Chapter Twenty-Four
Bethany
It felt good to finally do the right thing. The right thing might just turn out to be following a hunch to help an old friend but I was willing to do that now. Helping Dylan felt better than suspecting him. Deep in my heart, I knew he was innocent and I needed us both to have a chance to clear his name.
Then I heard Sebastian was being assigned to Dylan's case. The private investigator was known at the Poker for provoking his subjects into damning situations. He was also sharp, shrewd, and frighteningly good at his job. It was hard to suppress a shudder.
Especially when I thought how quickly Sebastian was going to be able to trace Dylan to me. We had been seen all over town together. All the PI had to do was go across the street and tip the valets. They had more than enough information for him to sink my whole career and damn Dylan.
If I had been discovered already, Sebastian made no sign of it. He even smiled shyly at me across the conference table as the DA forced us through yet another debriefing. The raid had not turned up the suspect we needed and now it was Sebastian's turn.
The DA took a phone call in the middle of a sentence and then turned a wicked shade of angry purple. "What do you mean you lost him?"
We all cringed on behalf of whomever had called in. The DA was livid. She hissed out further instructions and then tossed her phone halfway down the conference table. It spun to a stop in front of Sebastian.
"Somehow our suspect slipped our raid at his shop earlier. Then he was spotted by our widening net patrol. Now, minutes later, he's been lost again. Someone tell me how this is possible!" The DA stared at each of us in turn.
I answered, hoping to appear my same, helpful self. "He's in his neighborhood; he knows every little corner and shop. But now that he's moving out of range, he should be easier to spot."
That calmed the DA for a minute. She paced the front of the conference room and then spun on us all again. My colleagues closest to her leaned back in alarm.
"Gloves are off. The PI's in. Bring me intel on Dylan Wylde. We're bringing him in one way or another," the DA said.
I pretended to peruse my meeting notes as everyone left the table. The truth was, I didn't know where to go. My body screamed to me to run to the elevator and find Dylan. Every second he was out there searching for the true criminals, he was actually making things worse on himself. The rest of me knew I had to lay low and not do anything out of the ordinary.
"Studious as always." Sebastian stood up and walked slowly around the table to look over my shoulder at my notes.
Somehow, I had missed him staying as everyone else had filtered out. I knew we had flirted in the past, mostly on his end though his quiet, subtle ways were very hard to interpret. He laid a hand on the back of my chair and I couldn't tell if the slight sweep of his thumb was a caress or an accident.
I covered my papers and gave him what I hoped was a teasing smile. "No cheating off my notes. You're on your own. I hear private investigators like it that way."
He smiled and walked with me to the conference room door. "The DA seems to think you have inside information. Anything you want to share with me?"
"And take all the fun out of your own investigation? No way," I said.
Sebastian smiled and caught my arm. "I know you know Dylan Wylde. There are a lot of rumors flying around here. I also know that you know I'm going to find him. So why not help me out?"
"What? In a hurry?" I asked.
He pulled me a little closer. "Maybe. There might even be time to get away for the weekend if I lay eyes on the suspect tonight."
"Sorry." I pulled my arm from his grip. "I'm all booked for the holidays."
"Outside of his neighborhood, I'm going to search for his nearest friends. Social media seems to be the easiest place to start; he was a very flashy guy up until a month or so ago."
When we ran into each other again. My heart did a dip and I froze, hoping no sign of the response had shown on my face.
"Don't forget his clients," I said. "Dylan Wylde's reputation sets him as their equal, their friend."
"Yeah, I hear he's a charming guy." Sebastian gave me one last scrutiny and then a small wave. He headed for the elevators and was out of sight.
I chanced a deep breath and tried to steady my racing pulse. Had I made things worse for Dylan by warning him away from the raid?
"Hey, there you are. I finished my last deposition. We ready for some field work?" Annie raced up, her purse strapped on and ready to go.
"Are you sure?" I whispered. "I don't want to endanger your career, too."
"Oh, Bethany, don't be so dramatic. We're in pursuit of the truth and, in my experience, that is always the best end for all involved."
Annie pulled me toward the elevators, and I was glad Sebastian was already gone. Descending to the foyer with his steady stare would have been more than I could take.
"Sebastian's on the case," I told Annie.
She gulped, then shook her head. "We've got a head start. I called all the bartenders around the nightclub where we first saw Jasmine. She's got a bit of a reputation. I got an approximate of her neighborhood. She's around there a lot."
So, we headed back to the nightclub where I had run into Dylan and everything had started. My stomach flipped when Annie led us straight to the VIP lounge. I was suddenly speechless, my eyes glued to the booth where I'd talked with Dylan. Was I ever going to see him smiling like that again?
Annie did the talking and it wasn't long before we found a waitress who knew Jasmine's sob story.
"She got caught up with this big thug a few months back. Started off cute enough, she said. He called her little bird and sweet things like that." The waitress went through the motions of counting her tips as she talked.
"Big guy? Bald with tattooed arms?" I asked.
The waitress nodded. "But nothing special. A little slow in the head if you ask me. He was always bragging about some big job he got like he was a real operator. I seen the guy trip over chewing gum stuck on the floor."
"Was Jasmine scared of him?" I asked.
"Nah. He had a temper, but she was sure she could handle him." Then the waitress tipped her head and rethought what she knew of Jasmine's boyfriend. "She said the job was making him hard."
The waitress hadn't seen Jasmine in at least a week so though her information was interesting, it didn't help us locate her. Annie hustled me into the car to drive to the next bar.
We were halfway there when I shrieked, "Stop!"
Every alarm bell was ringing in my head. There, along the sidewalk, was Dylan skirting in and out of shadows. I traced his trajectory and spotted Jasmine trotting along through the crowd. Annie spied her, too, and turned to go around the block and circle again. We didn't want either of them to see us.
When we passed again, Dylan was nowhere in sight. Neither was Jasmine until the door of a black Charger sprung open and she was rudely shoved out onto the sidewalk in her bare feet. The car sped away as she recovered her scuffed shoes.
"Do I just pull up and tell her to get in?" Annie was ready to take Jasmine under her very fierce wing.
"Not yet. Let's follow her. We need to actually talk to her," I said.
Annie snorted. "So, we have to corner her. I've seen girls like Jasmine before, and they don't talk to strangers like us."
Jasmine's pace was slower, but we still had to dart through traffic to keep up with her mind-changes and short-cuts. Finally, we saw her duck into a steamy little corner bar with small round portholes instead of windows.
"I'll go in the front and get a drink. You go to the bathroom," Annie said.
"Wait, why do I have to be the witness hiding in the bathroom?" I asked.
Annie shoved me toward the bar. "She's seen you before, and I can get her to talk."
That I didn't doubt. Annie had a way of eliciting confessions from anyone. I'd once seen a shoplifter confess to two other crimes just because Annie asked him twice what he'd done.
So, I slunk into the ladies' bathroom and got my phone ready to record. It wasn't long, maybe enough time for a few quick shots, and Annie ran into her new friend again in the bathroom.
"I'm sorry to hear your boyfriend's getting so crazy," Annie said. "You sure you wouldn't want some help?"
Jasmine sniffled. "No. It's like he says: I got myself into this and there's only two ways out."
"Which two ways are that?" Annie asked.
"Dead or in jail. You don't understand, sweetie. I saw something I wasn't supposed to see. And now I've done things, too." Jasmine dabbed at her eyes with a square of cheap toilet paper.
"That's where I can help you," I called. I scared Jasmine by appearing from the supposedly empty bathroom stall, but it was too late, Annie already had the bathroom door blocked.
Jasmine was street tough, but she didn't really want to run. Her thin shoulders slumped, and she gave a long, shuddering sigh.
"No one can help me now," she said.
"But you thought Dylan Wylde might." I handed her another wad of toilet paper as her tears welled up.
"He did," Jasmine sobbed. "Dylan helped me right away in the parking lot that first night."
"What happened that first night, Jasmine? I swear, I can give you immunity as a witness for the DA," I said.
"I was supposed to seduce him. I didn't want to, but I'd already seen the mechanic's shop. Bax, my boyfriend, told me if I didn't keep Dylan Wylde out of the way all night that he'd let the other guys make sure I never talked."
"But Dylan didn't go for the seduction," Annie filled in.
Jasmine shook her head sorrowfully. "No. But then Bax got rough with me and then Dylan came to my rescue. You know how many marks just walk away and don't say a damn thing? Dylan didn't let my boyfriend leave a single bruise."
"Jasmine, Dylan's going to jail if you don't tell the District Attorney what you just told us." I caught the petite woman by her shoulders and squeezed her encouragingly. "If you speak up now, you can save Dylan's career and put an end to your boyfriend's."
I was about to record Jasmine's confession when my phone rang.
"You have time for a quick drink?" Sebastian asked.
"I thought you were out working," I said.
"And I thought you were at the office," Sebastian shot back.
I stilled. "What do you want, Sebastian? I told you I don't have any useful information for you."
"Well, I might have some useful information for you. And I was thinking I might be willing to trade it for a date tomorrow night," he said.
I gave Annie an incredulous look. She was dying of curiosity but instead of demanding to eavesdrop, she took Jasmine aside to record a quick confession.
"What information would that be?" I asked.
Sebastian chuckled. "Nice try. I'll tell you after we have a drink and toast my success."
"You found Dylan Wylde," I said.
Jasmine and Annie froze. They listened as I turned back to my phone conversation and said, "Sebastian, you can't seriously be thinking of withholding information from the DA."
"Just long enough to enjoy having you on the hook," Sebastian said.
I stalled Sebastian by telling him the name of the bar where we were. It would take him at least fifteen minutes to get there and it would all be over by then.
The second I hung up with him, I called the DA's direct line. She answered, pissed as hell, but all it took was couple seconds of conversation with Jasmine for the DA to change her tune.
"That's it, then. Good job, Durham. You caught the bigger fish," she said.
"So, you'll call off the private investigator and leave Dylan Wylde alone?" I asked.
The DA snorted. "Like hell. I expect him to corroborate everything this Jasmine says but, other than that, his name is cleared from the suspect list."
"Did I do it?" Jasmine said when I finally hung up my phone. "Did I finally do the right thing?"
"Yes!" I hugged the surprised woman. "We may just all get our happy endings yet!"