Page 16 of Done Dirty

“Jessica Contreras?” Jack asked. “The building manager?”

“Right.”

“What time does Jessica usually close her office?” Jack asked.

“She’s on eight to five,” he said. “But yesterday was the first of the month, so that can get busy with rent payments coming due.”

“Did you notice anything off with Wade? Did he seem upset about anything?”

“Wade never got upset,” Brett said. “He didn’t allow drama to affect him at all. Just rolled right off his shoulders.”

“And he had a lot of drama?” I asked.

“A guy like Wade swims in drama,” he said. “When you’re juggling that many women you can’t help it. But no, he seemed fine. He was in a good mood.”

“He juggle any women the last couple of days with Paige gone?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Brett said, shaking his head. “But not while I was on duty. He came home from work about the same time the last couple of days, and then I left to go off shift. Paige is a good girl. Works hard. And sometimes long hours. He took advantage of it. Let’s just say I can see why his private lessons were so popular. His condo was a revolving door.”

“You think he was using his studio to meet women?” I asked.

“I don’t know about that, but he was always with a woman. Different women. I have no idea how Paige lasted four months living with him.”

“Couldn’t they just be students?” I asked.

“Some could,” he said. “But Wade wasn’t very mindful of the cameras. I know I and at least another of the concierge team has gotten an eyeful.”

“What can you tell me about Paige?” Jack asked.

“Like I said, sweet girl. Gorgeous. In great shape. Definitely Wade’s type. But she didn’t seem like one of his usuals. More naïve. Tell you the truth I worried about her. Maybe that she didn’t really understand what she was getting into. But it wasn’t my place to say.”

“We found some scrubs upstairs,” I said. “She work at a hospital?”

“I think she works at one of the fancy spas downtown. She’s a nurse. Does Botox and stuff like that.”

“They seem happy?”

He shrugged. “As far as I could tell. I never saw them fight or anything like that. But there were plenty of times she just looked sad. Like maybe she really knew what kind of guy he was and wasn’t ready to face it yet.”

“That’s a pretty deep read on someone you don’t know all that well.”

“You get to read people pretty well in this job,” he said. “Learning to anticipate needs or make suggestions they didn’t know they needed brings excellent tips when it comes to Christmastime.”

“You know any of the other women he brought in? Either for sex or for private lessons?”

“Can’t say I do,” he said. “He never introduced them. And I was usually heading out when he was letting them in.”

“What about before Paige moved in? Was the pattern the same?”

“For the most part. He’d have an overnight guest two or three times a week.”

“Different women?”

“Often,” he said. “I would occasionally see the same faces from time to time. Some I never saw again.”

“You haven’t seen Paige the last couple of days, you said?”

“Just this morning when she stumbled in,” he said, shaking his head. “Drunk as a skunk at eight thirty in the morning. She was with her friend, Becca. She’s visited several times before. I told them good morning and you’d have thought I told a joke. They laughed the whole way to the elevator. Then about twenty minutes later the cops show up and tell me a dead body was called in.”