There was sudden panic in his face. “You don’t understand. I’d never survive prison.”
“Really? Because that’s where you’ll end up. And are you sure you’d survive even if you didn’t go to prison? A man who knows what you know will never be safe. You have big problems.”
He moistened his lips. “And you’re saying you’d promise to help me with them?”
It was a break in the wall. “Give me a chance,” Kendra said. “I’ll help you any way I can, if you’ll just give me a name. You’re not the one we’re after.”
“Look, I told you. I never meant to really hurt you. I was just supposed to deliver you. He needed you for something.”
Kendra leaned forward. “He?”
Powers was frowning, his gaze clinging desperately to her face. “If I help you … How do I know you’ll really—”
The door flew open, and attorney Peter Hutchinson strode quickly into the room. “This conversation is over. Ladies, I must ask you to leave.”
“Just a friendly chat,” Kendra said.
Hutchinson stepped between them and his client. “I’m afraid it was nothing of the sort.”
“Too bad you can’t muzzle us the way you do your client,” Jessie said.
“I don’t believe I’ve been altogether successful in impressing upon my client the need for absolute silence.” He glanced back at Powers. “That was your voice I heard as I walked in here, wasn’t it?”
Powers’s hand was shaking as he reached for a tomato-juice box on the table next to him. “I was telling them to get the hell out.”
Hutchinson gave him a skeptical look. “From now on, I’ll do all the talking for you. Understand?”
Powers played with his straw, stirring the thick juice, avoiding looking at them. “Sure.”
“No problem,” Kendra said. “We’d rather talk to your real client anyway. You know, the one pulling your strings?”
Hutchinson flashed his toothy smile. “My loyalties lie exclusively with Mr. Powers. And I must ask you to respect his wishes by staying away.”
“His wishes … Or yours?”
“Mr. Powers,” Hutchinson prompted his client. “Tell her.”
Powers glanced up from toying with his straw to meet Kendra’s eyes. “My wishes.”
“You see?” Hutchinson said. “Good day, Ms. Michaels.”
Powers lifted his hand and gave Kendra a weak wave. “You heard the man. Don’t bother coming back.”
Kendra studied him for a moment. “Fine. See you at your trial.”
Kendra and Jessie left the room and started down the corridor toward the elevator.
“Well, that was a bust,” Jessie muttered. “I thought we were damn close.”
Kendra smiled. “I don’t think it was a bust.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think we got through to him.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Dyle.”
“What?”
Kendra stepped on the elevator and punched the DOWN button. “Powers used his juice straw to write the name on his hand. Four letters. Barely discernable. He showed me his palm, and it was there, written in red tomato juice. He didn’t want his lawyer to know.”
“But who is Dyle?”
Kendra was already typing furiously on her phone. “I’m searching for the name right now. If we’re lucky, it may actually be the man who—” She froze. “It’s him. The man in the sketch. The guy I saw all those years ago.”
She turned the phone around to show Jessie a photo. “Meet Ted Dyle.”
“You Googled him?” Jessie’s eyes widened as she studied the man in a gray pin-striped suit smiling out of the photo. “Oh, that’s the guy in the sketch all right.” She took the phone and was reading the biography as she and Kendra left the hospital and walked across the parking lot. “Venture capitalist, owns a pharmaceutical company and two corporations that fund hospitals. Has interests in several hedge funds. Multi-investments in research projects at three universities. Something of a power broker and was said to be behind the scenes in electing the last two senators from California.” She handed Kendra’s phone back to her. “That’s all they have on him. Pretty scanty.” She frowned. “But he’s based in L.A. That’s my town. Why haven’t I heard of him?”
“Because he probably pays to stay out of the limelight,” Kendra said. “Thank God for Google. At least we were able to get this much information.” She could feel the excitement zinging through her. “He has to be connected to Night Watch.”
“And probably that attack on you, or Powers wouldn’t have recognized him.” She smiled. “A giant step closer, Kendra.”
“I know.” She couldn’t stop smiling. “And a step closer to Waldridge. I’ve felt like we’ve been going down blind alleys, but this is so damn promising.”
“Yes, it is.” She was gazing with amusement at Kendra’s face. “You look as if you’re on top of the world. We’ve still got a long way to go.”
“Don’t rain on my parade,” Kendra said. “Tomorrow, I’ll worry about all the bad things that could happen. Tonight, I want to think good thoughts and be happy. Do you think it’s too late to drive up to L.A. and try to see Dyle?”
“Yes.” She chuckled. “It would be midnight, and he’d have his staff toss us out. He might do it anyway. But we’d have a better shot in the morning.” They’d reached Kendra’s Toyota. “So let me worry about all the bad things that could happen tomorrow, and you try to keep your grand parade intact for the rest of the evening. Deal?”
“Deal.” Kendra didn’t know if she could do it, but right now, it seemed a wonderful idea.
“Well, now that we’ve settled that important detail. I’d like to announce that I’m hungry. You haven’t eaten either. Want to stop for a late supper?”
“Maybe.” Kendra watched with rueful amusement as Jessie jumped into the driver’s seat … again. “I’m a little hungry. It’s been a long day.”
“So where do you want to stop?” She started the car. “We could go to a pancake house. Or fast food…” She didn’t look at her as she backed out of the parking space. “Or I saw a Thai restaurant in your neighborhood. Is it any good? We could get takeout and go back to your place and eat it. I have to get my bike anyway.”
“It’s very good.”
“I thought it might be. It had people lined up at the door even this morning.” She smiled. “So where do you want to go? Your choice. I’m just your humble chauffeur.”
“Definitely the chauffeur. You won’t have it any other way. Humble? Not so much.” She laughed. “The Thai place sounds the most practical. We can take it up on the roof to eat it. It’s nice up there.”
“Whatever you say. Just as long as I get food and a chance to stretch out and move. I’m not accustomed to being this inactive.”
Kendra could see that it bothered her. She’d been aware of the other woman’s restlessness all day. She was surprised Jessie hadn’t opted out of sitting patiently in that car and waiting at Bill Dillingham’s. Ever since she’d met Jessie, she had been a dynamo of energy and activity. Yet their time together today had still been productive and amusing, and she found she was genuinely fascinated and curious about Jessie Mercado.
“Okay. Then we’ll stop at the Thai place. On the way there, I’ll text Griffin the photos I made of the sketch and ask him to check and report on Dyle.” She went around the car and got into the passenger seat. “And I’ll tell him he should use Dillingham more for his sketches and use muscle with the local police to have them do it, too.”
“Will he pay attention?”
“Sometimes. If it suits him. I’ll stress what an asset Dillingham is. He likes assets.” She was looking at the sketch again. “It’s not a lie. I think I’ll text a photo to Lynch, too. Along with the Google biography.”
“That sounds like a plan. Lynch doesn’t impress me as a man who likes to be kept out of the loop. Control, all the way…”
* * *
&n
bsp; THE LIGHTS OF SAN DIEGO were sparkling, glowing in the darkness. There was a strong wind whipping occasionally over the rooftop, which was vacant except for Kendra and Jessie.
“We could go down to the condo if the wind’s bothering you.” Kendra grinned as she righted one of the cartons of Thai food on the table between their chairs. “But you did say you wanted movement.”
“No, I like this,” Jessie said. “For Pete’s sake, I own a motorcycle.” She lifted her face to the wind that was blowing her hair wildly back. “Wind is clean and strong. Both good things.”
“Except if it comes packaged in a tornado,” Kendra said dryly as she lifted her wine to her lips. “I think I’d choose to go inside if it escalated to that point.” She smiled. “But I like it, too.”
“Do you come up here often?”
“Not often.” The last time she had come up here was that night with Lynch, when everything had blown up both sexually and emotionally. Those memories were suddenly bombarding her, and she could feel her body readying, tightening at the thought of him.
Back off. Everything about her relationship with Lynch was full of pitfalls and uncertainties, including what she wanted from him.
Except sex. That was very clear at this moment.
“Did you ever come up here with Lynch?” Jessie’s gaze was narrowed on Kendra’s face.
Jessie was very perceptive, and she had probably been able to read Kendra’s response. “Yes,” Kendra said as she took another bite of Thai pepper steak. “This is really very good, isn’t it? How is yours?”
Jessie immediately took the hint. “Delicious. Some of the best Thai I’ve had since Delilah had a box of it flown in special from Bangkok.” She leaned back and lifted her wine to her lips. “But in that case, anticipation was a heady sauce, and that might have made it seem better.”
“Delilah?”
“Delilah Winter. I worked for her for a while.” She shot a glance at Kendra. “She’s a pop star. Have you ever heard of her? She probably doesn’t produce the kind of music that you teach your kids, but she’s pretty famous.”
“I’d have to live in a cave not to have heard of her,” Kendra said. “She won a Grammy last year, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she deserved it. That new song she wrote rocks.”
“She rocks,” Kendra said. “And I do use her in my therapy sessions. The kids don’t live in a cave either, and her rhythms are wonderful.”
“She’d be glad to hear you say that. Delilah is like a lot of teenage kids who made it big too early. She’s still not sure whether she has the talent or that she’s just fooling everyone.”
“Sad.” She asked curiously, “How did you come to work for her?”
“It’s a long story.”
“You don’t want to talk about it?”
She shrugged. “It’s not something I’m particularly proud of, nor am I ashamed. It was just a job. I took it because the opportunity was there, and I needed the money. I’d just gotten my degree in criminal justice, but that was during the downturn in the economy, and there were no decent jobs to be had. I got work as a bartender and part-time as a stuntwoman. Then I heard about that TV show American Ninja, and I trained and competed for it. I won first place and got a decent amount of money and a little fame thrown in. The notoriety attracted Delilah, and she hired me to head her security.” She smiled. “She was just a kid who thought that if there was a star beside the name, the person had to be a star, too.” Her smile faded. “She made a lot of mistakes like that. You have no idea how many jams I had to get her out of before she finally grew up.”
“But it must have been exciting.”
“And exhausting, like living in Disneyland without the rules that Disney enforces about smiles and the customer is always right.” She took another sip of wine. “But the money was terrific, and I made sure that I earned every dollar before I turned in my resignation. I left her safe and with good people before I bowed out.”
“You sound as if you feel guilty.”
She made a face. “It was like kicking a puppy when I told her that I was leaving. As I said, she’s insecure, and she felt safe with me. She still calls me sometimes when she needs to talk, or she gets into trouble.”
“But you felt you couldn’t stay with her?”
“Everyone has to grow up sometime. I’d made enough money to open my own P.I. office. It was time I moved on with my life.”
“And you have,” Kendra said. “No regrets?”
“Of course there were regrets. Delilah offered me a million dollars a year to stay on. I like money.”
“And you wanted to make certain she was safe,” Kendra said softly. “I’ve noticed that you have that instinct.”
“It’s over.” She looked out at the lights. “Time passes. People come and go. But I guess I was brought up to believe that when I did go, it wasn’t a bad idea to make sure no one was worse off than when I came.”
“That’s a good philosophy.”
She chuckled. “Actually, it’s a little too deep for me right now. It must be the wine talking.” She yawned. “How many have I had?”
“Two. No, maybe three.”
“Oops. I never have more than two. Cops love to stop bikers and test. They tend to think we have a reckless mind-set and endanger the general public.” She glanced at Kendra. “Would you mind if I bunk at your place tonight? Maybe on the couch? We have to get out early anyway.”
Kendra blinked. She hadn’t been expecting this from Jessie. “Sure. No problem. You can have the guest room if you like. But Lynch might have left it in a mess. He left for the airport early.”
“He did, didn’t he?” Jessie was picking up cartons and putting them in the trash container. “I promise you that I won’t leave my toothbrush like he did…”
“Do you have one with you?”
“I always travel with an overnight duffel in my bike kit. I’ll just go down to the garage and get it.” She smiled at Kendra. “Thanks, I promise I won’t be any trouble. You won’t know I’m here.” The next moment she was across the roof and opening the door leading downstairs.
Kendra believed her. Jessie was self-sufficient and totally responsible, or she wouldn’t be so concerned about the possibility of being picked up on a violation.
But if she was so aware and responsible, why had she taken that extra glass of wine?
A slip?
But did Jessie make slips? She was beginning to know the woman now, and what she knew was that Jessie was one of the smartest people she’d ever met. She knew exactly what she was doing and how it would affect the people around her.
For heaven’s sake, why was she even questioning Jessie over this one mistake in what Kendra thought her character dictated? Forget it.
Only it was more than one anomaly in her behavior today.
Why had she opted to go to Bill Dillingham’s place today when Kendra had told her that she probably wouldn’t even be able to meet with him? Why hadn’t she just gotten on her bike and taken off on her own business? Why had she stayed all those hours waiting? Then she had gone with her to the hospital and stayed until she had left there, too.
Yes, she had been helpful, but Kendra had still had that feeling of being … What?
And she had made that weird remark about not having to worry about Dillingham’s being a threat.
Jessie was completely independent, and yet she had stayed with Kendra all day, hovering like a friendly gargoyle. Not a flattering comparison, but Kendra was not feeling like being flattering at the moment.
She was feeling pissed off.
Son of a bitch!
She was on her feet and running down the steps to her condo.
She slammed the door and headed for her bedroom.
She slammed that door, too.
She pulled out her phone and dialed quickly.
Answer, damn you.
Lynch answered immediately. “I received Dyle’s photo. Good work.”
“Yes, it was.”
<
br /> He caught the barely contained tension in her voice. “But something’s wrong?”
“Yes. Plenty is wrong.” The words were spitting out. “What gave you the right to call Jessie Mercado and ask her to babysit me while you were gone? Do you know how humiliating it is to have someone treating me as if I’m helpless?”
Silence. “I think she’s too smart to treat you like that. I’m sure she made it very pleasant and unobtrusive.”
“Oh, she did. She only made a couple mistakes, and that was because all of the subterfuge was going against her basic instincts.” She said furiously, “She was so clever that she’s now in my guest room, complete with toothbrush.”
“Good. But she has to get out when I come back. Unless you let me share your bed.”
“I can’t imagine that’s happening right now.”
“I can. But I can also see that you’re having problems because I had to keep you safe. We’ll discuss that later.”
“Oh, yes, I’m definitely having problems. When did you call Jessie? She was here in practically no time after you left. And did you actually hire her to protect me?”
“I called when I got to the street after I left you. And I didn’t hire her. I offered, but she said that she’d consider it a debt owed, which had more value to her.”
Kendra could see that. Having Adam Lynch owe you a debt was beyond price. “Why, Lynch?”
“You know why. Why was I occupying that guest room myself? You were a target, and I was going across the Atlantic, where I couldn’t protect you. I had to have someone there who was watching your back.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“So could Rye, better than you. He’s dead. You’re not going to be dead, Kendra. You fire Jessie, and I’ll hire someone else who will probably scare the hell out of you because you won’t know who it is. Just put up with her until I can get back there to you.” He paused. “I need to be here for Rye, but if you give me trouble, I’ll fly back there. As I said, he’s dead. I won’t allow that to happen to you.”
“You can’t fly back here,” she said through set teeth. “You have a job to do.”
“And I’ll do it. I’ll find out who murdered Rye. I’ll try to find out what happened to Waldridge. Just give me a break. Let me keep you safe.”
Night Watch--A Novel Page 23
