Her shoulders sagged a fraction. “You have no idea what I do or do not feel for Mark. I’m not even sure, but I do know one thing-that man is not capable of the things you claim. I’m saying that as someone who has been a police officer for ten years and a detective for three.” She opened the door and nodded towards the passenger door. “Get in.”
It took a moment for Jim to register that she didn’t intend to leave him here, and then he jogged to the other side and got in before she changed her mind. “Thanks. I thought I’d have to find a cab.”
Jessica shrugged and started the car. “Well, it’s not like I’m doing it out of the goodness of my heart. I would like nothing more than to leave you here to bake on the pavement, but I want to show you something.”
Jessica gripped the wheel and forced her hands to relax before her fingernails dug into her palms. The thought of the things this man had done to Mark and God knew how many others, made her skin crawl. She glanced at him. There he sat, looking like an accountant, all neat and crisp. Like he never got his hands dirty. “Can I ask you something?” She faced forward and eased the car into traffic.
“Sure. That doesn’t mean I’ll answer.” He sounded weary, but not in the least intimidated. “I hope you don’t mind if I roll the window down. It’s a gorgeous day.”
“Doesn’t it bother you to do these things to other human beings?” She knew it was a bold question and that he would probably deny that what he did was wrong.
Sheridan remained silent for so long, she thought he was going to ignore the question, but then she saw his jaw tighten, and knew that she hit a nerve. Good.
“Believe it or not, I don’t like that part of my job at all. It’s like asking a surgeon if he enjoys amputating a patient’s diseased leg. It’s not pleasant, but sometimes you have to cut away the diseased portion to get healthy again.” He rested his elbow on the windowsill, his hand disappearing above the car. She could hear him drumming his fingers on the roof.
There was another long pause then he said, “There’s nothing I want more than a healthy country. One that isn’t afraid to carry on with business as usual. If I do my job right, the rest of you will be able to live, work and travel without having to worry that the next terrorist plot will tear your world apart.”
She shot back, “I have the same goal for the city of Chicago, and maybe it’s small-scale, but I don’t torture my crime suspects until they confess and point fingers”
Her building was just around the corner and she turned right.
“That’s very admirable, but then I doubt your suspects were trained to withhold or to give false information.”
“Withhold information? Are you serious? One look at Mark’s face would tell you if he’s telling the truth or not. The guy can’t tell a lie if his life depended upon it.” She rolled to a stop in front of her building. “I’ll be right back.”
She wasn’t sure why she needed to show him the camera. For all she knew, the two images of Mark had been a one time thing. Since buying the new roll of film, she had been too afraid to take more pictures. Who knew what might show up? She even wondered why Mark had ever continued using the camera. The fear of what might develop made her mouth go dry every time she thought about trying it again. Some things were better left unknown. Had Mark known he would be shot that time?
“Well, here it is.” She moved the driver’s seat back. “I haven’t used it since that time, but I planned on testing it again.”
“Go ahead if you want, but just to let you know, I have a feeling that those pictures of Taylor are the product of a leak on my team. That’s all it is. I’ll get to the bottom of it and I promise, you’ll see no more of those kinds of photos.”
Jessica ignored him, and instead, loaded the film. It was a bit trickier than she was used to, but after shutting the compartment, she advanced the film to the first frame. She turned to Jim. “Say cheese!”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“What the hell are you doing?” Jim glared at Jessie as she snapped off three photos. Who knew what she would do with the photographs? He wasn’t even supposed to be here.
“Just testing the camera to see if it works like it did before. You saw me load it, now I’m going to run through all the frames.” She advanced the film and thrust the camera at him. “Here. You do the honors. Take pictures of whatever you want. We can go down to the park at the end of the block.”
Jim held the camera with his thumbs and first fingers. “It looks old. I don’t know much about cameras. What if I break it?”
“The thing looks like it’s made it through some rough times, I doubt a few pictures in the park will be the end of it.” Jessie slid her seat forward and started the car, pulling out when it was clear.
“Fine.” He turned the camera over. “Do I just push the button here?” Jim held his finger over one of the gadgets on top of the device.
“Yep.” She eased against the curb, stopping the car. “Here we are. Have at it.”
He sighed and exited the car; he had better things to do than take pictures. Hopefully there weren’t many exposures on the film. Might as well get started. The sooner he used it up, the sooner he could get do some more investigating. He had a few of Taylor’s friends he wanted to chat with before flying back to Charleston in the morning. Lifting the camera, he snapped a picture of Jessie as she came around to his side of the car.
He shot photos of trees, the slide, a swing, and even a butterfly that landed on a bench. Jim didn’t want to admit it, but it was kind of fun to try and find something to photograph. The goal was to simply take random pictures just to use up all the frames, but he couldn’t help trying to find interesting subjects. It seemed like such a waste to just point the lens anywhere and click the shutter button.
Jessie followed him, making suggestions, and when she mentioned taking a picture of a wildflower poking through the slats of a boardwalk surrounding the play area, he tried to suppress a grin. If the guys on his team could see him now, lying on his belly trying to get a good picture of a flower.
In fifteen minutes, he had used all the frames and handed the camera back to Jessie. “Well, that was fun,” he said, his voice dry.
She raised an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth quirking. “I think you need to get out more. It seems like you have a natural eye.”
Jim felt his face heat up. “I think you’ll discover differently when the pictures come back. They probably aren’t even in focus.” He sat on a bench, leaning forward with his hands loosely clasped, absently watching a couple of little boys have a sword fight with sticks.
Jessie sat beside him and rewound the film, taking it out when it was complete. She made a show of holding it up for him to see and putting it in the canister. Jim shook his head and hid a smile. Maybe he would buy a decent camera and learn how to use it. It had been fun.
He stood and twisted, getting a kink out of his back. “Now what?”
Jessie handed him the canister. “There. You keep it. I wouldn’t want you thinking I switched rolls somewhere. Maintain the chain of evidence and all.”
Jim rolled his eyes, but took the film. “Fine.”
“Now, we get it developed. I know a place that should be able to do it in a few hours.”
After dropping off the film, Jessie took him back to his hotel and agreed to pick him up after she got off work. They’d go together to get the prints. In his room, he dug out the numbers of Taylor’s friends and tried calling them. None were home, and he left a short message, saying he would get back to them later that day. Then, with nothing to do, he stretched out for a nap. It had been a long day already.
Jessie tapped on the glass counter. Jim felt a surge of apprehension and shook it off. Her nervousness was
