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Laura Lee saw disappointment form on her mother’s face. “It was so nice to have this unexpected time with you,” she said, taking her mom’s hands.
“It was,” her mom agreed, forcing a smile. “I love you, honey, and am so grateful you had time today.” Her gaze shifted to Garcia. “It was nice to meet you. My daughter has spoken highly of you.”
“We all feel the same way about her,” he said. “She wasn’t alone when her appendix ruptured. Her team took care of her. We were there when you could not be, Missus Saxton.”
Laura Lee thought about Garcia’s comments as they drove from her neighborhood. Yes, they had taken care of her. She had never felt a part of the team, of any team, until then. And she appreciated it. She also appreciated that Garcia had told her mom that they’d been there for her. She wasn’t sure how he knew her mom could not come and wished she could have. It was good for her mom to hear that from him.
They arrived in the parking garage beside Jessica Lansing’s uptown luxury apartment building. The parking spaces were numbered. They parked in a spot which faced her assigned spot on the sixth level and waited. They didn’t have to wait long. Her black Lexus pulled into its spot less than five minutes after they’d parked.
They’d discussed the approach they’d take with her on the drive over. Laura Lee was impressed with Garcia that he would adapt their discussions based on the different circumstances of their potential victims. Because she probably received this job for her silence, she had more to lose than Michelle Keslar had if she talked to them.
Jessica Lansing was a poised, professional-looking woman of color. Sophisticated was the word that came to Laura Lee’s mind as she viewed the tall, trim young woman with all the right curves glide across the parking garage. Yes, she moved so gracefully she appeared to glide over the cement floor. They caught up with her at the elevator bank.
The nails on her long fingers were perfectly manicured in a beige-mauve-ish tone one shade off her natural skin tone. Her black hair was mostly straightened and flowed just past her shoulders with a few sleek waves. And her suit, black, with a mid-thigh length pencil skirt with a fitted feminine jacket atop a deep purple silk blouse, showed just the right amount of skin to be considered professional, yet still make her look feminine and desirable.
“Miss Lansing, may we have a word with you, please?” Garcia asked as they reached her.
“This is a secure building. There are no solicitors allowed. How’d you get past the guard?”
Garcia had, of course, badged their way into the garage. He wouldn’t pull his badge with her unless it was absolutely necessary. As an attorney, she would pay more attention to it than Michelle Keslar and her mother had. She’d ask questions he wouldn’t answer.
“We’re not solicitors,” Garcia said. “We’re investigating possible wrongdoing by two university professors that we know you’re familiar with. Can we talk in your apartment, or do you want to have this conversation here?” His tone of voice left no room for an argument about whether or not the conversation would take place.
Jessica Lansing glanced around the garage. There wasn’t anyone else in sight. “I have no information that could help you,” she said.
“You haven’t even heard our questions yet,” Laura Lee said.
“If you want to talk to me, you may call my attorney,” she said as she pulled a business card from her bag. She handed it to Garcia.
“Then how about you just listen for a minute? No relationship that starts with a crime will ever end well, especially when it’s followed by a favor, because what they want from you next will be even worse than the original crime. You’ve sold your soul and they own you,” Garcia warned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered.
Garcia held the business card up. “Are you sure you want me to make that phone call and advertise to them we’re onto them through you? They’ll be worried you talked.”
“You have the wrong person. I have no idea what you,” she mumbled, hesitating before she completed her sentence.
“Others have talked,” Laura Lee chimed in. “You’re not the only one they did this to, you know.”
Lansing looked horrified at this statement.
“We’re going to get them. The only question you need to ask yourself is, are you going to be a witness against them or a co-conspirator?” Garcia asked.
“Co-conspirator?” she repeated.
“Obstruction of justice, lying to federal law enforcement officials, accessory after the fact,” Garcia said. “And of course, whatever it is they will ask you to do to repay the favor of you getting the job you have, will most likely be something illegal.”
Jessica Lansing looked panicked for a moment and then regained her poise. “Well, first of all, I have made no statements, so I have not lied to federal law enforcement. You haven’t told me what potential crime this is about, so I can hardly be charged with obstruction or accessory without that information. As I said, call my attorney if you want to set up an interview with me.”
Garcia handed her one of his cards with his name and phone number only on it. Not one of the phony university employee cards. “Call me if you change your mind about talking with us.”
Laura Lee watched her slip the card into her purse. She then disappeared behind the door that presumably led into the hallway of the apartment building. Laura Lee’s gaze shifted to Garcia. “She knew what that was about, all right.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “And I’ll bet you anything she calls us by this time tomorrow.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“She was panicked. And after she has time to think about it, she’ll talk to us. She was a victim. She won’t want to be lumped in with the perpetrators, knowing now that this has happened to other women.”