Influence

Chapter 32

The eyes of the bear seemed to glow brighter the longer Jasper stared into them. He suppressed a shudder as the creature loomed over him. What was one supposed to do if they encountered a bear? Make a lot of noise, stand still, play dead, run? There were different protocols for each predator, but damned if Jasper could remember which to use for each animal. He was better off handling human opponents. Humans always gave off an indication of the best way to handle them. Diplomacy, brute force, fight or flight.

"Sir, zoo's closing." A man in his fifties wearing a manager badge broke him away from the polar bear staring contest he'd been engaging in. The manager nodded towards the gates leading out of the zoo.

"I'm going." He strode over and out, fingering the burner phone in his pocket. As soon as he'd cleared the gate, he took it out and punched in his dad's number. Dumb fucking move, Jasper.

Paul picked up on the second ring. "Who's this?"

"It's your son, the fugitive."

"Jasper! Your name didn't come up on my phone. Where're you calling from?"

"I decided to become an astronaut. This is my last phone call to you before I leave for Mars."

"Cut it out, son. I need to know where you are and what's going on. Becca and I are worried and all you can do is crack jokes."

"Look, I'm calling to see if you're all right, but I'm not answering any of your questions so don't ask them."

"Is Tam with you?"

"What did I just say?"

"Fine, fine. But no, Becca and I are not all right. Goldie is dead. Her murderer is on the run from the police, and it seems, you're aiding her. You can go to prison for that too. You know that, right?"

"Dad, listen to me, because I'm already regretting calling you and I'm going to need to hang up soon. I'm taking care of things."

"And that means what, exactly?"

"Tell Becca she doesn't have to worry. Goldie's going to get the justice she deserves."

"Does that mean you're going to turn Tam in?"

"It means what I said it means. I've gotta go."

"Wait! I almost forgot. That detective, the nice one, Detective Ryan. He told me to give you a message if you contacted me."

"I bet he did."

"He said to contact him."

"I'm not going to do that."

"Will you let me finish? He said to contact him because he's ready to tell you something."

Jasper brought the phone away from his ear. He was the one who was supposed to be telling the detectives things, not the other way around. "Ready to tell me what?"

"Well, if I knew that, I'd tell you myself, wouldn't I? Just call the man, Jasper. It can't hurt."

"Of course, it can. Everything can hurt."

"Be reasonable."

"Fine. I'm reasonable. Give me his fucking number."

#

Jasper waited for Detective Ryan on a bench in Santa Monica overlooking the pier. He couldn't decide if he was making the right move. Fight or flight or freeze. He wasn't even sure which he was doing, but he'd chosen a public location with plenty of people around and now he was hoping for the best. This was so out of character for him, it made him tap his feet against the ground like he'd drunk a pot of coffee. It was safer to abandon all hope, but here he was, perched on a park bench, anxious and hopeful at the same time, all because of one sentence the detective had blurted out to him as soon as he'd called.

"I have to tell you about Goldie's romance."

Goldie's romance—the information he'd been seeking. The person pivotal to understanding everything and possibly responsible for her death. And here Ryan was, with a confession.

It struck him then, that that's exactly what Ryan wanted to do. He wanted to confess to Jasper, Goldie's stepbrother—the person she was closest to.

Another piece in the puzzle then. It explained so much about the detectives' behavior. Garcia was being a good partner but a bad cop, covering for Ryan, probably because the information would destroy him somehow. Ruin his career or possibly a marriage or even land him in jail. But now Ryan could keep it to himself no longer.

The danger of the situation stayed with him as he waited. Ryan could have loved Goldie or killed her or both. And now he was coming to place all his cards on the table and then what...

He texted Tam, telling her to stay put at the hotel while he spoke to Ryan. Judging by the number of expletives she included in her response to him, he gathered she was less than thrilled with his plans.

Don't worry, he texted back. I'm going to take care of this.

Waiting for a response that never arrived, Jasper slipped the burner back into his pocket as Ryan approached him from up the beach. He sat down without a word, as though it was Jasper who had called him here to deliver some grand revelation.

"Did you come alone?" Jasper scanned the clumps of people around them. Any of them could be cops ready to pounce. He had to remind himself that he'd done nothing illegal, aside from tackling Aiden back at the boat.

"Look at you, you watch cop shows." Ryan chuckled. "Yes, I came alone. Not sure I'm ready to tell my boss about this."

"Or your partner?"

"My partner? She knows, obviously."

"That's what I suspected. You both could get into a lot of trouble, keeping this a secret, working on Goldie's case like there isn't an elephant in the room."

"Fair. But let's not pretend like you haven't been holding out on us too. You knew about Aiden Park when we interviewed you, yet you said not a damn word."

So, they'd figured out that much. Jasper would have to tread carefully until he was certain he could reveal everything. "I didn't realize he was important to the case."

"Bullshit. We asked you to tell us everything relevant. He was relevant."

"I swear to you, though, I didn't even know half of what I do now, which is more than what I can say about you."

"Not sure we're talking about the same thing." Ryan's face scrunched up. "You think I'm not pissed off that I was kept in the dark?"

"About Aiden? We've been over this."

"No, not about Aiden."

Jasper leaned in, every muscle urging him that between fight or flight, fight was the right option here. "You were fucking Goldie but what, now you want redemption?"

"What? Jesus Christ!"

"Shut the fuck up and tell me what happened. Did you two fight? Did you make her fall in love with you and then what..." Jasper pointed to the ring on Ryan's finger. "Did she threaten to tell your wife? Maybe this whole drug smuggling deal with Lucre was your way to throw us off. And Tam, it would be so easy to pin it all on her. Are you the source?" He was on a role now. If he didn't talk, he'd punch. "Did you feed that fucked up Goldie stan all sorts of lies all so you could walk free and clear?"

Ryan remained still, his face like a statue carved in the state of surprise. Finally, he moved, taking out a small notebook and pencil from his breast pocket. "So, you just said a lot." He began to write.

"Why aren't you answering me?"

"It's hard to answer so many wrong questions at the same time. So, let's start with me answering the one you didn't ask. 'Detective Ryan, were you having an affair with Goldie Finch?' No, Mr. DeAngelis. I was not. However, your assumptions aren't entirely off. Goldie was in a relationship with a detective. Only, it wasn't me."

_______

So... Jasper didn't know what he thought he knew. What are Detective Ryan and he going to do with this new information? You might have to wait a wee bit to find out... Up next, I think we need to hear from Maris and Tam again.

Thank you for all the love and support, loyal readers!