“It’s not that complicated,” he insisted, shrugging. “I was serious about how moving around probably keeps you safer. And you seemed to care about this girl. I figured you deserved a chance to get justice for her. Does there have to be more to it than that?”

“Yes, because I don’t think you give a damn about either of those things. Besides, even if that’s true, you didn’t have to stick around. Hell, you strong-armed that case away from the detectives in North Hollywood Division even though this is hardly an FBI matter.”

“You might be surprised at what I care about,” he said, sounding genuinely hurt. “I’ll admit that staying around here at Central Station probably keeps me closer to developments in the search for these serial killers. But I don’t like to see young girls murdered either. There’s no reason I can’t work this case with you and keep my ears open around here.”

Jessie still didn’t buy it. But she wasn’t inclined to push too hard at the moment. After all, she was on the case, able to move around rather than stay cooped up in that house. Rather than be a potential victim, she was in pursuer mode. That’s the way she preferred it.

When everything was set up, they got to work. Dolan checked out Claire’s phone records while Jessie tried to get access to her dating site account. She was getting pushback.

“We value our clients’ privacy,” the British-accented woman on the phone said officiously over the speakerphone after hearing the situation.

“Even when it comes to a murder?” Jessie asked incredulously.

“No matter what the situation,” the woman replied with off-putting coldness.

Jessie looked down at her notes and found the name Carter Harrington had given her for the person who ran the company.

“Let me speak to Kane Sanders,” she said.

“I can pass along your message, but Kane is unavailable right now.”

Jessie felt the blood in her veins pump a little faster. She struggled to keep her voice even as she responded.

“Kane should know that the LAPD doesn’t appreciate being jerked around and that there may be a warrant in the near future to search the offices of the Look of Love website if you can’t be more accommodating.”

“And you should know,” the woman replied in the same obnoxious tone as before, “that Kane has a legal team that will quickly dispense with any such warrant. Also, you should know that harassment isn’t a great look on you.”

All of a sudden Jessie noticed Dolan standing over her.

“May I?” he asked, pointing at the phone.

Jessie nodded.

“Ma’am,” he said loudly, “this is agent Jack Dolan with the FBI. What’s your name?”

“My name is Darian,” the woman said, sounding slightly less sure of herself than before.

“Are you certain of that, ma’am?” Dolan asked. “Because, as you may or may not be aware, lying to a federal agent is a crime.”

“How dare you assert that—”