“And at no time did you think you should tell your manager what was happening?”
“She called us before we could.”
“Right. I’m certain you didn’t have time to pick up a phone after your active night and morning.”
“Look, I just said Zane interrupted us. We didn’t know shit was happening during our so-called active night. As far as we knew, Priscilla had stopped by to say hi to an old friend, and then she went back to tending bar.”
“As far as you knew, the band was under siege, and an act of such had probably happened that morning. You know better than to believe in coincidences. You also knew that this was not the time to be starting something with an understandably vulnerable woman. And you proved it with your very dangerous miss at the bar. You brought that stranger over to Teagan. Presented her with a drink that could have potentially killed her and caused serious harm to Zane’s reputation, if nothing else.”
Rage simmered in my blood. Worse than that was the shame layered underneath it.
“I’m sorry, I must’ve missed where the sex lives of my bandmates and I fell into the purview of Roth Security.”
“Cut the BS. Teagan’s a sweet girl. She has enough to deal with right now without—”
“Without a fuckup and deserter messing up her life? Is that what you really want to say? By the way, I thought you were supposed to keep it professional.”
Suddenly, I could think of nothing but our club party not that long ago when Teagan had been fawning over Daisy’s pictures of Noah and talking about how he had to be well-hung. Everyone had thought it was so funny. Except me. And obviously except Noah, who’d walked up at just the right time despite Teagan trying to play it off.
“And sweet girl, huh? Did knowing she had a thing for you get your rocks off, Jordan? Are you disappointed her little bout of hero worship is over now?”
“Are you sure that it is?”
That low question might as well have been a blade stuck in my ribs.
“I don’t know why I fucking called you. I thought you could see this unemotionally.”
“One of us is emotional, and it’s not me. From what I’ve seen, Teagan is sweet. Does that mean I fully trust her? No. It’s actually better for her if I don’t. Then I can keep my distance and my professionalism.”
“Yes, no one would dare doubt your almighty professionalism. I wonder what you’d do if one day you meet someone you can’t keep your distance from.”
“The job comes first. Always.”
“Yeah, so far.”
“It’s not going to change.”
“We’ll see.”
“The arson investigator will be looking at everything to evaluate who started that fire. Including Teagan.”
Little did he know I’d already been given that heads up from Cole. “You’re a goddamn bastard. How could you think she could ever do something like that?”
“I didn’t say I thought it.”
“No, but you did say you didn’t fully trust her. Not that much of a leap.”
“You take that leap. I’m not. I will say you are far too emotionally compromised to do her any good right now.”
“To you, caring if someone lives or dies is ‘emotionally compromised.’”
“Do you think your hotheaded reactions are going to keep her safe? You’re more concerned how I feel about your girlfriend—for good or bad—than who is pretending to be her friend to get close enough to cause her harm.”
I didn’t say anything. He was completely right.
“I know.”
He cleared his throat. “Is this line still working? I thought you said, ‘I know.’”
“I did. I’m messed up over her. I have been for a while. Now that she’s in danger, it’s even worse. And I missed something that could have shut this down at the source. If I’d caught that tell at the bar—”
“She would’ve found another way to get to Teagan. We don’t believe this person is working alone. Whomever is after Ripper has a bigger agenda than some rockstars.”
“You don’t think this is about any of us then. Nor is she just some crackpot.”
“We aren’t best friends, and I’m not sharing my diary with you. But if I had to guess, Teagan was targeted because she’s the newest. The untested one. From all appearances, she’s guileless and malleable. The perfect way into a band firmly ensconced near the top echelon of Ripper Records.”
I clamped a hand on the back of my neck. “You think someone is fucking setting her up.”
He said nothing.
“Why would they do multiple things at once? Why set a fire she hopefully would be blamed for at the same time you roofie her drink?”
“If no one catches on to the tampering, it sets up a pattern of unstable behavior. Combined with her breaking a door at Purgatory the night of the fire, it doesn’t look good. The authorities might think she’d concocted a story to cover her whereabouts at the time the townhouse fire was being set. And she’s had a difficult past. One she’s mostly kept under wraps. They knew exactly how to get to her to make her run out of that club.”
“But how would they know she would go there?”
“I don’t think they did. They were watching her, and they adapted.”
My gut was churning so hard I had to get up and walk off the fury inside me. “And Pat?”
“The ex?”
“Yes. What’s his role in this?”
“Are you under the mistaken opinion we’re colleagues?”
“Oh, no.” I laughed bitterly. “I’d never think for a minute you viewed me as on your level. I know exactly where I rank in your hierarchy.”
“Do tell.”
“That will have to wait. I don’t much care how you see me right now, but Teagan thinks something is up with that woman.”
“If she drugged her drink, I’d say so.”
“Not only that. Teagan asked her some basic questions
