Webster didn’t have anything concrete, Jackson had no interest in leaving this spot until he was good and ready. He’d be more than happy to spend every day waking up with his arms full of sleepy, snuggly Day, bad breath and all.
“Dad—” Webster started, the question in his voice evident.
Jackson cut him off. “If you finish that word, I will not only fire you, I’ll blacklist you to every security firm in the entire world,” he warned.
There was another snicker from Webster before he said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fine. So, the guy you’re looking for, Oscar Delgado, is in charge of the payroll for Day’s main camming account, which is interesting because while Oscar Delgado doesn’t have a record, Oscar Salazar does.”
“Who the fuck is Oscar Salazar?” And why should Jackson give a shit?
“A two-time felon who’s done two short stints in prison. One for attempted rape and another for second degree murder, which got bumped down to manslaughter. He got eight years but only served four before he was paroled for good behavior.”
“Are you trying to tell me that Oscar Delgado and Oscar Salazar are the same person? Because if they’re not, I might still consider firing you,” Jackson murmured, wishing this conversation had happened after coffee.
“I’m telling you that Oscar Salazar has reinvented himself as Oscar Delgado, and Oscar Salazar no longer exists. It takes skill to disappear and reappear as a completely separate person. Like, it takes technical skills or Fed friends. I suppose he could have turned state’s evidence on somebody but I sincerely doubt it. It would take me a lot longer than two days to dig up information if the Marshalls had shoved him in witness protection. This was thorough but by no means Fed thorough.”
“So, you think this Salazar guy could be Day’s stalker?”
There was a creaking on the other side of the line as Webster moved in his ancient office chair. Jackson hated it, but Webster was weirdly superstitious about the chair. “I’m just saying if he managed to disappear himself and reappear a year later with a new life, he definitely has the skills to hide his location. Also, he seems to have frequent phone meetings with Day, which your boy said seemed contrived. He’s local. His home address is less than five miles from Day’s apartment, and the cam headquarters is right here in LA. Maybe he wasn’t trying to hide his face but his voice?”
“I can’t do much with maybe,” Jackson rasped.
Webster sighed. “You could hand it over to the cops, let them interrogate him. It just seems like one too many coincidences.”
“I’m going to go down there and question him myself,” Jackson said. “I’ll take Day. If we surprise him, we might be able to get his knee-jerk reaction to seeing Day there in the flesh.”
“That’s a bad idea, boss. What if he flips and pulls a weapon?”
“I’m not leaving Day alone and I’m not leaving this up to Jimmy. We have the element of surprise on our side and the fact that he’s at his place of employment where nobody knows him as anything but an upstanding citizen. If anything, he’ll try to play dumb and act innocent. If he’s lying, I’ll be able to tell.”
“You’re the boss, boss, but if you end up on the six o’clock news, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Jackson shook his head. These idiots had no respect. “Shoot me everything you have including his home and business addresses and his previous record.”
“Yeah, on it. But how are you going to get to him if he’s working? Are you just gonna waltz in there with your little Kewpie doll cupcake on your arm and demand to see the payroll guy so you can interrogate him?”
“I have one nerve left, Webster. And you’re getting on it.”
The truth was, Jackson had zero idea how he was going to convince the cam service to let him talk to Oscar, the head of payroll, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He’d think of something on the way. All he really wanted was to see the man’s reaction to being confronted with Day there in person. If he was as obsessed with Day as his stalker was, Jackson would see it on him no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He’d conducted countless interrogations in the military. He was great at reading people.
“The details are in your inbox. Watch your six, boss.”
Jackson didn’t say goodbye, just disconnected, setting his phone back on the table