“No, you aren’t. Not until you tell me that you’re going to let Jessie do her job.”
“Her job is Waldridge.”
“And you. Tell me.”
“I’ll discuss it with her. It might not be a pleasant discussion.”
“Then she’ll call me, and I’ll take the first flight back.”
“Damn you.” She hung up.
She stood there breathing hard, trying to regain control.
He would do exactly what he’d said he’d do. Stop what he was investigating and fly back here.
Was her anger and hurt pride worth losing what Lynch might learn in London?
She had felt like a child when she had guessed what he’d done. She was not a child. She was an intelligent woman who was capable of taking care of herself.
Lynch had just had that Rye scare and couldn’t think beyond it.
But that scare might affect finding Waldridge if she couldn’t find a way to get beyond it.
Okay, she would go get a glass of water and spend a little time thinking and regaining her control. Then she would go and have that discussion with Jessie she’d told Lynch she would have.
She was not looking forward to it.
Or maybe she was, she amended. She wanted to strike out, and not from thousands of miles away as she’d had to do with Lynch.
“THE DOOR’S OPEN,” Jessie called out when she heard Kendra coming across the living room toward the guest room. “Come in. I went upstairs on the roof and liberated that bottle of wine after Lynch called me. I figured we might need it.”
“The wine you used to try to con me?” Kendra pushed open the door to see Jessie sitting cross-legged on the bed. She was barefoot and dressed in a sleep shirt and had two wineglasses in her hand. “I’m not in the mood, Jessie.”
“I know.” She put the wineglasses on the nightstand. “You’re pissed off, and you feel humiliated, and you want to kick someone.”
“That about covers it.”
“I can’t help that you’re pissed. I would be, too. I’d want to kill Lynch. He might have meant well, but that doesn’t mean he had a right to do it. You shouldn’t feel humiliated because he hired the best when he hired me.” She smiled. “It’s not as if he didn’t have respect for you. As far as kicking someone, be my guest. I can take it. I was captured by the Taliban on my last tour, and nothing you could do would be any worse.”
“Was that supposed to deflate my anger with both of you? It doesn’t. He shouldn’t have hired you. You shouldn’t have taken the job.”
“He has an excuse. He cares about you. I don’t have an excuse. I like you, but I don’t know you well enough to use it as a reason why I’d violate your independence.” She met her eyes. “Independence is important to me. So the only excuse I’ll give you is that I believe you have a chance of getting killed if I don’t stick around and keep it from happening. Hell, it might have happened the day that I kept them from tossing you into that barrel. But I don’t think so. I believed Powers when he said he was hired to deliver you. But if this Dyle hired him because he found you necessary for some reason, that need remains. But after it’s fulfilled, you might very well be expendable.”
“You can’t know I’m still a target. The fact that Powers has been arrested might have scared them off.”
“Lynch doesn’t think so, or I wouldn’t be here.” She lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “And while you were with Dillingham today, a black paneled van cruised by once, slowed, then, when he saw me in the Toyota, sped up and took off. So I’m beginning to think that they’re not finished with you, either.”
Kendra gazed at her in shock. “Why didn’t you go after them?”
“And leave you alone? That wasn’t my job. They could have been trying to draw me away from you.” She made a face. “Though I was tempted.”
“Did you see the van later?”
She shook her head. “I was on the lookout, but I didn’t notice anyone following. But if they were good, I might not. I can manage to follow almost anyone and not be detected.”
“And maybe that van was just looking for an address.”
Jessie just raised her brows skeptically.
Kendra’s hands clenched. “It’s never made any sense to me why they would try to snatch me.”
“Maybe they don’t have Waldridge and think you do? Or maybe you’re looking too hard for your old friend, and they want to discourage you? Maybe they believe you have something they want? A few less benign reasons are occurring to me, but I won’t go into them. At any rate, neither Lynch nor I want to find out until we have the upper hand.”
That last sentence struck her wrong. They were clearly leaving her out of any decision making. “Lynch and you. What about me?”
“You’re smart, and you’re able to take care of yourself under most circumstances.” Jessie tapped her own chest. “I’m equipped to take care of people under any circumstances. That’s why Lynch made that call to me. I know he’s been checking me out, and that’s fine. But you should let me do my job. It will help you and Lynch, and it might even save Waldridge.” She shrugged. “But that’s your decision. If you want me to get out, just say the word.”
Kendra stared at her in exasperation. “And if I say that word, it might be the wrong thing to do. You’re damn right it’s my decision, but I’m in a corner, and I’m not going to be forced to make mistakes. So I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.” She looked her in the eye. “I can’t trust Lynch not to fly back here, so you stay on the job. I’d be stupid to not pay attention to your expertise, so I will take advantage of it. But you’ll never lie to me or pretend to be something you’re not. I want honesty and integrity, and I intend to use you to find Waldridge. Tomorrow we’re going to go to L.A., and we’ll squeeze answers out of Dyle. You’ll work your ass off, and Waldridge is going to come out of this alive. We’re going to do that together, Jessie.”
“No problem.” Jessie smiled. “Can we have that wine now?”
“No. It’s going to take awhile before I’ll be able to be on drinking terms with you again.”
“It will come. Actually, we do like each other.”
“Don’t be too sure. It wasn’t long ago that I was thinking of you as a friendly gargoyle.”
Jessie laughed. “Really? That visual is priceless.” She humped over in a gargoyle-like pose, waving her arms like a monkey. Then she reached over and turned out the lamp. “Good night, Kendra. I’m glad the air is cleared now. I’m lousy at deception…”
“You should have told that to Lynch.” She closed the door behind her.
She was still upset, but some of it had ebbed away. It was difficult being angry with Jessie. It was really all Lynch’s fault, and Jessie was only a tool. She found herself smiling grimly at that description. Jessie would never let herself be a tool for anyone. It was almost like calling her a friendly gargoyle.
The memory of Jessie bent over in that ridiculous gargoyle pose was suddenly before Kendra.
Do not smile.
14
Croyden, England
Middlesex Lane
STEVEN KINCAID, THE OFFICER from the Serious Organized Crime Agency, had not arrived when Lynch reached the factory, and he felt both impatience and frustration. Too much time had already passed since Rye’s death, and he didn’t need bureaucratic red tape and heel dragging to add to the problem.
Calm down. Kincaid was only twenty minutes late. If Lynch weren’t so on edge, he wouldn’t be making a major thing of it.
He glanced down at his phone. No text from either Kendra or Jessie this morning. He hadn’t really expected one from Kendra. It was going to take some time to persuade her that he’d only done what he’d felt he had to do. And it was probably good that Jessie hadn’t texted him. She was too professional to leave Kendra without informing him. He could only hope they were working things out.