Page 65 of Brown Sugar

“That’s what he’s been going by, yeah…”

“And what was the arrangement between you and Henry fucking Bass?”

“You ask like you don’t already fucking know!” he snaps, wiping blood from his lip. “He was willing to pay for content on her.”

“What kind of content?”

“You know. Anything showing skin. Nudes.”

I breathe through another fireball of anger flaming over me. When I speak, my throat’s tight and tone’s clipped. “Do you realize the person you’ve been communicating with is the same person who has tried to hurt Kiana? Or have you been teaming up with him knowing that?”

“What? I wouldn’t... I wasn’t trying… it was just… I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Physically,” I spit out. “But you sure as hell were willing to destroy her emotionally and damage her reputation.”

The douche has enough sense tolookashamed. At least for a few seconds. He blows out a breath and scrubs a hand over his bloodied face.

“I was mad. The relationship was supposed to help boost my career. But all anybody cared about when we were out was her. Snapping photos of her. Getting her autograph.”

“So you were jealous of your own girlfriend. Then sought to humiliate her by cheating on her. Trashing her on some podcast. And leaking nude photos of her…”

“I fucked up, alright? You want me to call off the nudes sale? Done. You confiscated that tablet anyway. Not like I had much on my own device.”

“Noble of you,” I say dryly. “But you’re going to continue with the sale. Right now.”

“What?”

“I’m putting this on speaker and dialing Henry. You’re going to ask to meet up. You’re going to tell him you’ve got the goods and want to meet in twenty minutes.”

Shawn’s eyes widen once he’s tracking why I’m asking of him what I am. He hesitates only a second longer before nodding and then gesturing for me to dial his contact.

“Hey, Bass,” he says when the other line answers, “I was wondering if you’re free? Parking lot of the Beacon Theater intwenty. I’ve got everything you were asking for. And more. Her tablet had dozens of photos from our time together.”

“Twenty minutes at Beacon works. I will be there. Bring the device. Come alone.”

The voice on the other end sounds garbled, like he’s using technology to disguise his voice.

“Alright man. See you.”

I press the red button once the call’s over. “This your first time meeting?”

“In person, yeah… we’ve only spoken over the phone and email.”

“You follow my lead.”

I start up the engine and reverse out of Shawn’s driveway. I take a page out of his book and slam on the gas, speeding down the city streets with the goal of getting to the Beacon Theater first.

It’ll give us the opportunity to set eyes on him before he does us.

Fifteen minutes later, I’ve parked half a block down and sent Shawn to the meeting spot with the explicit warning if he so much as breathes wrong, he’s dead. I’ll throttle him myself. He swears he’ll go along with the plan, citing guilt over what he’s done to Kiana.

I lurk in the shadows as Shawn waits on Henry to arrive.

Five minutes pass, then ten.

Thirty.

“He’s late,” I mutter under my breath, glaring around the parking lot of the old, abandoned Beacon Theater.