Page 27 of Still Her
“How is it that I, nor anyone else at the label, has ever heard about this?” Ron demands.
“After the cases fizzled out, Eli waved his wallet and had all records sealed.”
“So then how do you have all this information?” I ask.
“Memory. I was the detective on these cases and I keep a personal log of every case I investigate, whether it goes to court or not,” he shrugs.
“So there’s nothing we can do?” Mayzie tosses her hands up in exasperation. She’s obviously frustrated, and I’m seeing a small hint of the fire that she tries to keep under wraps most of the time. “The guys are locked into a contract with him, so we all just have to play nice like nothing happened?”
“Well, you have a few scenarios you can choose from,” Mike supplies, looking at Mayzie compassionately. “Like you said, you can lay low and avoid him until the band’s contract is up. After all, he does PR for the band, not you. Then they can seek alternative representation and you’ll all be free of him.”
“That’s a year and a half away! I can’t duck him for that long, and he probably won’t let me. Even if I could successfully evade him for that long, he dropped a big hint the other night that he might lay off the gas when it comes to finding opportunities for the guys.”
“Baby, enough worrying about the band,” I lecture, rubbing the back of her neck. “You’re all we’re worried about right now. But I agree,” I continue, looking at Mike and Morris, “that means he gets away with it.”
“Right,” Mike nods wholeheartedly agreeing. “So, next option. I could try to help you get out of the contract.” He could. He’s a corporate lawyer and does a lot of work for the pro football team in our hometown. Contracts are his specialty. “I could probably get him to agree to a settlement…” he raises an eyebrow as he trails off. He really could do that for us, but he’s not happy about it. He’s presenting it as an option so that we have all of them on the table, but he’s fuming. He and I are having an unspoken conversation with our eyes, conceding that this is yet another path that leads to Eli getting away with the shit that he’s been pulling with apparently more women than just Mayzie.
“He’d probably take us for all we’re worth,” Mayzie mumbles out, her eyes on the table. “And he’d take his heap of our cash and continue on his merry way, toying with his choice of women.”
“Well,” Morris comes in, “there’s one more option. It’s less meager than the other two, but no more appealing.”
“Let’s have it,” I grumble dejectedly, waving my hand.
“You get proof,” he answers firmly. We all go quiet, turning that concept over in our minds.
Mayzie draws her eyebrows together in confusion. “I don’t get it, how do I…” she shakes her head, clearly not fathoming how she’s supposed to do this.
“I’d help you,” Morris offers in an assertive tone.
I look between him and Mike as it dawns on me what he’s suggesting.
“Oh no,” I start in, shaking my head. “Oh hell no. Just, no. Fuck. No.”
13
Mayzie
“Areyou talking about setting up a trap?” I ask Detective Morris.
“Yes, like we wanted to do with the others. Those didn’t work because Eli had either smelled a rat or had lost interest. Either way, he showed no interest in being lured. But with you, he seems to be just getting started.”
I shudder at his words, and I can’t even hide it. It’s like they’re laced with doom.
“So you’re saying… he needs to do it again. He needs to approach me again so I can get the proof needed to stop him?” My words are coming out staggered. I’m still trying to piece this together as I go.
“Absolutely fucking not.” Jack runs a hand through his hair before gripping the bridge of his nose. “You’re talking about sending my wife into the lion’s den! There is no fucking way that is happening. Don’t you have a female cop for this kind of thing?”
“Normally we would go that route, but all the cases have been closed, which means we’d have to go through a hell of a lot of red tape with the DA, getting approval for an operation like this. And then we’d have ground work to lay. We don’t know if the few female cops we have would be able to hook his attention. It’s a big risk to go that way, and it would take some time. Time that we might not have,” he holds his hands up in a shrug. “With you, the ball is already rolling. That’s all I’m saying.”
“It’s not happening,” Jack affirms, like he’s putting his foot down.
“I’m sorry.” Morris looks sincerely apologetic. “Those are the options.”
“All those options suck.” I’m turning petulant.
“Agreed. But there they are,” he drops his hands on the table, his watch making a clanking noise when it hits. He seems to be feeling as defeated as I do. “The easiest would be the first one, to avoid him for the duration of the band’s contract and hope that he doesn’t approach you again. Make sure you don’t show up at any events that you know he’ll be at…”
“There’s nothing easy about that option,” I snap. “The memory of how he’s been around me would haunt me and taunt me for the next year and a half while he just keeps on doing his thing. And who knows, he could spend that time jerking the guys around because he didn’t get what he wanted.”