Page 37 of The Perfect Betrayal

“That means he’s got something worth hearing.”

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Jessie tried not to jump to conclusions.

For a half hour now, she'd been sitting on a bench next to the Strand walking and biking path, which touched Burnout Beach. She glanced at her phone. It was 8:15, and the sun had completely set over ten minutes ago. Why wasn't Dawson here?

She zipped up her jacket. Even though it wasn’t that cold, the ocean wind down here was biting. Riddell, standing about seventy-five yards away, was better off. He was leaning against the wall of a beach restroom that afforded him at least some protection from the wind.

Jessie was starting to give up hope when someone biking on the Strand came to a stop not far from her. She was about to tell them to move on, not wanting to spook Dawson, when she realized that’s exactly who it was.

He was wearing a helmet and, inexplicably, sunglasses at night. He got off the bike and appeared to fiddle with one of the pedals. Jessie glanced over at Riddell and gave him a half-wave to indicate that he should come over.

“Don’t look at me while we talk,” Dawson said anxiously, his back turned away from her.

“Okay,” Jessie agreed, “just give my partner a second to come over.”

As Riddell approached, Jessie stood up and walked a few steps toward him.

“Come over here, honey,” she said. “You’ve got to see how moonlight glints off the crashing waves.”

As unpleasant as the prospect was, she reached out to take the detective’s hand, then pulled him close, wrapping his arm around her waist as she leaned in close to him.

"Dawson's on the bike," she said quietly, as if she was whispering a sweet nothing in her lover's ear. "He's still squirrelly, so don't acknowledge him. Let's just admire the ocean like a lovestruck couple."

“If you wanted to get me close to you like this,” Riddell said. “You could have just asked instead of coming up with this elaborate scenario.”

“If you try anything,” she murmured back, “I will break your fingers and dislocate your kneecap, got it?”

“Yes, love,” he replied.

She was glad that her brain—and her bite—were back at full strength again. Now, if she could just get through this case without killing anyone, including her partner, she'd be set.

“So why all the cloak and dagger stuff, Mark?” she asked Dawson while she continued to look straight ahead.

"Because those guys from the yacht club have eyes everywhere," he said as he switched his attention to the other pedal. "I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure they had an investigator sneak into my apartment to check my laptop once. They're paranoid."

“Is this because of the harassment suit you filed?” Jessie asked.

Even though she wasn’t looking directly at him, she could see the guy stiffen out of the corner of her eye.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you found out about that,” he said. “And the answer is yes. I think they’re worried about me breaking the NDA they had me sign as part of the settlement we reached.”

“What are they so worried about you revealing?” Riddell asked, as if the NDA didn’t exist.

“Before I tell you anything,” Dawson said, bending over to study one of the spokes on the bike’s front tire, “I need to know that you’ll have my back.”

“Don’t worry,” Jessie assured him. “That NDA won’t hold up if you’re revealing details of impropriety on their part.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Dawson said, sounding mildly offended. “my days of keeping my mouth shut for those bastards are over. I just want to make sure that I won’t get arrested for anything I tell you.”

“You’ll be fine,” Riddell said way too quickly.

Jessie grimaced at that. They weren't Dawson's lawyers and, as such, were under no obligation to give him accurate legal advice. But depending on what he said, Jessie needed this guy to be willing to say the same things in court. Deceiving him now risked alienating him and making him clam up.

“Actually, Mark,” she said. “Your legal culpability depends on what you’ve done. If you participated in a crime, we can’t promise that you’ll get out of this unscathed. It depends on how serious your actions were. What Icanpromise is that your assistance in solving two murders could mitigate whatever consequences you’d have to pay. In that situation, we’d definitely go to bat for you.”

Dawson was quiet, seeming to weigh what she’d said.

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