In the end, Salvatore never showed. And when the media lost interest, and the chaos died down, that left him with a slick black Lincoln Town Car to follow. He tailed the vehicle from the jail toward downtown. The car service hit a freeway entrance ramp, and he maintained his distance and followed the vehicle as planned.
It wasn’t until the Town Car drove into O’Hare Airport that he wondered what was going on. With the kid out on bail, he had no business leaving town, but maybe he was picking someone up. Finally, the car pulled over to the curb designated for arrivals and parked. Luis did the same, pretending to be waiting to pick up a passenger. But when the driver looked as if he would go inside the terminal, he got out of his car prepared with a lie.
“I could use your service. Are you free to drive me downtown, man?”
“No, sir. I’m here to pick up a fare.”
“Then can I have one of your cards. I’d like to hire your service the next time I’m in town.” While the man fished out his business card from his pocket, Luis smiled and opened the rear door to the Town Car. “You have drinks back here. Hey, real nice.”
The driver didn’t make a fuss for good reason. The backseat was empty. He barely heard the man reply to his question on alcohol. Back at county jail, he’d been duped. Seth Harper must have gotten out another way.
When the driver gave him a card, he forced a nod, and said, “Thanks, man. Appreciate it. I’ll let you get back to work.”
Lighting up another cigarette, he wondered what he would say to his client about his screwup until he realized the man had promised a bonus if he got an address. He wouldn’t have to admit that the kid gave him the slip. And he knew where to pick up his trail. With a little research, he’d have a way to cross Seth Harper’s path again.
And this time, he wouldn’t underestimate the kid.
Off Stevenson Expressway
I–55 at dusk
Jess had a healthy respect for the power of money even though her experience hadn’t been firsthand.
She knew by the calls to her cell phone that Harper had made bail, helped by his wealthy friend and benefactor, Anthony Salvatore. Since his release, Seth had left several messages. She’d let them all roll into voice mail, afraid her emotions would flip the switch on her mouth and set it to autopilot. She wasn’t mentally prepared to see him. Wiping the slate clean on their friendship wouldn’t be enough. She knew they’d have to rebuild and redefine their connection or his betrayal would never be far from the surface.
Yet despite being royally pissed at him for lying to her and keeping her at arm’s length, she grew antsy sitting around feeling sorry for herself. Moping wasn’t in her nature. And she couldn’t get into the distraction of a new bail- jumping case, not when things with Seth were dangling. She wasn’t wired that way either.
And she had the home address and work location for Mandy’s so-called boyfriend, Jason Burke, burning a hole in her pocket. The guy worked an hourly job as a subcontractor doing construction and repair jobs. But, given the fact his assignments varied, he could be anywhere. And this time of day, she figured her best shot was finding him at home.
It might be quitting time for Burke, but for her the day was just kicking into high gear.
Jess drove west on I–55, the Adlai E. Stevenson Expressway, not far from her apartment by Chicago standards. Burke lived off 79th Street and Roberts Road under the shadow of I–294, the Tri-State Tollway. His noisy piece of the urban jungle was a redbrick building faded by the sun and surrounded by a cracked, uneven sidewalk with a weed-choked patch of grass in front.
There was only one good thing about his place. It made her dump look upscale.
She parked the blue van around the corner on a side street and walked on the buckling sidewalk to the front entrance of the building. But when she got to a breezeway lined with mailboxes that led into an interior courtyard, she stopped cold. In the shadows, a woman wearing jeans and a stylish gray jacket leaned a shoulder against a brick wall with arms crossed, shaking her head with a half smirk.
“Do you consider meeting like this a good thing…or bad?” the blonde asked.
Jess stared into the face of Alexa Marlowe, a mysterious woman she never thought she’d see again. Not in this lifetime. To cross paths with a woman like her, once had been quite enough. Although Alexa had saved her life months earlier, she guarded her secrets and generally traveled with bad news on her heels—reminding Jess of a vulture. Sooner or later, picking bones clean would be the order of the day. And the woman had a habit of turning up with disaster not far behind.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Alexa raised an eyebrow. “Bad, it is.”
Jess shrugged. “Chatting over old times won’t get us very far. And a trip down memory lane would only give me nightmares. Why are you here?”
She prided herself on being able to roll with the hefty punches that life doled out, but Alexa’s appearance had really taken her by surprise.
“I heard about your friend Seth Harper and I…” the woman hesitated. “I came to help.”
Jess narrowed her eyes, content to let the silence build between them. If she’d been the one in trouble, she might have refused the woman’s help, preferring to go it alone. But this was about Harper.
“You flew here—from wherever—to help Harper? Gee, I didn’t know you two were so close.” She matched Alexa’s stance with arms crossed. “You don’t strike me as the charitable type. At least, not without something in it for you. What’s your agenda?”
“I saved your life. Don’t I get the benefit of a doubt?” Alexa walked toward her.
Jess couldn’t see any ulterior motive for Alexa wanting to help Seth, but she also found it hard to trust the woman blindly. And just because she couldn’t connect the dots, that didn’t mean the connection wasn’t there.
“Saving my life earns you a Hallmark card. Send me your address.” She cocked her head, deciding to shift gears. “Are you tailing me, or did you find this address on your own?”
With old habits hard to break, Jess was careful not to mention Burke’s name, in case Alexa was fishing for information she didn’t already have. Jess knew she was being paranoid, but by not answering her questions, Alexa was playing it cagey, too.
“Look, I can see why you’d be leery of my interest, but this isn’t about you and me. It’s about your friend.” Alexa laid it on thick, filling her voice with compassion.
She knew Jessie would be a tough sell, but she needed to break down the bounty hunter’s barriers if she was going to recruit her for Garrett. Sure, she had an agenda, but what Jessie didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt her…for now.
“And in the interest of full disclosure, the guy who lives here is named Jason Burke. He’s the boyfriend to the murder victim. My employer would like to help your friend Harper, so I’m on loan.”
“And what business would that be? I remember you saying something before about working for an alliance. I figured a group of rich vigilantes,” Jessie speculated. “Who’s your employer?”
“I can’t exactly say…just yet.”
“So much for full disclosure.”
The bounty hunter tried to walk by her, but she reached out a hand. Knowing what she did of the woman, she suspected the straight-up truth would be the only way to go, but she’d have to tread a thin line to give what she could.
“My boss is Garrett Wheeler. He’d like to meet you, but in the meantime, he’s authorized me to look into Seth’s case.”
“For what reason? He doesn’t know Seth. And why does he want to meet me?”
Alexa knew Jessie wouldn’t give an inch without more of the truth, the sanitized version of it.
“Truth is, he figures that if he can help Seth, you might be grateful enough to at least listen to what he has to say. He’s interested in hiring you, to work with…me. With us.”
Jessie chuckled under her breath and turned to face her. The evening shadows closed in, fringed by the dim glow of streetlights in front of Burke’s apartment building.
“I’m not sure I even like you. What makes you think we can work together?” The bounty hunter didn’t pull her punches. Yet despite their differences, Alexa admired Jessie and her head-on approach to trouble. Garrett had seen potential in recruiting the bounty hunter, and so did she.
“Because we want the same thing.” She locked her gaze on Jessie. “You’ve been going it alone, picking your
