Fashion Jungle

by Kathy Ireland

  Oliver caressed her face. “That’s why you have friends, relationships, family—that’s why you have me. I’m not asking to replace anyone in your past. I just want to exist in the present, with you, here, now.”

  “On the swings?”

  “On the swings,” he agreed. “And in a few minutes, on the slide. I want these tiny moments, however brief, because they build into something epic. They become life. And I love seeing it through your eyes, however jaded you claim your view to be.”

  Heat suffused her cheeks as she turned away and whispered, “Do you just store all these perfect lines, or do they just come out of your mouth naturally?”

  “Both.” He winked. “Now.” He helped her off the swing. “I think it’s time you let me push you down the slide so I can chase you and pull your hair.”

  She burst out laughing. “And why would you do that?”

  “Ohhhh, easy. To show you I like you.” He rolled his eyes and then drew her into his arms, pressing a chaste kiss to her mouth and then pulling back again to give her space that she didn’t say she needed but did. “Let’s go.”

  It was Saturday.

  A beautiful weekend day with kids playing at the park and people spending time outside with friends and family.

  Everlee glanced out the window one last time then made her way back over to the computer. Frederick had come home, slept in the guest room, then left again.

  He was due back anytime.

  He wasn’t working this afternoon.

  Which meant she was going to get her confrontation, after all.

  Her stomach roiled at the thought of him taking pictures of all of those girls topless, some of them as young as ten or eleven.

  She shuddered.

  Everything she’d found had been sent to Dane.

  And Dane had told her he would continue to search and take care of the situation, whatever that meant.

  The fact that several of the photo albums had videos and pictures of Danica didn’t sit well with Everlee. Had Danica known? Had she helped them? Everlee knew that Danica had been in love with Jauq the same way that Everlee had been in love with Frederick. Had they just been stupid, innocent kids?

  She took a sip of coffee and heard the sound of the front door opening. This was it.

  Slowly, she rose from the couch and made her way into the kitchen where she heard Frederick humming to himself.

  “Hey.” Her voice cracked.

  “Hey.” He didn’t turn around; half his body was in the fridge. “Did you get the grocery delivery yet? I’m starving and we’re out of chicken.” He shut the door and turned. He looked just as beautiful as he had the first day she’d seen him. Messy hair, scarf wrapped around his neck, leather jacket paired with combat boots and jeans that cost more than most people’s apartments. His eyes were empty, though. His soul, dead.

  “No,” she said through clenched teeth. “I was in the hospital.”

  He didn’t so much as flinch.

  “Miscarrying.”

  With a sigh, he lowered his head and then shook it. “Can we not do this now?”

  “This?” she raged. “THIS? I’m your wife! We lost our baby! Yes, we have to do this! Where were you?”

  He gulped and then shrugged. “I was out.”

  “Did you hear anything I just said? I was pregnant! With your child.”

  He sneered. “Wow, thanks for clearing that up. Who knows who you’ve been running around with while I’m at work?”

  “You mean at work shooting underage girls topless?”

  He cursed and then lunged for her.

  She dodged him and moved around the island. “Don’t touch me!”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You can’t just run around yelling things like that, Everlee!”

  “Stop!” She ran down the hall with Frederick chasing her. His hand grabbed her by the arm, and then she was being slammed against the door, right next to the wedding picture she’d paid so much to frame.

  It was like a shrine.

  It meant nothing.

  An empty.

  Expensive.

  Shrine.

  She squeezed her eyes shut as he choked her and then slammed her head back against the wall. “Keep your mouth shut.”

  He jerked away from her as someone rang the doorbell.

  The wedding picture fell to the floor with a loud crash. Glass flew everywhere, and Everlee stared down at it, wondering if she’d ever truly been anything more than a trophy on his arm to show to his powerful friends.

  Frederick jerked the door open.

  Two police officers and a detective appeared.

  “Can I help you, gentlemen?” he asked in a calm, confident voice that Everlee had grown used to. Mainly because he used it on her.

  Daily.

  She shook her head and continued cleaning up the glassy mess as the detective stepped forward. “Are you Frederick Grassi?”

  Frederick leveled the men with a stare. “Yeah. And?”

  The detective held up a piece of paper. “I have a warrant to confiscate your computer.”

  “What?” Frederick hissed out a curse. “There has to be some mistake. I’m a photographer, I need my pictures. It’s my livelihood. You’re more than welcome to look at my computer, but the hardware stays here.”

  Everlee’s blood ran cold, and her ears buzzed.

  Frederick didn’t know.

  All of his private files had been un-encrypted.

  No longer hidden.

  No more secrets.

  It was all there, plain as day.

  She’d seen enough to make her sick and had given Dane the rest. In a way, she didn’t want to know because somehow, that made her a part of it.

  Frederick looked ready to attack.

  And that’s when it hit her. The minute they saw what was on his computer, he would be going to prison for a very long time. Regardless of who else was involved, he was in possession.

  And she’d helped to reveal that.

  Exhaling a sigh of relief, she put her hand to her stomach as she mourned more than just the loss of her baby. She also grieved for the loss of the dream she’d held onto for so long.

  The fantasy of a family.

  Of them.

  “All things happen for a reason.” She could hear Brittany’s voice in her head. So her baby had to die for this to happen? Her marriage had to crumble? She didn’t understand it, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Even though it was hard, even though she wanted to stick her head in the sand, plug her ears, and pretend that everything was okay—that it would always be okay.

  It was probably Dane who got the information about inappropriate pictures to the police, though she wished he had told her. It wasn’t like she had gone to them, though. She had planned to ask Dane what to do next; she wanted to set the thing on fire.

  “Sir…” One of the officers held out his hand. “We can have the computer back in twenty-four hours. We’re conducting research on a child pornography ring. We’ve been following a tip and, so far, it’s led us here.”

  “Well…” Frederick changed voices, lowering his head. “I can’t imagine my daughter being caught up in something like that. We… actually…” He wiped under his eyes. “We actually just had a miscarriage, and I—”

  SERIOUSLY?

  Everlee gaped up at the stranger she’d been married to for over a decade and watched as the mask fell and his true colors showed.

  Had he loved her at all?

  No.

  He loved himself too much to ever share that affection with another human being.

  “I’m sorry,” the detective interjected. “That must be so hard.”

  Frederick nodded. “Sorry, it’s just still so fresh.”

  “You’re a suspect, Mr. Grassi, which means that it doesn’t matter if you were just in a head-on collision, we still need that computer.”

  Frederick sobered. “I understand, you’re just trying to do your job.” He stepped awa
y from the door. “It’s in my office. Can I get you boys coffee? Beer?”

  “No.” The detective narrowed his eyes. “We’ll just get the computer and be going.”

  Frederick basically took them on a tour of the house. He had a story for every piece, a price for every story. Oh, look, this is the table we flew in from Africa, paid twenty thousand for it, but look how it sets off the room.

  Everlee almost gagged.

  The detective did a small circle in the living room. “The computer?”

  “Oh, right.” Frederick flashed a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

  The detective nodded to the officers, who followed Frederick into his darkroom.

  Everlee stood and dumped the glass into the trash. The detective walked by her and held out his hand. “Thank you, and so sorry for intruding.”

  He pressed a small piece of paper against her palm.

  “Of course.” She shook his hand and slid the note up into the sleeve of her cable-knit sweater.

  Minutes later, everyone was gone, including Frederick. He seemed panicked and angry.

  Which only made her more resolute in her desire to ruin him.

  She unfolded the paper and gasped.

  Don’t follow him, let me handle this. —D.

  “Rough afternoon?” Dane asked once he located Frederick in one of his clubs. He was where he always was, even though the club had barely opened for the evening: the VIP section with two of the same girls draped around him.

  The same underage girls Dane had paid weeks ago.

  The same underage girls he’d been protecting.

  The ones the cops had given him to use in his own little sting operation. It was coming together perfectly, and yet he still felt guilty. He was destroying a family. Doing something that he couldn’t come back from.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket.

  Zoe: I’m at the office, I need to work late, I’m fitting a few new models, and then I have one last design to alter.

  He typed back quickly.

  Dane: I’ll come check on you in a few. Text me if you need anything.

  Uneasiness churned in his gut. He didn’t like the idea of Zoe at the office alone, but he had more business to attend to.

  Dane had set Frederick up in more ways than one, but the man was guilty through and through.

  Anger pulsed through Dane’s veins as he watched Frederick try to kiss one of the girls spread across his lap. He ran his shaky fingers down her neck and then squeezed, she let out a little squeak.

  Dane just shook his head and sat across from him, as casual as he could be. “You were saying?”

  “I wasn’t saying,” Frederick said through clenched teeth, his eyes wild as he stared at his lap and the girl lying in it. “She’s young.”

  “They all have to appear young. It’s part of the reason I hire them.”

  “I’d love to photograph you.” Frederick lowered his voice as his hand drifted from her throat and moved lower.

  Dane cleared his throat.

  More regulars started to filter in.

  It was almost too easy.

  To catch people in their own darkness, their own sin. To watch them struggle against a web of their own making.

  “How’s Everlee?” Dane asked, knowing it would trigger Frederick even more.

  Frederick glared up at him. “Boring as always. Today she wanted to talk about the baby I never even wanted. The police came.”

  Dane tilted his head. “Because you got in a fight?”

  “No, well, I roughed her up a bit but nothing like that. They took my laptop, which is strange. Apparently, there’s some sort of child pornography ring in the city, and I’m a suspect.” His eyes cleared. “Know anything about that?” The guy was visibly upset, shaking, and perspiring across his upper lip.

  A year of this.

  And finally.

  A crack.

  “A little. Want me to look into it for you?” Dane asked as calmly as he could, even though his heart was thundering in his chest. This is what he needed: more information, more access.

  “Maybe.” Frederick moved away from the couch, stood, and then sat on the leather chair closest to Dane. “I can trust you, right?”

  Dane spread his arms wide. “You realize this is my world, don’t you?”

  On cue, another younger waitress rounded the corner and dangled an arm around Dane’s chest. “Did you need anything… sir?”

  Dane focused in on her mouth. “Maybe later, you know how I like it.”

  She winked and then turned her attention to Frederick. “And you?”

  Frederick looked momentarily stunned and then shook his head slowly.

  “You know where to find me,” she whispered in a husky voice to Dane, playing the part perfectly. For being a rookie at the NYPD, she did a pretty good job of selling it.

  “She’s new,” Dane explained to a stunned-looking Frederick. It helped that she was gorgeous with long, wavy, dark hair and innocent, blue eyes and didn’t wear a stitch of makeup.

  “Right.” Frederick gave his head a shake. “Here’s the thing, I may know a little about the ring, but it’s not me. It’s someone else. If they find anything on my computer, it’s not going to lead to them. They may suspect, but I would need to confess, right? So, I guess what I’m asking, is if I rat them out…?”

  “Them?” Dane repeated. “How many people are we talking? One? Two?”

  “Two.” Frederick coughed into his hand. “Two others are involved. Say I go to the police first. Say I confess… what happens next?”

  “Well…” Dane waited a few dramatic seconds. “I would then talk to the DA, get you a plea that doesn’t involve anything graphic like the death penalty but a nice little vacation in prison, and they go away for life.”

  “Life.” Frederick gulped. “Forever?”

  “Yeah, but at least it doesn’t fall on you. I would hate for something to happen to you, Frederick, you’re a friend. You were Danica’s friend. Think of it as a favor, one friend to another.”

  Please, God, finally confess!

  Give me answers!

  “I’ll think about it.” Frederick’s usually tan skin went even paler as he got to his feet and walked over to the bar.

  It was Dane’s move.

  He stood, straightening his suit coat, and reached for his cell. Nothing from Zoe. Unease trickled down his spine.

  The last time he’d felt it, he’d been too late.

  He was only a few minutes away. Who cared if he looked overprotective? He snapped his fingers at Mario and left.

  “This place is incredible!” Oliver exclaimed when they walked into the SOHO industrial building. Down into the basement they went until they were in a massive room with gourmet ovens, granite countertops, and workstations for each couple.

  Not to mention the wine pairing that the serving staff continuously provided after each dish was made.

  It was like Disney for adults.

  “I know.” Brittany beamed, proud of her friend and everything he’d accomplished just because he wanted something for himself outside of the fashion industry. “He’s done an incredible job.”

  “The name, too.” Oliver pointed with a grin. “Meet-cute?”

  Brittany sucked on her lower lip and shrugged. “Yeah, well, that’s how the best love stories start, right? By accident?”

  “Or,” Oliver said as he grabbed her hand, “by being semi-hit on by a patient who wants to hook you up with his beautiful client. That’s sort of a meet-cute.”

  “That would have only been a meet-cute if it had been accidental. Like if I had run into you, your clipboard went flying, we touched it at the same time…” Brittany cleared her throat and looked up into his amused expression. “What?”

  “Thought about this a lot, have you?” he teased.

  “Shut up.” She elbowed him.

  He spun her around and pulled her into his embrace. “What if I was watching you and trying to get your attention?”


  “You were very focused on your clipboard.”

  “Blank, my blank clipboard, just like my blank brain the minute I saw you strut down the hall.”

  She covered her face with her hands. “I do not strut.”

  “Yeah.” He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “It’s more of a saunter. I can demonstrate if you want.”

  She slapped him on the chest just in time for Roger to approach and give them a look of pure joy with a bit of arrogance mixed in—like he was the reason for them meeting.

  “Looks like you kids had a fun day.” Roger stared straight at her, his brown skin positively glowing with excitement.

  Tamp it down, Roger, tamp it down.

  “I hope you’re ready to feast. Grace is late… which means, she’ll be irritable when she gets here and may snap off someone’s head. But I’ve come prepared.” Roger handed them each a glass of chilled, sparkling white wine and then whispered, “I poured her two.”

  “Good plan.” Brittany took a sip of her glass as bubbles tickled her tongue. “Do you know what station we’re at?”

  Roger gave her a look and sighed. “Next to the instructors, of course. And the owner. Special treatment, lucky girl.”

  “Very lucky.” She beamed up at Oliver as he grabbed her free hand and kissed it.

  “Not jealous. At all,” Roger said in a sing-song voice as he crooked his finger at them. They followed him to the front of the room. “You’ll be starting with a nice flatbread appetizer with goat cheese, followed by tomato bisque soup. Don’t worry, I have the perfect white wine to pair with it, and it looks like we’ll be ending with roasted lamb and garlic sweet potato fries. I’d hold off on the garlic, you know, just in case.”

  “You done yet?” Brittany said through clenched teeth as Oliver chuckled at her side.

  Roger beamed. “Not by a long shot. Good question, though. Oh, look. Grace!” He power-walked away from them, leaving them completely alone with all the recipes and instructions.

  Grace sashayed her way toward them, sunglasses on even though it was nearing six at night and wearing a large black hat that made it almost impossible to see anyone behind her. “Traffic was horrible. I don’t understand what’s so hard about stoplights. Stop, go, stop, go. Oh, hello, you’re the attractive doctor seeing my Brittany, aren’t you?” Beaming, Grace pulled off her sunglasses. “Tell me, how many surgeries do you do in a day?”