“Okay, off the record, what can you tell me?” McNeil asked.
“Again, right now, there’s simply not much to tell. The news outlets probably have as much information as we do now.”
“Come on. You have to know something about this. Any suspicions?”
“Of course, I have suspicions, but none of them are backed by evidence or facts, which is why I won’t share them with you. Wish I could provide you with additional information, but I don’t have any to give. As soon as we know more, I’m sure the various agency heads will have a press briefing.” Murphy turned to leave, feeling pretty good about how she’d handled McNeil.
“Is Ethan Bond a suspect?”
She spun around quickly and tried to mask the look of surprise that washed over her face. “Excuse me?”
“I said, is Ethan Bond a suspect?”
Murphy watched as a few other reporters’ ears suddenly perked up as they heard the possibility of a juicy story about to break. Murphy walked over to the police tape instead of saying anything, lifted it and gestured for McNeil to follow. His cameraman tried to follow, but she put the tape back down and said, “Sorry… This is only between us.”
She motioned for McNeil to follow her. Once she was out of earshot of the rest of the press, she casually asked, “So, what do you know about the kidnapping?”
“Kidnapping? From what I hear, he purposefully ditched his security detail. He flew the coop, leaving the rest of ZERO in a bind. I also know ZERO was supposed to be on the flight to Seattle. So, you tell me, is this a coincidence?”
Fuck! They already had a leak somewhere in the airport. “Well, all avenues of investigation are ongoing. Ethan is no more a suspect than a dozen other people who missed the flight. Besides, there are countless possibilities. I can say, on the record, we are exploring any and all leads. Nothing is ruled out.”
“You won’t say he’s a suspect, but you also won’t say he’s not a suspect.”
“It’s too early in the investigation to know if suspects are even needed. It’s entirely possible there was simply some kind of mechanical failure. We have to wait and see what the forensic investigators piece together.” She then narrowed her eyes at McNeil. “Please do not go spreading rumors. These investigations are hard enough without rumors flying around the Internet bogging down important investigatory resources.”
“How’s this?” McNeil started. “I’ll give you some information on your other case if you promise to keep me in the loop on any actual developments.”
“What other case?” Murphy asked.
“TheNOLA NightsMurders,” McNeil responded. “You know, the one we talked about previously.”
“Sorry, of course,” she started. “The explosion has my mind preoccupied.”
“Understandable.”
“So, what do you know aboutNOLA Nights?” Murphy asked. “And before you ask again, I can’t guarantee anything. I can say that if there’s a public break in the case, I’ll be happy to talk to you.”
“I’ll take what I can get,” McNeil said. “Let’s say insider birdies have told me Cynthia Dunning and Daniel Hawthorne were not lovers. In fact, my team of researchers found an old picture of Daniel Hawthorne making out with a guy years ago. Although we can’t confirm it, we have every reason to believe Daniel Hawthorne was gay.”
“And what does this have to do with Ethan Bond?”
“Do I need to spell it out for you?” McNeil asked with a twinkle in his eye.
She thought about it for a moment.Holy fuck! It could make sense. “You think Bond and Hawthorne were more than just friends?”
“A definite possibility,” McNeil started. “Again, I have no evidence of this. In fact, there’s zero evidence Ethan Bond has ever dated anyone at any point in his life. Sure, he has taken a few starlets to various award ceremonies, but those are usually one-offs, and both he and the starlet always say they’re just ‘great friends’.”
The wheels in Murphy’s head spun when her thoughts were interrupted by Agent Harper as he approached. “Murphy? Need me to get this guy out of here for you?”
Murphy quickly snapped out of it and looked at Harper. “Nah, we’re good. I explained to Mr. McNeil that the FBI will not comment on ongoing investigations.” Murphy then looked directly at McNeil, narrowed her gaze and added, “Nor will we comment on rumors and innuendos.”
* * * *
Ethan
Ethan let the warm water of Blayne’s shower run over his body. After he had escaped from New Orleans and flown to Houston, he had wanted to wash the day off before settling in at Blayne’s place.
Ethan had found conversing with Blayne effortless. He had never felt this at ease with his bandmates or even with Danny. With Danny, everything had always been to keep up the public image. Don’t touch each other in public, secret rendezvous and clandestine kisses when no one could see them. Sure, it had been fun for a while, but it had gotten old quickly. Ethan had wanted more with Danny, but their ‘relationship’ had been doomed from the start because neither of them would let it interfere with their careers.
