Kendra hurried after her. “What coop?”
“I planted a couple motion-activated webcams in his apartment in case he showed up. I got a text alert while we were talking to that receptionist upstairs. It looks like he’s gathering some of his stuff. Let’s see if we can catch him.” She held her hands out for the keys. “And I drive.”
“You think I can’t get us there in a hurry?”
“I’m sure you can. But not fast enough. I can do it faster and in a way that won’t get us killed. Trust me.”
Kendra was remembering that ride on Jessie’s motorcycle that had both terrified her and filled her with admiration. She dropped the keys in Jessie’s palm. “A street race may be in order someday.”
“I don’t believe so.” Jessie jumped into the driver’s seat. “You have a thing about humiliation.”
“Okay, now it’s definitely on the books,” she said as she buckled the safety belt on her passenger seat.
“You’re on. But right now, the only place I’m racing is to Redondo Beach. Get ready to hold on.”
True to Jessie’s word, it was a wild and woolly ride to Redondo Beach. Jessie whipped through a rear alley just in time to block a blue pickup truck roaring through. The truck braked to a screeching stop.
Before Kendra even realized what was happening, Jessie had thrown open her door and was in the alley, staring down the driver. “Dr. Biers. I need to talk to you.”
The man behind the wheel glanced to the rear, as if he might try to back out of the alley.
“No, don’t move,” Jessie said. “I’m here to help you. Dr. Waldridge hired me to find you.”
The man froze. “You know Charles Waldridge?”
Jessie nodded. “I told you, he hired me to find you. He was worried about you.”
Biers moistened his lips. “I heard Charles Waldridge is missing.”
“And you heard right. He hired me before he went missing.”
Biers looked at her doubtfully. He then glanced around as if still planning his escape route.
Kendra climbed out of the car. “Dr. Biers … Do you know who I am?”
He studied her, then nodded. “Kendra Michaels?”
She nodded. “Were you on my medical team?”
“No. I joined Night Watch a couple of years later. But of course I studied you and your case. To meet you under these circumstances is…”
She stepped closer to him. “I’m trying to find Charles. I’m terribly worried about him. We could really use your help.”
“It’s all I can do to help myself.” Biers slumped in his seat. He was in his early forties with a full head of red hair and a matching, close-cropped beard. Kendra was surprised that he didn’t speak with a British accent. Canadian, she guessed, probably near Vancouver. “I’m not good at this running. I knew I was taking a chance by coming back here.”
“We can help you,” Jessie said.
“Help me wind up like Shaw? Or maybe Waldridge?”
Kendra felt a bolt of panic that he’d linked the dead man with Waldridge. “Of course not. We just need to talk to you.”
He glanced around again. “Whatever we do, we can’t stay here. If you found me, so can they.”
“Who’s ‘they?’” Kendra asked.
“Not here.”
“How about my office?” Jessie said. “It’s just a few miles down the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica.”
Biers thought about it and shook his head. “No offense to either of you, but I’d prefer to stay in slightly more public locations right now.”
“No offense taken,” Kendra said. “Name a spot where you’d feel comfortable. We’ll talk there.”
“How about … the Redondo Beach Pier. You can’t get much more public than that.”
Jessie nodded. “Fine. You lead the way.”
*
“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, Dr. Biers?” Jessie asked with her customary bluntness.
Jessie had only waited until she, Kendra, and Biers had staked out a relatively quiet spot toward the end of the pier before she had turned to confront the doctor.
“It’s a long story.”
Jessie shrugged. “It’s why we’re here. Start with where you’ve been.”
“Hiding.”
“That I figured. But where? And why?”
“I’ve been in San Clemente. I was sure I’d been found out here, so I immediately took off. I destroyed the disposable phone I’d been using and left without even going back to my apartment. Then when Waldridge disappeared, and Shaw turned up dead, I knew I’d done the right thing.”
“But you came back anyway,” Kendra said.
“There are some things in my apartment I really wanted to get my hands on. I left with barely the clothes on my back. I broke in through a back window. I thought I could get in and out without anyone’s knowing about it. I really didn’t think anyone would have twenty-four-hour surveillance on that place.”