Page 95 of Unseen Danger
He clenched his jaw. The memory of the security footage, what they’d done to her, still boiled his blood.
“Okay. As you see, we have a reconstruction of the incident.” Cora glanced at Phoenix, who stood on the other side of the whiteboard with her tan dog.
Funny how the leader of the Phoenix K-9 Agency was so much smaller than he’d expected. When he’d met her at the warehouse yesterday, he’d realized he must’ve pictured her as an unusually large woman with the size to match her deep voice and commanding persona.
But she was only slightly taller than Nevaeh with a slim figure. Very pretty, actually, though she seemed to hide her looks behind the baseball cap she wore then and this morning.
He’d learned within only a few minutes in her presence that she didn’t need size. The confidence he’d admired over the phone was even more palpable in person, defining her entire demeanor and giving her an air that reminded him of Captain Killian, the fiercest Naval officer he’d ever served under.
“We’ve all seen the security footage, and I can make the copy available to anyone who wants to examine it further.” Cora wrote a heading next to the sketch that read, Suspects. Then she added another heading of Motive.
“Branson,” she directed her blue eyes at him, “we’re hoping you can help us fill in these lists more accurately. Do you feel D-Chop’s wife belongs here?” She pointed the tip of the marker at the Suspects list.
“Absolutely. After the fireworks incident, she moved to the top of my list.” He glanced at the women, all their attention trained on him. As a man, he couldn’t miss how lovely they all were. Each one of them was beautiful enough to fit in with the celebrities he was used to being around, even with about a quarter of the amount of makeup. These women weren’t trying to be noticed. And that made them far more attractive in his book.
“Would you mind sharing why that is?”
He nodded at Cora. “Sure. Peter Volrath, D-Chop’s assistant, escorted her into the garage the morning of the fireworks. She stayed in there for six minutes and forty seconds alone before she drove her Ferrari out and left. That’s enough time for her to have set up the fireworks and remote activation.”
“Would she have the knowledge to do that?” Bris’s question, so similar to the thought process he and Louis had walked through, made Branson’s mouth twitch with a smile.
“She’s not mechanical, but she’s smart enough to have learned how to do it if someone showed her.”
“Her motive?” Cora wrote Custody in the Motives column.
“That’s right.” Branson nodded. “But you could also add the settlement. Her lawyer’s actively negotiating with D-Chop’s lawyer for a bigger financial settlement. It’s possible she could sweeten her deal and gain custody if she makes D-Chop look unsafe for the children. She could use custody as a bargaining chip.”
“Would she do that?” Cora looked at him with her eyebrows pinched together, as if she were genuinely bothered by the idea.
Branson thought through what he knew about Jill and chose his words carefully. He didn’t want to slander anyone. “I believe she cares about her kids. But she’s also used to a certain lifestyle and is highly career focused. She always wants to keep climbing the ladder.”
“Of popularity?” Bristol turned her head toward him.
“Yes. She lives for media attention, but she also wants the money that comes with notoriety. There isn’t much she wouldn’t do to get that.”
“Even kidnapping her own kids?” Sofia’s dark gaze landed on Branson from the armchair where she sat.
“I’m not sure.” It was the question he’d turned over in his mind several times that morning. “I don’t think she’d want to scare the kids. But if she felt they would be safe, ultimately, and that it would get her what she wants, she might do it.”
“She’d do that to her children?”
He shifted his gaze to Cora. “I think she could rationalize it if she convinced herself it was better for them. Maybe as a way to jumpstart their popularity for a future career like hers. Her own mother pulled some drastic stunts and had Jill do things no normal parent would to further her career in the public eye.”
“You mean the reality show and all the…other things.” Cora’s eyes filled with what looked like sadness.
“Exactly. She might think of the kidnapping as a sort of reality show moment for her kids that would put them in the public eye and gain them sympathy. She already has social media fan accounts for each of her children.”
“How sweet.” Sofia’s tone carried obvious sarcasm.
Sadly, such behavior and mentalities were common in the world Branson worked in. But they didn’t need to hear about the systemic problems among celebrities.
“It makes sense.” Bristol looked toward the whiteboard. “In my years as a cop, I saw people do some crazy things, even parents, for less motivation.”
So she used to be a cop. That explained a lot. How many of the others on the team had law enforcement backgrounds? Hadn’t Nevaeh mentioned Sofia being with the CIA?
“Have you isolated other suspects?” Phoenix gave him an unreadable stare. Having her stand so close to Cora, on either side of the board, was a study in contrasts.
The willowy and elegant blonde seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve. Phoenix, dressed in functional clothing that looked as tough and matter-of-fact as she seemed to be, didn’t give away a thought let alone emotion. Her ready, wide-legged stance was much more practical and prepared than elegant. Really did remind him of Captain Killian. No one had been able to figure him out either. But they’d all respected him.