“I’m meeting with the ME today at ten.”
“He called you back?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I can meet you there—”
“Jodi,” I grumbled, with a warning in my voice.
“Micah.” Her tone mimicked mine.
“I’ve already explained this shit.” I ran my hand through my hair, feeling frustrated. This was my damn fault. I didn’t have to call her and let her know my next move. Providing too much information to clients led to chaos and shit getting out that could hinder the entire investigation. Yet, there I was, breaking all my rules for her.
“Explain it to me again.”
I pushed out a frustrated breath. “You’re one of the smartest women I’ve met. You know why you need to keep your ass exactly where you are. I’ll update you as needed.” I didn’t wait for a response as I slammed the phone down. I knew damn well she wouldn’t listen.
I couldn’t tell which crimped my ass the most: That I knew she wouldn’t listen to me, or that it turned me the fuck on.
“What the hell?” I barked at my phone as it rang for the third time that morning. The first had been Micah with news that he was meeting with the medical examiner that morning. Correction,wewere meeting with the ME because his ass knew I wasn’t about to listen to him and keep myself in the house while he did all the work. I didn’t care that he was the only one with the credentials to conduct the investigation.
The second call came from my job, which I promptly ignored. I would check the voicemail my boss left later on.
“Alecia,” I groaned, seeing my boss’ number calling yet again.
“Yes?” I answered the phone, my tony icy.
“Thank God you answered. What took you so long?”
I pulled my phone from my ear and stared at it. She must’ve lost her mind. “Alecia, I know I’ve been out of the office for weeks, but please don’t forget it’s me you’re talking to and not Stacey or one of the other interns you like to boss around,” I snapped, rolling my eyes. Alecia was usually a cool boss, but I still had to check her from time to time.
“What are you calling me for?” I asked, with my eye on the clock on the microwave as I stood in the kitchen, finishing my morning coffee.
“We need your help.” Her voice was borderline panicky, which meant one of our clients had done something stupid. Someone needed us to step in and cover their asses for whatever dumb move they’d made. I hadn’t been on social media lately, nor had I been paying attention to the news. It was almost as if I’d been living in my own little world. I damn near forgot all about my job and life back in the city.
“I’m on leave,” I reminded her.
“I know, but this is important, Jodi.”
“You think everything’s important. What happened?”
“It’s Lena.”
I sighed. “Lena Clarkson?”
“Do we represent any other Lenas?”
“Don’t get cute.” Another eye roll. She must not know I’d hang up the phone in an instant and send her ass straight to voicemail. “Does this have to do with Nate?”
“I’m sending you the link to the video now.”
I groaned. If there was video footage, it couldn’t be good. My phone beeped. Pulling it from my ear, I opened the text message. I played the video, and found myself surprised and shocked as I watched Lena take a baseball bat to her fiancé’s belongings in his Los Angeles home. Whoever was filming, followed Lena up the stairs as she began tossing his clothes and vintage comic books into the bathtub.
“Oh, hell no. Is she …” I trailed off, letting the video play. “This bitch really did a Lisa Left Eye Lopes.” I sucked my teeth and shook my head.
“Jodi? Hello? Are you still there?”
I paused the video and closed out of the text message to talk to Alecia. “When did this happen?”
