Page 8 of The Perfect Obsession
“This is real?”he finally asked.
“It’s very real,” Jessie assured him, “which is why we need to know where you were last night between 10 PM and midnight.”
Jordy Sheffield sat quietly for a moment, taking in what they’d told him.After several seconds, he swallowed hard and shook his head, as if trying to force his brain out of standby mode.
“Um, okay.Okay.Give me a second.Yesterday was what?”
“Monday,” she reminded him.
“Monday, last night.”He appeared to search his memory.“Oh yeah.I was at my girlfriend’s place.She lives in West Hollywood.We ordered in.Thai food.Then we watchedLove Island.”
“We’ll need to speak to her,” Ryan said.“We’ll also want the name of the restaurant you ordered from, the login data from your girlfriend’s streaming account, and access to the location data on your phone.I assume none of that will be a problem for you?”
“You really consider me a suspect?”he asked incredulously.
“We consider you a person of interest,” Ryan told him.“Whether you are elevated to the status of ‘suspect’ is dependent on whether your story holds up.Hanging out with your girlfriend isn’t the strongest alibi of all time.But if we can verify it through other means, that will go a long way to helping you.So start writing everything down: your girlfriend’s contact info, restaurant details, and authorization to access your phone location data.The sooner you share all that, the less likely you are to lose this job.”
Jessie stayed quiet.Ryan was giving Sheffield the impression that he couldn’t refuse any of these demands.Technically, he could.But he seemed on the verge of caving, and she wasn’t about to advise him against it.
The truth was that, if his alibi proved even moderately credible, she thought they’d have to move on.Not because he struck her as a good guy who would never hurt his ex.But rather for the opposite reason.
As Caroline’s assistant had said, it was clear that Jordy was a petty, childish narcissist who was dependent on his ex-wife’s money to support him when his acting work didn’t.It wouldn’t make sense for him to kill her.She was his meal ticket.With her dead, he’d be out in the cold.Of course, it was possible that he acted out in a moment of passion and forgot what he’d be losing if Caroline died.But Jessie doubted it.Jordy Sheffield was too selfish to forget about the money.
Even as he wrote out everything that Ryan had asked for, Jessie turned her mind elsewhere.As far as she was concerned, the real killer was still out there.And it was her obligation to find them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kat tried not to be too obvious.
As she and Hannah made their way through Grand Central Market, she kept giving sidelong glances at her much younger temporary roommate, checking on how she was managing being out in the world after a month of isolation.She seemed to be okay so far.
The market was a giant collection of indoor and outdoor food vendors in the heart of downtown.It was always crowded at this hour in the early afternoon, which was one of the reasons Kat had chosen it.The other was that it was within walking distance of both her office and apartment.
She wanted a busy place to meet with her potential new client because of the nature of the case.Wren Rivera wasn’t just a new client; she was also an old friend.They’d served together in Afghanistan, where Kat was an Army Ranger and Wren was a medic.
In fact, Wren was among the first to help treat Kat after her Humvee hit an IED and killed nearly everyone else in the vehicle.The explosion left her with multiple injuries.Wren and the medical team had done a good job patching her up.But neither they nor the doctors back home could do much about the lasting visual remnants of the incident, specifically her multiple facial burn marks and the long scar that ran vertically down her left cheek from just below her eye.
They’d stayed in touch and, since they lived in the same city, met up occasionally for a bite and catch-up session.But this was different.Wren had called her out of the blue yesterday, claiming she thought she was being stalked.
She said that over the last week, she’d noticed a man trailing her as she went to work, when she went to lunch, and after she left for the day.She said he seemed to wear disguises, but she still recognized him because of a distinctive mole on his cheek and the odd, shuffling way he walked.
Kat had agreed to meet with her, but not at the office.She worried that if this was legitimate and the stalker saw Wren visiting a private detective’s office, it might either prompt him to do something drastic or make him fade into the woodwork for a while, making him harder to identify.
That’s why she had instructed Wren to follow specific instructions when they met up.She had her friend get into a rideshare as soon as she left her office, then have it take her to nearby Union Station.She was to get out at one end and walk through the crowded train station to the exit for taxis, where she would hop into one and have it take her here, to this crowded market.
She told Wren to weave in and out of the foot traffic until she got to a specific restroom, where they’d be waiting for her.That’s where she and Hannah were headed now.She looked at her watch.It was 1:27.They were supposed to meet Wren in the restroom around 1:30, and it appeared they would arrive a bit early.
“How are you doing?”Kat asked Hannah.
“So far, so good,” she replied drily.“No sign of Ash Pierce yet, so that’s a plus.”
Kat smiled at her.She knew the kid was naming the hitwoman as a way of diminishing the hold she had on her.Dark humor was a treasured resource in circumstances like these.
“Considering that Pierce doesn’t know where I live or work and that we’re currently in one of the most crowded spots downtown, I feel like we’re in good shape.”
Hannah nodded, though she didn’t look totally convinced.They set that topic aside as they reached the restroom.There was a small line, which Kat ignored.She wasn’t here to use the facilities.
“Hey,” someone objected as she and Hannah breezed by, but she paid her no mind.
