Page 17 of Wild Escape

She tapped a few keys. “He's currently with a passenger."

"Tell you what, send him to me next.”

"What's this about? Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"No. I just need to ask him a few questions about his passenger. You don't have passenger data for that fare, do you?"

"No, this was a street pickup. Not a call in."

I thanked her, and she told me she would send Raj our way.

10

Raj pulled to the curb in front of the Conch Cantina. JD and I climbed into the back.

"Where to?" Raj asked.

I flashed my badge. "We just have a few questions for you.”

Concern filled his eyes.

I stared him down in the rearview.

"Is there some kind of problem?" Raj asked, looking uncomfortable.

Most people get nervous around cops. It’s not unusual.

Raj was late 20s with dark hair, dark eyes, and a slender frame.

"You picked up a girl Friday night around 10:30 PM on Oyster Avenue. Where did you take her?"

He shrugged. "I pick up a lot of people.”

"I think you’d remember this girl. She was half naked. Blonde. Cute.”

He smiled. "Oh yeah, I remember her.”

There was an awkward silence.

I asked again, "Where did you take her?”

"To campus. She was in some sorority.”

"Did anything unusual happen along the way?"

"Well, it's pretty unusual for a girl to get in my cab in her underwear. But I’ve seen some pretty crazy shit. She was blindfolded, I think."

"What was her condition at the time?”

"What do you mean?”

"I mean, was she drunk, sober, scared?”

“I think she was a little unsettled. Who wouldn't be in that situation?”

"And she was alive and well when you dropped her off?"

His brow wrinkled with confusion. "Would she be in any other condition?”