Chapter 12
"I wasn't anywhere near the fashion show last night. Even though Giovanni invited me personally. I didn’t want to be in the same proximity as Sebastian.”
"I take it you're not a fan of the man," I said.
She gave me a look. "Whatever gave you that idea?”
"Whose idea was the breakup?" I asked, already knowing.
Rachel lifted a salty eyebrow. "I aged out of the role.” Then she smiled. "It's okay. I've got a new part to play.”
"Are you seeing someone else?”
"I have multiple suitors at the moment,” she said in a cute, proud voice.
She was a striking woman, and I had no doubt she had plenty of men chasing after her.
"If you weren’t at the fashion show, where were you last night?" I asked.
"I had a date with Declan Jamison. I can give you his number if you would like to verify that.”
"That would be great.”
Rachel put herself on full display. "Look at me. Do I look anything like the assailant?”
JD and I both looked her up and down, drinking in her form.
"No. I can't say that you do.”
She smiled. "So it’s safe to say that I'm off your suspect list.”
I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe you hired someone to do it.”
She gave me a flat look. "And what would I stand to gain?”
"Satisfaction? Revenge? Maybe you want Sebastian back?”
Rachel laughed. "The last thing in the world I want is to be involved with that man.
He's narcissistic, self-obsessed, and doesn't care about anyone but himself. He is incapable of real love. Sure, he's good-looking and rich, but there are more things to life than wealth and power. Looks fade, and money can’t buy true happiness.”
"Can you think of anybody else who may have wanted to harm Ava Lang?”
"I don't know the girl personally. I think I met her on one occasion prior.
I had no idea at that point she would steal my man.
But honestly, I don't have any animosity toward her.
Sebastian can be irresistible at times, and she is young and impressionable.
She'll figure it out before too long. I'm afraid it will be devastating for her when she realizes that he's just not going to be there for her when she needs him.”
I dug into my pocket, handed her a card, and asked her to text me Declan’s number. She did, and I gave him a call. Declan said he was with Rachel from 7:00 PM until a little after 2:00 AM.
I never considered Rachel the attacker, but perhaps the mastermind behind the whole thing.
I thanked Rachel for her cooperation, then called Isabella as JD and I walked back toward the elevator. I gave her the scoop and said, "I need you to pull phone records for Rachel Hoffman. See if you can find any suspicious payments or unusual calls.”
“If I was going to hire someone to attack a supermodel with acid, I’d probably look on the dark web,” Isabella said. “Unless I already had shady contacts.”
“I don’t know how tech savvy Rachel is, but I’m sure she knows somebody who knows a fixer.”
“You think this guy was a pro?”
“No, but he might have been hired through an intermediary.”
“I’ll see what I can figure out. Anything else?”
“I need to find Amara.”
“The supermodel?”
“Yes.”
“Is this part of the investigation?”
I chuckled. “Of course.”
“Do you have a cell number for her?”
“Yes. I got it from Sebastian’s assistant.” I gave her the digits, and she tapped the keys. A few moments later, she said, “Looks like she’s back in New York.”
“That’s a convenient escape.”
I thanked Isabella for the information, and we took the elevator down to the lobby. The valet pulled the van around when we stepped outside. We climbed in, and I called Amara.
It rang a few times, then went to voicemail.
I left a message.
To my surprise, Amara called back a few minutes later. "Is this Deputy Wild? This is Amara returning your call.”
"Thanks for getting back with me."
"It's just terrible what happened to Ava. I just can't imagine.”
"I guess it worked out pretty well for you," I said, trying not to sound too snarky about it.
"I'm excited to be the new face of Lumière. I'm not excited about how it happened,” she replied in a sharp tone.
"I guess you’re back in New York shooting for the campaign."
"Yes, I'm on set now. The company wants to rebrand its entire line, and there's no time to waste."
"I know you're busy, so I'll just get down to it. Did you have any involvement in this?”
"God no. Ava is a dear friend. We’ve been in the business together for a long time.
I would never do anything to hurt her. I admire her greatly.
She's accomplished things I can only dream of.” She paused.
“We were both in the show last night. This could have happened to anyone. Are you sure she was specifically targeted? I have heard rumors that a particular activist group was just looking to stir up trouble. I was on the red carpet when it happened, only a few feet away. It could have been me!”
“It's my understanding you were always competing for the same jobs.”
"Healthy competition. I’d always see her at castings. I would never go so far as to harm someone. That is abhorrent. You need to catch whoever did this and put them away for life! Her career is destroyed. Her life is over. It's tantamount to murder!”
"So if I dig through your phone records and bank accounts, there's going to be no indication that you hired someone to take out your top rival?”
She laughed. “You can look through my bank accounts, phone records, whatever you like. You’re not going to find anything suspicious. I told you. I respected Ava. Still do. I hope that she can return to this industry and become the face of Lumière once again. I will gladly relinquish my role.”
I took it with a grain of salt. It sounded like a rehearsed answer and the politically correct thing to say.
I thanked her for her time and told her to call if she heard anything through the grapevine. She said she would, and I wished her well as the new spokesperson.
My phone buzzed with a call from the sheriff. “I’ve got a lead for you to look into. We got an anonymous tip. Someone claims to know a guy who bragged about throwing acid in a model’s face. Denise looked into him, and he’s pretty vocal on social media.”
“We’re on it,” I said.