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Removing the cap, he brushed back his long dark hair that touched his collarbone, then laid his hat on the table. “I may not have been forthright with ya last time.”
“May not or weren’t?” Ty asked, removing his sports coat and draping it on the back of his chair. Asa remained in his stiff suit coat.
“Wasn’t.” He batted his gaze between him and Asa, his body language screaming discomfort. “First off, nothing was illegal. It was all consensual,” Ethan said.
That’s what most sexual deviants claimed. “Alright.” Ty opened his notepad and put the pen to the paper. “Go on.”
“I do fishing excursions, but I got a side hustle for real good cash money.”
“You’re a male prostitute?”
“No. Why would you think that?”
“Because you said it was consensual and I assumed you meant sex. Then you said you got paid for it.”
His cheeks turned red, and a bright blue vein popped on his forehead. “Well, that wasn’t what I meant. My part is simple. I give the girls a boat ride from the marina to their job.”
“What job is that? Be specific so I don’t have to assume.”
Ethan ran his finger on the inside of the neck of his Skipper Fishing T-shirt. “For a price, men—and women—can fulfill their fantasies. I give the girls a ride to fantasy island.”
Ty exchanged a look with Asa. “Fantasy Island like the show?”
Ethan shrugged one shoulder. “That’s how I met Amy-Rose. I picked her up and shuttled her to a stretch of the island that’s secluded. When I’m texted, I return and pick them up. I make money, and they make a killing. End of job. What goes on in the house, I don’t know. Amy-Rose and I hooked up after one night. Can’t be in a real relationship with a woman who does what she does for a living.”
“Prostituting?” Ty asked. “I thought we were being specific.”
Ethan’s face reddened again. “Sometimes, but...it’s weird stuff. One time...she said all she had to do was dress like a schoolgirl and paddle a bad schoolboy.” He scrunched his nose. “Some people have dark and dumb fantasies, and there’s a guy who makes it happen for a steep price.”
Ty had seen far sicker things than that in his career. “You think whoever is behind making these fantasies happen killed Amy-Rose and Lily Hayes?”
Sweat popped along Ethan’s brow and upper lip. “I need a deal.”
“We can’t offer you a deal. We can put in a good word, though. If what you say gets us somewhere,” Asa said.
Skipper picked up his hat and forced it on his head. “Deal or I don’t say another word and walk.”
TV was wrecking interviews for them. Bad guys demanded deals. Actors playing cops and district attorneys handed them over. Why not use the TV shows to his advantage? “We’ll talk to the DA. Tell us what you have first.”
“Three months ago, I boated a girl named Jenny Davis out to the house. I have no idea what the fantasy was. But about two hours in, I get a text to come ASAP. When I get to the house, I think I’m taking Jenny back to Blue Harbor. But I’m not. Whatever went down in there went sideways. Jenny died, and I was paid four grand to dump her body. And I did.”
Okay, he was not expecting that. Did Jenny have a flower for a middle name?
“Who gave the order? Who is in charge of this freak show?” Ty asked.
“Patrick Swain. Real rich dude. Lives on the southern tip of the island.”
“Where did he ask you to dump the body?”
“The water.” His lip quivered. “I dumped her in the water.”
Ty itched to talk to this Patrick Swain. Sounded like he could be their guy, or maybe the killer was one of his clients. “Did you know any of the other girls besides Amy-Rose?”
He nodded. “Not all of ’em. But I knew two other girls. I lied last time you asked. I did know Lily Hayes.”
“And the other woman’s name?”
“Ahnah Hemmingway.”
