Page 96 of Unseen Danger
“I’ve created a list. There’s the staff.” He rattled off their names and positions, figuring the team had probably already thought of them.
“I wasn’t aware of the chef.” Cora finished writing his name, Bartlemay Cox, on the board. “How often does he come to the estate?”
“Every evening before dinner. And I should mention I don’t think Marsha would be involved, especially in the kidnapping. She adores D-Chop’s kids. I can’t see her putting them in any danger.”
Cora added a question mark to Marsha’s name on the board.
“What about motives for the other staff members?” Sofia glanced at him.
“I don’t see a motive for any of my security staff, and, of course, I trust them since I already put them through a thorough check before hiring. Not sure what Cox’s motive could be unless he was paid by someone else. But he wasn’t on the grounds the day of the fireworks. I think D-Chop had a fling with Jaycee when he first hired her as a maid, but that’s cooled. She could hold a grudge. The security footage didn’t show her entering the garage the day of the fireworks, but she could’ve jimmied the window off-camera. It was so smashed by the fireworks, we couldn’t tell if it had been forced or broken.”
“You said the groundskeeper went into the garage that day?” Cora tapped her marker next to Brian’s name on the board.
“Yes. Again, I don’t know of a motive, but people can hide those things. I’ve thought about interviewing him to see if he has a past with D-Chop I don’t know about. Something that could make him resent his boss.”
“What about Larry LeSalle?” Nevaeh’s voice made his heart skip a beat and brought his gaze happily to her gorgeous face. “It was all over the news when D-Chop fired him.”
Branson couldn’t help the smile that stretched his mouth, just from looking at Nevaeh. “Yeah, LeSalle was pretty steamed. He manages other major celebrities, though, so it didn’t break his career. He still lives in Los Angeles, so the logistics would be tricky for him, especially the fireworks incident.”
“Unless he’s working with Jill or someone else.” Nevaeh met his gaze for a moment before glancing away.
“Good point.” He kept his attention on her face, glad he did when her eyes lifted again at his remark. “There could be more than one person behind this.”
“Let’s include Frank Jones on the list.” Phoenix looked at Cora, who wrote the bitter father’s name on the board. “He’s been released from jail since D-Chop dropped the charges, but he has a verified alibi for the time of the kidnapping. However, he could have hired the men for that and perhaps paid the groundskeeper to set up the fireworks. Or the incidents could be unconnected.”
Cora nodded, then glanced at Branson. “What about other friends or acquaintances of D-Chop? I could only find the obvious ones the media highlights.”
“That’s where the list gets very extensive.” Branson ran a hand over his hair. “I asked Peter to give me a list of all D-Chop’s friends and associates now and in the past.”
“Bet he loved putting that together.” Nevaeh’s mouth shaped in a cute smirk.
Branson grinned. “He wasn’t too happy about the idea. And I could see why, once I got the list. It’s five pages. And he also pointed out that most of the people on that list love D-Chop. He’s a generous guy, always ready to help his friends.”
Nevaeh nodded like she knew from personal experience. Probably why she’d told D-Chop she owed him the first day she came on patrol.
“Would you be willing to share that list with us?”
“Of course.” He switched his gaze to Cora. “I’ll email it to you.”
“What about the band members?” Jazz glanced at Branson. “Do any of them have reasons to be unhappy with D-Chop? Or want money from a ransom?”
All eyes turned to Branson again. “I’ve spoken with Kicker at the hospital. He doesn’t seem bitter, especially not against D-Chop. He seems to feel he took one for the team and is glad D-Chop wasn’t injured. D-Chop gave him his big break hiring him as his hype man. He’s always seemed grateful.”
“What about the other band members and the new hype man?” Jazz tucked her red hair behind one ear. “The new guy could’ve sabotaged Kicker intentionally to get his spot, or if that was random, one of the others could be trying to get at D-Chop.”
“Jonesy Baker is Kicker’s replacement. He’s pretty new to the business. Doesn’t have much experience yet, but according to D-Chop, he’s the nephew of one of his old pals.”
“Another favor.” Nevaeh drew Branson’s attention as easily as a fire alarm. “Did Baker have reason to expect he’d be next in line?”
“D-Chop said he was going to pick K. I. Deep, but he had just taken a job with ZayDee, another rapper. D-Chop apparently didn’t even know Jonesy was a hype man until he happened to be talking to the guy’s uncle on the phone after the fire.”
“Could have been planned, but not necessarily.” Phoenix folded her arms across her dark gray sweater. “It would’ve been difficult to predict with any certainty who would be injured, if anyone, in the fire. That makes intimidating D-Chop, damaging him financially, or the custody issue the most likely motives.”
She leveled her gaze at Branson. “Do you know of anyone in Jacquet’s entourage—a staff member, or any suspect we’ve listed—who drives a black Dodge Ram pickup?”
Odd question. Branson cycled through the vehicles he’d seen among the people associated with Jill or D-Chop. Jill probably had a rule against pickup trucks, given how much she disliked them. She and D-Chop had a huge blowup one time when the rapper wanted to get one to drive to an event. “No, I don’t believe so.”
“Have you seen a vehicle like that following you or your client?”