22 Aubie #2
“Mason took his own life six months ago.”
“I thought you said Ethan killed him.”
He rubs his eyes. Looking at him closer now I can see hints of a man unraveling. Grief is a heartless bitch, especially the first year after a death. How often had I seen that look in the mirror following the accident?
“Ethan was part of Mason’s past. He wasn’t proud of it, but he had cleaned himself up by the time we met.
He didn’t associate with anyone from his former life.
Except Ethan. I don’t know what kind of hold he had on Mason, but whenever he called, Mason would drop everything and run to him. ” He looks up at me. “Sound familiar?”
Jimi had been desperate to go to Ethan. And yet, he had come to me first. Because he knew I would stop him. “What the hell is this guy doing to them?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out. I’ve been watching him ever since Mason died. I’ve tried to reach out to all his victims–and that’s what they are. Victims. He’s a predator, but I don’t know what he’s using to control them.”
“Did they talk to you?”
He shrugs. “A couple did. The others clammed right up, like they were afraid of something.”
Hmm. That doesn’t sound suspicious at all. “So how do I figure into this?”
“I, um, followed Jimi to your house the other day. I knew he was supposed to meet up with Ethan.”
He’s been following him? “How do you know where Jimi was going?”
He looks like he’s trying to decide if he can trust me, which is rich coming from someone who basically admitted to stalking me. At last he seems to come to some kind of conclusion.
“I hacked his system so I have access to his calendar, among other things.”
I look him up and down and smirk. “You hacked it?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
I snort. “Sorry, not to be crass, but I’ve fucked a few hackers, and you don’t fit the profile.” Happens to be true.
He opens his mouth to protest, but I hold up my hand to cut him off. “It’s no business of mine if you want to pretend to be something you’re not–”
“Okay. I know a guy,” he snaps. “I help him out with his legal problems and he does me the occasional favor.”
Knew he was a lawyer. “So you were telling me how you started stalking me.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
I chuckle and bat my eyes at him. “Oh honey, you’re not the first man to stalk me.”
“I was warned about your charm.”
Now that brings a smile to my face. Especially when he blushes again. Reminds me of someone else, which is a place I don’t need my mind to suddenly wander off to.
“Moving on,” I say to break the tension. “What do you need from me?” When he frowns like he doesn’t understand, I add, “I’m more than willing to sic my father’s hounds on him. He’d be gone in less than twenty-four hours.”
He doesn’t seem to know how to respond to that. In retrospect, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to implicate my father in illegal activities. Then again, why the fuck not? He owns half the lawyers on the east coast and the other half are scared of him.
Except for this one. For that alone, I’ll give him the time of day.
“I want him to pay,” Ryan insists.
I swallow a laugh. “You mean go to jail?”
“Well, yes, that’s how the law works.”
Oh, poor baby. We’re going to need more coffee for this conversation. “Do you know how money works?”
“I’m not a child.”
The petulant scowl is adorable. I take a leisurely sip of my coffee.
“Okay, here’s lesson number one in Aubie’s facts of life.
Speaking as someone who comes from it, I can tell you the law works differently for people with money.
Short of me pulling out a gun and shooting you dead across this table with ten sober witnesses, I can pretty much get away with anything I want. ”
He glares at me. “Because you have the best lawyers.”
“Because I have the money to buy the best lawyers. As well as all. Those. Witnesses.”
“What about the ones who can’t be bought?”
I snap my fingers. “They magically cease to be a problem.” I give him a minute to digest the implications of that.
“I’m not saying that to scare you. I’m just pulling back the curtain on a different reality.
The most important thing to people with money is being able to hold onto that money while accumulating more.
And there are no limits to what they’ll do to ensure that. ”
“Not all rich people are like that,” he insists.
“Maybe not, but an overwhelming majority are.”
“What about you? Are you a cutthroat dick like your father?”
He has done his research on me. Sort of. “If you’d paid any attention to my life, you’d know I walked away from my father as soon as I reached legal age. Now I live to be a thorn in his side.”
“Why?”
Funny, no one’s ever asked me that. I think about lying, but what would be the point? Besides, I have a vested interest in his crusade. It’s time Ethan Lennox was stopped, one way or another.
And that attitude is something I unfortunately did inherit from my father.
“Because not only did he turn the greatest tragedy of my life into another cheap business transaction, he made me a part of it.”
And now he owns my soul.
I couldn’t come clean if I wanted to. The machine that is the Gauthier family business would see to that.
I may be my father’s only son, but we’ve both pretty much admitted that was a mistake of birth.
We live with two truths, both of which are nonnegotiable.
One–he’d never let blood keep him from shedding mine.
And two–if he somehow found a way to cut off my trust, I’d still never go back to him.
I’m not an extravagant person, despite my reputation.
I’ve proven I could nearly make enough at Eros to fund my lifestyle. And I’m not without resources.
“All of this brings us back to Ethan Lennox,” I say.
“How do you know he has money?”
“Come on. You say you were following him. Nice house. Nice cars. Nice clothes. Multiple lovers. He may not be swimming in it, but he’s got enough to insulate himself. And if he’s using drugs to control them, he has a supplier he answers to.”
“I never thought about the drug angle,” Ryan says.
“Well, you should. And, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you should also think about bringing this to the police.”
“I tried. Mason’s death was ruled a suicide. According to them, they have enough real cases to solve without taking on phantom ones.”
“That was homicide.”
“Yeah, so?”
I grin. “So you need to be talking to narcotics. Nothing gets the cops going like the prospect of a splashy bust. It’s good for business.
” The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that it’s the right approach.
Yeah, toss in some human trafficking suspicion and the boys in blue will be busting a nut to jump on this case.
“I’d be glad to testify.” Wouldn’t that piss off ol’ dad?
“Have you actually been there?” he asks. “Ethan’s place?”
“Three years ago. Went to a party there with Jimi. They’d been on again off again for about a year at that time. I remember Jimi being excited about introducing me to Ethan, then they went into another room. They were gone about twenty minutes and when he came back, he was different.”
Looking back on it, I guess I wasn’t as observant as I should have been. I remember something seemed off to me, but I just chalked it up to the party favors.
“I guess I should have questioned it then.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t do that. I’ve been beating myself up for not seeing the signs sooner. At first I thought Mason owed a debt of some kind to Ethan. That’s why he was always there for him. But every time he came back, he was different for a while. Quiet. Subdued.”
“I’m going to do you a favor,” I say as I pull out my phone and scroll through the contacts. When I punch in the number, Ryan gives me a quizzical look.
“Who are you calling this time of night?”
“An old acquaintance. He works nights, so this won’t be a surprise.”
“Why are you calling me?” the gruff voice asks when he answers.
“Now, now, Maxwell, is that any way to talk to your cash cow?”
He snorts. “What the fuck do you want, Aubie?”
I’ve known Maxwell Jones since high school. Believe it or not, he was a dealer back then. Prolific, too. Lucky for him he was never caught because he’s now one of the city’s best narco detectives. Takes one to know one, right?
Maxwell and I had a healthy business relationship in high school and I’m one of the few who kept in touch with him when he elected to go to the police academy instead of college.
Needless to say it was a shock to the system for most of his old associates.
Now I pass on information when the mood strikes me.
“Am I interrupting something?”
He sighs and I can imagine him tugging on the full beard that keeps him looking as shady as the characters he chases. “Just a boring stakeout I’ve been on for two days.”
“Ah, the good life,” I tease.
“I know you didn’t call to bust my chops, so spill. I could use a distraction.”
Maxwell listens to me because when I call, it’s usually something that’ll get his name in front of his bosses. Where do I get my info? It’s not my fault people like to talk to me at parties. I don’t owe them shit.
“Ever hear of a guy named Ethan Lennox?” I ask him.
“Should I have?”
“Only if you’re into drugging men to hold them captive or convincing them to kill themselves. There might also be a human trafficking factor.”
He’s quiet for a minute. “This is for real?”