Free Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier Page B

but it was only ever meant to be one night. I hope you can understand that. And I do appreciate how cooperative you’ve been today.”
    “Maybe you’ll change your mind.” Oscar’s tone was light. He took the hand she offered, assuming he was going to shake it, but he turned it over and kissed her palm gently instead. It felt more intimate than if he’d kissed her on the lips, and it took effort to withdraw her hand. “In the meantime, we’ll be friends. I’ll see you around, Vanessa. Call me if you need anything.”
    He disappeared down the hallway. When he was out of sight, Vanessa leaned against the wall, almost dropping the hard drive. Why did this have to happen to her now? He was single, she was single, and on the surface, there was no reason why they couldn’t get to know each other better.
    Except that she’d only ever loved two men in her entire life. One was dead because of her, and the other one was a criminal who’d used her to save himself. She seemed to be a magnet for toxic men, and if Oscar wanted her, then she could only assume that he must be toxic, too.

TEN

    J ust as Oscar Trejo had said, there was nothing much to see on Wonderland’s security footage. Though there were several cameras placed in the midway, only one had been working at the time Homeless Harry would have been dumped, and that particular camera was not angled to show the pavement underneath the Wonder Wheel, nor did it show the path leading up to it. The footage showed only twenty minutes of Blake Dozier climbing up the last two-thirds of the Wonder Wheel, and that was all. There was nothing to show how he got down, what he might have seen, or when he’d left the park.
    Vanessa decided that Donnie Ambrose was the perfect person to take a closer look. The young detective had a dual degree in criminology and computer science, which made him the closest thing Seaside PD had to a computer forensics expert. If Donnie couldn’t find anything, they were probably out of luck, unless Earl Schultz was willing to hire an independent specialist. She doubted he would be; the footage really wasn’t much, and it wouldn’t be worth the expense.
    Leaving Donnie back at the department, Vanessa took the unmarked over to Blake Dozier’s house, hoping to find the kid at home. But nobody answered the door, and his cell phone went straight to voice mail. Vanessa left a message, and then called Blake’s father, who, as it turned out, was in China on business.
    “Why are you calling me?” Derek Dozier asked, sounding half irritated and half sleepy. It was almost 5 a.m. in Beijing, and he wasn’t pleased to be awake so early. “You want to talk to Blake, call Blake. Did you try him at Wonderland? They can page him if it’s an emergency.”
    “He’s definitely not at work, sir,” Vanessa said. “And while it’s not an emergency, your son is a person of interest in a case I’m working.”
    “Oh, Christ. What’s he done now?”
    “He broke into the park after hours and took a picture of himself at the top of the Wonder Wheel,” Vanessa said. “And then he posted the photo online.”
    There was a pause, and then Derek Dozier said, “And?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “You’re not seriously telling me that the deputy police chief of Seaside is calling me in China because my son climbed a Ferris wheel?” Dozier said. “Christ, you people really don’t have anything better to do but say, ‘How high?’ when the park says, ‘Jump!’ My son’s a free climber. It’s what he does. He’s not hurting anyone.”
    “It’s not about the Wonder Wheel, sir, although I’m sure the park will take that up with Blake when they speak to him,” Vanessa said. “Breaking and entering is still a serious offense, but that’s not why I need to talk to him. Do you have any idea where he is?”
    “You want to know where Blake is, you follow him on Facebook. That’s how I keep tabs on him. He checks in everywhere.” Dozier was starting to