She stared at him for a full five seconds before responding.

“No, I do not get your point. I am aggressively pursuing a killer, no different than you or any other hard-charging investigator would. Xander Thurman tortures and kills people for fun. I’d say that makes us pretty different, Agent Dolan.”

“Well, it’s obviously not a perfect comparison,” he admitted. “I’m just saying, I can see how you two are related. You both have an intense work ethic, even if his is a little less…evolved.”

“I swear to god, if I didn’t think I’d get arrested, I would frickin’ punch you in the face right now.”

“See what I mean about that impulse control?” he said, a smile playing at the edges of his mouth.

Jessie looked out the window. She knew he was screwing with her, trying to lighten the mood a bit after what had been an intense stretch. But she sensed that he still meant what he said, at least a little bit. And because his comment played into her worst fear about herself, it hit her much harder than she knew it was intended to.

She closed her eyes and whispered a familiar mantra to herself.

I am nothing like my father. I am nothing like my father.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jett Collison did not take Matilda’s advice.

After his Miranda rights were read to him, he agreed to talk to Jessie and Dolan without his attorney present. As he settled into a chair in the small conference room, it was clear that he thought he could win them over.

“Let’s start with the shrine,” Dolan said, beginning the questioning so that Collison wasn’t immediately confronted again by Jessie. “What’s up with that, Jett?”

“Okay,” Collison replied, adjusting his glasses as he spoke. “It’s like I tried to tell you before, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

“It looks pretty bad,” Dolan said.

“You can ask Claire. Maybe I kept a few things to remind me of our time together. But I never harassed her or anything. I’m not a stalker.”

“What are you then?” Dolan followed up.

“Like I said, I really liked her. I was through with other girls. I was planning to dump that actress I wasn’t even really dating. Everyone close to me told me I was making a mistake. Matilda said I was crazy. But I didn’t care. So last week I bought a ring and I proposed.”

“You asked Claire to marry you?” Jessie asked, incredulous. “What did she say?”

“She said no. She said she wasn’t looking to settle down and that it would be weird to go out after that, so she dumped me.”

“How did that make you feel?” Jessie asked.

“I was really hurt,” he admitted. “I mean, I guess I should have known that she wasn’t into that. After all, every guy from that site is rich or powerful. If she had wanted to get married, she had lots of options. But part of me thought she’d see me differently. I’m young. And I guess I thought being famous might make a difference. But she didn’t care about that.”