He’d responded with support when Metcalf had asked him. She’d take that as an encouraging sign and worry about how to handle any other interaction later. She followed him quickly down the steps. “I’ll make sure that you get our statements before we leave here tonight. And I’ll be happy to meet everyone on your team a little later. But if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see if Jessie Mercado was able to get any more information from Colin Parks.”
As she hurried past him, she added dryly, “And to make sure she hasn’t done him bodily harm in the process. She wasn’t at all pleased at how careless he’d been to allow this nightmare to happen.”
* * *
But Jessie hadn’t even started to speak to Parks yet when Kendra reached her a few minutes later. “He’s giving a statement,” she said curtly as she nodded at Parks sitting at a desk across from an agent typing into a computer. “He said he’d get to me as soon as he could. He’s probably trying to avoid me.” She crossed her arms across her chest. “I’d sure as hell want to avoid me right now.”
So would anyone, Kendra thought ruefully. Jessie had been uptight before, but it was clear she was very close to explosion. “Maybe he’s just trying to cooperate with the FBI. Special Agent Kelland seems to be a stickler about getting those statements right away.” She nodded toward the agent. “Remember? We have to give one of our own before we leave here today.”
“Stickler? I don’t like that word.” Jessie gave him a brief glance. “Good grief, he looks like a damn male model. Are we in trouble?”
“I’m not sure. He seems cooperative. We’ll have to see how he follows through.” She frowned. “If we have a problem, maybe we can work around him with Metcalf and Griffin.”
“Who will have limited access and information now that they’re out of the loop. We don’t have time for that, Kendra.” Her gaze was back on Parks, who had gotten up from his chair and was signing his statement. “And this should never have happened.”
“You keep saying that,” Kendra said impatiently. “But it did happen, and we have to accept it and just find a way to get her back. You know that as well as—”
But Jessie was no longer listening; she was crossing the stage to stand in front of Parks. “It shouldn’t have happened,” she repeated fiercely. “What did you do that was different from your regular routine, Parks?”
“Nothing,” he said curtly. “Get off my back, Jessie. We had a schedule and routine that we went through every evening she had a performance. My men were as well rehearsed as Delilah. They wouldn’t have changed the plan.”
“But they ended up dead, and she ended up kidnapped. If they didn’t change it, it must have been a lousy plan.”
His hands grabbed her shoulders. “Yeah, they ended up dead, and I had to spend an hour tonight trying to explain to their families why that happened. And when I get through here, I have to go and face them in person.” His lips were tight, his eyes liquid bright. “And I’m going to have to tell them the same thing I’m telling you. That they did their job, and nothing should have happened. But sometimes the bad guys are smarter or quicker than we are, and then we fail. All we can do is our best.” He looked her in the eye. “And no one knows that better than you. You’re just hurting because you care about the kid.”
“Get your hands off me or I’ll break your damn neck,” she said hoarsely. “If you’d cared more about her, then she wouldn’t have been taken. I trusted you.”
“I’m done here.” Parks released his grip on her shoulders and took a step back. “When I get through with dealing with my guys’ families, I’ll be back and try to find out exactly what happened. Maybe it will give us a lead. At any rate, I’m not going to stop until we find her. Because I do care about her. Ever since I took over from you, she’s been a pain in my ass. Do you think it was easy following in your footsteps? She thought you walked on water. But I’ve always liked her, and I’ve always done my best to keep her safe. Believe it or not, that’s the truth.”
Jessie opened her lips to speak and then closed them again. She was silent a moment. “I believe you,” she finally said wearily. “But something went wrong, and we’ve got to find out how it could have happened. How did they just whisk her up and take her? I taught her to always be careful. She was smart, Parks. Those scumbags couldn’t have fooled her.”
“Like I said, sometimes the bad guys turn out to be smarter than us.” He strode across the stage toward the exit. “I’ll see you later, Jessie.”
“I could tell you were ready to take a machete to his head when you stomped down here,” Kendra murmured as she watched him leave. “You were easier on him than I thought you’d be.”
“Because he was right,” she said unsteadily. “No matter how hard we try, sometimes the bad guys are going to try harder and they’re going to win. I knew Dee wasn’t going to be easy for anyone to handle. That’s why I was so careful when I chose Parks to take over my job with her. He had all the qualifications and discipline, and I knew he was flexible enough not to make her rebel. I thought he’d be perfect. It’s hard to find that kind of balance.”
“But you told me Dee had been rebelling lately,” Kendra said. “Maybe someone out there was watching and decided it was time to step in and take advantage.”
“Maybe. But as I said, she’s smart. I don’t think she’d do anything careless that would cause anyone to be able to snatch her. It would take something to fool her.”
“Because you taught her,” Kendra said softly. “And that will be to her benefit. She has those years of training with you and she’ll remember them.”
She nodded. “You’re damn right.” She cleared her throat. “Now let’s go talk to Parks’s crew and see if they remember anything. Then we’ll go schmooze with those FBI and LAPD guys and impress them enough to squeeze information out of them if we need to.” She shrugged. “Most of them are careful around private investigators, but I think a couple of those LAPD officers have helped me out before. And you shouldn’t have any trouble.” She looked over her shoulder with a smile. “Everyone wants to cozy up to a superstar like you. Who knows? They might even get their picture in the paper. Do you want me to go up to the parking lot and bring down a couple of those reporters?”
“Don’t you dare.” But she was glad that Jessie wasn’t quite so much on edge. Jessie always bounced back from every blow. She wasn’t bouncing now. She was too worried and sick and angry. But she was thinking, healing, working on the problem. “If you’re talking to LAPD, I’ll take the FBI agents. Agent Kelland wanted me to meet them…”
* * *
Kendra’s Condo
11:40 A.M.
Kendra was back in her condo and starting to pack an overnight bag when Metcalf phoned her. “Did Kelland come through for you?” he asked. “I didn’t expect a problem, but you didn’t call me back.”
“We were swamped from the minute Kelland pulled rank to get us down to the crime scene. You know how it can be on a case like this.” She went to the bathroom and grabbed her toiletries. “Yes, Kelland was fine and did what we needed. Other than that, he seemed too busy to pay any attention to us. Which was great with Jessie and me. All we wanted to do was establish contacts with the LAPD and Kelland’s fellow agents and listen in on any conversations they were getting from operators in the field. Then I grabbed breakfast with Jessie and hit the road back to San Diego to grab an overnight bag and call the school and tell them I’m taking a few days off.”