Blink of an Eye (Kendra Michaels #8) - Roy Johansen Page 0,70
worked and joked and shot the breeze about the teachers and people we knew at the home. I told him I wasn’t sure I could manage to get him the job, but he helped me anyway. Like I said, he was a nice guy.”
And while he was obligingly helping with the weeding, he could look around and find out about the staff and schedule. “And he left immediately after you checked with Laura and was told that he wasn’t going to be hired?”
He nodded. “He was disappointed, but he thanked me, shook my hand, and left.” He paused. “This isn’t about Dee, is it? He never asked anything about her. He only said it would be nice to work with someone famous. That’s what everyone says.”
“It might be about Dee. If you can think of anything else about this Jack Caseman, I’d like you to call me.”
He hesitated. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Only trusted someone you shouldn’t, but we all do that sometimes. Don’t worry. We’ll work this out. Since the kidnapping didn’t actually take place here, evidently Caseman’s visit was purely exploratory. You might have actually been a help, Miguel.”
She hoped she was telling the truth. She’d only know after she went over those tapes again.
She turned and ran down the path toward the library.
Twenty minutes later she shoved the tapes aside. Not as promising as she’d hoped, but then she hadn’t really expected them to be. She spent another thirty minutes on the phone checking out Jack Caseman’s credentials at the orphanage. Nonexistent. Still, that didn’t mean she’d necessarily come up with zeros; she just had to dig deeper.
But she had neither the time nor the authority to bring that search to a speedy conclusion. So find someone who did. Kelland? She didn’t want to take anyone away from the active job involved in bringing Dee home. She hesitated and then quickly punched in a number. “Metcalf? Jessie Mercado. I was told you were loaned to the L.A. FBI for the duration of the investigation. I bet it’s driving you crazy drifting around like a lost puppy.”
“You might say that,” Metcalf said warily. “Though I offered to go.”
“I think I’ve run across a lead that might turn into something important. But I can’t follow up and I need someone good, efficient, and very fast to get out here to Dee’s house and help me. Are you interested?”
“Definitely.” Metcalf gave a deep, profound sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
* * *
Los Angeles Regional FBI Office
“We’ll be there.” Kendra ended the call she’d just received from Jessie and turned to Lynch. “Jessie just pulled into the parking lot and wants us to meet her at the AV lab.”
“Why?”
“A lead.” She was already pushing her way through the crowd of agents in the hall outside Kelland’s office. “Something she ran across at Dee’s house. What difference does it make? We’re not getting anywhere standing here waiting for those bastards to contact us. It’s almost noon and they’re still playing their games.”
“Easy.” He took her elbow and nudged her toward the elevator. “I know you’re scared, but this stall doesn’t mean they’re not going to go through with it. It’s much more likely that you and Jessie were right about them being pissed off and trying to punish us for not obeying orders.”
“That sounded much more reasonable before we had to sit here all morning and wait to hear if Dee is alive or dead.” She made an impatient gesture. “Forget I said that. My optimism is sagging a bit right now. I’ll try to look on the bright side. Noah came through with the additional five million. We’re ready to deliver the ransom. Now Jessie has come up with something positive. That should prove it’s going to be a good day.”
“Exactly.” As they got on the elevator, he punched the button for the AV lab. “And Jessie would never lead us down a wrong path.”
* * *
“I don’t know if it’s going to do us any good or not,” Jessie said when she met them at the door of the lab. She quickly went over the details of her talk with Miguel. “But there’s a chance and we haven’t been able to identify any other members of the gang. The man who showed up at Dee’s house looking for a job was definitely bogus. I called the orphanage and there was never a Jack Caseman registered there. But he knew the names of some of the teachers, even some of the students