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“I actually have afavor to ask,” Kat said, snapping Hannah out of her thoughts and making herwonder how long she’d been sitting there, silently brooding.
“Okay,” shereplied apprehensively.
But before Katcould go on, Hannah’s phone buzzed. She glanced over. It was a text from FinnAnderton, a fellow UC Irvine student and frat boy that she’d initially despisedand more recently found herself enjoying flirting with. He lived down in OrangeCounty, about an hour away.
How’s everythinggoing?the message inquired innocuously. She was tempted to respond, but with Katsitting expectantly next to her, she instead put the phone in her pocket. Theboy could wait.
“Do you want torespond to that?” Kat asked.
“Later,” Hannahsaid with a dismissive wave. “What’s the favor?”
“I know this is abig ask, but I wanted to see if you could follow up on this whole Piercething?”
“What do youmean?” Hannah wanted to know.
“Look,” Kat said,“as deep in my own messed-up head as I’ve been lately, even I know that I can’tbe objective when it comes to evaluating if Pierce is full of crap. But youworked for me last summer. I taught you all the basics of conducting aninvestigation. You could review the research I’ve gathered and take an unbiasedlook at whether her condition is legit or not.”
“Unbiased?” Hannahsaid, unable to control her surprise, “you’ve got to be kidding!” Don’t youremember that I was in hiding at a safe house after she escaped from prisonbecause she had a personal vendetta against me? She tried to kill me too, Kat.I wouldn’t call myself unbiased.”
“Okay,” Kat saidheavily, as if the effort of arguing was almost too much for her, “let’s saythat you’re more clear-headed then. I haven’t slept. I can’t stop crying overMitch. And I feel like every time I move, I’m covered in molasses slowing medown. You can at least offer a fresh perspective. Will you just look at whatI’ve compiled and see what you think? I need to know, once and for all, whetherthis whole amnesia thing is real or not.”
“I may be doublemajoring in Psychology and Criminology,” Hannah conceded, before trying tosquirm out of the request, “but I just finished the fall of my freshman year.I’m hardly qualified for this assignment.”
Kat was undaunted.“I’m not asking for your help because of your academic prowess, Hannah. Youknow Pierce. That makes you qualified enough in my book.”
Hannah exhaleddeeply. She wasn’t sure that she’d be any better at this than Kat. But thewoman was looking at her with pleading eyes. She knew there was no way shecould decline.
Besides, if takingover this project could give Kat a mental break and prevent her from goingfurther down the rabbit hole, that alone would justify her involvement. And inthe back of her head, there was another reason she considered doing it. If Katwasn’t thinking about the case, she was less likely to show up unannounced atthe hospital again and do something rash.
Of course, Hannahdidn’t trust that depending on what she found, she might not do the same thing.
“Okay,” shereplied reluctantly. “I’ll do it. But only because I love you.”
Kat leaned overand gave her a hug. Hannah could smell the mustiness on her.
"Onecondition, though," she added. "You have to shower right now."
Kat smiled weaklyand nodded, getting up immediately. As she watched her go, Hannah already beganto wonder if she was making a terrible mistake.
CHAPTER FIVE
Jessie got out ofthe car and stretched.
The drive fromTabitha Reynolds’s Venice loft to their current location in Mar Vista only tookten minutes. But in between they’d made a forty-five minute pitstop at a localdiner to review the case file they’d been sent on the first poisoning victim,Clarissa Langley.
Jessie had noshedon a stale blueberry scone, a far cry from the chicken and Brussels sproutskillet she and Ryan had originally intended as tonight’s meal. But their timein the diner had proved somewhat fruitful.
While there, theyreviewed the file over the phone with the HSS researchers, Jamil Winslow andBeth Ryerson. Jamil, a short, skinny twenty-five-year-old with thickglasses and no sense of fashion style, headed up the two-person department.
He was the unit’sresident genius, capableof filtering through massive databases, sorting surveillance video intomanageable buckets, or making complex financial records understandable, allseemingly in the blink of an eye. His social skills didn’t always matchhis intellectual ones, which is where his sole employee came in.
Beth Ryerson, alsotwenty-five, was as adept with people as Jamil was with numbers. Her perpetuallychill, friendly vibe was the complete inverse of Jamil’s constant, jitteryintensity. And whilenot a human supercomputer like Jamil, she had an incredibly sharp mind, whichpeople tended to underestimate because she was an attractive, six-foot-plusformer college volleyball star.
Working togetherwith the researchers, Jessie and Ryan quickly confirmed multiple similaritiesbetween the crime scenes. They’d also learned that the colleague of ClarissaLangley who’d discovered her body last night lived only five minutes from thediner they were in. Ryan called to see if she was home. She was, and despitethe fact that it was approaching 9 p.m., invited them over, which is why Jessieand Ryan were now standing in front of her place.
The woman, RayleneFlorence, lived in a six-story, cookie-cutter complex on the edge of Mar Vistaand Venice. But by living on the Mar Vista side of Walgrove Avenue, her rent wasseveral hundred dollars cheaper than if she lived on the Venice side. Theybuzzed her apartment at the front gate, and she let them in. They took theelevator up to the fourth floor, and Ryan knocked on her door. She must havebeen waiting on the other side because she opened it before he'd even pulledhis hand back.
“Hi,” she saidnervously, “come on in.”
