Page 17 of The Perfect Illusion

Her exfoliant wasn’t in the drawer she was used to. She had misplaced her hand cream. Even her water bottle had gone missing until she found it on her dresser instead of the bedside table.

Rebecca tried to let her frustration go. It wouldn’t help with sleep. Besides, other than the organizational hassles, this place was quite nice. Cheviot Hills wasn’t as fancy as Bel Air, but it was still a great neighborhood and for a month, this cookie cutter mansion would do just fine.

Admittedly, she didn't love that it lacked the security of Bel Air. This wasn't a gated community, and there was no guardhouse. There were no roving patrols. And this house didn't have the ten foot high security fencing that their regular place did.

She wasn’t as concerned about her own welfare as she was for her husband’s. Kai Cody was an outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels. And while, at 39, he was no longer the star player he had been a decade ago, his name still had status in this town, which sometimes meant they got unwanted visitors at the house. Between the neighborhood’s security staff and the fence, no one had ever got inside, but it was still a concern.

At one point in her life, Rebecca also had to deal with a few alarmingly intense fans, but not in a number of years. She was 26 now, a full five years removed from when she’d won Miss San Diego and competed in the Miss California Pageant.

Since then, she’d met Kai and got married, which made working a luxury rather than a necessity. She still did some modeling, mostly for catalogues and the occasional local TV ad. But that was mostly just to keep busy.

Between her lower profile of late, Kai’s reduced role on the team, and the fact that almost no one even knew they were staying here right now, she felt pretty safe. Still, since Kai was out of town on a team road trip, she resolved not to take any chances.

Before she crashed for the night, she planned to go around to all the doors and windows to make sure they were closed and locked, assuming she could remember all of them. She would also turn on the alarm, that is if she could find the booklet with the security code.

Sometime soon after that, she expected a call from Kai. They always shared one last goodnight call when he was on the road, and tonight would be no exception. His last text indicated that he expected to call before 10. That was a half hour from now. She could make it that long.

But for now, she just needed to wash the day off her face. She ran her finger under the water and, determining that it was warm enough, grabbed her facial cleansing bar, ready to get it sudsy.

She stared at her reflection and wondered how much longer she had before the good looks that had helped win her the pageant title would fade. She didn’t yet have any lines on her face. Her long, lustrous black hair was years away from any hint of gray. But despite her intense workout regimen, she was already seeing the tiniest sag in her backside. She wondered what was next.

She just happened to glance in the mirror behind her. At first, she thought that shadows from the bedroom were playing tricks on her eyes. She could have sworn that she saw a figure there. When the figure moved, she knew it wasn't her imagination.

She spun around as the figure, clad all in black, quickly approached her. She began to scream and threw the only thing in her hand—the bar of soap—at the figure. It hit the figure square in the head, but it didn't even seem to faze them.

As they got closer, Rebecca noticed something in their hand. It was only when they raised it above their head that she processed what it was: a fireplace poker.

CHAPTER TWELVE

When Jessie pulled into the garage, she was happy to see that Ryan’s car was already there.

They hadn’t had a chance to really talk at all today, what with the case he’d been working on since early morning, as well as her own busy day. She even harbored hopes that they might get a chance for a romantic moment.

With Kat staying at the house and Ryan being on desk duty until just recently, their opportunities for private time together had been limited. The Kat situation would be remedied this weekend. And Jessie hoped that she and Ryan would be assigned a case together again soon. But for now, those private moments were few and far between. They could really use one.

Jessie parked the car and entered the house. She found Kat in the kitchen fixing herself a mug of tea.

“Welcome home, Ms. Hunt,” she said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Jessie said. “You look like you’re settling in for the night.”

“Yeah,” Kat told her. “Long day. How was yours?”

“After I dropped you off this morning, I got a call from Captain Parker,” she explained. “A former beauty queen was murdered in the bedroom of her Brentwood mansion and then posed in her sash and tiara. So that’s been fun.”

“And you’re working this with Brady, right?” a familiar voice said from behind her.

She turned around to find her husband coming out of their bedroom. Ryan was dressed comfortably in sweatpants and a t-shirt. The casual look did nothing to diminish his visual appeal. His warm brown eyes and sweet smile—highlighted by impressive dimples—were contrasted by his impossibly square jaw and the well-muscled frame that strained at his slightly-too-tight t-shirt. He looked as great as ever.

“I am,” she said as he came over and gave her a kiss. ‘It looks like you’re officially done for the day.”

“Yep,” he said, “I got home about ten minutes ago and I’m wiped out. Luckily all Nettles and I have left is some paperwork on our case, which we pushed off until tomorrow morning. Getting back into the groove of field duty has been a process.”

Jessie was slightly surprised by the admission. Captain Parker had been slowly reintegrating him back into the HSS team after a poisoning incident that nearly killed him and left him weakened for over a month.

Ryan had told her in a private moment that he knew getting re-acclimated to work would be slow going. But she didn’t expect him to admit it in front of Kat. She considered that a promising development in his ability to be more open.

“Well, you should definitely take it easy the rest of the evening,” she recommended. “And I plan to join you in that endeavor.”

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