“Paul and me. That’s all I know of.”
“And James? What sort of deal do you have with him?” Ryan studied her in a way that made Madison squirm.
“Nothing.” She tried to dismiss the thought. Then, realizing she wouldn’t get away with that, she said, “He used to do some light spying. Petty stuff.” She glanced between Aster and Ryan. “He’s the one who told me about you two.”
Ryan looked away in embarrassment. The room grew quiet as they all retreated into their individual thoughts.
“Listen,” Madison said. “If I hadn’t been the one taken, I’d be in a complete state of awe. The whole thing is kind of genius, if you think about it. It’s a complicated series of events. And trust me, Paul is capable of all of that and more. Ira too.”
“Does Paul know Ira?” Aster asked.
Ryan nudged her arm. “Everyone knows Ira.”
“But does Paul work for Ira? You know, as a fixer, or whatever it is Paul does.”
“No idea.” Madison shrugged. “I’m his most important client, but not his only client. Either of them are capable of pulling that off, but neither of them could’ve done it alone.”
“The girl, whoever she was, had to be in on it,” Aster said. “That was a real live girl, not the Ghost in a wig. Also, we found your car waiting for us just outside Ira’s tequila launch party. The GPS led us right to Paul’s office, presumably so we could find the blood-collecting kit.”
“I doubt that was legit,” Madison said. “Paul would never leave a blood-collecting kit randomly lying around for someone to find.”
“It was in a filing cabinet,” Ryan corrected.
“That makes even less sense. What else did you find?”
“An empty file with your name on it.”
Layla piped up, “The contents were sent to me.”
“Let me guess: It was full of diary entries and whatever else you posted on your blog or saw fit to give to Trena Moretti?” She glared at Layla, but Layla refused to confirm or deny. “Clearly someone planted the blood kit and empty file folder,” Madison said. “What would Paul want with my diary entries?”
“I thought you suspected Paul?” Aster’s tone was softer than Tommy expected.
Madison shook her head. “Now I realize he was trying to protect me from knowing the truth. But I panicked and ran, and he’s probably freaking out trying to find me.”
“It’s equally possible he’s trying to hunt you down so he can harm you,” Tommy said, prompting Madison to send him a searching look that was not lost on Layla, who made a point of sighing and rolling her eyes.
Before it could go any further, Aster broke in. “If Paul is behind it, I don’t think he’d want us to see any of those documents, much less the blood kit. Ira, on the other hand, could’ve easily made all that happen.”
Tommy kept quiet. His head was spinning with theories.
“Look—” Ryan bumped Aster’s shoulder with his. “I don’t know if Ira’s behind it or not. What I do know is that scandal is sexy. And this particular scandal is tailor made for a celebrity-obsessed public who never tires of rehashing the grisly details. There isn’t a person left on the planet who hasn’t heard of Jewel, the Vesper, or Night for Night, which is now one of the top five tourist destinations in town. It’s pretty much the best thing
that ever happened to Ira. Though it’s definitely the worst thing that’s ever happened to us.” Ryan’s voice rang of anger, and the color rose to his face. He was getting seriously heated. Tommy could relate.
“So . . .” Aster shifted toward him. “Let’s assume Ira is behind this.” She frowned. “I mean, what now? What am I supposed to do? I’ve pretty much given him control of my life! Do I find a way to disconnect? Or do I hang in there with the hope that it’s entirely possible that the reason he’s gone out of his way to help is because he knows the charges won’t stick? Like, maybe at the very last second he’s planning a big reveal that’ll prove my innocence. And then, in addition to building his business, he can be a hero for believing in me when everyone else turned away. God, that sounds cynical.” She sank her head in her hands and rubbed at her face.
“Cynical and entirely possible.” Ryan sighed.
“But would he really go that far just for an epic PR play?” Aster smoothed her hair behind her ears, her expression thoughtful as she considered the idea.
On the surface, it sounded crazy and woefully far-fetched.
In reality, Tommy knew Ira was capable of all that and more.
Still, he said, “But why would he kidnap Madison? I mean, it’s one thing to be an amoral businessman. It’s another to actually abduct someone and hold them captive for weeks on end. That takes planning, patience, deliberation, resources.”
“All of which Ira has in abundance,” Madison said.