AN: BONUS CHAPTER.

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  Ange opened the folder. Three photographs were clipped inside, along with some other papers. She took out the photos and turned them one by one so they faced Alex.

  Two men. One with a gunshot wound to the forehead, another with the same precise mark just above the eye. The third photo showed a young woman with blonde streaks in her hair, her throat cleanly slit from ear to ear.

  Ange watched his reaction closely. "Do you know these people, Mr. Wilson?"

  'Fuck! No wonder they won't pick up their calls,' Alex looked at the photos for a few seconds, his face unreadable. Then he nodded slowly and pointed to the first one. "Yeah. That's Dino Alvarez." He tapped the second. "This one's Jason Lawford." His finger paused over the woman's face. "And that's Melissa Stone."

  Lucy gnced at Ange, then back at Alex. "You know them?"

  "Yeah," Alex replied. "They were models I hired for Comic-Con. We had them contracted to work at the Titan booth, help promote the cospy event, photo ops, crowd engagement—standard stuff."

  Ange leaned forward slightly. "And when was the st time you saw them?"

  "The day before the event," Alex said, thinking back. "They came in for the final briefing. Everything seemed fine. But on the first morning of Comic-Con, they didn't show up. No calls or texts. I tried reaching them, even had my assistant check with the agency, but nothing. Phones went straight to voicemail."

  Ange flipped a page in her notes. "So you repced them?"

  "Yeah," Alex said, nodding. "Had to scramble to do it, too. We were hours from going live. Finding three repcements that fit costume sizes and brand requirements on that kind of deadline almost tanked the whole thing." He gave a dry chuckle. "It was chaos. But we pulled it off. Then, in the evening, their agency contacted us and returned the money with a penalty accordingly to the contract."

  Ange studied him, her expression steady. "Did you ask the reason they didn't show up?"

  Alex met her gaze. "No. People in this industry bail all the time. You offer them a better gig, a modeling job somewhere else, they disappear without notice. I figured that's what happened. Besides, there wasn't any point in asking after they paid for the dey and returned everything they owed."

  "Mr. Wilson," Ange said after a pause, "Where were you st night between 8 and 10 PM?"

  "Doing a photoshoot on the Malibu beach. You can check with the local PD and beach guards, as they were there for security. It sted until 9:30 PM; after that, I went to meet an old friend of mine, just near the beach. We drank some non-alcoholic beer and pyed poker till midnight, then I went to my penthouse. It was around 3 AM," Alex replied.

  "Okay," Ange said as she quickly scribbled something in her little notebook. "May I have your friend's name and address?"

  "Charlie Harper, 1405 Hidden Lane, Malibu, CA 90265," Alex replied.

  The two women stood. Lucy gave him a polite nod, while Ange's eyes lingered on him a second longer. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Wilson."

  Alex also stood up, "Anytime."

  ...

  [LAPD – Noon]

  Phones rang, officers moved in and out, and the smell of stale coffee hung in the air. Detective Ange Lopez sat behind her desk, a half-empty cup by her hand, eyes fixed on the suspect board.

  The phone on her desk rang. She picked it up.

  "Lopez."

  "Detective, this is Sergeant Miller from the Sheriff's Department," the voice on the other end said. "You wanted confirmation on Alex Wilson's whereabouts st night?"

  "Yeah. What did you find?"

  "We checked with the Malibu Beach patrol. He was there for a photoshoot between six and nine-thirty. Multiple witnesses confirmed it. We also visited Charlie Harper's residence this morning. Wilson was there with him from around ten until midnight. Harper backed it up, and the house staff confirmed it too."

  Ange nodded slightly, jotting a few quick notes. "Alright. Thanks for the confirmation."

  "No problem, Detective."

  The call ended. Ange set the phone down and leaned back in her chair, her gaze shifting back to the photos pinned to the board. Dino Alvarez. Jason Lawford. Melissa Stone. Three bright young faces now crossed out in red.

  As for the suspect list: their agents, manager, and two close friends.

  Lucy walked in holding a folder. "Anything new from Malibu?"

  Ange gnced at her. "Yeah. Alibi checks out. Beach shoot, then poker night. Everything lines up."

  Lucy frowned, shaking her head. "Then he's clean. There's no way Alex Wilson did this."

  Ange raised an eyebrow. "You sound pretty sure."

  Lucy leaned on the edge of the desk, arms crossed. "Think about it. The guy's worth more than most countries. He's got a film empire, investors, and international partnerships. Then there's that talk about how the President wants to meet him. Why would someone like that kill three struggling actors? It makes no sense."

  Ange studied her for a moment. "People with money do stupid things all the time. Well, Wilson isn't our suspect, for now." She walked over the board. "This feels more like professional work than a rage killing. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. But if we look at it the other way, it'd look as if someone tried to sabotage Wilson's Comic Con pns."

  Ange gnced again at the crime scene photos. The wounds were clean, precise, and efficient. Not a single sign of struggle.

  Lucy nodded. "It's more like a hit job. Maybe something went wrong with a side deal, or they got involved with the wrong crowd. We should be looking at their agency or whoever managed them. See if anyone had a reason to shut them up."

  Ange tapped her pen against her notepad. "Their agent was Martin Kessler, right?"

  "Yeah," Lucy replied, flipping through the folder. "Kessler Agency, Hollywood Boulevard. Small-time outfit. Mostly supplies talent for commercials and promo events. These three were their top bookings this quarter."

  Ange nodded. "Alright. We'll start with him. If he knows where they were the st few days before Comic-Con, maybe we'll find who they pissed off."

  Lucy nodded. "Want me to call ahead and set it up?"

  "Call him in," Ange said. "And tell the tech team to pull any security cam footage around the victims' apartment complexes. If these three were targeted, the shooter might've been following them."

  Lucy moved off to make the calls, leaving Ange alone for a moment.

  ...

  [Evening – LAPD Interrogation Room]

  Lopez sat across from Martin Kessler, a man in his te forties. He looked exhausted, his tie loosened, sweat darkening the fabric near his colr. A half-empty bottle of water sat untouched beside him.

  Ange watched him quietly for a moment before speaking. "You understand, Mr. Kessler, that this is a homicide investigation. We're not here to ruin your business. We just need the truth."

  Martin rubbed a hand across his face. "I've already told you everything I know, Detective. Those kids were acting strange the day before Comic-Con. Nervous, distracted. I thought maybe it was stage fright. It was their biggest gig yet."

  "Strange how?" Ange asked.

  He shrugged. "They were whispering a lot, always huddled together when they thought I wasn't watching. I figured they were just hyping themselves up, you know? But something was off. Especially with Melissa. She looked… tense."

  Ange leaned forward slightly. "And then they bailed on the job."

  Martin gave a bitter ugh. "Yeah. Just vanished. No call, no warning, nothing. You don't do that to Titan Studios. They're the biggest studios in the world, and Wilson doesn't tolerate screwups. When the kids didn't show, the agency had to eat the cost. Titan made us pay back the advance and a penalty fee that was five times the original contract." He shook his head, anger creeping into his tone. "Do you have any idea what that does to a small agency like mine? We're practically bankrupt. And with Titan cutting ties with us, we're done. No one will touch Kessler Agency after this."

  Ange jotted a note, her expression neutral. "So you had a motive to be angry."

  Martin looked up sharply. "You think I killed them? Jesus Christ, Detective. I'm a talent agent, not a hitman. I was furious, sure, but I wouldn't hurt those kids."

  "We'll see about that," She flipped open a small notepad. "Did they say anything about any problems they were having? Personal, professional, financial?"

  He hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Actually, yeah. I overheard something in the parking lot the day before they disappeared. Melissa was talking to Dino and Jason about some offer they got from another studio. A new one, big budget, fshy promises. She said they were being asked to drop Titan's contract and work with this other studio instead."

  Ange's pen froze. "Did she mention the name of this studio?"

  "No," Martin said, frustration fshing across his face. "But she said it like it was some once-in-a-lifetime deal. Jason wanted to take the offer right away, but Melissa and Dino didn't trust it. They argued for a few minutes. It got heated. Then they left."

  Ange narrowed her eyes slightly. "And after that?"

  "That's the st time I saw them," Martin said quietly. "Next morning, their phones were off. By the time I realized they weren't coming, it was too te. Titan was already calling, demanding repcements."

  Ange closed her notepad. "Considering the bankruptcy, didn't you try to find this new studio?"

  He gave a weary ugh. "Detective, half of Hollywood cims to be the next big studio. I didn't even have a name to go on. Besides, I was busy dealing with the mess."

  Ange studied him for a long moment. "Alright, Mr. Kessler. That'll be all for now. Stay in town. We may need to speak with you again."

  Martin nodded, relief flickering across his tired face. "You find whoever did this, Detective. Those kids didn't deserve it."

  Ange stood and motioned toward the door. A uniformed officer stepped in to escort him out.

  When he was gone, Lucy entered, holding a fresh file. "How'd it go?"

  Ange sighed, rubbing her temple. "He says the victims got an offer from another studio. A 'big' one. They were told to drop Titan's contract. Sounds like a setup to me."

  Lucy frowned. "You think someone lured them in?"

  Ange nodded slowly. "Maybe. A rival company. Someone who wanted to embarrass Titan during Comic-Con. But it went sideways. Three clean kills? That's not corporate intimidation. That's someone tying up loose ends."

  Lucy opened the file she was holding. "We got the ballistics report back from forensics. The bullets were .45 ACPs, subsonic rounds, same manufacturer, same lot number. No shells found at the scene."

  Ange's expression hardened. "Professional job."

  Lucy nodded. "Whoever did this didn't just walk in off the street. They knew how to kill quietly."

  Ange turned toward the evidence board, eyes narrowing on the photos of the three dead models. "So, either they took the offer and got burned, or they refused and got silenced."

  Lucy crossed her arms. "And the million-dolr question is... who gave that offer?"

  Ange's jaw set. "We find that studio, we find our killer."

  The two women exchanged a silent, knowing look before Ange grabbed her coat. "Let's dig through every new studio that's registered in the st six months. Someone's hiding behind a fancy name, and I want to know who."

  Non entered the interrogation room, "That won't be necessary. The CCTV footage caught the killer exiting the building."

  "Who is it?" Ange asked.

  Non took a deep breath and said, "It's Jerry Tyson."

  Ange stood up. She knew that fucking sociopath. "3XK? The Triple Killer? You gotta be kidding me."

  ---

  NOTE: Those who don't know 3XK is from Castle series. And yes, it's the Charlie from my 2 and a Half Men ff. And to be clear, Prudence and Megan Fox are two different people. Think of it as an alternate world. ??See ya all tomorrow.

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  [5 advance chs] [All chs avaible for all tiers] [No double billing.]

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