Chapter 9
"Had Ava received any threats in the recent weeks or months?" I asked.
JD and I interviewed Ava’s boyfriend in the hallway just outside her room in the ER. His assistant hovered nearby. She was a cute brunette in a gray fitted pantsuit that hugged her svelte figure. Vanessa didn’t have the supermodel looks of Ava, but she was a cute girl. Easy on the eyes.
Nurses scurried up and down the hallways. Moans and groans of patients filtered out of the rooms. Doctors in white lab coats darted in and out of treatment rooms. Techs wheeled patients off for X-rays and CAT scans.
Sebastian was traumatized. He ran his fingers through his hair with frazzled eyes and thought about it for a moment.
"It's hard to know what to take seriously and what to dismiss.
I mean, people say all kinds of things on the Internet.
You just have to tune it out." A grim frown tugged his face.
“I hate to say it, but this could have been directed at me.”
I gave him a curious look. "Why do you say that?”
After a hesitation, he admitted, "Well, my ex-fiancé isn't exactly thrilled about my relationship with Ava. She's called and left nasty messages, posted terrible things on social media.”
"Did she make any threats?”
Sebastian shrugged. "What constitutes a threat? I hope you guys rot in hell! You two shallow narcissists deserve each other. I hope you both get hit by a bus.”
“She sounds pleasant,” Jack muttered.
Sebastian groaned and made a face.
"Those statements are vague,” I said. “Anything actionable?”
"Well, she never said she was going to throw acid in Ava’s face, but I wouldn't put it past her. Rachel could have hired someone to do it. How hard would that be?”
"Not hard at all.”
"Does she really think something like that would get me back?” Then he muttered. "She always was a bit crazy.”
"Anybody else you can think of that might have animosity toward Ava? Competitors? Rivals? Ex-boyfriends?”
Sebastian thought for a moment, then glanced back into Ava’s room. He escorted us a few steps down the hallway. He didn't want Ava to hear.
Her injuries weren’t life-threatening at the moment, but Ava was in bad shape.
The acid had burned the superficial layers.
Her angry red skin was mottled and blistered.
Now covered with a light ointment, her skin resembled the texture of pizza.
Swelling had already settled in, and her features were puffy, her eyes narrow slits.
It was heartbreaking.
Ava’s face had once graced billboards and the sides of buses.
The staff had irrigated her skin and eyes, trying to bring them back to a normal pH range. An ophthalmologist had been consulted. She also suffered inhalation damage to her lungs. She was scheduled for surgical debridement.
In a hushed voice, Sebastian said, "This is going to destroy her career. I don't know the extent of the damage, but the doctor said it wasn't good. He's not sure, but he thinks it was sulfuric acid. She'll be lucky if she can see after this.”
JD and I winced.
It was a devastating attack.
"Ava was the face of several brands. She's going to lose all of those endorsements. Somebody else will take her spot. Somebody else always does. There's always someone younger and prettier coming up.”
"Any idea who that somebody might be?”
"Every time Ava is up for a job, it's always between her and Amara. They can't stand each other." He sighed. “Now, Amara has never made any overt threats, but she continually makes underhanded comments to the press and on social media. That would be the first place I’d look.”
"Tell me about your security staff," I said. "I'm sure a man like you has nothing but the best.”
Sebastian nodded. "But it happened so fast. I don't know if anybody could have stopped it. The guy just came out of nowhere.”
I agreed.
"I usually travel with a two-person security team. We have 24-hour round-the-clock protection, broken up into three shifts of eight hours. My people are good about varying our routine, breaking it up, and not falling into predictable patterns.”
"I’ll need the names of everyone on your staff, along with contact information for your ex-fiancée,” I said.
"I'll get you those," Vanessa said.
"Vanessa handles everything for me," Sebastian said. "Scheduling, transportation, media, publicity. You name it. I don't know what I’d do without her," he said with a smile, looking at her with affection.
Vanessa smiled back. "That's very kind of you to say.”
"Well, it's the truth." Sebastian took a deep breath. “I believe in giving credit where credit is due.”
I gave them both a card and told them to get in touch if they could think of anybody else who might be responsible. "Is Ava up for visitors?"
"Let me talk to her," Sebastian said.
He excused himself, walked down the hallway, and dipped into her room. A few moments later, he stepped back into the hall and shook his head.
Ava was under mild sedation. Even if she could talk, at this juncture, she was probably too traumatized to have a meaningful discussion.
I figured we'd catch up with her later.
JD and I left the ER. Our driver had returned with the limo, and we climbed in and slid across the comfy leather seats.
The mood was somber.
Jack just shook his head. "Man, I feel terrible for that girl. Who the hell does something like that?”
“Evil people.”
The driver chauffeured us to the station, where we filled out reports. Afterward, we headed up to Oyster Avenue to catch up with Ginger and Cinnamon.
They wanted to know how Ava was doing. Their faces filled with sorrow as we updated them. They were heartbroken. They had both known Ava back in the day before she had rocketed to superstardom.
We tried to enjoy the rest of the evening despite the chaos, but a heavy cloud hung over the night.
JD and I returned to the boat at a reasonable hour, had a cocktail on the sky deck, and tried to talk about anything but the recent events.
I was the odd man out and left Jack to his own devices with his two nursemaids. I grabbed Buddy's leash and took him out for a walk, then settled in for bed.
The next morning, I woke with the sunrise, pulled myself out of bed, showered, shaved, and got dressed. I headed down to the galley to start grilling breakfast.
Sheriff Daniels buzzed my phone. I hoped it was good news.