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What Jessie notedwith interest was just how closely Powers was standing behind her. He wasliterally pressed up against her, with no space between the front of his bodyand the back of hers. In addition, as he guided her through the curls, heleaned in so close that he seemed to be grazing her ear with his lips as hewhispered advice on what Jessie assumed was proper lifting form. It was clearthat Landon Powers’s training technique was on the intimate side. Jessiecouldn’t help but wonder just how intimate.
Ryan waited untilthey completed their set to engage him. Jessie saw Powers visibly stiffen atthe sight of the formal-acting man in the suit jacket and slacks. She couldn’thear what Ryan said, but even before he’d had a chance to pull out his badge,Powers suddenly made run for it, pushing Mrs. Fortenbras at Ryan and sprintingtoward the main entrance and Jessie.
While his reactionwas unexpected, Jessie didn't let it throw her. Instead, she stepped to theside so that the trainer had a seemingly clear path to the exit. But just as hewas about to pass between her and the reception desk, she extended her right legto the side, clipping his shin with her foot.
Powers flewforward and landed hard on his stomach. Before he could scramble to his feetagain, Ryan, who had caught up by now, dropped to a knee, which he dug into theman's lower back as he yanked one of Powers's arms behind him and snapped ahandcuff on his wrist. A second later, the other wrist was cuffed as well.
“What the hell?”Powers bellowed, his words slightly muffled by the carpeting his mouth waspressed down against.
“That was amistake, Landon,” Ryan said, before lifting the man to his feet, “We’re LAPDand we need to have a chat.”
***
Before takingPowers down to Central Station, or even a closer one, Jessie and Ryan decidedto conduct their initial questioning here at the club. The manager of the placereluctantly provided them with one of their business suites. Ryan slammedPowers down into a chair while Jessie locked the door behind them.
"Listen,man," Powers began, even before he'd been asked a question. "I didn'trealize that you were a cop. I thought you were Gayle's husband, and I freakedout for a second. I never would have bailed like that if I knew who you were."
“Do you often haveto break into a desperate escape because well-dressed men approach you?” Jessiewondered.
“No,” Landoninsisted. “But this guy was walking up to me, not dressed for the gym, and hada real stern look on his face while I was…working with Mrs. Fortenbras. I guessI jumped to conclusions.”
"Well, here'syour opportunity to make it up to us," Jessie told him. "Weunderstand that you've recently trained Clarissa Langley, Tabitha Reynolds, andNaomi Hacket. Is that correct?"
Powers eyed hersuspiciously. “I guess it depends on what you mean by recently.”
“This isn’t thetime to be a smartass,” Ryan told him.
"Sorry,"the trainer said unconvincingly, "I didn't realize it was a crime to havemultiple female clients."
Ryan looked atJessie, who nodded that he should go for it. She fixed her gaze on Powers,watching him closely.
“It’s not acrime,” the detective said, “but murdering them is.”
Powers looked athim in disbelief, like he was making a bad joke. But when Ryan’s expressiondidn’t change, the trainer’s eyes got panicky.
“Wait, are yousaying they’re all dead?”
"Not justdead," Ryan reiterated, "murdered. Now, is there anything you want totell us about that?"
Powers looked athim, then at Jessie, before returning his attention to Ryan.
“No!” he blurtedout. “I don’t know anything about that, I swear.”
“It’s just that wefind it odd that all three women were clients of yours,” Ryan pushed. “What arethe chances of that?”
“I don’t know,man, but I didn’t kill anybody,” he insisted. “When you mentioned them all, Ithought you were going to say I violated some kind of professional trainers’code or something.”
“Why would we saythat?” Jessie asked. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Powerspleaded, “I mean nothing illegal. Sure, I admit that Clarissa and I would hookup from time to time. She was an attractive lady, and she didn’t seem all thatfocused on her vows. She called me her personal stress reliever. But I mean, wewere consenting adults.”
“What about theother women?” Jessie demanded.
Powers paused fora second, then seemed to decide there was no point in hiding his activities.
"Tabitha andI dated on and off for a few weeks, maybe a month," he admitted. "Iguess she had recently gotten divorced and was sowing her oats, you know. Butit didn't work out, and it would have been awkward to keep training her, so wedecided to part ways. It wasn't that big a deal, at least I didn't thinkso."
“And NaomiHackett?” Jessie asked.
