Page 1 of The Perfect Revenge
PROLOGUE
Veronica Sterling was afraid to move.
Emma, her 4-year-old daughter, appeared to have finally drifted off, and Veronica didn’t want to do anything to accidentally wake her up.
She was currently sitting at the edge of Emma’s bed in their Brentwood mansion, where she’d just completed singing the theme song to the TV showFriendsfor the sixth time tonight.She never thought she’d get sick of the ditty, but she was close now.It was her own fault.
At some point, she'd gotten tired of the traditional bedtime lullabies and started singing slowed-down versions of her favorite songs.Songs like Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" might not seem like natural lullabies, but if you dragged them out and gave them that cradlesong vibe, they worked just fine.
Unfortunately, Emma had taken to “I’ll Be There For You” so much that it’s all she would accept these days, which is why Veronica had been sitting uncomfortably on the edge of a child’s bed for the last fifteen minutes.She glanced at her phone.It was 8:55.
She had hoped to be in bed by 8:30 like her husband, Gray, who was happily dead to the world right now, snoring softly in their bedroom.But the thunderstorm outside, unusual for mid-July in Los Angeles, had thrown Emma for a loop.She’d knocked on the bathroom door as Veronica was washing her face, and with her stuffed capybara doll in hand, asked to be tucked in and sung to in order to “make the thunder booms not so scary.”
It appeared to have worked, as Emma was now softly whistling through her nose, as she often did when she was truly settled in to sleep.So Veronica gently pushed herself up from the bed, adjusted the sheets around her daughter, and tiptoed out the door.After carefully closing it behind her, she headed downstairs to pour herself a well-deserved late-night half-glass of Chablis.
As she made her way down the stairs, an especially raucous rumble of thunder made the walls shake slightly.She winced, hoping that Emma hadn't noticed.When she finally got downstairs and into the kitchen, she allowed herself to exhale heavily.It was silly, really.She'd been holding her breath until now, as if her breathing would disturb Emma, when loud booms echoed through the house every thirty seconds or so.
She left the kitchen lights off and used the one from the refrigerator to guide her as she poured her glass.She was about to close the fridge door when she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of the window over the sink.She wished she hadn’t.
Veronica knew she was an attractive woman.But at this late hour, after a long day, and in the unflattering light from the refrigerator, she thought she looked all of her 33 years.With her makeup off and her brown hair unkempt from briefly lying in the bed beside Emma, she wasn't at her best.But who cared?Emma didn't seem to.Nor did Gray.So why should she?
She turned away from the window and shut the fridge door.A sudden flash of lightning illuminated the kitchen.She jumped slightly.Before the light disappeared, she noticed that the door leading from the kitchen to the side yard was slightly ajar.
She took a deep breath, trying not to get too frustrated.Gray was notorious for forgetting to close and lock doors, but he was usually pretty good about it at night.Apparently, he'd need a reminder.She was tempted to go upstairs right now and shake him awake to give him one.But that would probably do more harm than good.So she decided to let it go for now.
She put her glass on the breakfast bar and walked over to close the door.She was just turning the lock when she felt a sharp prick in the back of her neck, followed by an odd burning sensation.
As she reached for the affected area, she suddenly felt funny, like she wasn’t in control of her body
CHAPTER ONE
Hannah Dorsey didn’t know why she was so nervous.
When her big sister, criminal profiler Jessie Hunt, asked her to take a ride with her and Ryan after dinner, a little alarm bell went off, though she couldn’t explain why.Jessie said they were going for ice cream, which they’d done on many occasions in the past.And her sister’s demeanor was the same as usual.So why did Hannah feel the hair on her arms standing up?
After they got their cones, they started back home.Jessie’s husband, LAPD Detective Ryan Hernandez, drove.He hadn’t gotten a cone, which was a little unusual.The man was six feet and 200 pounds of square-jawed granite, but he still liked an occasional late-night treat.But apparently not tonight.And Hannah noted that he’d been mostly quiet on the drive, which was even more unusual.
What really got Hannah's guard up was when they diverted from the normal route home and pulled into a covered mall parking garage.Ryan drove in and out of the parking rows, making sharp turns and speeding up as he rounded the corners and took the ramps down from one level to the next.It was almost as if he was trying to determine if they were being followed.
"What's going on?"she asked both of them."We're not a mall family, and you're driving like a crazy person."
“We’ll explain soon,” Jessie looked back over her shoulder.“In a moment, we are going to park, hop out of this car, and make our way to another one.We need to be very quick about it.Are you ready?”
"I guess I have to be."Suddenly, Hannah wasn't very hungry.
Ryan rounded the corner and went down the ramp to the final, fourth level.There were very few cars this far down in the mall garage at 9:30 P.M.on a Thursday night.He parked right next to the elevators and turned off the car.
“Let’s go,” he said, opening his door.
Jessie did the same, so Hannah followed suit.She started toward the elevator, but Jessie shook her head, pointing at the sign for the stairs.
“More options that way.”
Hannah heard a squeal and glanced back at the ramp leading down from the level above.It could simply be another mall customer, but clearly neither Jessie nor Ryan wanted to take the chance and motioned for her to hurry.Jessie took the lead, leaping up the stairs two at a time.Hannah was next.Ryan brought up the rear.
Jessie skipped the third and second parking levels.When they got up to the first floor, she headed straight for the exit out to the street.A black SUV was parked in a loading zone out front with its hazard lights flashing.The back door opened as they approached.
“That’s our ride,” Jessie said, walking briskly toward the vehicle, jumping in, and sliding over.Hannah did the same and took the middle seat.Ryan got in after her and closed the door.
