Ice from the minibar, wrapped in a bleached white hand towel. It had about as much affect as a sprinkler would have on a forest fire. She was glad to have it, though. It gave her something to focus on as she lay on the couch in the hotel suit. If she could focus on the cold, maybe she could grow it until it numbed everything, not only the pain coming at her from both sides of her head and her right ribcage, but the pain of memory as well.

She moaned, adjusting the makeshift icepack so it wouldn't slide onto her neck.

Jasper stirred from his spot on the bed and came over to her, examining her injuries for the fourth time. "Are you sure I shouldn't take you to the hospital?"

A shake of her head ended in a wince. Best to move as little as possible. "I'll be fine. This isn't my first concussion rodeo."

"You play sports or something?"

It took her a moment to realize he was asking for clarification and not throwing out a random question about her past. "Not unless you count getting beat up by your parents' nefarious bosses an Olympic sport."

He stayed quiet for a moment. "Still, if you need medical care."

"You're the one who said we need to hide, Jasper. Can't go to my place, can't go to yours. What makes you believe the man who attacked me—"

"His name's Aiden."

"This Aiden guy and his, I'm not sure what to call them. His cohorts? Or the police even. What's to stop them from tracking us here? The police can get their hands on hotel registries, can't they?"

"That's why I bribed the front desk clerk to register us under a different name."

"Are you serious?"

"I've done it before. When I want to be left alone and not have Paul track me down."

"Here? At this hotel?"

He scoffed. "I'm smarter than that. Never stayed here before."

"Which means you don't know if you can trust the clerk."

"It was a pretty big bribe."

"Still," working through a wince, she propped herself up on an elbow. It wasn't her greatest moment, agreeing to come alone to a hotel room with a man she'd thought less than an hour ago was trying to kill her over a crime she was innocent of. Still, he had saved her. If he believed she'd killed Goldie, he would have let Aiden continue to beat the shit out of her. She hoped even a man who hated her might believe in her. It was exhausting to be all alone. "Is Aiden one of Goldie's stans? Is her army of Goldie Girls and Guys coming for me?"

"Most of them can't even drive yet. You don't have much to fear from them."

"Remind me to show you a few of the DMs I've gotten over the past couple of days."

"Aiden isn't a fan. He's from Wanton Cosmetics."

"What?" Maybe the concussion haze had set in, but she couldn't recall anyone named Aiden, and she'd made dozens of calls to the company's execs and their administrative assistants. "We deal mainly with Sally Cohen, Eloise Hu, and sometimes Daniel Minkoff. What department does Aiden work in? What's his last name?"

"I can't remember, and I'm pretty sure the department he works for isn't in the company registry."

"You're not making this easy for me."

He sat next to her on the couch. "I never have. Made it easy for you, I mean."

"You can fix that by telling me whatever it is that you know, right now."

"About a week before you were hired, Goldie had me pushing out an EpiGold. Like the last one, she wanted it ready before it was humanly possible. I stayed late, working in the production room until three or four when I finally crashed. Goldie didn't realize I was still there. Early the next morning, I woke up with the pattern of my keyboard embedded in my face. Bailey Boo's not a huge barker, but when he decides to sound off, it pierces walls."

Tam nodded. Poor Bailey Boo. He'd been so attached to Goldie. She took him everywhere. He wouldn't understand why she wasn't with him anymore.

"I was about to head out, tell Goldie I needed to go home and shower, maybe sleep another few hours, but then Goldie shushed her dog and welcomed someone into the apartment. I stayed in that room and eavesdropped. It was none of my business, but I did it, and now I don't regret the decision."

"What did they say?"

"I couldn't make out everything, but what I did understand was enough. The Lucre deal...It's not what it seems."

"What? Of course, it is. I've seen the contract. Paul and a team of lawyers worked through it."

"Sure, on the surface, it's every influencer's dream. Their own makeup line. Tons of publicity, billboards in Time Square, commercials, money. So much money. Too much."

Too much. Only someone who'd never gone a day without the means to eat would believe there could be too much money.

He paused, and she imagined him trying to make sure the next words came out the way he needed them to.

"The thing is, she was challenging him on something. She'd found out something about the company."

"What?"

"Whatever it was, she didn't like it."

"She hadn't signed anything at that point, right? If she was unhappy with them, why didn't she back out?"

"Back out? On her dream? On becoming not just a successful influencer, but the most successful influencer. Aiden promised her that. Any misgivings she may have had, they died on the altar of fame."

Tam let her head rest against the back of the couch, the melting icepack set aside. She couldn't feel it anymore. It had done its trick. Or Jasper's story had. Either way, she'd gone numb. "Do you think Aiden murdered Goldie? If so, why? She eventually agreed to the deal."

"As the cops would say, he's a person of interest."

"Did you tell the police about him?"

"No."

"Why not? Jasper, I'm guilty in their eyes. Any minute, they're going to issue a warrant for my arrest. They need this information!"

"What would they do with it that I won't myself. I'm going to find him and get the truth out of him, and if it turns out he is even remotely responsible for her murder, well, we won't need the police at all for justice to prevail."

"Jasper!"

"I'm serous, Tam. That Lucre deal was tainted. I'm positive about that! He led Goldie down a dangerous path and even if he's not the one who pushed her, that path led to her death. And then," his voice broke. "When I saw him standing over you... I lost my damn mind. Why would he have attacked you if he didn't have something to do with Goldie's death."

"But I didn't even know about him. I assumed Lucre was on the up and up. I still don't have any proof otherwise. What possible motivation would he have to hurt me?"

The surprise of having his palm slide against her own, fingers wrapped around hers like he was creating a tiny shelter to hold them in, sent a shock of electricity up her back. He'd never touched her without a camera in front of them. The dire nature of their situation must be getting to him. She gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Tam," he breathed in and out before continuing. "Remember when I told you Goldie had her reasons for hiring you?"

"Can't forget that. You said it to punish me for lying on my resume."

"That's the way you took it. That doesn't mean that's how I meant it."

She felt the weight and warmth of his hand and again wondered why he was here at all. "Why did she hire me, then?"

"I thought about that a lot. I thought about it when she showed me your resume. Thought about it more after she died. What I believe is that she needed someone with a past that wasn't so squeaky clean. Someone who would lie to get ahead. Someone who would help handle the Lucre deal, make numerous phone calls to the company, worked out timelines and distribution details. Can you imagine why she might need that person to be someone like you?"

Someone with a past. Someone desperate but good at hiding it. Jasper knew about her, then, or at least he knew enough. And enough was everything. If he didn't believe she had a hand in Goldie's death, maybe he thought he could use her to root out the true killer, especially if that killer were also after her. And yet that scenario was marginally better than the one he'd presented her with.

"They set me up. They were doing something illegal, and if Goldie was found out, she was going to blame me. She was going to let me take the fall." The betrayal made her head spin more than the concussion. "Now Goldie is dead and these people, whoever they are, Aiden—I'm a loose end to them."

"Maybe so, but you're not the one he should be worried about."

He took his hand from hers and balled it into a fist.

______

Okay, we're getting somewhere now... We have a name: Aiden. And a big reveal about Goldie's cosmetics deal. All that glitters is not gold, it seems :( 

What exactly do you think is going on? Is Aiden behind Goldie's murder?

Stay tuned, and have a great weekend, everyone!