Ash had hoped that at some point over the last week, either Hannah Dorsey or Kat Gentry would stop by.If she got that lucky, then there would be no need to gain entry to the house.She could just follow them back to wherever they were staying and get them there.
But they were clearly aware of that too.Each of them had to know that with her at large, they were targets, so they were wisely keeping away.Ash had (very carefully) checked out Gentry’s office and apartment, but she’d long since moved out of both.And despite Ash’s best efforts, she couldn’t find out where the woman had relocated to.In fact, it wasn’t even certain that Gentry was still in L.A.
But Ash suspected that she was.She and Hunt were best friends.They’d want to stay close.And there was no way the profiler would send her little sister out of town where she couldn’t get to her quickly if necessary.If Ash had to guess, Gentry was living in some off-the-books apartment with serious security, and that for the time being, Dorsey was staying with her.
She’d considered visiting UC Irvine, where Dorsey was about to start her sophomore year, and had an on-campus apartment waiting for her.But ultimately, she chose not to.It was too risky to visit a university campus rife with cameras and potential undercover cops.
Besides, there was no way that Dorsey was moving into her place with Ash after her.She’d be a sitting duck and knew it.Hannah Dorsey was a brat who deserved to be put down, but she wasn’t stupid.Ash had learned the hard way not to underestimate the girl.
Unfortunately, patience was a limited commodity for her.As she began her lunges, she did some mental calculations.The owner of this house, Linda Crewes, hadn’t been heard from since her Sunday morning breakfast in Lake Tahoe.While her work as a real estate agent allowed her a lot of personal freedom, there were still people she interacted with on a regular basis.
Using the woman’s phone, Ash had managed to postpone multiple home showings until next week, claiming that she’d caught a bug while at the Tahoe conference.There was an all-hands meeting at Crewes’s realty office tomorrow morning, which she’d tried to beg off of.But her manager said that even if she couldn’t come in, she should call in on Zoom.She could always keep the camera off, claiming she looked like death warmed over.But by even participating, she was risking making a verbal mistake that could draw attention.And what if a friendly co-worker decided to stop by unexpectedly with some chicken soup?It wasn’t out of the question.
She’d loaded up with groceries at the travel plaza on the way here, so she hadn’t needed to go out and shop, but those supplies were starting to run out.On a few occasions, she’d used Linda’s food delivery apps to order dinner, but every time she did that, it was a risk.What if the driver was friendly with Linda and expected some interaction?She didn’t want to do anything to raise alarm bells.
Most concerning was Crewes’s body.Ash thought she’d done a decent job of burying her, but she knew better than to count on it.A windstorm could expose the mound.An off-trail hiker could stumble across the grave.Animals might smell her rotting flesh and dig her up.
If she hadn’t been discovered yet, it was only a matter of time.And even though identifying her would be near impossible, a missing persons case would be opened.That would start a ticking clock that would invariably end with someone figuring out who she was.
Once that happened, things would move fast.Smart people would realize where Crewes lived and the authorities would descend on the home.Ash needed to have completed her work and moved on by then.
She realized that she’d lost count of how many lunges she’d done.Only her burning quads told her that she’d reached her limit.She stopped and stood upright, enjoying the deep ache in her muscles.She noticed that there was smeared blood on the hardwood floor too.It took a second to realize that she’d done so many lunges that the skin under her bare feet had been rubbed raw and bloody.She simply hadn’t noticed.
She wiped her brow and made a decision.With all the variables at play, she probably needed to act tonight, whether the timing was perfect or not.
The waiting was over.It was time to pull the trigger—literally.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Jessie winced as she stood in the corridor outside the Santa Cruz Justice Department’s press room, listening to Carl Webb stumble through his public briefing on the case.
He’d done all right when reading from the press release that she and the comms team had helped prepare for him.He’d explained the nature of the case.Then he’d shown Jason Mannix’s photo, while explaining that the man wasn’t their prime suspect; that his image was being shared to alert any women who had been romantically involved with him that they might be in danger and should call the hotline that had been set up.It was once the questions began that Webb started drowning.
“Are you sure that Mannix isn’t a suspect?”a female reporter asked.
“He’s a person of interest, not a suspect.”
“Is he currently in custody?”the same reporter asked.
“Yes, but that’s not an indication of guilt or innocence.”
“Do you normally hold innocent people in custody?”the reporter asked, but didn’t wait for an answer to that question before asking another one.“Why not release him?”
“Um, he’s being held out of an abundance of caution.”
A cacophony of voices all asked questions at the same time before one male voice became more prominent.
“There’s word going around that the LAPD profiler Jessie Hunt is working with the Bureau of Investigation on this case,” he said.“Can you confirm that?”
Jessie groaned silently.She’d partly avoided going out there with Webb because she’d had enough media attention to last a lifetime.She found that it was rarely useful to show her face in these environments.But she also knew that her work hunting serial killers tended to escalate the interest level of the press.They knew a case might be juicy if she was involved.That often turned things into a circus, which she had hoped to avoid.
“We are availing ourselves of a variety of resources,” Webb said, not throwing anyone off the scent with that answer.
“Why isn’t she out here with you for this briefing?”the male reporter pressed.
“Much of our team is working behind the scenes,” Webb said.
Jessie scrunched her eyes closed in pained anticipation of the next question.
