Page 53 of Teach Me
“He brought the complete file on Jess’s case to me. After I already knew it, of course, but he was up-front about it, and nothing was missing when he handed it over. I’m inclined to think it’s not him. Not that I’d leave it to chance, which is why I picked through Patrick’s personal history last night too. He’s clean—and thorough, unlike the kid that handled Wellsley’s case. Which reminds me…” Jack hesitated, then continued. “I did a search through the Georgia Missing Person’s Database and came up with two possible matches, Jane Does that were never claimed. I have appointments this afternoon to meet with a couple of detectives farther south about them. I think it’s a good possibility one might be her.”
Con rubbed a rough hand down his face and back up, stopping to press against the pain throbbing between his eyes. “You think she’s dead.”
Jack’s voice was quiet but certain. “Yes, I do. I just happened into some records from the Holbrooke family lawyers, Johnson, Grady, and Morrone.”
Con grunted. “How?” Greedy lawyers had more protections on their files than the cops ever even thought about.
“Don’t ask. Seems they’ve written more than one nondisclosure agreement over the last few years, all accompanied by large checks, all to young women in questionable entertainment-industry positions. Each woman had recent medical bills at the time of the agreements, one in particular with damage to her throat. Jess has scars on her throat, doesn’t she?”
Con closed his eyes against the picture of the faint lines crisscrossing the delicate skin of Jess’s neck. She’d never mentioned them, and he didn’t ask. They looked as if something thin, a necklace maybe, had been used to choke her.
“Con?”
“Yeah.” He cleared the tight pain from his throat, then said it again. “Yes, she does.”
He could hear the jiggle of the phone as Jack nodded, but his friend didn’t pursue the subject. “I’m sending a couple of people out to do interviews, see what we can find, but it’s possible Brit got too rough with his ‘play’ and had to pay out hush money.”
So he’d been practicing. Or possibly taking his aggression out on other women while he lured his more important victims, Rebecca Wellsley and Jess, in. With sick certainty Conlan realized it was probably her innocent reluctance that had attracted Holbrooke to Jess in the first place, and possibly to his fiancée as well. A willing partner would’ve been no fun for this man.
“Jack—”
“I know.”
He did. They saw things like this quite a bit in their business, but it was different, so different when it involved someone you cared about. Someone you loved.
Jack cleared his throat. “One last thing. I managed to get access to one of the cameras in Jess’s apartment. It remote links to an outside server to download footage and then erases its memory. I tagged it, and the server went live last night, just long enough to download the last of the footage and terminate the link. I was able to piggyback the download. Con, he was in her apartment.”
“Of course he was. The bugs…”
“No, not just to place cameras. While she was there. Sleeping. Showering. There’s also footage of him working on her computer, and I’d be willing to bet her cell phone is also implanted with a tracker.”
The images Jack painted made Con feel sick. “The police have it. It’s not here. None of her electronics are here.”
Keep talking. Keep talking.If he didn’t, he was likely to do something he’d regret later, like punch the helpless tree he leaned against. He didn’t want Jess seeing him with bruised and bloodied hands.
“I figured.” Jack sighed heavily. “This fucker’s not playing around, Con. Most likely he’s just biding his time. His resources are close to unlimited, his access to technology too, even on the run. Be careful.”
“I will. We’ll be fine here.” They would; he’d made sure of it, no matter what the hair on the back of his neck said. “I’m keeping her under wraps until this thing is settled.”
“And if it isn’t?”
The words blazoned on Jess’s bedroom wall floated through his mind.My fucking mouse.“It will be. He wants to finish this too much to disappear without her.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Jack admitted.
Chapter Twenty
Jess stepped into the living room, gaze transfixed by the wall of glass that encompassed the entire back side of the open space. She hadn’t left the bedroom yesterday; heck, Conlan had hardly let her leave the bed to use the bathroom, he’d been so worried over her injuries. Now she was finally getting her first glimpse of Conlan’s house in full daylight, and it was amazing. Spacious. Beautiful. The cool greens and grays and browns of the living room made her feel like she was already standing outdoors. And the dappled shade of the deck made her itch to grab a book, to sit out in the cool dimness and lose herself in another world.
“Over here, Jess.”
She turned toward the sun-filled kitchen, and there was Conlan, lean hips resting against a sleek granite countertop. The way his legs were crossed at the feet bunched the material of his jeans just right in the crotch. It took a moment to pull her gaze up from that bulge to notice the two coffee cups he held…and his smirk.
“I hope one of those is for me,” she said as she walked over.
Con’s smirk widened. “Of course.”
When she would have taken one of the cups, he moved it just out of reach and leaned in, nuzzling her cheek before settling a quick coffee-flavored kiss on her lips. “Good morning.”
