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Kendra didn’t know how much more of this she could take. “The most important questions I need to ask concern what you believe this Alpha would do about his promise to Barrett about getting rid of Tricia Walton for him. Barrett is dead, and so is Spalman. Would he just forget about any revenge against Tricia?”
Jackie was silent. “I’m not sure. Let me think about it.”
“I need an answer, Jackie. Everything you’ve said about this creep screams that you’re pretty damn sure which way he’d jump. I believe you even admire the son of a bitch.”
“Not exactly. But you’re right, I do feel as if I know him. I just think that he’d be an enormous challenge.”
“Tell me if Tricia is going to be safe.”
Jackie still hesitated. “I told you it would only be guesswork.” Then she said in a rush, “Why should she be safe? This Alpha put in a hell of a lot of time and effort with Barrett and Spalman using her as bait to get what he wanted. It doesn’t really matter if he won’t get a payoff from them now. He’d have the satisfaction of completing what he started. That would still make it a win in his book.”
“You believe he’ll go after her,” Kendra said flatly.
“I’m saying that he wouldn’t see why he shouldn’t. I don’t think he can bear to lose, and he doesn’t care about moving people out of his way.” She added, “He killed Barrett, too, didn’t he? He was balancing and pitting them against each other to get that Walton girl. Maybe he decided Barrett wasn’t worth his trouble any longer.”
“That’s a possibility.”
“Selfish bastard,” she swore beneath her breath. “Barrett was going to bemine. He should have left him alone.”
An opportunity seemed to be presenting itself. “You’re sure you don’t know who he is?”
“I told you I didn’t,” Jackie said curtly. “Now I’ve answered your questions and I’m going to hang up. I kept my word and you can keep yours. I don’t want to hear from you or any of your FBI buddies again.” She ended the call.
Kendra hadn’t even put down her phone when she received a call from Lynch. “Griffin was more cooperative than I hoped,” he said when she picked up. “He gave us until the end of the week before he cuts the surveillance for Tricia.”
“That might not be enough time,” she said. “We might have to go back and work on him. Jackie said she believes that Tricia is going to be a target.”
“You think she’s right?”
“Jackie thinks she is, and she appears to be familiar with this breed of tarantula.” She thought about it. “More than familiar. She could almost tell me what he was thinking. She said she had no idea who this Alpha was, but I was beginning to have a few doubts about that by the end of the conversation. She was clearly putting together the details of the entire scenario by the time she tried to get rid of me.” Kendra was going over the conversation in her mind. “It might be a good idea for me to call her back. Though she obviously had no desire to talk to me again.”
“I could call her,” Lynch said. “Or I could drop by her apartment if you’re that uneasy.”
“No, I’ll do it. I’m not exactly uneasy, I just want to know why she was in such a sudden hurry to get rid of me. I’ll call you back.”
Kendra hesitated, gazing down at her phone after she’d pressed the disconnect. She wasn’t certain that she’d told Lynch the truth. Shewasexperiencing a faint uneasiness about Jackie’s response to the story she’d put together that bridged Barrett to David Spalman and ended with the same mysterious monster hovering over both of them.
Because the moment Kendra had invited Jackie Gabert into that scenario was the moment she had opened it to whatever Jackie chose to do. What if she hadn’t been telling the truth about not knowing who the murderer was who had tormented Spalman?
Barrett was going to be mine. He should have left him alone.
Her tone as she’d said those last words had been angry and bitter…andintimate.
Dear God, and very, very familiar.
Kendra felt a bolt of pure panic as the ramification of what that might mean hit home to her. She quickly dialed Jackie’s number.
Voicemail.
She tried again.
After a minute, she tried once more.
Still no answer.
She called Lynch, and he answered immediately. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been trying to call Jackie, and she’s not answering her phone.” She grabbed her jacket and headed out the door. “I don’t like it. It could mean she just doesn’t want to talk to me. Or it could mean she knows the Alpha and she’s making a move. Meet me there.”
