Medina said, “My buddy at QuikCar tells me if the car was rented from his store, then he should come up with a match fairly quickly. I told him this guy could have rented from any QuikCar in LA or even out of town. Hell, out of state even. In which case it’s gonna take hours for colleagues at other QuikCar locations to check through their fleets and report back with possible matches.”

“Same story at Avis.”

Medina looked at his watch. It was a little after noon. “Want to break for lunch and draw up a list of other rental companies to call this afternoon?”

“Sounds good to me. Los Balcones?”

“If you’re paying.”

Medina grabbed his leather jacket from where it was slung over the back of his chair. Pryce didn’t bother with a jacket of his own. The temperature had dropped a couple of degrees since yesterday, but it was still warm enough for shirtsleeves. They strolled out onto Wilcox into sunshine bright enough for both men to put on their sunglasses, Medina opting for his usual Ray-Bans and Pryce trying out the new classic Armani aviators Angie had bought him as a surprise gift.

Medina turned left in the direction of De Longpre. Pryce froze on the spot in front of the station entrance.

He looked directly across the street. There, standing in front of Potter Bail Bonds, under the shade of an old oak tree, was a woman in her twenties. Slim, blonde, five foot five. She wore a white cotton dress, black Converse sneakers, and dark shades. Her right arm was covered with colorful tattoos. She leaned casually against the hood of a black truck and smoked a cigarette.

Pryce stared at her.

She stared right back at him.

Even with the sunglasses obscuring part of her face, he knew he was looking at Jessica Shaw.

22 JESSICA

22

JESSICA

Jessica saw Pryce emerge from the station and felt her heart punch against her rib cage.

She took another drag on the cigarette and tried to give off the impression of being relaxed. Like she didn’t feel as though she was about to prove those heart docs wrong when they’d told her the organ was strong and healthy. She needed to show the cop she was in control of the situation and wasn’t going to be brushed off so easily this time.

Pryce was with another man who looked Latino but was dressed like the guy from Happy Days. Jessica assumed he was Pryce’s partner. She dropped the cigarette to the sidewalk and removed the sunglasses. Pushing herself slowly off the hood of the truck, she checked both ways for traffic, then crossed the street toward the two detectives. Pryce looked shaken, while his partner wore a confused expression.

Good, Jessica thought. At least she had the upper hand for now.