Page 3 of The Perfect Prey

“We’re a little shorthanded,” Parker conceded.“Detectives Bray and Goodwin are working a different case, and I just sent Nettles home after he finally finished the paperwork on his.He’s been up for almost 48 straight hours, and I don’t think he’d be much good to anyone right now.That leaves Valentine, but even though she’s willing, I don’t want her to have to work this one alone.”

“Why not?”Jessie asked.

“I always prefer my people to pair up,” Parker said, “and this case in particular could use an extra set of eyes, preferably from a profiler.”

“What makes it so special?”Jessie asked.

“I don’t know much yet.You can get the details from the officer in charge at the scene.But the short version is that a couple was found dead in their bed.They were posed in some kind of unusual position, and they were wearing masquerade ball masks.”

“Jeez,” Jessie muttered under her breath.

“Are you in?”

Jessie glanced over at Ryan, who was snoring softly, then at Hannah, who had walked over.Her sister gave her a knowing nod that silently said, “go ahead, I’ll watch him.”Jessie mouthed the words “thank you” to her.

“I guess so,” she told the captain.

“Good,” Parker said, “I’m relieved to hear it.”

“Relieved?”Jessie said.

“That’s right,” Parker said.“I didn’t want to be presumptuous, but I already sent Valentine to pick you up.She’ll be at your house in ten minutes.”

CHAPTER TWO

Jessie was surprised that she had butterflies.

She had been to so many crime scenes that simply arriving at a new one no longer made her nervous.But as Detective Susannah Valentine pulled up at the Hancock Park mansion of Richard and Cynthia Hartley just before 8 a.m., she felt her stomach tighten slightly.

Maybe it was that she hadn’t handled a case in a couple of weeks, not since she’d almost stuffed a rolling pin down the esophagus of the man who poisoned Ryan.Or maybe it was because she hadn’t been all that physically active as she recovered from the injuries she sustained in that confrontation.She hadn’t been able to do her standard five-mile morning runs, and she definitely felt a little less spry than usual.

It could also be that while she and Susannah had worked many cases together, they hadn’t done so in a few months.Jessie was usually paired up with Ryan, and they had a near-telepathic connection when interacting with witnesses and suspects.She and Susannah, after dealing with some early interpersonal bumpiness, were friends, but they hadn’t reached that point yet.

And there was the obvious reason for her bout of nerves: the constant fear that at any moment, her desire to exact violent retribution against perceived wrongdoers might destroy both their lives and her own.She tried not to think about that.

As Jessie got out of the car and took in the giant house that was now a crime scene, she readjusted her clothing.Even though it was mid-April, there was still a chill in the morning air, and she’d decided to wear a light coat over her thin gray sweater.She also had on comfortable slacks and shoes that looked dressy but were actually sneakers, perfect if they had to chase after anyone.

She gave herself a once-over in the car window to make sure she was presentable.Like her sister this morning, she’d put her brown hair in a ponytail.Her green eyes, after a good night’s sleep, were clear and bright.She stood up tall to her full five foot ten height and assessed herself as credibly professional-looking.

The two women approached the house together, walking toward the path that ran through the expansive front yard to the front door.The property was already taped off and there were multiple vehicles in front, including several squad cars, a crime scene unit truck, and the medical examiner’s van.

A young officer with tightly curled brown hair and an anxious manner stood guard near the sidewalk to make sure no lookie-loos gottoocurious.Jessie suspected that he hadn’t been on this kind of duty too often before.

“Go easy on the kid,” she whispered to Susannah as they got closer.“He looks a little jumpy.”

“What are you talking about?”Susannah said with a sly smile, “don’t I always take it easy on folks?”

“Just don’t scare him any more than necessary,” Jessie pleaded with a knowing smirk.Detective Susannah Valentine was a lot of things, but easygoing wasn’t one of them and scary sometimes was.

Part of that might have been due to sheer physical presence.Susannah was, by all accounts, a bombshell.Almost impossibly gorgeous, she had hazel eyes, deeply tanned skin and long, black hair to go along with a curvy figure that suggested swimsuit model more than cop.This morning, she was wearing a form-fitting magenta top and what looked to Jessie to be painfully tight pants.She didn’t mention them.

Until recently, Susannah hadn’t suffered fools who commented on her appearance, especially leering men types.She was known to crush crass admirers with a withering takedown.She’d mellowed slightly in recent months, since she started dating an older, impossibly chill surfer and police sergeant from Manhattan Beach.

But when it came to work, she still brought the same intensity as always.Her brash, sometimes abrasive personality, along with her “bull in a china shop” investigative passion hadn’t been sanded down by her happier personal life lately.She was still a Doberman of a detective, which Jessie was generally glad for.

It wasn’t always that way.It had taken Jessie a while to warm to the woman.But after they resolved their issues, Jessie found that she actually liked Susannah, in spite of—or maybe even because of—her devil-may-care attitude.Jessie knew that by comparison, she was pretty buttoned-down, and she suspected that she secretly enjoyed living vicariously through Susannah, who seemed unfamiliar with the word “restraint.”

“May I see your credentials please?”the curly-haired officer asked when they got to the beginning of the path.

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