Page 39 of The Perfect Deception
He stopped and turned around, just in time to comprehend that he had no time to move.But Jessie did.Without stopping, she reached out with her right arm, grabbed at the front of his shirt, and then yanked him hard to the side.
The force of her action sent them both tumbling to the parking lot asphalt, only a couple of feet to the left of where Golden’s car zoomed by, never even making an attempt to stop.Ryan studied it as it swerved out of the lot and onto the side street.
“You hurt?”Jessie asked.
Ryan shook his head.“No.You?”
“Just my pride.Let’s get up and go after him.”
“We’ll never catch up to him,” Ryan said.“Our car is on the other side of the building.”
“We have to try.”
“That’s okay,” Ryan said, pulling out his phone.“I’m calling it in.We have the car’s make and model and I just memorized the license plate.With any luck Tommy Golden, or whoever he is, will get picked up in a few minutes.”
Jessie hoped he was right
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Ryan was wrong.
Jessie made sure not to betray an "I told you so" face, but she definitely felt the urge.It was three hours later, and they still hadn't found Tommy Golden.It wasn't for a lack of trying.After returning to Central Station, she and Ryan, along with the research team, had pored over every resource at their disposal.Prager was there too, although she was currently sleeping in the break room.
A unit was sent to Golden's apartment moments after the guy peeled out of the Pinnacle parking lot.But there was no sign of him.The unit sat in place for hours, but Golden didn't show up.
Then, just in the last hour, officers had located Golden's car, abandoned in a parking garage at the eastern edge of downtown, not far from Olvera Street, a popular, open air, pedestrian-only street market.Jamil checked all the nearby traffic cameras and was able to track him briefly.But once he entered the market, he disappeared in a sea of Friday morning visitors.Jamil had activated the facial recognition program, but that had come up empty, too.
“It would have been easy for him to steal a hat from a vendor and then keep out of sight,” Hannah noted from her little corner of research.“Whether he’s a killer or not, your guy has clearly had issues with authorities before and knows how to keep a low profile.”
It was a valid point, borne out not only by the fact that they had found no images of him since Olvera Street, but also that they had yet to uncover any of him using Jamil’s national facial recognition search.The whole team was frustrated, but that didn’t stop everyone from turning over every rock.
Ryan was calling other personal training clients, trying to learn more about the guy.Jamil was reviewing the Olvera Street footage again in the hopes of locating Golden, “Where’s Waldo” style.Beth was studying “Tommy’s” online activity, hoping for clues as to his whereabouts.And Hannah was focused on his recent purchases, looking for some kind of smoking gun that could lead to his location.
Watching her sister, lost in concentration as her fingers flew across the keyboard, Jessie was filled with pride, along with a little guilt.She’d been back in L.A.for almost 48 hours now, but because of this case, the two of them still hadn’t had a real chance to catch up.She wanted to know how Hannah was really doing after these difficult few months, especially in light of the attack on Finn and not having her sister around at all.
A call on her cell phone snapped her back into the moment.When she saw who it was, she couldn’t help but wonder if someone had installed a device in her brain that read her thoughts.
“I’ve got to take this.”She stood up and started for the door.“I’ll be right back.”
Only on the fourth ring, when she was halfway down the hallway and out of earshot of research, did she pick up.
“Hold on a moment,” she whispered to the caller.“I just need to find a private spot.”
She located an unoccupied conference room, closed and locked the door, and lowered the blinds.
“Hey Murph, what’s up?”
Murph was U.S.Marshal Patrick “Murph” Murphy.Jessie knew him well.Twice he’d put her in safe houses when she was being stalked by serial killers, one of whom was her own father.After a testy start to their relationship, they’d eventually become friends.Jessie had even invited the man to her wedding to Ryan.That’s why she reached out to him for help with the assignment he was almost certainly calling about.
“What’s up with you?”Murph countered.“I know you said I should call once you returned to town this week, but I wanted to give you a little time to get over the jetlag.Then I turn on my TV and see you on the morning news working a case.I guess you decided to jump in with both feet.”
“It wasn’t my choice,” she assured him.“And considering that I’ve been investigating these murders close to thirty-six hours straight, I’m mostly dead on those feet right now.”
“I can call back later.”
“No.I’ve been wanting an update.Now’s as good a time as any.”Even though the door was locked and the blinds were down, Jessie still lowered her voice.“How’s Finn Anderton doing?”
She needed to keep quiet so no one, especially Hannah, uncovered the truth.Jessie wasn’t proud of her deception, but it was the only way to keep Finn, and therefore Hannah, safe.Though her sister knew that Jessie had arranged for Finn’s 24-hour protection while at the hospital, she wasn’t aware that Jessie had done a lot more than that.
