Page 8 of The Perfect Prey

“Is there anything else we should know?”Jessie asked.

The woman paused for several seconds before answering.

“I don’t know if this appropriate to ask now,” Townsend said, her voice getting quiet as her cheeks flushed, “but do you know what will happen to Laurel and Hardy?Because if there’s no long-term plan for their care, I’d be willing—honored—to take them.I feel like it’s the least I could do.”

“We can look into that,” Susannah said briskly.“In the meantime, we have one more question for you.”

Jessie, who was mildly touched by Townsend’s gesture, could already tell from the detective’s tone what her question would be, and was impressed with her partner’s unwillingness to let herself be affected by sentiment.

“Yes?”Townsend said.

“Where were you last night?”

“I already told the officers where,” she said.

That was true, but Jessie knew that just like her, Detective Susannah Valentine wanted to look at Townsend’s face when they heard her alibi.

“Humor us,” Susannah said.

“I was at the Whisky a Go Go nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood to see this old 1980s band I like called L.A.Guns,” she said.“I went with two girlfriends.We spent the night at the London West Hollywood Hotel across the street so we wouldn’t have to drive back so late.I got up at 6:30 this morning to be able to get to Richard and Cynthia’s for the 7 a.m.walk.”

Jessie knew well that Jamil already had verifying her GPS location on his to-do list.They would also question her friends.And Jessie was a little curious about how Townsend’s husband had died as well.But if all that checked out, then Olivia Townsend would be off their suspect list.

Of course, that was small comfort.If they eliminated her, that meant one suspect down, and potentially hundreds still to investigate.It was going to be a challenging day.

CHAPTER FOUR

Ryan felt guilty.

Normally, he wouldn’t confide in a 19-year-old, especially not one who happened to be his wife’s little sister.But this was an unusual situation.

Maybe it was the fact that he was still a little drained from having been poisoned.Maybe it was the medication he was on which made him groggy and a little loopy.Maybe it was that Hannah wasn’t a typical 19-year-old, and, with her personal experience, she might actually be able to help.Or maybe it was just that his concern had finally overwhelmed his natural inclination to keep things close to the vest.

Whatever the reason, when she brought the homemade chicken soup she’d just prepared for him for lunch over to the couch, he asked her to sit down.

“What’s up?”she asked, taking a seat.Her expression suggested she was already wary of what topic he might be about to broach.

“I need your advice,” he said.

“You needmyadvice?”she repeated, disbelieving.

“I do,” he admitted.“You may actually be the one person in the world who can help me out.But I also need your discretion.”

“What does that mean?”she asked guardedly.

“For now, what I want to discuss needs to stay between you and me,” he said.“We might be able to share it later, but for now, I want to keep the circle tight.Can you promise me that?”

“I don’t usually make promises without knowing what I’m getting myself into.”

“Fair enough,” he said.He would have reacted the same way.“I guess I’ll just have to trust your judgment.I’m worried about Jessie.”

Hannah didn’t respond.Instead, she readjusted herself on the sofa, waiting to hear what came next.Ryan didn’t love being in this position.He liked being in charge in most conversations and right now—weak and emotionally vulnerable—he felt nowhere close to being “in charge.”

“Let me back up a minute,” he said.“I hate to bring up a difficult time, but I’m sure you recall the challenges you faced last year when you felt a constant urge to…inflict punishment on people you considered wrongdoers.”

“You mean the bloodlust, my desire to kill folks that I deemed unworthy?”she said flatly.“The one that made me spend a few months in an in-patient facility and undergo intensive therapy?Yeah, I remember it pretty well.Why?”

He debated how best to raise the issue at hand, then decided to just spit it out.With his head fuzzier than usual, he didn’t have the energy or patience to be diplomatic.

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