Jessie Hunt 13-The Perfect Impression Read online

  t h e p e r f e c t i m p r e s s i o n

  (a jessie hunt psychological suspense—book 13)

  b l a k e p i e r c e

  Blake Pierce

  Blake Pierce is the USA Today bestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seventeen books. Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising fourteen books; of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising six books; of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising seven books; of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising six books; of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising fifteen books (and counting); of the AU PAIR psychological suspense thriller series, comprising three books; of the ZOE PRIME mystery series, comprising six books; of the ADELE SHARP mystery series, comprising ten books (and counting); of the EUROPEAN VOYAGE cozy mystery series, comprising six books (and counting); of the new LAURA FROST FBI suspense thriller, comprising three books (and counting); of the new ELLA DARK FBI suspense thriller, comprising six books (and counting); of the A YEAR IN EUROPE cozy mystery series, comprising three books (and counting); of the AVA GOLD mystery series, comprising three books (and counting); and of the RACHEL GIFT mystery series, comprising three books (and counting).

  ONCE GONE (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFORE HE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSE TO KILL (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 1), A TRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1), WATCHING (The Making of Riley Paige—Book 1), NEXT DOOR (A Chloe Fine Psychological Suspense Mystery—Book 1), THE PERFECT WIFE (A Jessie Hunt Psychological Suspense Thriller—Book One), IF SHE KNEW (A Kate Wise Mystery—Book 1), and MURDER (AND BAKLAVA) (A European Voyage Cozy Mystery—Book 1) are each available as a free download on Amazon!

  An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

  Copyright © 2021 by Blake Pierce. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright George Mayer, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

  BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE

  RACHEL GIFT MYSTERY SERIES

  HER LAST WISH (Book #1)

  HER LAST CHANCE (Book #2)

  HER LAST HOPE (Book #3)

  AVA GOLD MYSTERY SERIES

  CITY OF PREY (Book #1)

  CITY OF FEAR (Book #2)

  CITY OF BONES (Book #3)

  A YEAR IN EUROPE

  A MURDER IN PARIS (Book #1)

  DEATH IN FLORENCE (Book #2)

  VENGEANCE IN VIENNA (Book #3)

  ELLA DARK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

  GIRL, ALONE (Book #1)

  GIRL, TAKEN (Book #2)

  GIRL, HUNTED (Book #3)

  GIRL, SILENCED (Book #4)

  GIRL, VANISHED (Book 5)

  GIRL ERASED (Book #6)

  LAURA FROST FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

  ALREADY GONE (Book #1)

  ALREADY SEEN (Book #2)

  ALREADY TRAPPED (Book #3)

  EUROPEAN VOYAGE COZY MYSTERY SERIES

  MURDER (AND BAKLAVA) (Book #1)

  DEATH (AND APPLE STRUDEL) (Book #2)

  CRIME (AND LAGER) (Book #3)

  MISFORTUNE (AND GOUDA) (Book #4)

  CALAMITY (AND A DANISH) (Book #5)

  MAYHEM (AND HERRING) (Book #6)

  ADELE SHARP MYSTERY SERIES

  LEFT TO DIE (Book #1)

  LEFT TO RUN (Book #2)

  LEFT TO HIDE (Book #3)

  LEFT TO KILL (Book #4)

  LEFT TO MURDER (Book #5)

  LEFT TO ENVY (Book #6)

  LEFT TO LAPSE (Book #7)

  LEFT TO VANISH (Book #8)

  LEFT TO HUNT (Book #9)

  LEFT TO FEAR (Book #10)

  THE AU PAIR SERIES

  ALMOST GONE (Book#1)

  ALMOST LOST (Book #2)

  ALMOST DEAD (Book #3)

  ZOE PRIME MYSTERY SERIES

  FACE OF DEATH (Book#1)

  FACE OF MURDER (Book #2)

  FACE OF FEAR (Book #3)

  FACE OF MADNESS (Book #4)

  FACE OF FURY (Book #5)

  FACE OF DARKNESS (Book #6)

  A JESSIE HUNT PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

  THE PERFECT WIFE (Book #1)

  THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2)

  THE PERFECT HOUSE (Book #3)

  THE PERFECT SMILE (Book #4)

  THE PERFECT LIE (Book #5)

  THE PERFECT LOOK (Book #6)

  THE PERFECT AFFAIR (Book #7)

  THE PERFECT ALIBI (Book #8)

  THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR (Book #9)

  THE PERFECT DISGUISE (Book #10)

  THE PERFECT SECRET (Book #11)

  THE PERFECT FAÇADE (Book #12)

  THE PERFECT IMPRESSION (Book #13)

  THE PERFECT DECEIT (Book #14)

  THE PERFECT MISTRESS (Book #15)

  THE PERFECT IMAGE (Book #16)

  THE PERFECT VEIL (Book #17)

  THE PERFECT INDISCRETION (Book #18)

  THE PERFECT RUMOR (Book #19)

  CHLOE FINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

  NEXT DOOR (Book #1)

  A NEIGHBOR’S LIE (Book #2)

  CUL DE SAC (Book #3)

  SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book #4)

  HOMECOMING (Book #5)

  TINTED WINDOWS (Book #6)

  KATE WISE MYSTERY SERIES

  IF SHE KNEW (Book #1)

  IF SHE SAW (Book #2)

  IF SHE RAN (Book #3)

  IF SHE HID (Book #4)

  IF SHE FLED (Book #5)

  IF SHE FEARED (Book #6)

  IF SHE HEARD (Book #7)

  THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE SERIES

  WATCHING (Book #1)

  WAITING (Book #2)

  LURING (Book #3)

  TAKING (Book #4)

  STALKING (Book #5)

  KILLING (Book #6)

  RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES

  ONCE GONE (Book #1)

  ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)

  ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)

  ONCE LURED (Book #4)

  ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)

  ONCE PINED (Book #6)

  ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)

  ONCE COLD (Book #8)

  ONCE STALKED (Book #9)

  ONCE LOST (Book #10)

  ONCE BURIED (Book #11)

  ONCE BOUND (Book #12)

  ONCE TRAPPED (Book #13)

  ONCE DORMANT (Book #14)

  ONCE SHUNNED (Book #15)

  ONCE MISSED (Book #16)

  ONCE CHOSEN (Book #17)

  MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES

  BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)

  BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)

  BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)

  BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)

  BE
FORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)

  BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)

  BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)

  BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)

  BEFORE HE PREYS (Book #9)

  BEFORE HE LONGS (Book #10)

  BEFORE HE LAPSES (Book #11)

  BEFORE HE ENVIES (Book #12)

  BEFORE HE STALKS (Book #13)

  BEFORE HE HARMS (Book #14)

  AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES

  CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)

  CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)

  CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)

  CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)

  CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)

  CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)

  KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES

  A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)

  A TRACE OF MUDER (Book #2)

  A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

  A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

  A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

  EPILOGUE

  PROLOGUE

  Everybody called him Tex.

  His real name was Esteban Mejada. But because the room service waiter had a southern drawl, someone had given him the nickname, even though he’d said repeatedly that he was from Louisiana, not Texas. It only took him a few weeks of working at the island hotel to discover that both the drawl and the nickname, along with a few other factors, actually helped him when it came to tips.

  He got off the elevator, ready to deliver a tray of champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries to a guest waiting for him to serve them, and service her. Saturday nights almost always involved extra services. He wondered what his tips would be like if he had a flatter Midwestern accent.

  Tex rounded the corner and headed down the hallway. He was halfway to the guest’s room when he heard a bloodcurdling scream. Moments later, a woman burst out of a room at the end of the hall wearing a pink jogging suit with several wine stains on it. Her eyes were wild and her face was filled with panicked intensity. She saw him and ran over, babbling incoherently.

  “I can’t understand you,” he said.

  The woman slid down the wall and slumped to the ground, so that she was seated cross-legged on the floor.

  “What happened?” he tried again, kneeling down and placing the tray down beside her. She didn’t respond, only pointing at the door she’d come out of before beginning to cry softly.

  Though his heart was beating rapidly, Esteban stood, gulped hard, and walked toward the door, which was slightly ajar. His own breath was heavy in his ears as he stood there, willing himself to take one more step. Finally, he nudged it all the way open with his shoe.

  The room was dimly lit, with only a lamp in the corner of the room offering any illumination. He didn’t immediately see anything that would have caused such an intense reaction in the woman. His eyes adjusted, revealing a form on the bed. He couldn’t tell much more than that.

  As the powerful feeling that something was horribly amiss in the room began to overtake him, he pulled a tissue out of his pocket, instinctively sensing that he should avoid getting his fingerprints on anything. He flicked on the light switch near the door. The second he did, the form became clear.

  A woman was lying on her back in the middle of the bed. But that alone wasn’t what caused terror and disgust to well up in his chest.

  Her eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling. She was naked and the sheets near her body were soaked in blood.

  Sticking out of her chest was a knife.

  The same one he had dropped off an hour ago, along with the rest of the room service meal she had requested.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Jessie Hunt knew something was off the second she woke up.

  It took a moment to figure out what it was. Glancing over at her clock, she saw that it was 11:48 p.m. She blinked a few times and then it hit her. Normally she could feel the heat radiating off the man who slept beside her each night. But the bed was cooler than usual and it felt somehow lighter.

  She reached out her hand delicately in the dark just in case she was wrong. But sure enough, Ryan wasn’t there. She grabbed her phone to search the room but he was nowhere to be found. She glanced over toward the bathroom. There was no sliver of light sneaking through underneath the door.

  Trying to stay calm, she got up and put on her robe. She briefly considered taking her gun out of the bedside drawer but chose against it. There were a dozen credible reasons Ryan might not be in bed and there was no need to jump to conclusions. But after everything they’d been through, she couldn’t blame herself for the instinct. It’s not like serial killers hadn’t leapt out of the shadows in the past.

  She slid her feet into her slippers and shuffled out of the room, armed only with her phone and a body full of adrenaline. At the last second, her apprehension got the better of her and she stepped back into the bedroom to grab one of Ryan’s canes.

  As she made her way down the hall, holding the cane above her shoulder like a baseball bat, she reminded herself that her boyfriend might just be restless. Even though it had been six months since he was stabbed, and despite how well his rehabilitation was going, sometimes he was still overcome by anxiety that could only be subdued by middle-of-the night pacing.

  She saw a dim light coming from the breakfast room and moved toward it as quietly as possible. Peeking around the corner, she saw Ryan hunched over the breakfast table, poring through a pile of papers. He looked lost in thought.

  Sighing in relief, she put the cane down, resting it against the wall, out of sight. Then she coughed quietly so as not to startle him as she stepped into the room. He looked up, seeming to take a moment to connect the sound to the person in front of him.

  “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi,” she whispered back, not wanting to wake her sister, Hannah, who was hopefully fast asleep in her room. “What’s up?”

  “I think I may have a breakthrough in the case,” he said excitedly.

  Jessie walked over and sat down across from him at the table. It had only been a month since he’d started consulting for the LAPD, so she could understand his enthusiasm at being back in the mix. But she was worried about the effect of expending so much energy on a case instead of rehab. Of course, she couldn’t say that without sounding unsupportive, so she didn’t.

  “What did you find?” she asked.

  He smiled. Clearly, he’d hoped she would ask.

  “You know the case I was looking into, the one with the girl who was carved up?” he asked.

  Jessie nodded. He hadn’t mentioned any details beyond that to her, but she did know this was the case he hoped might justify involvement by Homicide Special Section. HSS was a specialized LAPD unit dedicated to solving cases that had high profiles or intense media scrutiny, often involving multiple victims or serial killers.

  Ryan had led the unit before the stab
bing attack that had put him in a coma for weeks and left him incapacitated for months after that. Now Captain Roy Decker, his boss and the man in charge of HSS, had tasked Ryan with finding cases that fit the profile of the unit, which was in danger of being shut down.

  “You mentioned the case vaguely,” she said with the slightest hint of an edge. “But that’s about all I know. You’ve been keeping all the details close to the vest.”

  He picked up on her tone.

  “I didn’t tell you much because I knew that if I did, you’d get as obsessed as me,” he said apologetically, before tweaking her. “I didn’t want to drag you down from your ivory tower.”

  That was a reference to Jessie’s work as an instructor at UCLA, where she’d been teaching criminal profiling for a semester now. Other than an occasional consulting gig of her own for the department, she’d spent the last six months leading a fairly stable, obsession-free lifestyle. Of course, one of those consulting gigs was just four weeks ago.

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you all the way down there among the rabble,” she teased back. “Do you want to give me a hard time or do you want to tell me what you’re so clearly dying to share?”

  He smiled at her taunt. Jessie knew he loved it when she gave him crap and she loved to see the broad grin on his face. After worrying that he might not survive at all, and then watching him endure multiple painful, often disheartening months of trying to relearn basic functions like tying his shoes and holding a fork, he was finally starting to look more like his old self again.

  Once a rock-hard, six-foot, 200-pound specimen, he’d lost over a quarter of his body weight and most of his strength after the attack. Now he was back up near 180 pounds. His color had returned, as had his easy, warm smile. He’d had his black hair cut short again and his kind, brown eyes seemed more alert and focused every day. He was almost back to resembling the detective she’d been so taken with when he came to speak at her class while she was working on her master’s. The simple sight of him reviewing paperwork on a pending case, doing something she feared he might never be able again, warmed her heart.