“Cleve? I’ve never met him.” Jared used his teeth to tear open the wrapper on the second granola bar. “He sees the kids on holidays. They do the swap at a McDonald’s off the freeway in Bakersfield, halfway between Merced and LA. Tanya doesn’t bring me along, which is fine by me. I can have a play day.”
“Do you remember the name of the hotel you were at last night?” It was a sharp change of subject, one intended to throw him a little off balance, but it didn’t work.
“I can do better than that.” Jared reached into his pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper, and slid it across the table to Eve. “My receipt.”
She unfolded the paper and looked at the information. It showed him renting a room at a Holiday Inn Express at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday and checking out at 10:00 a.m. the next morning. Lancaster was in the Mojave Desert, seventy miles north of Los Angeles. It was about a ninety-minute drive from Topanga in typical traffic, but the trip could be made in a little over an hour off peak and with a heavy foot on the gas pedal. She knew that because she’d been stationed out there before transferring to Lost Hills after the YouTube video went viral. Law enforcement in Lancaster was handled by the LASD.
“Can anybody vouch for you being in the room last night?”
Jared smirked and shook his head. “You think I got a room, drove back here, did something awful to Tanya and the kids, and went back to the hotel in time to check out? What kind of asshole do you think I am?”
She could make a list, but instead she just shrugged. “It’s my job to think the worst of people. Convince me that you aren’t that kind of asshole.”
His smirk became a smile. “Ask Jen. She can confirm that we never left the room.”
Her mother’s name was Jen, short for Jennifer. It was yet another unwelcome personal parallel to the case and it hurt, though Eve didn’t know why and she sure as hell wouldn’t be analyzing herself to figure it out. She’d just push past it, the way she did with any pain, emotional or physical.
“Does Jen have a last name?”
“I’m sure she does. I don’t know it, but I can find out for you. She’s a set decorator on the movie,” Jared said. “I wasn’t cheating on Tanya. We split up weeks ago and a man has legitimate needs.”
Eve tore a piece of paper from her notebook and slid the paper and pen across the table to Jared.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d write down any places that Tanya goes to regularly. Gyms, acting classes, that kind of thing. Also, I’d like the names and addresses of any of her friends or family that you know. While you do that, I’ll see if we’re done with your truck and get you a ride home if we are. Want another Coke or anything?”