“That’s right,” Hugo said. “I insist that you two spend another night with us, only this time, without having to worry about catching a killer. In addition, since it’s dinnertime, we’ve reserved a table for you at The Captain’s Quarters, on us.”
“That’s way too generous, Hugo,” Jessie protested.
“Don’t be silly,” he said. “You caught a murderer who, to our great relief, was not a Peninsula employee. This is the least we can do.”
Just then, the valet pulled up with Kat’s car.
“Well this is where I get off,” she said, giving Hugo and Ryan hugs, before leaning in close to squeeze Jessie. As she did, she whispered, “good luck.”
*
Jessie waited patiently.
Finally, after their main dishes had been served, Ryan said what she suspected he’d been holding back the whole day.
“I’m worried that you’re going to resent me,” he said without explanation.
“What?” she asked, pausing just as she was about to put a forkful of salmon in her mouth.
“I know you think I’m being obstinate about this whole ‘big wedding’ thing,” he told her, “but it’s not just about that. I can see history repeating itself.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just like you, this isn’t my first time down the aisle,” he said. “And when Shelly and I were doing our planning, she kept insisting that we keep things from getting too elaborate. She didn’t want me to feel pressured to spend more than I could on a cop’s salary. But once I relented, everything changed. I didn’t realize that what she really wanted was for me to insist on going all out, despite what she said. When I didn’t, she was disappointed, like I had failed her somehow. It cast a shadow over things going forward. Obviously, our issues were more complicated than that, but it was a terrible way to start a marriage. And now I see the same pattern repeating itself. I worry that as much as you protest, the second I give in and embrace a more modest event, you’ll resent me too—even if you don’t believe that you will.”
Jessie sat with that for a moment, trying to put herself in his shoes and feel his doubt, his fear that no matter how definitive she said she was, that her feelings would change if he caved. She got it. He wasn’t just trying to give her the wedding he thought she deserved; he was trying to ensure that their marriage avoided the problems that had helped doom his first one. Kat had been right. By refusing to consider that there might be more to his position than just wanting a big blowout, she’d been her own kind of stubborn. “Thank you for telling me that,” she said quietly, gripping his hand and squeezing tight. “I know it was painful to share and it can’t have been easy.”
He sighed heavily and she could see that a burden had been lifted. She was happy about that. And she empathized with his plight now that she understood it. But it didn’t change the bottom line.
“But Ryan,” she added, “I’m not Shelly.”
“I know, but—,” he started to say before she held up her hand. She wasn’t done.
“A good marriage depends on trust,” she continued. “And that means you need to trust that when I tell you something, I mean it. I’m not some damsel in distress, hoping a knight in shining armor will read my mind, understand that my words don’t reflect my true feelings, and save me from myself. I love you, but you should know by now that I’m my own knight in shining armor. When I say something, I don’t expect you to discern my secret, coded meaning. I expect you to respect that I mean what I say.”
“I do,” he maintained. “I’m just worried about getting burned.”
She took the bite of the salmon that she’d been holding off on and chewed it slowly, savoring it. Only after she swallowed did she reply.
“My first husband demanded a giant wedding against my wishes. I wasn’t confident enough to assert myself, which I regret. As it turned out, the details of the wedding were less significant than the fact that he was a sociopathic, adulterous murderer. But you can see why I don’t want my second chance to resemble the first time in any way. I want what I didn’t get that first go-round: something intimate, with only people there who we know really care about us. I actively despise the idea of a big affair and I assure you that I won’t change my mind once you come around to seeing things my way. I wasn’t kidding when I said that I’d even be happy to get married at city hall and take off for Maui right afterward.”
Ryan took a bite of his steak as he muddled over her words.
“So you promise you won’t change your mind?’ he asked, almost pleaded.
“Oh, I reserve the right to change my mind all the time, without notice,” she said. “But about this one thing, it’s set in stone.”
To her surprise, he began to chuckle.
“What is it?’ she asked.
“It’s just that last night was our first real fight since we got engaged, and now that it’s over, I’m more relieved than I thought possible. My insides have been one big ball of stress all day, and not because of the case.”
She smiled mischievously.
“Maybe we should book a session with Honey Potter to help you work through that,” she teased.
“That’s okay,” he said with a wily smile. “I think we can figure out a way to relieve that stress all on our own.”
“Deal,” she agreed, before an unrelated thought popped into her head. “Sorry to mess with the mood, but I just remember that any stress-relieving activities need to end in time for me to visit Hannah. Maybe she’ll actually speak to me this time. I’m supposed to see her at 11 a.m.”
“Supposed to?” Ryan repeated, sensing her hesitancy.
“Yeah, I called a few minutes ago to reconfirm the visit and no one answered, which is unusual for that place. They must be really busy tonight.”
EPILOGUE
Eden Roth watched the news, taking scrupulous notes. She caught the footage of a woman named Bridget Newhouse in handcuffs, being walked from an LAX terminal to a waiting squad car. Then the story cut to video of Jessie Hunt leaving the airport with her partner, Detective Ryan Hernandez. They had caught the woman, who had apparently murdered her husband at that fancy Palos Verdes resort.
That was the final sign. Once Jessie Hunt had successfully solved her next case and was being lauded in the media, it was an official, irreversible ‘go.’ She knew exactly what she had to do and when to do it. Everything had been meticulously planned. Now it was time to act. It was time for blood to be spilled.
Andy was going to be so proud of her.
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!
THE PERFECT COUPLE
(A Jessie Hunt Psychological Suspense Thriller—Book Twenty)
Couples are found dead in their wealthy homes in suburban Los Angeles, with seemingly nothing to connect them. As Jessie dives deep into this wealthy town, she comes to realize an awful truth: this killer is hiding in plain sight, ready to strike again.
“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”