management is a talent recruitment company. They scout models from places other agencies don't bother looking. Small towns, rural areas, immigrant communities. They find the girls, do the initial grooming, then refer them to agencies like mine for placement."
"For a fee, I assume."
"Of course for a fee. Nothing in this industry is free." Vance's tone had cooled. "Vanessa Caldwell runs Image Management. She's been in the business for twenty years, longer than I have. She knows how to find diamonds in the rough."
Kari noticed a discrepancy between Vance's words and her tone. "What do you think of her?" she asked.
Vance stared at her, as if unsure what to make of the question. "I respect her business acumen."
"But you don't like her."
Vance snorted. "That's not relevant to anything.
" She stood abruptly, signaling that the conversation was over.
"Look, Detective, I've told you everything I know.
Tayen is missing, Amanda is dead, and my agency is in crisis mode.
I don't have time to sit here speculating about things I can't control. "
"One more question." Kari stood as well, but didn't move toward the door. "The other models who've left Elite Vision over the past year or so. Where did they go?"
Vance's face went very still. "Models leave agencies all the time. They move to other cities, they quit the industry, they get married or go back to school. It's a transient business."
"But you don't know where any of them went specifically."
"Why would I? They're not my responsibility once they leave." But something in Vance's eyes had shifted, a flicker of something that might have been unease. "I think you should go now, Detective. I have calls to make."
Kari let herself be shown out, but she paused in the reception area. Diana Shepherd was still sitting with the crying girl, though the tears had slowed now. Diana looked up as Kari approached.
"Detective Blackhorse." Diana's voice was soft, mindful of the girl beside her. "Did Jessica help you?"
"Not as much as I'd hoped." Kari glanced at the young model, who was staring at the floor with blank, reddened eyes. "How are you holding up?"
Diana smiled wearily. "Trying to keep everyone together.
These girls, they're so young. Most of them have never lost anyone before.
They don't know how to process it." She squeezed the girl's shoulder gently.
"I'm going to take Mia home, make sure she has someone with her tonight.
But if you want to talk more, you can call me.
I want to help find Tayen. I really do."
She was struck by the earnestness in Diana's voice.
"I appreciate that," she said. "I'll be in touch."
Outside, Kari checked her phone. No callback from Vanessa Caldwell at Image Management. She'd try them again later—but right now, the murder angle felt more urgent.
She called Detective Carter.
"Tell me you found something," he said.
"Just more questions so far. Can you get me contact information for the paramedic who responded to Amanda Escalante's death? Victor Ruiz?"
"Already on my desk. I'll text it to you." Carter paused. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that a fifteen-year veteran paramedic noticed something wrong at that scene, and the responding officers dismissed him. I want to hear exactly what he saw."
"Keep me posted. And Blackhorse? If this turns into something bigger than a missing persons case, I want in."
"You'll be the first to know."
Kari ended the call and waited for Carter's text. A moment later, her phone buzzed with an address. Fire Station 27, about twenty minutes away.
Time to find out why Victor Ruiz felt so certain Amanda Escalante's death wasn't what it appeared to be.