Blink of an Eye

by Roy Johansen

  “Thanks, Parks. Twenty minutes.” She cut the connection.

  * * *

  Library

  Dee’s Mansion

  “I told you that you weren’t going to find anything.” Parks turned off the last video. “Just Dee being Dee. Kidding all the staff. Cracking jokes. Rushing from one appointment to another. None of those videos caught any strangers or anything that wasn’t normal to the household.” He made a face. “If your household comprised a bunch of teenagers and twenty-something fans whom Dee treated like family instead of employees. Between the blaring music and the arguing about what was best for Dee, it always surprised me that they managed to get any work done.”

  Jessie knew what he meant. Dee had a large staff: housekeepers, gardeners, drivers, hair and makeup artists, chef, maintenance workers. Probably more than that since Jessie had been here. She shrugged. “You know how estranged she was from her own family. Was it any wonder she wanted to gather a new family around her to push away the loneliness? Besides, they all loved Dee. Most of them were smart and savvy, and if anyone stepped out of line, the other members of the staff found a way to discipline them for it.” Her gaze was suddenly narrowed on his face. “At least, that’s the way I always found it. Did you run across any employees who caused Dee any problems?”

  He shook his head. “It was just a weird conglomeration of people, and Dee was the least temperamental of any of them. I don’t know how she even kept track of them.”

  She grinned. “That was the housekeeper’s job. Actually Laura Blair was an accountant before she decided she’d rather work for Dee.”

  “I didn’t know that. I’m surprised you’d remember.” His lips twisted sardonically. “You fit right into this menagerie, didn’t you? Much better than I did. It’s no wonder you blamed me when I lost Dee. I’ve been thinking maybe I deserved it.”

  “I was upset. You did a good job taking care of her, Parks. These people who snatched her have funds and people and they’ve spent some time planning it. I haven’t done such a good job myself of getting her back.” She grimaced. “And I’m the one who picked you for this job, so I’ve no right to blame you.”

  “That’s very generous of you. How much of it do you believe?”

  She smiled. “Maybe forty percent.”

  He chuckled. “I can always trust you to be bluntly honest with me. But it’s one of the things that made me run like hell whenever I was tempted to try to get you in bed.”

  “Nah, it wasn’t. You could have taken the honesty, but I think I intimidated you. I affect some people that way. You should have bitten the bullet and just gone for it. I adore sex. We could have had a hell of a time.”

  He tilted his head. “Is it too late?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to see.” She got to her feet. “Will you make me a copy of these tapes and leave it on the desk? I’m getting edgy about not hearing from Kendra about the drop yet. I should get back to FBI headquarters, but I want to say hello to some of the staff before I go.”

  He nodded ruefully. “I’ll do anything to prove you don’t intimidate me.”

  She smiled. “Thanks, Colin.”

  She left the library and started up the grand staircase in search of Laura, the housekeeper. Her gaze raked the beautiful beige- and cream-colored tiles and wonderful stained-glass windows that constituted the foyer. Everything about this mansion was gleaming and rich and as sunny as Dee had wanted it to be. But none of it was really Dee. This was all window dressing for her career and the parties that were part of her image.

  “What are you doing here?” Laura was hurrying down the staircase toward her. “Did you hear something about Dee?”

  “No.” Jessie gave her a quick hug. “Maybe later today. I just wanted to say hello and ask if there was anything you think I should know about what was going on here during those last days.”

  Laura shook her head. “It was the usual chaos. Well, maybe not quite. Dee was composing more than she usually did. Some really good stuff, Jessie. It was like John Williams meets Andrew Lloyd Webber.”

  “That’s quite a combination. And definitely not at all her usual style.”

  “But maybe it was heading in that direction?” She shook her head. “I don’t know. It was just touching and beautiful and…different. She was different.”

  “I noticed that, too,” she said gently. “I was blaming it on growing pains. But I was really asking about staff or any of her friends who might have dropped in to see her lately.”

  “Like I said, she was doing a lot of composing. She was mostly in the garden or at the beach. I can’t remember her inviting anyone here to the house.”

  “I know the detectives must have questioned you all after the kidnapping. You didn’t notice anyone strange on the grounds?”

  “We’re all pretty strange ourselves, Jessie. They’d blend right in,” she said dryly. “But you know how careful I am about accepting new hires or contractors on the property. I didn’t do it this time, either. And none of our guys saw anyone suspicious on the grounds during that period.”

  Jessie nodded. “I had to check.” She gave Laura’s hand a squeeze and started past her up the staircase. “I’m going to go and look around Dee’s bedroom. I won’t be long.”

  “Those detectives and FBI guys were in there for hours,” she said sourly. “And I stayed right there with them to make sure they didn’t bother any of her stuff. Cops or not, she was such a big celebrity they might have wanted trophies.” Her eyes suddenly misted. “I said ‘was,’ past tense. You make sure that doesn’t come true. There’s nothing past tense about Dee.”

  “No there isn’t,” Jessie said. “And Kendra was just saying before I came here that this was going to be a good day.”

  “Right.” She continued down the stairs. “Let me know before you leave if there’s anything else you need. Everything’s just the way she left it.”

  And when Jessie opened the bedroom door a minute later, she could see that Laura had been telling the truth. Just the way she left it. It wasn’t like any of the other rich, sunny, spectacular rooms in the house. There was only a double bed with a simple, colorful patchwork bedspread and several pillows tossed against the oak headboard. Across the room, there was a carved desk that Jessie remembered picking up for Dee on the first tour after she’d come to work for her. Set against the wall, near the bed, was the guitar that she treasured. That Gibson Firebird instrument was the only expensive item in the room. Other than that it could have still been the room of that teenage girl in the cramped apartment who had sung her songs only for herself before the world had discovered the great Delilah Winter and turned her into a commodity.

  She went to the nightstand and picked up a framed picture of Dee and her on a day when Jessie had taken her to the set of one of Jessie’s stunt movies. There was a second photo that had a shot of the two of them in Paris. Still another of them sitting cross-legged together on the corner of the stage while they listened to a John Williams rehearsal at the Hollywood Bowl. No photos at all of Dee’s mother. Jessie could feel the tears sting her eyes as she put the photo she’d picked up back down on the nightstand.

  She turned and went over to the desk, looking down at several sheets of music scores tossed hurriedly, carelessly, over the carved surface as if Dee had just pushed away from the desk and left them. There was another pile of scores set neatly in a box on the corner. Which were the rejects?

  She picked up one of the sheets on the desk. Scrawled at the top was a title. “Sun Song.”

  She spent a lot of time in the garden.

  Jessie smiled as she put down the sheet. Music written with boldness and passion as if Dee couldn’t wait to put down the words and music. Not that neat pile she’d stacked to consider at a later date.

  “Sun Song.”

  She suddenly stiffened as she gazed down at the title.

  She spent a lot of time in the garden…

  Then she was running out of the room and down the staircas
e. “Laura!”

  She found her on the patio. “Laura, I was just thinking about something you said. Or maybe it was the way you said it. Anyway, it struck me and I had to ask you.”

  “What are talking about?” She frowned. “Was it something you found in Dee’s room?”

  “Yes. Not really. It was that new music. ‘Sun Song.’ You were talking about Dee spending time in the garden. I was asking you about strangers and you told me how careful you were about accepting new hires or construction.” Laura was nodding, and Jessie held up her hand. “But then you said something else and it didn’t occur to me it sounded odd until just now. You said, ‘And I didn’t do it this time, either.’ Why did you say it like that? Did someone ask you to accept a new hire or a different construction company during that period?”

  Her eyes widened. “Not during that time, maybe a week or so before. Miguel Santiago, the gardener. He said he had a friend from the orphanage where he grew up who needed a job. I told him what I tell everyone—that I was sorry, but they’d have to go through the same checks and references as any other applicant. No exceptions. Miguel dropped it immediately.” She frowned. “You know he’s a good guy, Jessie. That was why I didn’t even think of mentioning it. It was a nonissue.”

  “Maybe. I need to talk to him. Where can I find him?”

  “The rose garden. Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No, thanks, Laura.” She was already out the French doors and striding down the paths toward the roses. She could see Santiago working in the garden near the fountain. He was a young man in his early twenties.

  He looked up with a wary expression. “Hello, Jessie. Have you heard anything about Dee?”

  She shook her head. “I just came to ask you about the man you asked Laura to consider hiring a few weeks ago. What do you know about him?”

  “Not much.” He moistened his lips. “I didn’t remember him from the home, but that’s not unusual. There were so many of us there. He seemed like a nice guy. Some of the other guys at the orphanage had told him about my cushy job here with Dee and he thought he’d try his luck. He told me that if I helped him get the job, I wouldn’t regret it. He even offered to pay me half of his first week’s salary.”

  “How generous. What was his name?”

  “Jack Caseman.”

  She wrote it down in her notebook. “How long was he here with you?”

  “About half a day. He helped me with the weeding. We worked and joked and shot the breeze about the teachers and people we knew at the home. I told him I wasn’t sure I could manage to get him the job, but he helped me anyway. Like I said, he was a nice guy.”

  And while he was obligingly helping with the weeding, he could look around and find out about the staff and schedule. “And he left immediately after you checked with Laura and was told that he wasn’t going to be hired?”

  He nodded. “He was disappointed, but he thanked me, shook my hand, and left.” He paused. “This isn’t about Dee, is it? He never asked anything about her. He only said it would be nice to work with someone famous. That’s what everyone says.”

  “It might be about Dee. If you can think of anything else about this Jack Caseman, I’d like you to call me.”

  He hesitated. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “Only trusted someone you shouldn’t, but we all do that sometimes. Don’t worry. We’ll work this out. Since the kidnapping didn’t actually take place here, evidently Caseman’s visit was purely exploratory. You might have actually been a help, Miguel.”

  She hoped she was telling the truth. She’d only know after she went over those tapes again.

  She turned and ran down the path toward the library.

  Twenty minutes later she shoved the tapes aside. Not as promising as she’d hoped, but then she hadn’t really expected them to be. She spent another thirty minutes on the phone checking out Jack Caseman’s credentials at the orphanage. Nonexistent. Still, that didn’t mean she’d necessarily come up with zeros; she just had to dig deeper.

  But she had neither the time nor the authority to bring that search to a speedy conclusion. So find someone who did. Kelland? She didn’t want to take anyone away from the active job involved in bringing Dee home. She hesitated and then quickly punched in a number. “Metcalf? Jessie Mercado. I was told you were loaned to the L.A. FBI for the duration of the investigation. I bet it’s driving you crazy drifting around like a lost puppy.”

  “You might say that,” Metcalf said warily. “Though I offered to go.”

  “I think I’ve run across a lead that might turn into something important. But I can’t follow up and I need someone good, efficient, and very fast to get out here to Dee’s house and help me. Are you interested?”

  “Definitely.” Metcalf gave a deep, profound sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

  * * *

  Los Angeles Regional FBI Office

  “We’ll be there.” Kendra ended the call she’d just received from Jessie and turned to Lynch. “Jessie just pulled into the parking lot and wants us to meet her at the AV lab.”

  “Why?”

  “A lead.” She was already pushing her way through the crowd of agents in the hall outside Kelland’s office. “Something she ran across at Dee’s house. What difference does it make? We’re not getting anywhere standing here waiting for those bastards to contact us. It’s almost noon and they’re still playing their games.”

  “Easy.” He took her elbow and nudged her toward the elevator. “I know you’re scared, but this stall doesn’t mean they’re not going to go through with it. It’s much more likely that you and Jessie were right about them being pissed off and trying to punish us for not obeying orders.”

  “That sounded much more reasonable before we had to sit here all morning and wait to hear if Dee is alive or dead.” She made an impatient gesture. “Forget I said that. My optimism is sagging a bit right now. I’ll try to look on the bright side. Noah came through with the additional five million. We’re ready to deliver the ransom. Now Jessie has come up with something positive. That should prove it’s going to be a good day.”

  “Exactly.” As they got on the elevator, he punched the button for the AV lab. “And Jessie would never lead us down a wrong path.”

  * * *

  “I don’t know if it’s going to do us any good or not,” Jessie said when she met them at the door of the lab. She quickly went over the details of her talk with Miguel. “But there’s a chance and we haven’t been able to identify any other members of the gang. The man who showed up at Dee’s house looking for a job was definitely bogus. I called the orphanage and there was never a Jack Caseman registered there. But he knew the names of some of the teachers, even some of the students Miguel knew before he left there. Caseman had done his research and was well prepared when he came to see Miguel.” She nodded at the techs. “They’re having trouble with the trace or ID on the phone calls because of static interference. But I just gave them a copy of the audiotape taken the day Caseman was schmoozing Miguel in the garden. It might not be the same person, but it could be. Anyway, it was much more clear than the phone calls.”

  “Just the audio?” Kendra asked. “You couldn’t get the video of him?”

  “No video. I told you he was prepared and very careful not to be seen. He did a masterful job of hiding his face from the cameras. But he could hardly spend half a day with Miguel without talking to him and I guess he considered it safe.”

  “Not if he has a record,” Lynch said. “And I’d bet it’s one that will pop up no matter how nice a guy Miguel thought him. The minute we get it, we’ll put it through facial recognition and get a list of known associates.” He took a step toward the techs and demanded, “How soon?”

  “Leave them alone,” Jessie said. “They said not long. And we’re not desperate yet. I called Metcalf before I left Dee’s place and set him to trying to locate anyone besides Miguel on the property who could find us a video. Otherwise, we’ll just have to have Miguel
go to the sketch artist. At any rate, I don’t want you intimidating these guys, Lynch.”

  “Moi?” He tapped his chest. “I’m a pussycat.”

  “With tiger instincts.”

  “It takes one to know one.”

  Jessie nodded wryly. “Yeah, I know about intimidation. I had a talk with Colin about it earlier today. But this is my lead, so you’ll do what I say, Lynch.”

  He shrugged and dropped down into a chair beside the door. “Just trying to add a little encouragement.“

  “After lecturing me on being patient,” Kendra said.

  “That was different.” He grinned. “That was a case of hurry up and wait. This is something I can get my teeth into.”

  “And we’re back to the tiger instinct again,” Kendra said. “Do you think I don’t know how pissed off you were to get so close to those bastards and then have the chance yanked away from you?”

  His smile faded. “You can’t say I tried to hide it. And there’s no way in hell Kelland is going to let me deliver the ransom this time. I was a little too efficient and probably left a bad taste in their mouths. They might even set up another method of delivery. Which leaves me twiddling my thumbs unless I can figure another way to take them down.” His gaze shifted to Jessie. “So I’ll follow your lead, if that’s the only way I can do it. Give me your marching orders.”

  Jessie blinked. “Now, that’s an offer I’ll probably never receive again.”

  “Yep. No promises.” His gaze went back to the techs. “So are you sure you don’t want a little help right now?”

  “I’m sure. I can wait until they—” The ringtone on her phone was sounding, and she looked down at the ID. She tensed. “Kelland. Why the hell is he calling me? Unless they told him—” Her hand was shaking as she pressed the microphone. “Jessie Mercado. Have you heard about the proof of life on Dee, Kelland?”