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He nodded. “Milo.” He went on, “And some weird cult that both he and Jackie Gabert might belong to.”
“You’ve got it.”
“No, I haven’t,” he said flatly. “I didn’t run across either one when I was questioning everyone in Gabert’s life. No Milo. None of her acquaintances knew anything about a Milo she might have had a relationship with. This domination cult might exist, but no one identifies it as a cult, and they don’t talk about it if you ask them.”
“How far back did you go?”
“Reagan High School. I thought grade school would be a bit ridiculous.” He added sarcastically, “Do you want me to go back to kindergarten? Say the word.”
“We’ll discuss it later. But you must have gotten to know Jackie pretty well while you were compiling this tome. Neither of us wants to sit here while I read over this complete report. Why don’t you tell me in your own words about Jackie Gabert?”
“Starting at what point?”
“Since you don’t have kindergarten, start at high school.”
He grimaced. “That was a fairly smart-ass remark. Sorry.”
“I’ll forgive you. If you start talking, Wendell.”
He grinned. “Actually, Jackie was an interesting subject in a lot of ways. Her mother was a corporate lawyer and her father a college professor, neither of whom evidently had much use for a child. She spent most of her younger years at boarding schools. Her parents divorced when she was fifteen and her mother received custody. Evidently money was tight then and she put Jackie in public school. She was smart and her grades were excellent, but she became something of a rebel and experimented with drugs, sex, and whatever else she could find that intrigued her.”
“Cult activity?”
“No, but she did display a dislike for restraint and was picked up by the police on several minor infractions.”
“Domination tendencies?”
He nodded. “Jackie was something of a bully. She wasn’t well liked by the other students. But whenever she got into trouble with her peers, she managed to finesse her way out. Like I said, she was smart. She also kept her grades up and was able to get a scholarship to UCLA. She’d evidently matured a little by then and shed some of her more annoying faults. She joined several clubs, began to take communication classes, and got a job waiting tables so that she could backpack all over Europe. By the time she graduated from the university she had a 3.9 GPA and had already had eight freelance articles accepted in major magazines. She’s had several love affairs that we could track over the years.” He met Kendra’s eyes. “Yes, they seemed entirely normal and intelligent and didn’t have any bad feelings toward Jackie. They laughed when I mentioned a possible cult.”
“But that could be a natural reaction if she managed to end up as the Alpha figure. She might retain the control.”
“You’re reaching.”
“I’m looking for answers.” She looked down at the report. “And I’m getting frustrated. No Milo. Nothing else that appears abnormal until she encountered Barrett. Where did she meet Milo? That wasn’t a casual relationship she had with Milo. He had an effect on her.”
“Then you’re wrong,” Wendell said. “No long-term or short-term relationship with anyone other than the men I interviewed.”
“Therehadto be one.” She was still going over the report.
“If what you say is true, it wasn’t one of her college lovers or one of the men she met later. Yet it was definitely a man she spent time with, who was an important Alpha in her life.”
“You’re wasting your time,” Wendell said flatly. “I did a good job. You can see that by the reports.”
“Yes,” she said absently, “you built the scenario year by year. Anyone can follow it and see the people in her life and the changes as she moved from stage to stage.” She stiffened as something hit home. “The changes!” She took out her phone and quickly started copying texts from the report.
Wendell was frowning. “What the hell!”
“It’s okay,” Kendra said. “I may have found what I need.” She jumped to her feet. “I’ve got to go follow up. You’ve been very helpful. Thank you.”
She was calling Lynch as she walked down the hall to the office they’d given her. “Lynch, you know all kinds of hotshot detectives with Interpol, I want you to choose one and tell him he has to help me with information when I call him this afternoon.”
“Interpol? What are you up to?”
“I’m trying to find Milo. I checked Jackie’s history on the FBI record and the detective can’t determine any Milo in Jackie’s life here in the U.S. I was getting very frustrated until I went through the report, and I noticed that during her college years she’d gone backpacking in Europe several times. I have dates, locations, length of stay. And after each visit when she returned there were subtle changes in her actions and behavior.” She paused. “Almost as if she’d been groomed…tutored. So maybe Milo isn’t American. Or if he is, he was in Europe at the same time as Jackie. Probably by design. And if he had that much influence on her, I’d bet he was her Alpha. Perhaps the first one who introduced her to the domination game.”
Lynch was silent. Then he gave a low whistle. “Could be. You’d know better than I. It’s obvious you’ve been studying the possibilities.” He suddenly chuckled. “Did you get around to scanning those FBI personnel records?”
“Of course. But finding Milo seemed more important. I’ll get back to it later.”
