Vendetta in Death (In Death #49)(89)

Jacie pressed her lips together. “I don’t know a Jasmine or Leah from group.”

“Jasmine moved away, and Leah hasn’t been for a while,” Peabody told her. “Do you know the other women the lieutenant mentioned? Were they part of your coffee sessions?”

“It’s not always the same people. I can’t always go after the meeting. But I’ve had coffee with everyone you mentioned. Honestly, the only other one I know like that is Sherri Brinkman. Another one dumped by an ex for a younger, but not before he gave her an STD, and pretty much hosed her in the divorce because he’s the one with all the money and the lawyers. She’s like sixty, and maybe hits five-two, a hundred and ten. There’s no way she could do what’s in that folder.”

“Okay. Can you give me an idea how long she’s been in the group?”

“She was part of it before I started going in October.”

“Jacie, when we talk to her, when we talk to the others,” Peabody said gently, “we’re not the enemy. We need to find who’s responsible for these murders, but that doesn’t make us the enemy.”

When Jacie shrugged, stared down at the table, Eve leaned back. “Do you know Mavis Freestone?”

Jacie looked up with a smirk. “Oh sure, me and Mavis, we’re tight. We have lunch every week. Jesus.”

Eve pulled out one of her cards. “Peabody, do you have something to write with?”

Peabody dug out a pencil, handed it over.

“Still got that audition recording?”

“I’ve got my copy, sure.”

“Give me an hour, then tag Mavis at this number. Tell her as much or as little as you want, but tell her Dallas said she should listen to your audition recording.”

Jacie took the card, stared at it. “Are you bullshitting me?”

“What would be the point? It happens that Mavis and I actually are tight. What happens next there is up to you.”

Now tears shimmered, but didn’t roll. She stared at Eve with incredulity, and with just the faintest light of hope.

“Why? Why would you do this?”

“Because we’re not the enemy. Now, whether or not you opt, at any time, to file charges against Ryder Cooke, we will investigate him. You wouldn’t have been the only one. I’m going to do whatever I can to keep him out of this folder, and whatever I can to put him in a cage. That’s it.”

“I—I need to think about it.”

“All right. My number’s on the other side of the card. Thanks for coming in.”

After Jacie, visibly dazed, left, Peabody blinked damp eyes. “That was a totally frigid thing to do, Dallas. Mega frigid.”

“Didn’t cost me anything. Run Sherri Brinkman before you contact her, ask her to come in.”

“Sure.” Peabody got up, started for the door. “Mostly what we do is go after bad guys. It’s nice when we can do something positive.”

“Going after bad guys is plenty positive in my book.”

“You know what I’m saying.”

Yeah, Eve thought when Peabody went out. I do.

She contacted Mavis, got a perky message:

Hey! Abso-truly wish I could chat, but I’m in the studio. Lay a message on me. Cha!



“It’s Dallas. Expect a tag from a Jacie Pepperdine. Do me a solid, okay, and arrange to listen to her audition recording. If it doesn’t blow, pass it to Roarke. Appreciate it.”

She toggled to tag Nadine.

“Ready for that one-on-one?”

“You got it with Peabody. This is semi-connected, and I’m tossing you a big, stinking fish.”

“Mmm, my favorite kind. Does the fish have a name?”

“Ryder Cooke.”

Nadine angled her head, narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve got him on a slab.”

“No, and I hope to avoid that. You’re going to want to start digging, Nadine. I’ve got a woman who won’t, as yet, file a formal complaint, but she’s very credible on my scale. She says he raped her, and the way it went down tells me she’s not the first or the last.”

“Give me her name.”

“Can’t do it. Same as you wouldn’t do it, Nadine. When and if she wants to go public, you’ll have it.”

“Can you give me a timeline?”

“Last August. Dig.”

“You can count on it. Thanks for the tip.”

“Just use it.”

Next, she contacted SVU, laid it out.

“We’ll get you, you son of a bitch,” she grumbled. “One way or the other.”

Back in her office, she added the interview details to her book, ran Ryder Cooke.

Mixed-race male of forty-eight, worth several tidy billion. Producer and president at Delray. He had twenty-six years with the company, his own shuttle, homes in New York, New L.A., East Hampton, Jamaica. Two ex-wives, a rep, from what she read when skimming entertainment media, for being a major player.

And going by that segment of the media, Cooke was currently in New L.A. producing a recording and vids with some band named Growl.

Which kept him safe, for now.

She ran Sherri Brinkman to get the ex-husband’s name, but switched to a run on him.

Linus Brinkman, Caucasian male, age sixty-seven, one marriage, one divorce, two offspring. Currently cohabbing with LaDale Gerald, age twenty-five. (Which brought her in at five years younger than his own daughter.)