She was dead before she had a chance to appreciate the irony.
CHAPTER TWO
Jessie Hunt hit snooze on her phone and lay quietly in bed with her eyes closed, hoping to drift back to sleep. After all, she didn’t have anywhere she had to be.
But it was no use. Her mind was already racing, despite her best efforts to slow it down. It was Monday morning. This was supposed to be a relaxing day, or at least as relaxing as she was capable of having these days. There was no job to go to. She didn’t have to rush Hannah off to school. With one exception, her schedule was whatever she wanted it to be. And yet, the gnawing sense that she had work to do ate at her. She sat up.
The action sent a wave of discomfort rippling through her body. Her bad shoulder ached, probably from inadvertently sleeping on it. And the still-raw skin on her lower back felt weird and tight, like an itch she knew she couldn’t scratch.
Looking across the small bedroom at the other bed, she saw that Hannah Dorsey, the half-sister for whom she was the full-time guardian, was still asleep, snoring softly. Jessie got up and tiptoed outside and down the hall to the bathroom. She saw that the other bedroom door was closed, which meant that Kat was either still asleep or, more likely, getting dressed for her day. Either way, it meant the bathroom was free.
Katherine “Kat” Gentry, Jessie’s best friend, was letting her and Hannah stay at her place until they found a new one. Jessie couldn’t bear the thought of living in her condo anymore. Too many awful things had happened there.
She had promised Kat that they’d be out in a month and though it had only been two weeks since they moved in, she was feeling the pressure. Part of that was because she felt bad that Kat couldn’t comfortably have her boyfriend over, a Lake Arrowhead sheriff’s deputy named Mitch Connor. They usually only got to see each other on weekends as it was. Even that was on hold for now.
But beyond that, finding a new place that had enough room for two people—hopefully three at some point—and met her security requirements wasn’t easy. Even though her ex-husband, Kyle Voss, was no longer a threat, Jessie still had lots of other enemies, many of whom would relish the chance to have a go at her.
She reminded herself that there was one additional necessity. It would also have to be handicapped-accessible. Jessie’s live-in boyfriend, LAPD Detective Ryan Hernandez, was nowhere near ready to leave the hospital. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure he ever would be. But if he did one day get the go-ahead to leave, he’d need wheelchair ramps, safety bars, and all manner of other equipment she hadn’t begun to think about.
Jessie gave herself a once-over in the mirror before washing her face. She didn’t have the relaxed look of a woman on a day off. The shadows under her bright green eyes had faded but they were still tinged with a redness that hinted at unsettled sleep. Her shoulder-length brown hair wasn’t tied back in her standard, professional ponytail but looked as worn out as she felt. She was hunched over the sink, making her athletic, five-foot-ten frame appear significantly smaller. Even her sculpted cheekbones seemed somehow less pronounced than usual. She had only recently turned thirty but on this morning, she felt about a decade older than that.
She finished washing up and stepped out of the bathroom, where she found Kat waiting patiently. Her friend was dressed casually in jeans and a loose-fitting top that hid her chiseled physique. Though she was no longer an Army Ranger or the head of security at a psychiatric prison, she still had the look of someone who shouldn’t be messed with. That was probably a good thing because her new gig as a private detective still afforded opportunities to get in a few scrapes now and then.
“Have you been waiting out here long?” Jessie asked guiltily.
“Just a few minutes,” Kat assured her. “I’m in no rush. I just need to run a brush through my hair. There’s coffee brewing if you want some.”
“Thanks. I could use it.”
“Another rough night?” Kat asked sympathetically, well aware of Jessie’s recent struggles.
She nodded.
“I don’t remember the specifics of the nightmares this time. But I still have images floating through my head.”