Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Xavier pressed the phone to his ear and stepped into the bedroom for some privacy.
“Hey, Jerry. What’s up?”
The voice of Detective Jerry Edgars—a voice Xavier hadn’t heard in six months—came back, saying, “Xavier. Been a while, man.”
“It has.”
“We need to catch up. Play a round of golf over at the Palms or something.”
“I’m in. Just hit me up whenever.”
Xavier waited. He knew that wasn’t the reason his old colleague called. It took another few seconds to get to it. That told Xavier the guy most likely had bad news.
“We found some video of the person who planted the bomb backstage. Not as they were doing it, but as they were entering the building and then walking through the corridors to get backstage. They did it four hours before the show.”
“Any clear shot of their face?”
“Uh-huh. Wore a hoodie and mask—the kind we all wore during Covid—most of the time. But there’s a part where they step into a corridor near a janitor’s closet.
Must’ve thought there weren’t any cameras around, because she stopped and lowered the hood and adjusted her mask. It’s fast. But we got her.”
So it was a woman they were after. Interesting.
The tone in Jerry’s voice hinted that he was hesitant to tell Xavier the rest, like he didn’t want to admit who it was.
Could it be Linda Atkins? Maybe Denise Franklin? One of the dancers?
“You know, the image quality is good, but the angle is bad. We still got a clear enough shot to see that… it looks like her, Xavier.”
“Her who, Jer?”
A heavy sigh preceded the answer. “Your client. Nova Monroe.”
It took Xavier a few moments to process what he’d just heard. Finally, he said, “Impossible. She was with me four hours before the show.”
“Look, man. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I’m not the lead detective on this but I assisted in pulling all the video. Went through hours of it. Right now, after finding that, the investigation is going in the direction of your client.”
Quieting his reeling mind enough to be present during this conversation, Xavier asked, “Who is lead on this thing?”
“For LVPD? It’s Santana and Dominguez. But we’re all really just doing the FBI’s bidding. They’ve sort of swooped in here. You know how they are. Bunch of damned glory hounds.”
Xavier knew exactly how they were and that bothered him. What if they wanted to go after the juicy headline about a world-famous pop star faking her own stalking? It would be huge. The agents would most likely get book deals and all that.
Of course, it wasn’t true. There was no way his babygirl was doing all this to herself and playing everyone.
“Are you sure you didn’t pick up video of Ms. Monroe coming in for the show?”
He’d nearly called her Nova, but there was no reason right now for anyone else outside of the Daddy Guard and the Mountainville Gang to know how familiar with one another they were.
“Positive. We checked. The video of you and your team escorting her in is separate and hours after.”
Xavier knew that was true. He remembered doing it. And Nova hadn’t worn a hoodie and sure hadn’t worn a mask.
“They want to question her,” Jerry said.
“We’re out of town.”
“Where?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Wh—” There was a heavy silence. “Forget it. I know you have to protect your client. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think she’s doing this if you don’t.”
“I appreciate that.”
“But also for what it’s worth, just know they’re going to question her whenever she gets back in town for her next show.”
“Copy that.”
More silence stretched on between West Texas and Las Vegas.
“Man,” Jerry said, “I’m putting my neck out tipping you off like this. But we have a history together and you’re a friend.”
“Don’t worry. No one will know. And Jerry?”
“Yeah?”
“I really appreciate this.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The call ended but Xavier stayed in the room and contemplated what he should do next. Suddenly, the spanking didn’t seem too important. Not with his babygirl potentially facing some major charges back in Vegas.
Yet he knew there was no way she was faking this whole thing! It wasn’t even a possibility.
First of all, the evidence.
He could account for her whereabouts that whole day. There might have been a woman who looked like Nova planting the bomb, but it was not Nova.
Then there was the biggest piece of evidence to her innocence. The one the cops in Vegas wouldn’t understand.
His Daddy heart.
They hadn’t been together long, but Xavier knew his babygirl. Knew what she was and wasn’t capable of. Knew who she was at her core. And this wasn’t even in the realm of possibility. Nova had a good spirit. She wasn’t conning anyone.
No, she was the victim.
His mission had now grown. He had to find out who was preying on Nova and prove her innocence.
Neither were going to be easy. But Daddies didn’t just love and protect their sweeties when it was easy.
They did it always.