Hidden - Laura Griffin Page 0,29
to get in and get out without leaving a trail, and that fits with our crime scene.”
“Okay. So . . . let’s work backward. Let’s figure out who contracted it. He’s the one ultimately responsible anyway.”
Jacob shook his head. “I want the doer.”
“Same for me. Let’s get both.”
“We need more on the victim,” Jacob said. “What’s her employer say? Did Dana give any hints about where she’s from originally? I heard it might be Chicago, but that isn’t confirmed.”
Kendra’s eyebrows arched. “You heard? Is that from Special Agent Sexytimes?”
Jacob didn’t say anything, and Kendra shook her head.
“Hey, as long as Morgan’s talking to you, maybe she can tell us what all this is about, save us a lot of trouble.”
“She’s out of it.”
Kendra rolled her eyes. “Perfect. So, we’re working in the dark here, while the feds keep everything under wraps.”
Kendra had never been a fan of his relationship with Morgan, and Jacob wasn’t sure why. But whatever the reason, he couldn’t focus on it now.
“How did Celeste Camden hire Dana? Let’s start there,” he said.
Kendra flipped the file open. “She said she found her through a message board at the university.”
“She got her nanny from a message board? How did she vet her?”
“She calls her an ‘au pair.’” Another eye roll. “And the vetting was pretty weak. Evidently, Dana offered a reference from someone she’d done some babysitting for, and Camden called her and got a big thumbs-up.”
“You think it was a phony reference?”
She shrugged. “Could have been a friend of Dana’s. Who knows? Anyway, she hired her eight months ago and said Dana was great with her kid. She doesn’t know anything about her friends or family.” She flipped through the notes. “Also, she was always punctual and had nice handwriting.”
“Nice handwriting?”
“That’s what she said.”
“What about money? Camden do any withholding on her?”
Kendra lifted an eyebrow. “That’s where she got a little squirrelly. They had a cash arrangement.”
“Did she have anything on file? A driver’s license or social security card?”
“No. Dana told her she didn’t drive and that she’d lost her social security card. Camden said she didn’t want to make her jump through hoops to get a new one, so she agreed to pay her in cash.”
“No taxes. Win-win for everyone.”
“That’s what it sounds like.” Kendra blew out a sigh. “So, what’s next?”
“We need Dana’s real name, and we need to figure out what case she was involved with, possibly in Chicago, possibly not. Once we know who might have wanted revenge on her for testifying, we can see where that network leads.”
“You’re thinking organized crime?” Kendra asked.
“Could be a lot of things. Maybe she worked somewhere, and her boss was running drugs or embezzling money. Or maybe she was having an affair with a guy and stumbled across some illegal shit he was into.”
Kendra’s brow furrowed. “Whatever it is, is probably the feds’ jurisdiction.”
“She was murdered in ours.”
Kendra watched him for a long moment. “What about that reporter?”
He bristled. “What reporter?”
“Bailey Rhoads from the Herald. I saw you talking to her at the lake yesterday.”
“What about her?”
“Well, did you tell her the FBI’s taking over?”
“No.”
“Be careful talking to her. If the media sink their teeth into this story, it’s going to be much harder to investigate anything on the down-low.”
He thought of Bailey and the determined look in her eyes. She’d already sunk her teeth into the story.
He should have known Kendra would call him out for talking to Bailey. They were trying to keep their involvement with this case quiet, and the last thing they needed was for people to notice him talking to a reporter covering the story and assume he was not only still working the case but leaking to the media.
Kendra was watching him, looking worried. She had reservations about what they were doing. She would never admit it, but Jacob knew her too well.
“You don’t have to do this with me, you know,” he told her.
“You’re saying you’d rather work alone?”
He would, and not only because he didn’t want her to get in trouble.
“If Schneider finds out, there will be blowback,” he said. “If the feds find out, there will be blowback. And if we solve the case and want to make an arrest, there will be blowback.”
She folded her arms and looked at him. “So why are you doing this?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“Richard Mullins is a dick,” she said. “I’ve never liked the guy.”
Jacob felt the same.
“The minute he opened his mouth yesterday, I could tell that