Jet Sweep (Burnside Series Book 12) by David Chill

Author:David Chill [Chill, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cold Spirit Press
Published: 2021-05-13T22:00:00+00:00

*

I climbed uneasily back up the hill, brushed some soft dirt off of my hands, and tried to figure out what to do next. Driving up Gaffey Street, the main drag in San Pedro, I passed a drive-thru-only Starbucks, but there were already fourteen cars waiting, the line extending far into the street. I sighed and hopped back onto the Harbor Freeway and headed to Playa Vista. Rush hour had ended, so it was a quick drive.

The WAVE office was eerily quiet. I felt it from the moment I stepped out of my Pathfinder. An odd silence, punctuated by the fact that the temperature was starting to rise. It felt like it would be in the eighties today, although L.A., being a desert community, still had low humidity, which made it bearable. A different security guard than the one from the other day ushered me in and led me into Bernadette Green’s office. I sat down on a small chair and looked at her. She reached over and pulled a tissue out of a box sitting nearby.

“I take it you’ve been informed of what happened,” I said.

She sniffled. “Yes.”

“What exactly have you heard?” I asked.

“There was a terrible car accident last night,” she sighed deeply. “The police think that Kristy died in the crash. I don’t know a lot of the details. ”

“How did you learn about this?” I asked.

“Sean Danelo, one of the founders, texted me this morning. He heard it from Cody. And it’s getting picked up by news outlets. We had a company-wide meeting this morning, and I have grief counselors coming in later. We’re a small company, and everyone knew Kristy. This affects all of us.”

“I’m sure this is rough,” I said, thinking the job of grief counselor was not one I envied. Absorbing other people’s tragedies for a living had to be a taxing way to make a living. I wasn’t sure how Dr. Rosenbloom could do similar work all day long.

“Yes,” she said, swiping a finger under her left eye and giving a small sniffle. “It’s bad on a personal level, and bad professionally. It’s bad for WAVE. Kristy’s almost irreplaceable, she had what we call institutional knowledge. She understood the nuts and bolts of the business like no one else around here. She was so bright. No one else knew all the things she knew.”

I took this in. “Look, I’d like to talk with a few people. Maybe in Kristy’s area, tech. And in operations, where this Zander Foley worked. You sure I can’t get Zander’s contact info? It’s pretty routine.”

Bernadette shook her head. “I’m sorry. We have to follow our privacy protocol.”

“All right,” I answered, figuring I could get access to it through another source.

“We’ll also need you to fill out some forms, to get you on board and paid. What do you charge?”

“Fifteen hundred a day,” I said, looking carefully at her. She didn’t react at all. I wondered if I should raise my rate.

She typed a few things into her keyboard.

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