Page 15 of Fatal Betrayal

"Did you speak to Michelle?" Andi asked. "Can she verify your story?"

"Yes. We spoke for twenty minutes and then I left. Are we done?"

"For now," Andi said. "But I want to show you something first." She pulled out her phone and opened an image, turning it around so Jillian could look at the picture of a smiling, happy Elisa. "This is whose life is at stake."

Jillian caught her breath and shook her head. "I hope she's all right. I really do. I don't like Neil, but I wouldn't wish this on him or anyone." Jillian turned and walked toward the lobby doors.

"Do you believe her?" he asked Andi.

"Let's see where she's going," Andi said as they followed Jillian.

When they left the building, they saw Jillian run down to the curb, her phone in her hand. A moment later, a rideshare car picked her up.

Andi jotted the license plate onto her phone.

"You're going to track her?" he asked in surprise.

"Absolutely."

"It sounds like she was at Michelle Friedman's house."

"That might be true, but she was lying about something. She tried to run away from us. That's not the sign of an innocent person." She punched in a number on her phone, then said, "Savannah, Jillian Markham was picked up by a rideshare in front of her office building a few minutes ago." Andi rattled off the name of the company, the license plate, and the address. "I need to know where she's going." Andi waited, once again tapping her foot impatiently on the sidewalk.

"This could be a waste of time," he told her. "There are several other people you should follow up on. Why are we spending so much time on this one woman?"

She put up a hand as she listened to the agent on the other end of the line. "Got it. Thanks." She ended the call. "Jillian was just dropped off at a café a few miles from here." She walked briskly toward the car. "I'd like to see who she's meeting."

"All right. But I'm going with you. You can consider me backup."

She gave him a bitter smile. "There's no way I would ever count on you to back me up."

His smile was just as bitter. "I'm still going with you."

"I don't have time to argue," she said, as they got in the car.

Within minutes, they were on their way to the Stella Café in Century City. They parked and then hurried into the restaurant. The café had a busy counter, with a line winding through the restaurant and most of the tables filled, but at a small table in the corner was Jillian Markham.

Andi stopped so short, he almost ran into her. Jillian wasn't alone. She was with Neil Benedict.

CHAPTERFOUR

Andi was shockedto see Neil with Jillian. After everything she'd heard about their relationship, she would have thought that Jillian would be the last person Neil would want to see. Unless this was about ransom…

Maybe Jillian was connected to the kidnapping, and Neil, like some other parents she'd worked with in the past, had taken matters into his own hands.

"Did you see that coming?" Cooper murmured in her ear.

She wished she could say she had, but he'd know that was a lie. "Let's see what these two are talking about," she said, striding forward.

Neil jumped to his feet as soon as he saw them approach. Jillian looked guilty and probably would have run again if she wasn't trapped between the table and the wall.

"What's going on?" Andi asked Neil. "What are you doing here, Mr. Benedict?"

"I came to talk to Jillian," he said. "Has something happened? Were you looking for me?"

"No. I wanted to see who Jillian was meeting. I'm surprised it's you. It's my understanding that the two of you don't like each other," she said. "So, why would you leave your terrified wife to meet with a woman who holds you responsible for not doing something about your partner harassing her?"

Neil's gaze turned wary. "How do you know about that?"

---