Page 15 of Wild Idol (Tyson Wild Thriller #82)

“ H ave you tried her apartment?” Matt asked.

“She wasn’t there,” I said.

He shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you.“

“Why did you split up?”

“She just changed. I mean, she just wasn’t my girlfriend anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“She had all that plastic surgery,” he said with a look of disgust. “She didn’t even look like herself anymore.

I mean, I don’t even like Sable, and my girlfriend went and made herself look just like her.

That’s kind of nuts, if you ask me. What was she going to do?

Make a living as a Sable impersonator forever?

” His face twisted again. “That was stupid.”

“Was the breakup your idea?”

“Yeah, pretty much. ”

“Did Emily have any enemies?”

“What do you mean?”

“Anybody who might want to kill her.”

Matt’s eyes narrowed at me. “Is she dead or something?”

“We don’t know.”

“Is she missing?”

“Could be.”

“Could you be more vague?” he snarked.

“Tell me about the drugs.”

Matt hesitated. “What do you want to know?”

“How often was she using?”

“I didn’t like her using that shit.”

“What shit, specifically?”

“I don’t want to be a rat or nothing.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.”

He squinted again. “Are you telling me she’s dead without telling me she’s dead?”

“There was an accident. We just don’t know, but it seems likely.”

His face went long. “Oh, man. What kind of accident?”

I gave him limited details.

Matt’s face wrinkled as he tried to put it all together. “You’re saying she stole Sable’s car, and some drug dealers killed her?”

“It’s a theory.”

“How do you know they weren’t trying to kill Sable? She looked just like her.”

“It’s a process of elimination,” I said. “Right now we’re considering all possibilities, as wild as they may sound.”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t buy it. Doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m just trying to figure out if she got on somebody’s bad side.”

“But she could still be alive,” he said with a glimmer of hope.

I didn’t want to crush the notion. “Anything is possible.”

Matt frowned and hung his head.

“What kind of drugs was she into?” I asked again.

“Mostly coke.”

“Was she dealing?”

“Not that I know of.” His eyes drifted away, deep in thought.

“Do you know who her supplier was?”

“She used to buy from a guy named Ronald. But that guy’s no killer.”

“Do you have a last name?”

“No. He hangs out at the clubs. Tall, skinny guy. Long blond hair. You can probably find him at Bumper, dealing tabs of molly and shitty coke. ”

“Did you know Emily was stalking Sable?”

He nodded. “I’d heard some stuff.”

“It’s my understanding she broke into her house a few times.”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard. That’s part of the reason we broke up. She just kept going more and more off the deep end. I just wanted my girlfriend back, but that girl was long gone.”

“How well do you know, Alyssa?”

Matt shrugged. “I mean, she was Emily‘s best friend. We hung out quite a bit.”

“Did you ever do more than hang out?”

“What do you mean? “

I gave him a look. He knew what I meant.

Matt frowned at me. “No. I wouldn’t do something like that.” He paused. “What are you getting at?”

“Like I said, I’m just looking for people who might have had a reason to harm Emily.”

“Seems to me like she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sable must have pissed somebody off. She got into that feud with Brianna.”

“We’re aware.”

I dug into my pocket and gave him a card. “Get in touch if you hear anything.”

He nodded and said he would .

We left the apartment and walked back to the parking lot. JD and I hopped into the Porsche and drove across town to find Alyssa. She lived in a luxury midrise on Crescent Avenue.

Jack pulled into the visitors’ lot and found a place to park. We hopped out and hustled to the main entrance. I dialed random apartments at the call box until somebody buzzed us in.

We stepped into the lobby and made our way to the elevators. Alyssa lived on the sixth floor. It was a nice building, popular with young professionals. There was a rooftop pool, a sauna, a workout room, and all the amenities.

We banged on the door to #612.

After a moment, footsteps padded down the foyer. Alyssa called through the door, “Who is it?”

I flashed my badge to the peephole and made introductions.

She pulled open the door and looked at us with concerned eyes. With a sad expression, she said, “I guess you’re here about Emily.”

I nodded.

“I just talked to Margret. She told me two cops stopped by her house last night. Is she really dead?”

“We have no confirmation of that.”

“She’s totally dead,” she said with confidence. “I mean, Sable’s car got stolen and wrecked. Yet Sable is still alive. It’s all over the news. And they’re talking about some kind of drug thing gone wrong. ”

“When was the last time you talked to Emily?”

“It’s been a couple of days.”

“Did she express any concerns to you?”

Alyssa shook her head.

“Can you tell me about her drug use?”

Alyssa shifted uncomfortably. “As far as I’m aware, Emily didn’t use any drugs.”

I gave her a flat look. “There’s no need to lie. It’s going to make me question everything you say.”

Alyssa frowned. “Okay, yeah. I mean, that’s one of the reasons we stopped hanging out so much. That and her obsession with Sable.”

“What can you tell me about that?”

“What’s there to tell? She went nuts.” Alyssa paused.

“It was weird. People would stop her wherever we went, asking for autographs and pictures. She would just go along with it, signing and posing until there wasn’t anyone left.

She ate that shit up.” Alyssa’s face scrunched.

“That crap drove me up the wall. We couldn’t go anywhere without getting mobbed. ”

“Did she make any money doing that?”

“She didn’t charge anyone for autographs or pictures. But she’d get paid to show up at birthday parties, clubs, you name it.”

“Do you know Ronald, her dealer? ”

“I may have met him a few times here and there,” she said, looking away.

She knew him.

“Do you know if Emily owed him money?”

Alyssa shrugged. “I don’t know. We weren’t hanging out as much as we used to. But I think she was making pretty good bank.”

“Can you think of anybody who wanted to harm her?”

Alyssa’s lips tightened as she thought. “Not off the top of my head. Sounds like someone really mistook her for Sable. I heard on the news that Sable pissed off the cartel.”

“We’re looking into everything.”

“Good. If Emily really is dead, you need to catch those fuckers!”

“We will.” I gave her a card. “If Emily gets in touch with you, let me know.”

“Emily’s dead. I don’t know why you won’t just come out and say it.”

“We haven’t made a positive ID yet.”

“Why not?” Alyssa asked, irritated.

“The condition of the remains makes that difficult.”

She winced. “That bad?”

I nodded. “Does Emily have any identifiable features? Birthmarks, scars, tattoos? ”

“Well, she’s got a little heart above her coochie. She got it when she was dating Matt. She was going to put his name, but thank God I talked her out of it. Ink is forever.”

I thanked her for the information and said we’d be in touch.

We left and headed back toward the car. I called Isabella and asked her to track down Sable’s ex boyfriend, Jeremy Riker.