Jessie fished her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contacts. “Cute. Now that’s a violation. This is what you’ve been doing with your phone since we’ve been here … Hacking into mine?”
“Hacking is a word with such unpleasant connotations. I was merely exchanging contact info. I have yours, and you have mine.”
“Uh-huh. My life is on this thing. What else did you grab?”
“Nothing else. I promise.”
She held down her phone’s power button. “I’m turning my phone off now. Our partnership is getting off to a rocky start.”
“A partnership?” Kendra repeated. “Is that what this is?”
Jessie shrugged. “Makes sense. We’re both working toward the same end. Waldridge is still my client. He paid me up front.”
“What happens when his retainer runs out?”
Jessie headed for the door. “We’ll see when that time comes. Until then, I’m on this case whether we work together or not.” She stopped and turned at the door. “It’s been … interesting.” She gazed at Kendra. “I think I can trust you, but you make me damn uneasy.” Her eyes shifted to Lynch. “And you’re definitely an unknown factor, but if we’re going to work together, I think I should be honest with you. I wasn’t telling the truth about being able to put you down this time. You were good. Very good. But now I’ve fought you, and I’ve learned you. Next time I’ll be able to take you down.”
She turned and left the studio.
After a long moment of silence, Kendra turned to Lynch. “What do you think?”
“Other than that she’s smart as a whip and fires on all cylinders? And the fact that I think there’s so much beneath that surface that it would take years to uncover it all?” He shrugged. “I’ll run a background check, but I’m inclined, in this case, to believe her.”
“So am I.” She smiled. “And there’s nothing wrong with hidden depths. Sometimes it shows character.”
“And sometime it hides land mines.” He smiled back at her. “You’re prejudiced because she saved your neck. That’s okay, I’m prejudiced, too. That neck has great value to me. I’ll just keep an eye out to make sure she doesn’t circle around and attack from the rear.”
Warmth. That damn charisma. It had come out of nowhere, and she was having trouble looking away from him.
But his smile was fading, and he was shaking his head. “Uh-uh, we’re doing too well.” He reached for his phone and started to punch in a number.
Relief. Disappointment. Frustration. Curiosity. “What are you doing?” Kendra asked.
“I’m sure it has a name and purpose other than the one that I’m cursing at the moment. Ah, yes, that’s it. I got a text from Rye while Jessie was here. He might have some news for us.”
CHAPTER
10
London, England
Docklands
RYE STOOD IN THE EMPTY LOT, staring at the acres of paved crumbling concrete. The air was damp from the predawn mist, and the sky was beginning to lighten in the east.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He tapped his Bluetooth earpiece to answer.
“Lynch?”
“Yes. Sorry I couldn’t pick up before, Rye. I was talking to someone. You’re up awful late … or is it early?”
“I couldn’t sleep. Something was bothering me. The more I looked into Waldridge’s work history, the less it added up.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s given the same work address on at least three official documents in the past couple of years. Hyperion Laboratories, Limited.”
“Hyperion?”
“Yes. The late Mr. Shaw also listed it as his place of employment at an academic conference last year. It’s somehow related to the Night Watch Project.”
“Okay … So why doesn’t it add up?”
“I’m at the address right now … and it’s a vacant lot.”
“What?”
Rye stepped over a clump of weeds that had burst through a crack in the concrete. “There was a building here once, but it’s probably been twenty years or more. No one’s worked here for decades.”
“What does it mean?”
“Don’t know yet. I looked it up on Google Earth, and I thought it must be some kind of mistake. So I came down to see for myself. Not much to see.”
“I hate to repeat myself, but I don’t understand what the hell that means.”
“Me neither. I just thought it was curious, and you might want to be informed. I’ll talk to some more people and try to get it sorted out.”
“Good. While you’re at it, I have another name for you to check out. Hayden Biers. Yet another colleague of Waldridge’s. He also came here to California, and it seems as if all three men may have come here to hide out.”
“Hide from what?”
“As soon as you find out, let me know.”
“Pressure, again.” He sighed. “I’ll do my best. I’m not going to find it in this vacant lot, that’s for sure.”
“What’s your next move?”