Page 14 of Wild Frost


Font Size:

Ainsley nodded.

"Were you aware she was having an affair?"

Ainsley froze and swallowed hard. Her look wasn't one of surprise. More like panic. "No. What makes you think she was having an affair?”

Ainsley clearly wasn’t going to spill the tea in front of her husband.

"Lying to me is not going to help your friend."

"I really don't know what you're talking about,” she said, growing defensive. “I'm not lying.”

“What are you getting at?” Dylan asked.

"Did she ever talk to you about someone named Jett? Her pool boy."

Ainsley swallowed hard again. "Jett does a lot of pools in the neighborhood. Does fantastic work. Why?”

"Does he service your pool as well?"

She shifted and looked uncomfortable. "Yes. What does that have to do with anything?”

I shrugged. "Maybe nothing. We think he might be the last person to see her alive.”

"Well, I talked to her last night around 10 o'clock, and she never said anything to me about a visitor," Ainsley said.

"Why were her kids at your house?"

"Because our children are friends and they wanted to do a sleepover. Whitney said she could use a littlemetime. I took it at face value. We all need a little time to ourselves." Ainsley paused. "Are you saying that Whitney died of a drug overdose?"

"The medical examiner hasn’t made a determination yet.”

From Whitney's phone records, Ainsley had called around 10:00 PM. That was the only thing about her story I believed. She knew a lot more than she was willing to admit in front of her husband.

I gave them both a card and told them to get in touch if they had anything insightful to add.

Paris closed in with the camera as we walked back to the Porsche.

I gave her the standard line about not discussing ongoing investigations and asked for any witnesses to contact the Sheriff's Office.

Whitney had a lot of secrets to keep, but her death may have been as simple as what it appeared to be—a tragic overdose. We’d find out soon enough.

JD and I hopped into the Porsche and set out to find Jett.

I had Isabella track his phone.

We caught up with him at the Platinum Dunes, cleaning the pool of another sprawling mansion. It seemed his clientele wasn't limited to Stingray Bay.

Jett was a sun-worshiping surfer type with a tanned body chiseled from stone. His medium-length, curly blond hair dangled into his brown eyes. He was the kind of guy who had a permanent smile etched on his face. With his life, who could blame him? Low stress, desperate housewives, lots of fringe benefits. Florida wasn't exactly the surfing capital of the world, but from time to time, you could catch good swells if you knew where to look. It seemed like Jett rode most of the good waves inside the luxury bedrooms of the elite.

According to the registration records, he lived on his 40-foot sportfish. He had a storage unit full of pool cleaning supplies and chemicals that he officed out of. A white truck, wrapped in his company logo, was his only street-legal vehicle.

Jett was just getting by, but getting by was enough for him.

His truck was parked at the curb at 738 Crescent Way. Jack parked behind it. We ambled up the driveway to the backyardand stepped through the wrought-iron gate. I flashed my badge as we approached.

Jett smiled. "Afternoon, gentlemen. What can I do for you?”

"You can tell me about your relationship with Whitney Hollingsworth."