As the woman walked away, Jase walked up to Kate. Anticipating this particular visit was the main reason he had worn the blazer and button-down shirt he had bought at Neiman Marcus. He had a fairly extensive wardrobe. When he was hunting a skip, he had to blend in. At least today he looked more like a PI than a bounty hunter.
The receptionist returned. “Mr. Wells has a few minutes between appointments. If you’ll please follow me.” The woman turned and started walking. Kate flicked Jase a sideways glance, and they both fell in behind her.
Preston Wells was a tall, attractive man, with thick brown hair, brown eyes and a salon tan. He wore an expensive Italian suit and didn’t look anything like the pervert he actually was. Jase had no problem with a guy’s personal kinks—as long as nobody got hurt.
Wells walked around his desk to greet Kate, his eyes running over her head to foot. Jase wanted to punch him.
“Ms. Gallagher? I’m Preston Wells. What can I do for you?”
“Thank you for seeing us. This is Jason Maddox. He’s a private investigator. I hired him to look into the murder of my sister. She was using the name Tina Galen. I thought you might know her.”
He frowned. “You thought your sister was one of my clients?”
“Actually,” Jase drawled, “we thought you might be one of hers.”
“My sister was a runaway, Mr. Wells,” Kate explained. “She was working as a prostitute.” Her mouth edged into a smile that really wasn’t. “Word is you enjoy a working girl’s talents on occasion.”
Wells looked offended. “I don’t know what you’re implying, but—”
“We know you were arrested for assault,” Jase said. “Beating a woman so badly she ended up in the hospital.”
Wells’s mouth thinned. “Those charges were dropped. What happened is none of your business, but because I don’t want any more trouble, I’ll tell you this just once. Heather and I were engaged in consensual sex. She liked it when I used my belt, and I wanted to give her pleasure.”
“You put her in the hospital,” Kate said. “That doesn’t sound like pleasure to me.”
His shoulders moved in a shrug beneath his expensive jacket. “Accidents happen.” His gaze ran over Kate. “Have you ever been punished for pleasure, Ms. Gallagher? Perhaps your big friend, here, would do the honors. Or if you prefer, I would be happy to oblige.”
Jase lunged forward, grabbed Wells by the lapels of his coat and hauled him up on his toes. Kate stepped between them, blocking the punch he wanted to throw and saving Wells a couple of missing front teeth. She set a hand on his chest, and he was sure she could feel the anger vibrating through him.
“It’s all right, Hawk,” she said. “Preston isn’t my type. In his case, I’d prefer he was the one getting the beating.”
Jase let him go. “Step aside and I’ll gladly make it happen.”
Kate turned back to Wells. “So you never knew Tina Galen?”
“Never heard of her. And unless she was into the S&M scene and a willing participant, I never would have.”
“Where were you on the night of April 29?” Kate pressed.
“I was at a company function—which, if you’d checked with Detective Benson, you would have known.”
Jase’s back teeth clenched as he worked to rein in his temper. Good to know Roger Benson had actually done some legwork on the case.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jase said. Kate linked her arm with his, not quite trusting him not to bash Wells in the face, and led him toward the door. They didn’t stop until they were back in the elevator, the doors sliding closed behind them.
“Do you think Wells was telling the truth?” Kate asked.
“So far there’s no evidence to suggest Tina was into the S&M scene. According to the ME, the cause of death was blunt force trauma. Looks more like killing her was some sort of retribution or maybe someone was delivering a message.”
“Punishment or a message,” Kate said. “Like what Eli Zepeda was doing to that girl at the station.”
“Could be.” He pressed the button for the parking garage, and the elevator began its decent.
“Which brings us back to Tina’s pimp,” Kate said. “If she had one, we need to know his name.”
“With any luck, we’ll find out when we talk to Lollie tonight. In the meantime, just to be sure we don’t leave any loose ends, I’ll check with Benson, make sure Wells’s alibi’s been verified.”
When the elevator doors slid open, they headed for the Yukon. Since the day was pretty much shot to hell and they were planning a trip to the Sunshine Motel that night, he drove through a Burger King to get something to eat, then took Kate home.
