First step taken.
No hits. No runs. But no errors, either.
She took out her phone and navigated to the American Airlines app.
TWO HOURS LATER
SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
The steward was closing the jetway door, and Kendra unconsciously relaxed as she fastened her seat belt and leaned back in her coach seat. She’d been afraid up to the very last minute that she’d see one of those creeps from earlier today come barreling onto the plane. But it hadn’t happened, and now she only had to find a way to change planes and get to London once she reached Seattle. Yes, even now, the flight attendants were hurrying through the cabin and preparing to take off.
“Excuse me, would you mind if I sit next to you? That nice stewardess is prepared to knock me down if I don’t get out of the aisle.”
Kendra’s gaze flew to the smiling woman standing in the aisle beside her seat. Her eyes widened. “Jessie? Oh, shit!” That last word was said with profound disgust. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’ll take that for a yes.” Jessie squeezed down into the aisle seat beside Kendra. “Though not a very welcoming one.”
“Because you’re not supposed to be here. You weren’t invited.” She sighed. “It had to be Olivia. She was probably on the phone to you the minute I walked out of her condo. But I’m not sure how you found me here. I was deliberately vague about any plans to her. I knew she was upset that she couldn’t come herself.”
Jessie made a face. “It didn’t take much. You told her you’d leave soon and that your destination was London.” She grinned. “I know you pretty well, Kendra. Once you’re committed, you don’t waste any time. I was betting that you’d be on your way to London right away, and since I’m an excellent private investigator, it wasn’t that difficult for me to follow your tracks when you started moving. When a studio hires me to guard one of their superstars, it’s part of the job to stick with them whether they want me or not. You’d be surprised how many contacts I have with airline employees.”
“Nothing about you surprises me,” Kendra said ruefully. “Except the fact that you’re wasting your valuable time doing this when you know that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I can see how you might want to make Olivia feel betterif it just meant following me across town, but this is beyond belief. I think I’m a little insulted.”
“You’ll get over it,” Jessie said cheerfully. “And it’s not only you that I’m worried about. I like Lynch, and he’s helped me out of a few tight spots. I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to return the favor.” She held up her hand as Kendra started to speak. “And Olivia mentioned that after your eye surgery you left London almost immediately, and you aren’t really that familiar with the city. I know it pretty well and I have quite a few contacts there. I spent almost six weeks trailing after Jake Brice when his studio was filming his latest superhero epic there. It was one of those time-travel sci-fi films, and he kept traveling through the centuries. The London locations were great for atmosphere.”
“So you felt it your duty to be my tour guide?”
“Maybe. Or maybe I just don’t like the idea of those assholes who were lying in wait and firing their damn guns at us. Anyway. There’s more than one reason, and you should stop arguing with me. You know we usually have a good time together. You should just relax so we can enjoy the hunt. Okay?”
Kendra didn’t answer for a moment. It was becoming more and more clear to her that this wasn’t just an ordinary hunt. Then she slowly nodded. “You could be very useful to me, and I won’t say no when I don’t know what’s happened to Lynch. As long as you agree to let me call a halt if I don’t like the way things are going.”
“I’ll agree to talk about it.” Jessie drew a deep breath and leaned back in her seat. “I’m glad that’s over. But now that we’re on the same page, I really do have to take over our travelarrangements. London is a long trip. Once we get to Seattle, I’ll see if I can use my miles to get us first class the rest of the way. Now update me on anything I’ve missed. Olivia mentioned a postcard . . . May I see it?”
“What do you mean you’ve lost the bitch?” Vlad Korkil repeated. “I told you to stay with her until you got the information I needed. What kind of an idiot are you, Bremmer?”
“I was about to move in on her at Lynch’s San Diego place, but then the FBI guy showed up,” Bremmer said quickly. “And after that she was never alone.” That sounded weak even to him and he knew Korkil never accepted excuses, but he kept going anyway. “I was planning on breaking into her condo, but then I got a call from the man you’d stationed at the airport. He spotted her, but he couldn’t catch her before she disappeared behind the security line.”
“Unbelievable,” Korkil fumed.
“Don’t worry, I’m on it. We still have our contact at the ARC.”
“The Airlines Reporting Corporation?”
“Yes. She’s just about to land in Seattle, and she’s just been booked on a connecting flight to London Heathrow. She’s heading right for you, Korkil.”
“Interesting.”
“It’s more than that. You’ll have no trouble getting the information you need from the crew at your base in London. I’m surprised you haven’t been able to track it down yet. You told me yourself that sending me here was a crapshoot. But now you can get the information you need directly from them.”
“And what do I pay you for?” Korkil asked sarcastically. “I could do a hell of a lot better job myself, but I’m not letting you off the hook. You’re coming back to London and you’re going to get me every bit of the information I need. I’ll send someone to pick her up at Heathrow, but you and the professor are going to handle the interrogation. You do remember that Dekker has more than one talent? She’s the key to getting me what I need, and you’ll do it or I’ll let the professor have a few painful hours with you instead. Understand?”
“Of course.” Bremmer moistened his lips. “Naturally, I was planning on following up. I’ll text you her arrival information. You won’t be disappointed.”
“I never am,” Korkil said. “Even if I have to wait to get what I want. It just means it causes the idiot who fails me a little more pain. On the way here, you’d better plan on being much more efficient in order to please me.”
“I understand.”
“Good. Or else it won’t only be that Kendra woman who will suffer extreme agony.”
