The Perfect Secret (A Jessie Hunt Psychological Suspense Thriller—Book Eleven)

by Blake Pierce

  “I don’t think we should wait that long,” Jasper said. “Like I told you, we’ve got a stay in place preventing the police from searching the estate. But LAPD is fighting it. If they get it overturned, I guarantee they’ll raid the place within minutes.”

  Paul seemed to consider the idea.

  “What about all the cameras? If I leave in the day, won’t they be able to look at the footage later and see me sneaking out?”

  Jasper shook his head. He’d already told Paul this, but apparently with everything on his mind, he’d forgotten.

  “No. Remember? The cameras in this wing aren’t operational. Neither are the ones in the hedge maze out back. That’s why I brought the gardener uniform by yesterday. You can put that on and you can leave through the West House back door. It’s a straight shot to the maze. I’ll give you a key and you can exit via the back gate. I’ll have a car meet you there. It can take you to your house to get your clothes and you can go on to the airport. There will be no physical evidence that you were ever here. You can say you spent the whole time that you were in L.A. in your house.”

  Jasper could tell from Paul’s expression that this was the first time he’d really registered the idea fully. He seemed to like it.

  “Okay,” he said. “That sounds good. I just need a little time to decompress before we do it.”

  “That’s fine,” Jasper said. “And if you need a little chemical assistance to decompress, I have something upstairs that I can grab—drinks or something heavier.”

  “That’s okay,” Paul said. “Because of all the training for the movie, I haven’t touched a thing in six months. I have shirtless scenes. Got to look respectable, right?”

  “Right,” Jasper said, though his brain had suddenly fixated on something other than the kind of shape Paul was in.

  He flashed back to their phone conversation the night Milly Estrada had died. Paul had said he’d taken something to amp up the moment and that he’d gotten too excited as a result. That was how he inadvertently broke her neck.

  But if he hadn’t taken any kind of drug in six months, then he’d been lying about being high on Saturday night. And if he wasn’t high, that meant he’d killed her while he was completely sober. That suggested that it wasn’t an accident at all, that he’d done it intentionally.

  Jasper couldn’t imagine why his friend would do such a thing, although he had mentioned something about Milly being his lawyer when he got in trouble once. Was this connected to that?

  It occurred to him that he’d be better off figuring that out somewhere else, away from the man who had apparently intentionally killed someone with his bare hands. Jasper’s own hands weren’t entirely clean when it came to eliminating people who made his life difficult. But he’d never actually done it himself. Even the thought was appalling.

  “I think I’ll go check on getting a car set up for you,” he said, standing up quickly.

  When he looked over at Paul, he sensed that he had an issue. The actor was staring at him. His eyes were no longer bleary. In fact, they were shockingly alert. His whole body had gone from slumped to stiff. It was then that he knew Jasper had caught his mistake.

  “You know what, buddy?” Paul said, using the buttery lilt so many movie fans had come to love. “Why don’t you just make the call from here? No point risking someone overhearing you, right?”

  Jasper felt something rare for him these days: fear. He tried to keep it in check as he responded.

  “You know, now that I think about it, I’m not sure I have the number. I better check with Nancy.”

  Paul stood up. With both men at their full height, he had three inches on Jasper, not to mention a good twenty-five pounds.

  “Just give her a call now. I’ll wait.”

  He looked down at Jasper with the confidence of a man who always got his way. Jasper normally carried himself with a similar confidence, but something about the other man’s size and desperation unsettled him.

  “Sure,” he said, flipping through his phone. “Oh look, I do have it after all.”

  “That’s great, Jasper,” Paul said. His voice was ice cold.

  Jasper made the call, asking for the car to wait at the back gate. Then he turned back to Paul.

  “Let me point out the route. Like I said, from the back door here to the hedge maze, and the gate beyond it, is a straight shot, three hundred yards north.”

  “I think you should take me, Jasper. I’ll wear the gardener uniform to keep a low profile but you know the way. I don’t want to get lost in that maze. And you know how the back gate opens better than I do. You’ve got the key. It just makes sense to have you lead me there.”

  Jasper felt the panic rising in his throat and gulped it down hard.

  “But if they check the video later, they’ll see me escorting a gardener around. It will look suspicious. We don’t want to give them anything to work with.”

  Paul reached behind him and pulled something out of the back pocket of his jeans. It was a serrated steak knife, one that was kept in the dining room for easy access. Paul’s smile disappeared.

  “I think you should take me.”

  Jasper held up his arms as if in surrender.

  “Hey, buddy, calm down. There’s no need for anything like that.”

  Without warning, Paul swiped at one of his raised arms, slicing across his left forearm. Jasper gasped. Looking down, he saw that blood had already started dripping down his arm to the carpet below.

  He started to scream in pain but before anything came out, Paul had him pinned against the wall, his free hand clamped over his mouth, muffling the sound. Jasper struggled to get free but the other man was much bigger and stronger. For the first time in forever, Jasper Otis was afraid.

  “Better tie that off,” Paul said. “Like I said, I think you should take me.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  Jessie was antsy.

  It was 12:26. She and Karen were parked half a block down from the main gate of the Otis Estate, just out of view of the cameras. Behind them were two additional unmarked cars. Another block away, on a less-traveled side street, were four squad cars and a large truck that could knock the front gate over if required.

  The search warrant was supposed to be approved in just over a half hour, which left her far too long to obsess. She decided to check in with Hannah to see how she was doing and sent off a quick text asking about her day so far. The answer came back fast.

  Boring. Even on a day with sex traffickers and undercover cops, I still had to take a European History quiz. Lame. Going to lunch now. Good luck catching the bad guys.

  Jessie said thanks and didn’t mention how glad she was that Hannah’s day was boring. It was vastly preferable to the alternative.

  “How’s she doing?” Karen asked, correctly guessing who Jessie was communicating with.

  But before she could answer, her phone rang. It was Captain Decker. She answered immediately.

  “Judge Rhone released his ruling overturning the stay early,” he said. “It just came out. I’m forwarding it to you and Detective Bray now. Are you in place?”

  “Yes, Captain,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice professional, despite the excitement she felt bubbling over.

  “Then get in there,” he ordered.

  Jessie hung up without replying. Her whole body vibrated with righteous determination. Finally, she had the go-ahead to take this bastard down.

  Karen had already hit the gas. Jessie sent her pre-set text telling all the other units to execute the warrant, then strapped on her seatbelt and tried to remember to breathe.

  *

  Hannah was starving.

  After she finished texting Jessie, she hurried to lunch. She was halfway to the cafeteria when Elodie caught her by the arm.

  “What’s up?”

  “Change of plans,” Elodie said. “Rico wants to meet you now. He’s on the side street, waiting.”

  “Why?” Hannah asked, keeping her tone level e
ven as she felt an unfamiliar pang of what she assumed was dread. “I thought we were meeting at the same corner as yesterday after school. Isn’t he worried about the cameras seeing him?”

  “He wants to shake things up,” Elodie said. “And to be honest, he wasn’t totally convinced by your sob story about your grandpa. He thinks you may be chickening out. This is your chance to prove you’re serious. But you have to go right now. If you don’t, he says to forget about it.”

  “Can I at least go to the bathroom first?” she pleaded.

  “Can she?” Elodie asked, lifting up the phone she’d been holding at her side this whole time to reveal that Rico was on the screen and had been listening in.

  “No,” he said firmly. “You’re in the car in two minutes or you’re out.”

  He hung up. Elodie looked over at her.

  “Please don’t screw me on this,” she begged. “If you work out, I get a nice commission. If you bail, I have to pay a penalty and it’s not cheap.”

  Hannah knew she didn’t have time to waver. Even looking like she had doubts might make Elodie warn Rico off. She had no idea if one or both of the undercover cops had eyes on her amid the swarm of kids rushing to get lunch.

  In the end, she knew she had no choice. Unless she got in the car with Rico, there was no chance he’d lead her to his boss and no chance of stopping the trafficking ring that had Jessie so upset. Her sister was counting on her, so she moved.

  She waited until she was out of Elodie’s sight before texting the undercover cops at the numbers she’d been given. Marie, the female cop, had instructed her not to text her or Brian, the male cop, unless it was an emergency.

  She typed an innocuous message, one that Rico wouldn’t find odd if he insisted on looking at her phone, as quickly as she could and sent it just to Marie. It read: Can’t meet for lunch. Going off campus to see a friend. Later.

  Only seconds later, she got a call. It was Marie.

  “Don’t,” the woman said emphatically. “It’s not safe. This could be a trap.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” Hannah hissed back. “If I don’t go, we miss our chance. I’ll do my part. You do yours. Follow us. Bust them when we get there.”

  “I’m pulling you out,” Marie said. “We’ll just arrest Rico and go from there.”

  Hannah was about to round the last corner to get to the side street where he was waiting. If he saw her on the phone, she feared she’d spook him.

  “No,” she said forcefully, nearly shouting. “You do that and girls will die. We have a chance to stop that. I’ll be fine. Follow me. Call for backup. Do whatever you have to do. But don’t ruin this. And stay way back. He’s already paranoid. You can be the hero or goat, Marie. If you don’t let this play out, you’ll get the blame. I’ll make sure of it.”

  She hung up without waiting for Marie’s reply, put her phone on silent, and stuffed it in her pocket. As she rounded the corner to meet Rico, she made sure she had the right expression on her face: anxious but not scared.

  It helped that it was exactly how she felt.

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

  “We are not permitted to allow entrance without a valid warrant,” the security guard said over the speaker beside the gate.

  They’d only been waiting at the gate for twenty seconds but each one was precious, an opportunity for Jasper Otis to hide Paul Gilliard or sneak him off the estate. Jessie was about to respond but Karen beat her to it.

  “We have a valid warrant, which we’ll show you at the front door of the house. You can open the gate right now or we’ll have the truck behind us knock it down. It’s your call. You have five seconds to hit that button.”

  It only took two for the buzz to sound and the gate to creak open. Karen blasted through so quickly her car scraped the edges of the gate as it passed. They tore down the long driveway and dashed out, where they were met at the South House main entrance by Nancy Salter, who stood in doorway like a bouncer at a bar.

  “You’re trespassing,” she yelled as they ran toward her. “If you don’t want to be personally sued, I suggest you turn around right now.”

  “Too late for that,” Jessie muttered to herself.

  “We have a warrant,” Karen announced. “You can move out of the way or be arrested right now.”

  Salter looked briefly startled before recovering.

  “Show it to me, please,” she said.

  “You can come with us while we search. Or you can hang here with one of the officers, who can show you a copy. But we’re coming in now.”

  Jessie stepped up so that she was face to face with Salter. The other woman was still taller than her, but she didn’t seem all that intimidating anymore.

  “Move now,” Jessie said. “Or I will move you.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Salter stepped aside. Jessie darted past her and turned straight toward West House. She glanced back and saw that Karen was right behind her. To her surprise, Detective Purcell was there too, though he looked reluctant to participate. It took less than a minute to reach the plastic sheeting outside the residential wing.

  “I’ll open it,” Jessie said to Karen. “Cover me.”

  “That area isn’t safe to enter,” Salter said, catching up to them.

  Jessie looked back at her incredulously.

  “Don’t waste our time with that,” she said. “You’re on the hook for this too, Nancy. Show us which room he’s in or you’ll be charged as an accessory.”

  Salter shook her head.

  “You already know that Jasper’s residence is upstairs,” she maintained.

  “Not Jasper,” Karen said. “Paul Gilliard—where would Jasper have put him?”

  The genuinely surprised expression on Salter’s face made Jessie reevaluate just how much she knew about what was going on. Involuntarily, Salter glanced at the end of the hall. Jessie ran in that direction. When she got to the last door on the left, she pressed her ear to it in the hopes of hearing voices. But there were none. Karen arrived seconds later.

  “Check if it’s locked,” the detective said.

  It was. She looked at Salter, who was just arriving, huffing heavily.

  “Unlock it,” she ordered.

  The woman did so reluctantly. Jessie pushed the door open and Karen stepped inside with her gun drawn. Jessie followed her, as did Purcell and two uniformed officers. They searched all the rooms of the residence but found no one. Karen looked over at Jessie with doubt in her eyes. Jessie could tell she was worried they’d screwed up.

  “Check the other guest rooms in the wing,” Karen instructed the uniformed officers.

  They hurried out.

  “When did Otis tell you to have this area sealed off?” Jessie demanded of Salter.

  “Sunday morning,” Salter replied.

  Jessie stared at her hard.

  “I’m going to give you a chance here, Nancy. I’m guessing you didn’t know Gilliard was the one in here. But you knew something was up. Did Jasper suggest the mold story?”

  Salter looked at Detective Purcell for help but he was stone-faced. It appeared that he’d finally come around and was putting the job ahead of the power. Without anyone to support her, Salter seemed torn. But apparently the two women standing in front of her with weapons drawn were more impactful than her loyalty to Jasper Otis.

  “He said he needed to make sure no one entered the residential area for a few days. I came up with the mold remediation suggestion. We had it done last year and still had the plastic sheeting in storage. I didn’t ask what it was about.”

  “You realize your boss has been hiding a murderer?” Karen said. “And that he may be helping him to escape right now? You need to tell us everything you know.”

  “I don’t know anything else,” Salter insisted. “Jasper has been very closed-mouthed the last few days. I had my suspicions but nothing firm, so I didn’t ask.”

  As Karen continued to press her, Jessie walked around the residence, looking for anything she might
have missed earlier. By the front door in the dining area, she saw a fresh stain on the floor, reinforcing her belief that someone had been here recently. Maybe they’d spilled some food. She knelt down and the unexpected smell of blood hit her nostrils.

  Glancing around, she saw a small trail of droplets leading into the entertainment room and then the bedroom. Then they stopped, as if someone had found a way to staunch the bleeding. On a hunch, she walked into the bathroom. It seemed unremarkable. She walked over to the hamper and opened it. Inside she found pants and a shirt. The latter was covered in blood, as if it had been used as a tourniquet.

  “In here,” she yelled.

  When Karen and Salter arrived, she pointed out the clothes.

  “Whose are these?” she asked.

  Salter’s eyes widened.

  “That’s what Jasper was wearing,” she said, clearly concerned.

  Jessie’s worry that she’d misjudged the nature of the situation only increased.

  “It looks like your boss may have gotten on the wrong side of the man he was trying to protect. If you want to help him, your best bet would be to tell us where he might have taken Gilliard. His life might depend on it.”

  Salter thought for a moment, then shook her head.

  “I honestly don’t know,” she said. “I assume they would have left via the private door over there to avoid being seen by staff. But after that, I don’t know.”

  Jessie hurried over to the door, which she’d originally missed, as it was cleverly disguised as a wall panel. She opened it and looked outside to discover that it had a clear view of nearly the entire back of the estate. From here she could see the edge of the pool, the petting zoo, the hedge maze, and even a few guest houses. They could have gone anywhere.

  She tried to picture Gilliard looking out from this same spot. Where would a desperate man, holding another one hostage, go? How could he best avoid detection?

  “Is there a back way out of the estate?” she asked Salter.

  “Yes,” the woman said. “There’s an alley that runs along the back of the entire estate and a connecting gate just beyond the hedge maze.”