“How’s that?” he asked, reluctantly turning his attention to her as she collected her things and started toward the conference room door.

“I have two more suspects for us to check out. One of them is a major tech CEO. I think we could surprise him in his office if we head out now.”

“Sounds promising,” Dolan said. “Who’s the other one?”

“We’ll have to hold off until tomorrow on that one. And I don’t want you to get too giddy. But he’s a real-life movie star. Bring your autograph book, Dolan.”

She saw him open his mouth to offer a quippy retort. But before he could, she was out of the room, leaving him to talk to the door.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

They barely made it.

Even using the sirens, the drive from Central Station to Gunther Stroud’s downtown high-rise office, less than ten miles away, took almost twenty minutes in LA’s rush hour traffic.

Jessie had assumed that a big-time executive would work well past the time arrived—5:36. But when the elevator door opened to the thirty-seventh floor, Stroud was standing there, briefcase in hand, ready to leave. Behind him, the place looked quiet, other than a lone receptionist at the main desk.

He was in his late thirties, medium height, with glasses, tight, curly brown hair, and pale skin that suggested he didn’t leave his office a lot. He seemed distracted and didn’t even notice there were four people standing in front of him until Dolan spoke.

“FBI, LAPD, and Marshals Service, Mr. Stroud,” he said, making the CEO jump slightly. “Mind if we take a moment of your time?”

The man’s eyes opened wide for the briefest of seconds before he regrouped.

“What’s this about?’ he asked.

Jessie heard a hint of an accent, though she couldn’t quite place it—maybe South African? Wherever he was originally from, Stroud had clearly been here for a long time.

“It’s of a sensitive nature,” Jessie said. “Why don’t we go to your office?”

“I’m about to leave for the day,” Stroud protested. “Tell me now.”

Jessie knew that reaction wasn’t going to go over well with Dolan and she was right.

“Okay, Mr. Stroud,” he began, his voice carrying a bite it lacked before. “This is about a club you’re a member of that pairs older, wealthy, sex-hungry men with younger women who wouldn’t normally give them the time of day.”

Stroud glanced back involuntarily at the receptionist before turning around.

“Let’s go to my office,” he hissed under his breath.

As they followed him, Dolan cracked the widest smile Jessie had ever seen from him. Jessie appreciated the dig but wondered how productive it was for getting the answers they needed. Now Stroud would be on the defensive for the rest of their interview.

As they approached his office, Toomey took up a spot just outside the office. Once the door closed, Murph did the same thing inside the office. Stroud turned to them and started talking before any of them could pose more questions.