she needed to avoid. Then she wandered over next to two youngish, model-looking women in robes sipping mimosas. She hoped they might be in a chatty mood.
“Anyone sitting here?” she asked them as she plopped down in the lounge next to them.
They exchanged disdainful looks before the blonder of the two replied.
“Is staff supposed to be chatting with guests like this?”
“Oh, I’m not staff,” Jessie assured her as she laid out some of the towels and undid an extra button near the top of her shirt. “I just like to have a lot of towels for extra cushion. I hate it when these chairs leave lines on my skin. So are we back to normal yet or is all this police stuff still going on? I mean, I thought I was going to have a relaxing week on the West Coast and I get here to discover there’s a frickin’ murder investigation going on.”
“I wouldn’t sweat it,” the less blonde woman said. “There’s nothing major going on until the oiled-down Twister party tomorrow night. By then, I’m sure Jasper will have this whole thing taken care of.”
“I’m sorry,” Jessie asked. “Did you say oiled-down Twister party? That’s a thing?”
“Sure,” she said. “Jasper loves to update retro games. And if it gives him a chance to roll around with girls slathered in oil, you know he’s gonna take it. You should check the itinerary. It’s posted everywhere. There’s all kinds of stuff coming up. I think he’s got Strip Trivial Pursuit happening on Thursday.”
“I don’t really know Jasper,” Jessie said. “I got the invite here from a friend of a friend. Is he cool? I’m not sure I’d be into playing any of that stuff with a fifty-something-year-old guy. It seems a little sketchy.”
“He’s no more pervy than your average middle-aged dude,” the blonder one said. “But you don’t really seem like the type who’d be into all of that under any circumstances.”
Jessie pretended not to get the dig. She wanted to press harder on what they thought of Otis but feared it would come across as snooping, so she let it drop.
“I’ll admit that’s not how I usually spend my Thursday nights,” Jessie said. “But I didn’t come all the way from New York just to sit around for a week. I guess I’m game.”
“That’s the spirit,” semi-blonde said.
“Hey, speaking of game,” Jessie said, finally sensing they were comfortable enough with her to ask some real questions. “I heard I missed out on seeing some big names on Saturday. Is it true that both Percy Avalon and Rance Jensen were here?”
“Girl,” replied super-blonde, “if you think those are big names, you’re in for a shock. Those are just the guys who deign to mingle with the masses. Jasper keeps the really big names protected from the hordes in the West House, where we can’t get at them.”
“Like who?” Jessie asked conspiratorially.
“Ever heard of Senator Greg Johnson? Or Paul Gilliard, the Oscar-winning actor? Or Omar?”
“Who’s that?” Jessie asked.
“Some Middle Eastern sultan or something. I can’t pronounce his whole name so I just call him Omar.”
“All those people were at the party on Saturday?” Jessie asked, trying to commit the names to memory.
Super-blonde’s gossipy demeanor suddenly changed, as if she’d been busted in a lie.
“I’m not actually sure if any of them were here on Saturday. I didn’t personally see them. Sometimes they hole up in the personal wing, away from us little people. But those guys are around all the time.”
Jessie tried to hide her disappointment. The men she mentioned being around “all the time” at these parties weren’t likely to sway Decker enough to agree to a full-court press on investigating their backgrounds. Semi-blonde, apparently sensing that Jessie felt cheated, leaned in.
“You were right, though. Those other guys were here that night. I saw Percy and I can personally vouch for Rance’s attendance.”
“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.
“A lady never tells,” semi-blonde said, leaning back on her chaise.
“Yeah, but you’re not a lady,” super-blonde snapped before turning to Jessie. “What she means is that she nailed the guy.”
Jessie forced the surprise on her face to come across as titillated more than ravenously inquisitive.
“Wow!” she exclaimed. “That’s impressive. How much time did you get to spend with him?”
“Oh, you know,” semi-blonde said, trying to sound laid-back, “we spent time together at two in the morning, three in the morning, had a bite to keep our energy up, then spent some more time together around dawn. You know what I mean?”