Page 119 of Hard Heart

“He had a one-night stand shortly before the murder. A blonde woman he met in a bar in DC. He fell asleep in her hotel room, and when he woke up, she was gone.”

“You think…you think she harvested his cum?”

“That’s precisely what we think.”

“But that’s…that’s…”

“Clinical? Innovative? Audacious?”

“Insane. It’s insane.”

The idea that a woman could seduce a man, be intimate with him and then betray him… Yes, I knew that sex workers existed, so technically it would have been possible, but— Fuck. Ruby. No. No, she wouldn’t have. Would she?

“That too,” Ari said.

“But why? I get that they wanted to frame Justin, but why?”

“Because they knew that if you dug deep enough, you’d have a good chance of proving Levi’s innocence, and they needed to stop you from pointing the finger at them.”

“And they did that by providing a clear alternate suspect?”

“Right. They guided everyone in Justin’s direction so nobody would look too closely elsewhere.”

“Except it all went wrong because Jessalyn showed up at his house that night.”

“Yes. So their backup plan was to abduct her in an attempt to force him to confess to the crime anyway. Did you see the moussaka video?”

“Half the world saw the moussaka video.”

“Seven million views and counting. Anyhow, it stands to reason that whoever is behind this watched it as part of their research, and they must have seen how close Justin and Jessalyn had gotten in a short time. He probably would have confessed to save her.”

“How do you know that was their plan?”

“The guy Jessalyn shot said so right before she blew his face off. Do you carry a gun?”

“Are you kidding?” I shuddered. “I’m British. I don’t have a gun, and I don’t want a gun.”

“We’ll organise some shooting lessons.”

“Did you not hear a word I said?”

“You don’t like guns, but trust me, you’ll like being dead even less. They’ve framed Levi, and then they tried a prison hit so the secret would die with him. They framed Justin, and then they tried to force him into a confession by abducting Jessalyn. If your life was at stake, what do you think Levi would do?”

My spine turned to ice, and I feared I knew the answer. “He’d drop Raelene like a hot potato and embrace his commissary account.” I steeled myself for what was to come. “When do I start the shooting lessons?”

“We’ll schedule a session. Levi getting those bikers to follow you around was smart—they’re not as good as trained bodyguards, but they make a reasonable deterrent.” Ari looked up sharply. “Uh-oh.”

Alexa was marching towards us with Jerry following like a malevolent shadow. Neither of them looked happy.

“Did you touch the security system?” she demanded, focused on me.

“I’m flattered you think I’d know how to do that, but no. Why?”

“Who else has access? Who’s been maintaining the place?”

“The Diamondback Devils. Nancy—the neighbour—is the only other person I know of with a key, but Jerry kept hers, so maybe you could tell me how many other folks might have one? Why does it matter?”

“There’s a camera in the hallway, and it isn’t mine.”