Page 21 of The Perfect Prey

“I know you hear me,” Hannah said.“The question is whether you believe what I’m saying is true.”

Kat didn’t want to condescend to her young friend, and she didn’t want to deceive her any longer either.So she answered as truthfully as she could.

“I believe thatyoubelieve it,” she said.“But I believe something else.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jessie didn’t blame the woman.

If someone had knocked on the door of her apartment, unannounced, at eight at night, she’d have been reluctant to answer too.

But they didn’t have any choice.After getting Valentina Russo’s contact information from Marcel DuBois, they’d called multiple times without a response.They’d had Jamil check for other ways to reach her.She didn’t have a landline, but she did have three e-mail addresses and multiple social media accounts to which they’d sent direct messages.

But they hadn’t heard back from any of them by the time they reached the West Hollywood residential tower where Russo lived, so they went up to say “hi.”Before that, they had to negotiate the wild lobby scene.

Apparently, this tower was home to primarily young residents who liked a party vibe.That explained the loud dance music playing the second they walked through the doors, as well as the crowd of about two dozen people hanging out loudly in a lounge.Jessie noted multiple empty beer bottles and some half full liquor ones too.

Seeing the scene made her feel old.She was only 31, but she felt completely out of place here.Part of that was all the aches and pains she’d accumulated that made her feel a decade older than her actual age.But it wasn’t just that.If she wasn’t working right now, she’d be on the couch next to Ryan, watching bad TV while noshing on popcorn.Or better yet, she’s be in jammies, getting ready for bed.Instead, she was at a homemade rave.

“These are your people,” she teased Susannah.“If you want to party with them after we talk to Russo, I’ll understand.”

“I know I give off that energy,” Susannah said, “but nothing looks less appealing to me right now than that.”

They approached the security guard, a forty-something, slightly paunchy guy who didn’t seem to be any more enthused to be there than they did.Susannah held out her badge for him.

“We need to see Valentina Russo,” she said.“Is she in?”

He glanced at the badge, then nodded.

“She got home about an hour ago.”

“You sure?”Jessie asked.“She came through the lobby?”

“No, she parked in the underground garage,” he said.“But you have to swipe your entry card to get access to it and to the elevator.I always check to make sure the card matches the person on the video camera.It was her.”

“We’ll need access to the elevator too,” Susannah told him.

Five minutes later they were standing at the woman’s door, ringing her bell for a second time after having knocked twice as well, each time identifying themselves as LAPD.They hadn’t gotten any response at all.

“Let’s try a different tack,” Jessie suggested.

“You want me to shoot the door handle?”Susannah asked with a smile, playfully putting her hand on her holster.

“That can be next on the list,” Jessie replied, “But late me take a different kind of shot first.”

Susannah removed her hand and shrugged.Jessie knocked a third time.

“Ms.Russo,” she called out loudly enough for everyone on the floor to hear her, “we’re getting concerned for your welfare.If you don’t open the door in the next ten seconds, we’re going to have to break it down.”

Jessie saw someone down the hall open his door, pop his head out, and then quickly close it again.She waited ten seconds, hoping they wouldn’t have to go through with the actual process of physically forcing their way in.Just as she was about to resign herself to that fate, they heard a lock click open.

The door opened slightly to reveal a young, dark-haired woman.They already knew that she was twenty-five and what she looked like generally from the driver’s license photo Jamil had sent them on the way over.But as was almost always the case, that image didn’t do the woman justice.Even at this late hour, without much makeup and with her hair tied back in a ponytail, she was attractive.

“Hi,” Jessie said casually, as if they hadn’t had such a difficult time getting that door open.“I’m Jessie Hunt, and this is LAPD Detective Susannah Valentine.We need your help with an ongoing investigation.”

“I don’t know anything about an investigation,” Russo said defiantly.

“There’s no reason you should,” Jessie told her, trying to keep the conversational vibe going.“That’s why we’re here—to fill you in and get your assistance.So if you could please let us in, we can chat and then be on our way.”

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