Play Mine (Brooklyn Dawn #3) - Cari Quinn Page 0,17
didn’t mean to kidnap that fan. It just seemed like the quickest way to diffuse the situation.”
Lindsey covered her eyes with her hand and peeked out between her fingers. “Kidnapped? Are you serious?”
“He’s fine,” Jamie insisted. “He wanted to play a little Stockholm syndrome but I told him I wasn’t into his kinky games.” She nibbled delicately on the edge of her pinky nail. “At least not with him.”
“This is all a joke to you, isn’t it?” Noah shook his head. “All of you.” His gaze touched on each of us in turn. “Until someone gets seriously hurt. Or could have been hurt. Like this morning.”
“At the club?” Cooper demanded.
Noah said nothing.
“Or at her home. Is that what you’re saying?” Cooper’s jaw worked. “And if that fire was intentionally set, thank God Teagan wasn’t there.”
Five
Somehow I resisted the urge to cover my face with my hands.
First, I’d thought someone was messing with me at the club. Or at the very least not letting on they knew I was there. But maybe everything was so much more sinister.
Oz sat up straighter. “What fucking fire?”
Cooper started to tell him, but I shook my head and he let me fill the others in. Jamie and Lindsey seemed to know more than the guys, but they were still surprised to find out how bad the fire had been.
Now I just needed to know the extent of the damage—and what Noah had been insinuating.
“What do you know?” I asked quietly, focusing on Noah. “Please.”
He let out a breath and consulted the clipboard he held at his hip. “They’re still processing the scene. There’s a lot of water damage, but the fire appeared to be located primarily in the front of the house. Living area, kitchen, front hall. Pockets of it elsewhere.”
“What about her bedroom? Her clothes and other stuff?”
“They’re still processing the scene,” Noah repeated to Cooper. “In a few days, we should know more.” He lowered the clipboard. “Do you smoke, Teagan?”
“What? No. Why?”
“They found a cigarette?” Cooper asked.
Noah didn’t answer, but his question said plenty.
Cooper shoved the chair hard against the table. “So, tell me again how Teagan would’ve been safer staying in her place last night? It’s a damn good thing she wasn’t there.”
“I’m inclined to agree.” Lila folded her hands over ubiquitous iPad. “Even if I wish you hadn’t gone out alone, it turned out to be fortuitous, regrettable damage aside. Now we have to figure out who did this and if it was an isolated event.” Her attention moved to Donovan. “Or part of the whole.”
“Maybe we’d be able to help you figure that out if you’d tell us what exactly is happening.” Jamie flicked her thumb against her fingers. “So far, we’ve heard about a letter and various bogeymen who may or may not be lurking in the shadows.”
“If we knew how far the threat went, the people responsible would be in custody.” Noah’s tone brooked no arguments. “William Scotsman was the one we originally held responsible for the murder of Randy Pruitt. We also believed at one time Teagan’s brownstone had been broken into by her ex-boyfriend. Now this is a second occurrence at that residence. Scotsman is dead. So, any theories, Ms. DuCaine?”
“Broken into?” Cooper stared at me. “When?”
His frustration and worry hit me square in the chest. “Before I joined the band,” I said quickly. “It wasn’t that bad…” I trailed off and shut my eyes. “Okay, yeah, it was. I should have told you, but I was trying to put everything behind me.”
“Yeah, well, it seems like a lot has been shoved under the bed in this situation.” Jamie sat back in her chair. “You know what would help us to come up with those theories, Chuckles?”
I nearly banged my head on the table at her usage of Noah’s nickname, since it really was not the right time. But his face remained impassive.
“The entire story,” Lindsey answered, looking directly at me. “We need to know everything that went on with you and your ex.”
When I didn’t respond, she covered my hand with her own. “I’m sure it was difficult, and I know you want to leave it in the past, but we need you whole and here and safe. And if it affects all the rest of us too, well, there’s really no choice. We can’t keep putting the band and the crew and Lila and her family in danger to save feelings and respect boundaries. We just can’t. I’m sorry.”