Cassidy exhaled her relief and bobbed her head in a grateful nod. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
She couldn’t resist watching out of the corner of her eye as he keyed in the code to unlock the phone. There were nearly two dozen new text notifications. Most appeared to be from people in her stored contacts, but more than a handful were from unknown numbers.
He started opening them, muttering under his breath as he read, “Reporter. Reporter. Someone named Suzette.”
He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. “No idea.”
“Probably another reporter. This one looks like a food vendor. And somebody named Kevin saw what’s happening on the news and wants to know if you’re okay,” he said, enunciating each word pointedly.
The jealous tinge to his tone warmed her cheeks. “Kevin? The only Kevin I know is my cousin on my dad’s side,” she informed him.
“Came up as an unknown number,” he commented.
“We’re not close. Obviously,” she added with a laugh.
Jake fell silent as he perused the rest of the messages. “Nothing here from our guy,” he said at last.
Cassidy nodded and looked down at the phone in her hand. “I dread dealing with the fallout from all of this.” She scrolled through the accumulated missed calls and messages. “Not putting things back together, so much as having to talk to the reporters and all that stuff,” she said with an offhand wave.
Jake hummed in his throat. “A double-edged sword. Feed them a little and they go into a frenzy. Don’t feed them at all and they speculate.”
“Oh, Emma Parker called,” she said, looking over at him. Her thumb moved to hit the redial button before the words finished leaving her mouth. Placing the call on speakerphone, the two of them bent closer together as they listened to it ring through.
“Parker here. Is that you, Cassidy?”
“It’s me.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Agent Parker exhaled, clearly relieved. “We got word of what happened with the Ferris wheel, but I couldn’t get a clear answer on whether you were on or off the carousel.”
“There’s a reason for that,” Cassidy said.
“Ah, got you,” Emma Parker replied. “Well, I’m glad to hear you’re okay.”
“Makes three of us.” Cassidy asked, “Are you feeling all right?”
“I’m banged up, but mostly from bailing and tripping over my own feet,” Emma said, her tone dry as dust. “My fiancé is with me now, and things are much better. Did they pass the information I gathered along to you?”
“Yes, and I think you’re absolutely right.” She and Jake exchanged a look and he placed a cautioning hand on her arm.
“We don’t know who’s listening,” he whispered.
She nodded to him, then refocused on the conversation. “Yeah, right. Yes, the information was helpful, and I think it’s setting us on the right path,” Cassidy confirmed.
Emma caught on quickly. “Some of my team have been interviewing people in the neighborhood, and one of the neighbors reported seeing a man dressed in a dark T-shirt and utility pants running away from the scene.”
Cassidy hummed. “What was Airman Baker wearing when you stopped by to interview him?”
“Gray gym shorts and a red Razorbacks shirt,” Emma recalled.
“And the timing?” Cassidy wondered if it was within the realm of possibility for Trevor Baker to have changed his clothes between the time of Emma’s exit from his home and the brick being thrown through the car window.
“Impossible. He and his wife were at the door as I was leaving,” Emma told them.
Jake leaned in closer. “Has anyone followed up with Baker to see if he noticed the person who approached your vehicle?”
“Yes, but both he and his wife claim they were back inside by the time the incident took place.”
