Page 18 of Wild Idol

Sable smiled, then looked at Everett. “Is it in the budget?”

“Anything that keeps you safe and sound is in the budget. It’s the cost of doing business.”

“I think you’ve got bigger problems than a stalker, to be honest,“ I said. “This was a direct assault. A deliberate action. An assassination attempt.”

Sable’s eyes rounded. “Assassination!?”

I nodded. “This wasn’t just an accident.” I told her the full story.

She looked astonished. So did Everett.

“They didn’t say anything about that on the news. They just said it was an accident.”

“Well, the news doesn’t always get it right. Can you think of anybody who might want you dead?”

11

“Everybody loves Sable,” Everett said with a smile. “But with success comes haters.”

“Like who?” I asked.

The two exchanged a glance.

“Well, there's a friendly rivalry between her and Brianna.”

“Maybe not so friendly,” Sable added.

“Tell me about that,” I said.

“It started as a PR stunt,” Everett said. “We coordinated the whole thing through the PR team. Sable threw a little shade at Brianna in one of her songs. Brianna responded in one of hers. Of course, it got the Internet talking, which was the intended purpose. There was all kinds of speculation. Fans fueled the flame. It was great. We decided to keep it going. Sable threw more shade in another song.” Everett shrugged. “I guess Brianna started taking it personally. It sort of escalated from there.”

“Define escalated,” I said.

The two shared another look.

“Some unfriendly things were said in an interview. Then, threats were made on social media. I don’t know if you follow this kind of thing, but Brianna has more of a hard-core image. Threats areon brandfor her. At first, I didn’t think much about it. Like I said, we had coordinated all of this beforehand. Musicians and publicists have been doing this kind of thing for decades. Controversy sells. But it just seemed to go off the rails. Brianna started calling here and leaving nasty messages. Excuse my language, but Brianna said she was going tofuck her up. She wasgonna send people to take her out.”

“How did you respond?”

“I told Sable to disengage. I figured the whole thing would blow over in a matter of weeks. You know how the news cycle is. The tabloids would eventually stop covering it. I thought Brianna would move on to something else. There’s a feud every other week in hip-hop.”

“When were the threats made?”

“Two weeks ago. That was the last time Brianna called Sable directly,” Everett said. “But the shit-talking has continued with her fans and on social media.” Everett shrugged again. “Maybe the whole thingisjust a publicity stunt. Maybe she’s just method acting.”

“Isn’t she the one that burned down her boyfriend’s house?” Jack said.

Everett nodded.

“Did you ever think that maybe starting a rivalry with that woman wasn’t the best idea in the world?”

“I’m beginning to realize that.”

“Whatever happened with that?” Sable asked.

“She was charged with felony arson,” Everett said. “The case is making its way through the court system right now.”

“I’m assuming they broke up after that,“ I said.