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CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Jessie felt more like a drug dealer than a law enforcement officer.
She waited on a bench in Pershing Square, a few blocks away from Central Station, for her contact to arrive. It didn’t take long. Within three minutes of her arrival, he showed up and sat down beside her.
“How’s it going, Jessie?” he asked.
“As you know better than most, I’ve been much worse. How about you, Agent Dolan?”
“Getting by,” he said, shrugging.
FBI Agent Jack Dolan seemed to be telling the truth. The last time she’d seen him was several months ago, when they’d worked together on a case that ended in the death of her own serial killer father. By the end of their time together, their mutual animosity had turned into grudging respect.
In the intervening time, Agent Dolan seemed to have turned a corner. She remembered him as a surprisingly paunchy, long-haired, worn-down, hard-drinking cynic who invariably had food stains on his ill-fitting suit.
He still had the bureau-violating long silver hair. But there were no visible stains and he seemed to have lost a considerable amount of weight. He appeared healthy.
“You look good,” she told him. “Still surfing?”
“Most mornings,” he said conspiratorially. “You can probably smell the salt water on me. I cut out the drinking too.”
“Completely?” she asked, stunned as she recalled how he’d downed hard liquor like water.
“I didn’t trust myself to do it any other way,” he admitted.
“How’s it going?” she asked.
“Well, I’m a forty-two-year-old man who drank pretty much every day since I was seventeen, so it’s been challenging. But at least I sleep better. What about you? When I got your call, I did a little catch-up on your status. All your serial killer stalkers are dead so you don’t have twenty-four-hour protection. You’ve assumed guardianship of a frickin’ teenager. You’re dating a detective. It’s almost like you’re domesticated now.”
“How did you know about the dating thing?” Jessie demanded, ignoring her flushing cheeks and all the other stuff he managed to somehow uncover.
“I’m an FBI agent and I’m good at it,” he said. “Did you expect any less?”
Jessie smiled despite herself.
“It’s just a little disconcerting to hear my personal business thrown back at me so casually. We’re trying to keep that last bit quiet, so if you could keep it to yourself?”
Dolan pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key.
“So why are we here?” he finally asked. “You sounded more anxious than usual on the phone.”
Jessie pulled out the envelope and dropped it in his lap. He looked down at it, then back up at her expectantly.
“Long story short,” Jessie began, “I’m investigating the murder of an underage porn actress who may have been an escort on the side. She was stabbed nine times but the folks on the case all seem to want to wrap it up fast and tidy. I’m worried that they have an ulterior motive. So when I found about eighty-five grand in cash hidden in her apartment, I wasn’t entirely confident that I could turn it over and expect it be handled properly. So instead, I’m giving it to you until I know what’s going on.”
“You want the Bureau to take custody of the cash?” he asked.
“No, I want you to hold it. I don’t know who these cops have under their thumbs but it’s clear they have serious reach. If you put this in the system, even at the federal level, I worry it will get back to them. I don’t trust the bureaucracy right now. I trust you.”
Dolan stared at her for a moment, clearly doing some mental calculations involving risk and reward. Finally he cracked a grin.
“I know just where to keep it safe,” he assured her. “You see, there’s this yacht I’ve been looking at…”
“I will kill you, Dolan,” she growled.
“Just kidding,” he said, chuckling. “I have a safe in my office. No one else has the combination. It’ll be good there. But I can only hold it for a little while. If this thing is as messy as you suggest, there could be blowback for me too. So I can give you until the end of business tomorrow. After that, it’s your hot potato again, okay?”
“That’s fair,” she said, standing up. “I better get to the office. I’m already almost an hour late and I am, you know, investigating a murder.”
