Page 32 of Wild Sentinel

“Good to know. Could be helpful.”

There was an awkward moment as we stared at each other.

"You said you’re from Florida, right?"

I nodded.

"This is a long way to come. Can you really do anything out here?"

"No law against investigating," I said with a smile.

"I talked to the cops, but I don't think they’ve done much.”

I dug into my pocket and handed her a card. "If anything comes to mind, or you hear from her, get in touch. Anytime, day or night."

She took the card, and her green eyes surveyed it. "I will let you know. I hope you turn up something. I really miss her."

We said our goodbyes and walked back to the street. We had parked at the curb, careful of the signs. There were a dozen of them telling you when you could and couldn't park. You needed an advanced degree to interpret the parking laws in Los Angeles.

We climbed into the Ferrari, and Jack cranked up the glorious engine. Its ferocious growl was music. With the top down, we enjoyed the California sunshine, looking like rock stars in the red beast.

Jack pulled away from the curb and said, "There's something funny going on with that one. She's not telling us everything.”

"You think she's got some involvement in Brooke’s disappearance?”

"At this point, I'm convinced all of these incidents are related," Jack said. "They were all working on highly technical aerospace projects. I can think of a few reasons why they might start disappearing.”

"They were either working on a black budget project that somebody didn't want them to complete. Or a foreign intel agency is kidnapping them to extract information.”

At that point, it was just a theory. But probably not too far off.

This time, we decided to avoid the local police. I had a feeling we wouldn’t get far with them. We had just enough time to visit with Irving Roth before getting back to the hills for lunch with Scarlett.

20

Ifigured we could smile and wave and fly right past the security guard at the studio lot. I mean, who stops somebody in a red Ferrari? We looked like we fit in.

Well, they stopped us.

The guard stepped out of the booth and looked us over. Jack flashed his badge, and the security guard didn't seem terribly impressed. He was dressed in a drab gray uniform with black accents.

JD said, "We're here to see Irving.”

"What's your name?"

"Jack Donovan," he said with a beaming smile.

He stepped back into the booth and fiddled with the computer for a moment, then returned. "Sorry, I don't see you on the list. Do you have an appointment?”

"It's more of an impromptu meeting.”

"Mr. Roth is a busy man. I suggest you call his office and schedule an appointment.”

"This is official police business."

"I'm sorry, but you will need an appointment.”

Jack frowned at him. "We're investigating a homicide."