CHAPTER ONE
Up until now, most of the day had gone perfectly, including the murder.
Ash Pierce was annoyed with herself.She’d been so meticulous.But this was proof that letting her guard down for even a moment could be a recipe for disaster.
She left the travel plaza parking lot and walked to the car, trying to act like everything was normal, like she hadn’t just made an error that could compromise her whole bloody plan.Once she got to the car, she settled into her seat and allowed a moment to regroup before she started it.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out.But her mistake immediately popped back into her head.She physically shook it away and tried to focus on the positive.
The plan had run shockingly smoothly until this recent screwup.She had watched from a safe distance as Linda Crewes had a goodbye Sunday breakfast with her friends at the hotel.The Los Angeles real estate agent was in Lake Tahoe for a conference but had stuck around through the weekend for a mini-vacation.
Once she returned to her room, Ash followed, wearing the housekeeping uniform she'd stolen, along with the blonde wig that covered most of her face.She pushed the cleaning cart that she'd borrowed from the closet at the end of the hall.There were cameras in the elevators and in the hotel hallways, so she needed to be careful to hide her identity.After all, as a professional hitwoman who had twice escaped custody, she was wanted across the whole state of California.
“Housekeeping,” she said after knocking on the door.
“Oh, can you come back in a few minutes?”Linda told her through the closed door.“I’m about to check out and leave.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ash replied.“I was asked by the front desk to provide you with this coupon.There’s a code on it.If you use it when you check out online, you get a 15% discount on your stay.”
“Really?”Linda said excitedly, opening the door.
Ash smiled through her wig hair.
"Yes, ma'am," she said, pretending to fish around in her uniform pocket for the coupon when in truth, she was holding a syringe.She popped off the top and removed her hand from the pocket.With quick precision, she poked it into Linda's arm, injecting the solution completely before the woman had even realized what had happened.
“What did you—?”she started to ask even as she began to stumble backward slightly.
"Are you all right, ma'am?"Ash asked, stepping into the room and grabbing Linda by the shoulders, easing her to the hotel room carpet so that she didn't land with a thud.
Linda's eyes fluttered briefly, and she opened her mouth to form a word.But before she could, she was out.Within a minute, her heart would stop completely.But Ash wasn't one to take chances.So, after pulling the cleaning cart into the room and then closing and locking the door behind her, she moved over to Linda's bed, grabbed a pillow, and returned quickly to the woman on the floor.
She pressed the pillow over Linda’s face.The woman barely struggled at all, only twitching slightly before her body relaxed completely.She was dead.It was time to get to work.
Ash removed Linda's phone from her purse, used her face to unlock it, and then removed the security lock features so that from here on out, she could access it without needing passcodes or facial recognition.She searched through Linda's email until she found the one from the hotel offering expedited online checkout and hit the button.There was no 15% coupon, but that hardly mattered to Linda anymore.
All that mattered from this point forward was that everyone in the woman’s world believe that Linda was still alive but unavailable for the next few days.Ash had a detailed plan to ensure folks would buy that.
With Linda checked out, Ash moved on to her next tasks.She checked the woman’s purse to make sure her car keys, wallet, and ID were all in there.They were.
Linda had made it easy on her.The woman was already all packed up so there was no need to collect her belongings.Still she did a quick once-over, searching dresser drawers and peeking into the bathroom in case there were leftover toiletries.She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and took stock.
Despite the blonde wig, she couldn’t help but marvel at how similar she and Linda looked.They both had black hair, petite frames, and pale skin.Plus, the real estate agent was in good shape for someone of their shared age, 37.
Ash pulled out the extra bedsheet from the cleaning cart and rolled the woman into it like a mummy.She kept the sheet loose enough that she could still fold Linda up and more easily maneuver her into the well of the cart.She put the woman’s carry-on suitcase on top of her.It bulged out slightly but Ash adjusted the cart’s curtain to cover it up.Then she propped the door open, wiped down the handle and lock, and pushed the cart, along with Linda and her bag, into the hallway.
Five minutes later she was in the hotel garage, easing Linda into the trunk of her car, along with her bag.The vehicle was a cheap, junky 1988 Ford Tempo that she’d happily bought with cash, mainly because it was from a pre-GPS era, making it harder to track.
Even though Ash wanted to just head out from there, she had to cover her tracks.Since she didn’t want there to be any reason for the staff to be suspicious, she returned the cart to the closet on Linda’s floor.While a missing cleaning cart might not cause flashing alert lights, why take the chance?
Once back downstairs, she exited the garage with Linda in the trunk and drove to the spot she’d prepped yesterday.About fifteen minutes outside of town, she turned onto the service road that ran parallel to a hiking trail.There were no other cars in sight but she went a full mile into the forest before stopping.
That was where, just down the adjacent hill, she’d dug a grave that was ready and waiting for Linda.After doing a final check to make sure there was no one else around, she popped the trunk and dragged Linda out and over to the hill’s edge.She pushed the bedsheet-wrapped body over the side and watched it roll down until it came to a stop at the flat shelf about twenty feet down.Then she retrieved her utility backpack from the back seat, tossed it over her shoulder, and scooched down the hill on her butt, unconcerned about getting dirt on the housekeeping uniform that she would never wear again.
She unrolled Linda’s body, then removed the items she needed from the backpack, laying them on the bedsheet.There were the pliers, the garden shears, the disinfectant wipes, the package of lye, the latex gloves, a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, and a heavy duty black trash bag.Once everything was in order she moved fast.She’d done this before.
Since the garden shears were new and sharp, removing the fingertips was easy.She dropped them in the Ziploc bag one by one, and then moved onto the teeth.The pliers were a little big for the job, so that took a bit longer than anticipated and was a little messier than she would have liked.But eventually they went in the bag too.
Then she carefully rolled Linda into the hole she’d dug yesterday, making sure she was face up.Even though it was late August, there was still a morning chill in the air at this elevation, which prevented her from sweating too much despite the challenging work.
