Page 16 of The Perfect People

“I assume it didn’t stay that way,” Susannah pressed, as usual intent on cutting to the chase.

“No,” Paisley said. “I guess he was into some hardcore stuff in the bedroom, which she said was pretty exciting at first, because she hadn’t had anyone really show a ton of interest in her like that since her divorce. But then it kind of tipped over into a place that she wasn’t comfortable with.”

“What do you mean?” Jessie asked, noticing Officer Timms shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other in the corner of the room. He clearly hadn’t expected babysitting duty to take this turn. Paisley looked uneasy too but answered anyway.

“She said that sometimes she had to use the safe word they agreed on a couple of times before he would stop what he was doing, and afterward he would get pissed that she made him stop at all. She didn’t say so but based on her description, I’d say that he was verbally abusive.”

“And she put up with that?” Susannah asked, her voice reflecting her indignation at the thought.

“Actually,” Paisley told her, “while she was describing the situation to me, she had this moment of clarity, like hearing herself say out loud what had been going on made it obvious just how not okay it was. So that very afternoon, she had me call the security company we used for some events to provide protection for clients.”

“She didn’t call the police?” Jessie asked.

“She was worried that if she did anything official like that, word would spread in the community around here, and she didn’t want to deal with that hassle.”

Jessie looked over at Breem, who nodded.

“Probably a smart move,” he conceded. “I wish I could say otherwise, but it almost certainly would have gotten out.”

“So you called the security company,” Susannah prompted.

“Right,” Paisley resumed. “They assigned a team—four guys—who met her down here. The team ‘escorted’ Richie out of the house, by which I mean they tossed him and his belongings out onto the sand. They warned him that he was no longer welcome and that if he ever stepped foot on the property again, it would be considered trespassing, and he would be dealt with accordingly. Did I mention that all these men were armed?”

“You did not,” Jessie noted. “So was that the end of it?”

“I thought so,” Paisley answered. “We kept security on for another week after that, one guy as a body man with her during the day and another at the house at night. To my knowledge, Richie never showed his face again.”

“Until last night,” Susannah pointed out, “which wouldn’t have been a violation of any restraining order because Shasta never requested one, right?”

“Not that she ever told me about,” Paisley said. “I don’t think she thought she ever needed one. To be honest, neither did I. Their ‘relationship’ was over by the end of June and Richie dropped out of sight after being warned away. Maybe he thought that after so much time had passed and with so many people around last night, he could sneak in without anyone noticing.”

“But certainly people would have noticed him choking her,” Sergeant Breem objected. “That’s a crazy risk to take.”

“Thanks for your help, Paisley,” Jessie said quickly, not wanting to discuss the other details of the case in front of the already frazzled assistant. “You should continue to rest here until you feel up to moving. We’re going to step outside.”

Once she moved into the hall with Susannah and Breem and closed the bedroom door behind them, she countered the sergeant’s assessment.

“Maybe it wasn’t such a crazy risk to take,” she suggested. “This place was a madhouse last night. We didn’t even know shehadbeen choked until someone mentioned it in passing a few minutes ago. I’m still not a hundred percent sure I believe it happened, considering that so far, our only witness to this supposed choking is the neighborhood drunk, Mary Mary, who says it was a white guy. And even if that’s true, our only potential lead is a dude who likes the rough stuff named ‘Richie Boy.’ And that lead is based on a sighting by a woman who was worried that she could be arrested by a cop in uniform but not by a female detective because she was too ‘hot.’”

“When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound super promising,” Susannah said, borderline pouting.

“I just wanted to be clear about what we’re up against,” Jessie replied.

“Well,” Sergeant Breem said, looking at his buzzing phone, “I don’t want to mess with your Debbie Downer thing, but I might have some moderately good news for you.”

“What?” Jessie asked, choosing not to take the bait on the crack at her expense.

“I asked our people to put out a BOLO on Richard Vance when his name came up and we just got a hit on his location.”

“Where is he?” Susannah demanded, as if the sergeant wasn’t about to reveal that information in his next breath.

“About three blocks north of here,” he said. “Apparently he’s visiting with another lady of the more mature variety who also owns a home on the Strand. Obviously he has a type. Would you like me to accompany you over there?”

“That’s okay,” Susannah said, already bolting out the door, “just text us the address. We’ll let you know if we need any help.”

Jessie could already hear her footsteps pounding down the stairs. She offered Breem a shrug.

“Thanks for the info,” she said, starting for the door herself. “Good to know you’re not too far away if we need backup.”

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