“We’re sorry about that,” Karen said.“Until the crime scene folks say they’re done and give the all clear for you to return, the house is off limits.It shouldn’t be more than another day or so.Did your police liaison help you find alternate accommodations?”
“She was very helpful.But I picked my own spot.There’s a place that Lauren and I would go to when we wanted to have a staycation.I’m hoping that spending the night there will help me reconnect with what—what we used to be.”
His voice cracked slightly at that last line.They gave him a second to regroup, which also allowed Jessie to get a grip.Even though it was wholly unprofessional, she found herself wanting to give the guy a hug.When she was more in control, she spoke for the first time.
“Where are you staying?”she asked.
“It’s a resort down in Palos Verdes called The Peninsula,” he said, his eyes misting over slightly.“We actually went there for our second anniversary.”
Jessie saw Karen glance at her out of the corner of her eye and tried not to react.They both knew The Peninsula well.Jessie once loved it too, so much so that she and Ryan had their wedding there.
Unfortunately, the night was marred by an unexpected event.The wedding was crashed by Andrea “Andy” Robinson, a one-time friend of Jessie’s who turned out to be a sociopathic killer.Robinson became obsessed with Jessie, believing the two of them were meant to be together.
So just minutes before the wedding was to take place, she drugged and kidnapped Jessie.Then she took her to an abandoned mine in the Arizona desert, where she planned for them to “play house” together.Virtually the entirety of the LAPD was mobilized to find and save her.
When they were discovered, Andy decided to blow up the mine, killing herself and nearly Jessie along with her.Hearing the name of the place again now stirred a mix of emotions.She still had affection for the cliffside resort with perfect ocean views.But she couldn’t separate them from the horrors she’d endured at Andy Robinson’s hand.
Karen seemed to sense that she needed a moment and took over.
“Is that why you were late getting here?”she asked.
“Yes,” Mannix said.“Sorry about that.As the crow flies, it’s not that far from here, but in the middle of rush hour, it took nearly an hour and a half.”
Jessie had recovered from the bad memories but not from Mannix’s powerful appeal.She decided the best way to fight off the haze of his charisma was to put him on the defensive a little.
“Don’t worry about it,” she told him.“You’re here now and we’re hoping that the time you had away allowed you some clarity, because we do have a few questions for you.”
“I’ll answer them as best I can,” he said.“Anything to get justice for Lauren.”
His eyes clouded over again but Jessie tried to ignore it and push through.
“One thing that was confusing to us was related to a man named David Lamb.Are you familiar with him?”
He nodded.“I know who he is, Lauren’s former realty partner.But I’ve never actually met him.Why?Is he a suspect?”
“Is there a reason you think he should be?”Jessie countered.
“Not really,” he said.“I mean, I know that when he left Griffin-Malone, it wasn’t the most amicable parting, but beyond that I haven’t had much reason to think about him.Please, if he did this, you have to tell me.”
“We don’t believe he did,” Jessie said, annoyed with herself for giving in to Mannix’s plea.“His alibi holds up for last night.But the reason we looked into him in the first place was a series of increasingly threatening text messages he sent Lauren over the last nine months.Are you saying that you were unaware of that?”
His eyes widened in surprise.“This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
“I have to confess,” Jessie said, “that seems odd to me.This is your wife of nearly four years.And she never mentioned that her former business partner was sending her troubling texts?”
Mannix sighed heavily.He looked like he was struggling to find a way to explain what was going on in his head, which he was furiously scratching.Finally, he stopped and fixed her with his enormous brown eyes.
“Here’s the thing, Ms.Hunt,” he said tremulously, “our marriage was passionate and loving, but it was unconventional.Not it a kinky way.It’s just that my work in corporate sales keeps me on the road almost 300 days a year, jetting up and down the state.Sometimes Lauren would come with me when the location interested her.But after a few trips, she felt like she’d been there and done that.So, our actual time living together amounted to less than three months each year.As a result, I missed some stuff that I probably shouldn’t have.It’s embarrassing to admit that there were big parts of Lauren’s professional life that I was clueless about.Hell, there are close friends of hers that I still haven’t met.That’s why I’m struggling to help you with this investigation.”
“Why are you struggling?”Karen pressed.
“Because I just don’t know the answers to a lot of your questions.I don’t know all her friends, much less who she might be ‘on the outs’ with.I know her sister Molly a little, but only because she lives in town.I’ve only met the rest of her family a couple of times, including the wedding.”
“But this isn’t boring day-to-day stuff,” Jessie reminded him.“You wife was threatened.”
“You’re right.I should have known.But I didn’t.Whether that was because I didn’t show enough interest and ask the right questions or because Lauren didn’t want to worry me, I don’t know.Probably more the former.Looking back, I wonder if she was protecting me from that unpleasantness when I should have been protecting her.But I’m telling you, it never came up.”
He put his elbows on the table and rested his head in hands, much like when they’d first encountered him at his home office desk this morning.He appeared spent.
