It occurred to him that he’d be better off figuring that out somewhere else, away from the man who had apparently intentionally killed someone with his bare hands. Jasper’s own hands weren’t entirely clean when it came to eliminating people who made his life difficult. But he’d never actually done it himself. Even the thought was appalling.
“I think I’ll go check on getting a car set up for you,” he said, standing up quickly.
When he looked over at Paul, he sensed that he had an issue. The actor was staring at him. His eyes were no longer bleary. In fact, they were shockingly alert. His whole body had gone from slumped to stiff. It was then that he knew Jasper had caught his mistake.
“You know what, buddy?” Paul said, using the buttery lilt so many movie fans had come to love. “Why don’t you just make the call from here? No point risking someone overhearing you, right?”
Jasper felt something rare for him these days: fear. He tried to keep it in check as he responded.
“You know, now that I think about it, I’m not sure I have the number. I better check with Nancy.”
Paul stood up. With both men at their full height, he had three inches on Jasper, not to mention a good twenty-five pounds.
“Just give her a call now. I’ll wait.”
He looked down at Jasper with the confidence of a man who always got his way. Jasper normally carried himself with a similar confidence, but something about the other man’s size and desperation unsettled him.
“Sure,” he said, flipping through his phone. “Oh look, I do have it after all.”
“That’s great, Jasper,” Paul said. His voice was ice cold.
Jasper made the call, asking for the car to wait at the back gate. Then he turned back to Paul.
“Let me point out the route. Like I said, from the back door here to the hedge maze, and the gate beyond it, is a straight shot, three hundred yards north.”
“I think you should take me, Jasper. I’ll wear the gardener uniform to keep a low profile but you know the way. I don’t want to get lost in that maze. And you know how the back gate opens better than I do. You’ve got the key. It just makes sense to have you lead me there.”
Jasper felt the panic rising in his throat and gulped it down hard.
“But if they check the video later, they’ll see me escorting a gardener around. It will look suspicious. We don’t want to give them anything to work with.”
Paul reached behind him and pulled something out of the back pocket of his jeans. It was a serrated steak knife, one that was kept in the dining room for easy access. Paul’s smile disappeared.
“I think you should take me.”
Jasper held up his arms as if in surrender.
“Hey, buddy, calm down. There’s no need for anything like that.”
Without warning, Paul swiped at one of his raised arms, slicing across his left forearm. Jasper gasped. Looking down, he saw that blood had already started dripping down his arm to the carpet below.
He started to scream in pain but before anything came out, Paul had him pinned against the wall, his free hand clamped over his mouth, muffling the sound. Jasper struggled to get free but the other man was much bigger and stronger. For the first time in forever, Jasper Otis was afraid.
“Better tie that off,” Paul said. “Like I said, I think you should take me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Jessie was antsy.
It was 12:26. She and Karen were parked half a block down from the main gate of the Otis Estate, just out of view of the cameras. Behind them were two additional unmarked cars. Another block away, on a less-traveled side street, were four squad cars and a large truck that could knock the front gate over if required.
The search warrant was supposed to be approved in just over a half hour, which left her far too long to obsess. She decided to check in with Hannah to see how she was doing and sent off a quick text asking about her day so far. The answer came back fast.
Boring. Even on a day with sex traffickers and undercover cops, I still had to take a European History quiz. Lame. Going to lunch now. Good luck catching the bad guys.
Jessie said thanks and didn’t mention how glad she was that Hannah’s day was boring. It was vastly preferable to the alternative.