Page 17 of The Perfect Crime

Elena Vega was glad that her husband was the one driving them home from the movie.

She never liked maneuvering up the narrow Hollywood Hills streets that led to their hillside home.But tonight was something else entirely.

She had started feeling woozy halfway up the road.By the time they pulled into their driveway at 6 p.m.and waited for the giant metal gate to swing open, she was full-on sick.

She had been fine when they left the movie theater twenty minutes ago and couldn’t understand why she suddenly felt overwhelmed by nausea, uncontrollable sweating, and a burning sensation in her chest.

As the gate closed behind them and Marcus pulled up next to the house, she feared she might pass out.She turned to him and spoke in a hoarse whisper.

“I feel terrible.”

“What’s wrong?”he asked as he turned off the car and leaned close to her.

"I don't know," she croaked."I started feeling bad on the way home.I thought it would pass, but it's getting worse."

“Do you want to go to the hospital?”he asked, worried.

“No,” she said, literally unable to stomach the idea of driving back down the hill in her current condition, “I just want to lie down for a bit.Maybe you could help me inside and then get me some water and ibuprofen?”

“Sure, sweetie,” he said, getting out of the car and dashing around to help her out of the passenger seat.

He was just easing her out when a new wave of nausea overwhelmed her, and she vomited in the driveway.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled once she caught her breath.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, at first helping guide her to the house and then simply picking her up and carrying her in his arms as he rushed to the front door.As he fumbled with the keys, Elena felt the burning sensation get worse, coursing throughout her body.She feared she might lose consciousness.

He finally got the door open and carried her down the hall to the living room, where he placed her gently on the couch.He put the back of his hand to her forehead, and his face scrunched up.

“Hold on,” he said.“You’re burning up.I’m going to get you that medication and a cold washcloth.Just give me a minute.”

He darted off toward the kitchen.Elena was about to close her eyes in the hope that it would help her shut out the pain when she noticed movement by the living room entrance.For a second, she thought she was hallucinating.

There appeared to be someone standing in the doorway.They were dressed all in black and wore a black ski mask and gloves.She blinked several times, assuming the mirage would disappear.But it didn't.Instead, the figure moved across the living room in the direction of the kitchen.

Despite the cloudiness in her head, Elena realized that this was real, and that the person was headed toward Marcus.She tried to call out to warn her husband, but other than a soft moan, she couldn't make a sound.

With all the energy she could muster, she rolled onto her side and pushed herself into an upright seated position.She grabbed the arm of the couch, pulled herself to her feet and took a step to follow the black-clad figure.But as her foot landed on the carpet, her leg gave out.

As she felt herself fall toward the floor, she tried to launch her body at the intruder.But as she collapsed, darkness swallowed her up.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“We’ve got good news and bad news,” Jamil announced to the team members assembled in the HSS research department at LAPD’s Central Station.

Jessie turned away from the desk she’d been working at.She knew better than to get her hopes up.If this was a major discovery, the brilliant young researcher probably would have left out the “bad news” part.

Still, they’d all been grinding away in this overheated office for three hours now without much to show for it, so any good news was better than none.

“Tell us,” Ryan asked.

“The good news is that CSU just issued their preliminary report, and they found a partial fingerprint at the Whitaker home that doesn’t belong to either James or Sarah,” he said.“Unfortunately, it’s not enough to make an identification in any database.But if we get a suspect in custody, a match might be possible at that point.”

“I guess that’s better than nothing,” Jessie mumbled unconvincingly.She looked at the time.It was 7:47 p.m.“Should we update Captain Parker on where we’re at?I feel like we’ve hit a wall, at least for today.”

“She actually left a few hours ago,” Beth said.

“Without checking in with us?”Jessie said.“That’s not like her.”

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