Chapter Six

"Here's what Boone & I were able to uncover," Montag said, addressing the entire room of investigators. "There was a man in Sarah's life, but none of the girls was ever able to visually confirm it. She kept a low profile so noone knew who her lover was exactly. At this point out prime suspect is basically a ghost."

"Good job." Ainzley turned to the whiteboard behind him & drew an arrow from the victim, Sarah Daniels to the dark figure above her picture, the mysterious lover. "Okay, West, Smith. Tell us about the autopsy."

"The cause of death, asphyxia." Smith responded, "The ligature marks around the victim's neck suggest she was strangled to death with a garrote, however the murder weapon was not found at the scene of crime. Ultimately, we were unable to recover any foreign DNA from the assailant."

Ainzley's eyes sought out Jessica with a warning. She preferred to work alone for obvious reasons. There were leaks within every organisation & this division wasnt different & that's exactly what she was banking on.

Nothing stirred up trouble like dropping the names of infamous crime lords. If they really had something to do with Sarah's death sooner or later they'd have to make contact with Santos & she'd have a better chance of finding the murderer.

"Security footage from the night in question has since been erased. From what I could discern, Ms Daniels had been a bottle girl at Club Equinox for the past three years, however, public records state that Miss Daniels had never been employed there."

"I'm not surprised," Ainsley said, "Do we have anything on the club owner?"

"Yes, Mr. Santos has ties to the Bellagio twins, which extends anywhere from human trafficking to drugs & narcotics. It's possible that Sarah saw something she shouldn't have & was made to pay with her life."

"Agreed, however, there's not enough evidence here to issue a warrant, but this information gives me enough reason to interrogate the bastard. Put out an APB out on Carlos Santos immediately.

That's it for now, everyone get back to work!"

Ainsley ordered Jessica to stay back while the other investigators cleared out the room with haste.

"This is a shot in the dark Jess, but about that other thing you mentioned in the report. I want you to use this distraction to buy your source enough time to hack into his computer." Ainzley said confidently, a half smile tugging at one corner of his lips. "You know what they say, when the cat's away..."

"I wont be using her anymore," Jess uttered quickly, "If she keeps digging she'd be in danger & the last thing I need on my conscience is someone else dying because of me. I've ecently acquired an anonymous tipper who has more intel on the Bellagio twins than the CIA & the Feds combined. Trust me, I'll get something on Santos."

"Do whatever you think is best JB, you'll always have my support.

"Thanks chief."

All eyes were on Jessica Briggs when left Ainzley's office. The intense stares of those who longed to snap at the bait the moment she dangled her hook in the water was sure to haul in a big catch.

It was a bit of a stretch that could potentially backfire. Mentioning the mafia twins was like dancing on the edge of a knife. She wasnt much of a risk-taker but what the hell did she have to lose? She was certain Blink would be adopted or taken in by someone who'll actually manage to feed him on time.

She'd expected him to run off by now, but every time she returned home, there he was sitting by the door.

"What the fuck was that? What were you thinking dropping the twins name like that!?" Boone demanded, "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you think this is what your partner would have wanted?"

Jess coughed out a strangled laugh. "Save me the bullshit! Just cause Blake dicked you down doesn't make you an expert on what he was like or what he wanted."

"You really are a cold heartless bitch, arent you?"

"It's not like I expected a gay guy to think I was hot anyway." Jess smiled inspite of herself. Pushing people away was what she did best, that & solving crimes.

Jess became aware of the buzzing sensation in her pocket. Boone had already left, their conversation was as good as done anyway. One glance at the screen & her entire mood shifted. It was Ky. She stabbed the button & held the phone to her ear.

"We need to talk face to face. Meet me at Pierre's at 3pm."