The Perfect Rumor, page 1
t h e p e r f e c t
r u m o r
(a jessie hunt psychological suspense—book 19)
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 twenty one books; 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 fifteen books, of the EUROPEAN VOYAGE cozy mystery series, comprising four books; of the new LAURA FROST FBI suspense thriller, comprising six books (and counting); of the new ELLA DARK FBI suspense thriller, comprising eleven books (and counting); of the A YEAR IN EUROPE cozy mystery series, comprising nine books, of the AVA GOLD mystery series, comprising six books (and counting); and of the RACHEL GIFT mystery series, comprising six books (and counting).
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 © 2022 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 Vladimir Gjorgiev, 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)
HER LAST FEAR (Book #4)
HER LAST CHOICE (Book #5)
HER LAST BREATH (Book #6)
AVA GOLD MYSTERY SERIES
CITY OF PREY (Book #1)
CITY OF FEAR (Book #2)
CITY OF BONES (Book #3)
CITY OF GHOSTS (Book #4)
CITY OF DEATH (Book #5)
CITY OF VICE (Book #6)
A YEAR IN EUROPE
A MURDER IN PARIS (Book #1)
DEATH IN FLORENCE (Book #2)
VENGEANCE IN VIENNA (Book #3)
A FATALITY IN SPAIN (Book #4)
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)
GIRL, FORSAKEN (Book #7)
GIRL, TRAPPED (Book #8)
GIRL, EXPENDABLE (Book #9)
GIRL, ESCAPED (Book #10)
GIRL, HIS (Book #11)
LAURA FROST FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER
ALREADY GONE (Book #1)
ALREADY SEEN (Book #2)
ALREADY TRAPPED (Book #3)
ALREADY MISSING (Book #4)
ALREADY DEAD (Book #5)
ALREADY TAKEN (Book #6)
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)
LEFT TO PREY (Book #11)
LEFT TO LURE (Book #12)
LEFT TO CRAVE (Book #13)
LEFT TO LOATHE (Book #14)
LEFT TO HARM (Book #15)
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)
THE PERFECT COUPLE (Book #20)
THE PERFECT MURDER (Book #21)
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)
BEFORE 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 MURDER (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
< br /> 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
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
This was Tony Dante’s least favorite part of the job.
He didn’t mind picking up the towels strewn on the locker room floor. He actually enjoyed replenishing the toiletries. There was something satisfying about seeing all those colorful bottles filled to the top. Even cleaning the toilets wasn’t that bad if he got into the rhythm of it.
But the steam room was something else. Of all his duties as an attendant in the men’s lounge at the Spa Peninsula, maintaining it was the one he dreaded the most. Because management wouldn’t let him cut off the steam during guest hours, there was no way to avoid getting sweaty if he was going to clean the area properly. Invariably, he’d have to take a shower afterward and change into a second uniform. That was why he always saved the task until near the start of his break.
It was almost that time now. So, as his routine dictated, he got out of his work shoes and slipped on a pair of flip-flops. He hadn’t seen anyone in the men’s lounge for a while and considered stripping down to just his shorts, but then thought better of it. Someone could walk in at any moment and if they saw “the help” shirtless, they might disapprove. So he left the shirt on, grabbed two towels along with his disinfectant bottle, opened the door, and stepped into the thick mist.
It was almost impossible to see. He started at the far right end of the room and began spraying and wiping down the white tile bench, careful to keep an eye out for anyone along the way. He hadn’t seen anybody enter or leave the room in the last fifteen minutes so he was pretty sure it was empty. Staying that long in there was a Herculean undertaking, not to mention unhealthy. Still, as was his habit, he made a token effort to be sure.
“Anyone in here?” he called out, his voice sounding strangely muffled by the vapor. “Cleaning underway.”
There was no response. He moved over to the longer, middle bench and sprayed it down as well. As he was wiping the tile with his towel, he noticed a dark shape in the corner, where the middle and left bench met. The fog was so thick that it was hard at first to even be sure that it was a person. But as he leaned in, he saw that it was a man, naked and slumped to the side, his head strangely suspended at an awkward angle.
“Sir, are you all right?” Tony asked loudly, hoping the man had just fallen asleep and could be woken by a booming voice. The man didn’t reply. It seemed to Tony that something was off, but he was reluctant to shake or even touch the man. He didn’t want to get fired for inappropriate contact. Instead, he left the room and hit the button that turned off the steam while simultaneously sucking the moisture out. It took less than a minute to complete the process.
Once that was done, he stepped back inside. What he saw made him drop the towels and the disinfectant bottle. Now that the steam had dissipated, he had a clear view of the man and he wasn’t sleeping. Tony wanted to yell but was too stunned to make any sound. The reason the man’s head was at an awkward angle was because it was being held up by some kind of thick band or ribbon wrapped around his neck. The other end of the material was tied to a metal handlebar a few feet above and behind the tile bench. The man’s eyes were wide open. He was dead.
Tony could barely believe what he was seeing. He wanted to run. But his legs were locked up with fear and he stumbled backward, slipping on the slick, tile floor. He landed hard on his butt but shot back up and hurried out of the steam room into the sitting area, grabbed the courtesy phone, and called the spa’s front desk. When the receptionist picked up, it took all his self-control not to scream into the phone.
“Call the cops,” he said forcefully. “There’s a dead guy in the men’s steam room.”
CHAPTER ONE
Jessie tried to ignore the pain.
Instead, she focused all her energy on the end goal and not the struggle to get there. Though her thighs were burning, and her breathing was heavy, she pressed ahead, her eyes fixed on her destination: her driveway.
After another thirty seconds, she was there. She dropped out of sprint mode and slowed to a walk. She pulled out her phone and hit “stop” on the time clock of her running app. It read: 42:29.
Not bad for five miles. That’s just under 8 ½-minute-miles.
She allowed herself a moment of pride. She was still a long way away from getting back to the eight-minute-miles she ran in college, but she’d shown steady improvement in recent months. And considering all the injuries she’d suffered in the last few years, from stabbings, to gunshot wounds, to multiple concussions and at least two strangling attempts, she thought she was doing pretty well.
Jessie walked to the end of the block, allowing her breathing to return to normal. Her thoughts drifted to yesterday’s seminar in criminal profiling at UCLA. It was one of her final ones before re-joining LAPD’s Homicide Special Section full-time and the vibe was bittersweet. Students, as they had for weeks, pleaded with her to reconsider. The post-lecture Q&A session ran longer than usual, as if the kids were hoping to squeeze out every last kernel of knowledge that they could glean from her. It was gratifying and a little depressing at the same time. She didn’t want it to end.
Jessie turned around and made her way back to the house, trying to shake off the gloom that came from knowing something so positive would soon be over. She had agreed to return at the request—more like pleading actually—of Captain Roy Decker, who ran LAPD’s Downtown Station and oversaw Homicide Special Section, or HSS. He’d told her that she could remain as a consultant rather than an employee and continue to work with Detective Ryan Hernandez, who in addition to being her semi-regular partner, was also her fiancé. Decker also offered her a huge jump in pay.
Normally that wouldn’t be the deciding factor. Even without the job, Jessie was well-off, a result of her divorce and an inheritance from her adoptive parents. But with a wedding to plan and her sister’s recent “relocation,” having the extra income couldn’t hurt.
Jessie reached the front door and began to stretch. She knew that worrying about current and future bills wasn’t conducive to loosening her muscles but she couldn’t help it. Even though she didn’t want some huge wedding, Ryan seemed insistent. The venues and vendors he was suggesting were all high-end, and of course, very pricey. It was increasingly a bone of contention, one that she was getting tired of relenting on.
And then there was Hannah. Jessie sighed at the thought of her. Her younger half-sister, Hannah Dorsey, now only weeks from turning eighteen, was currently a resident at the Seasons Wellness Center in Malibu. The unremarkable name made it sound like the place might be an exclusive spa. It was certainly as expensive as one. After insurance, each week there cost a minimum of $7000, and that was just for room and board.
In fact, the place was an in-patient psychiatric facility that focused on those suffering from all manner of mental illness including suicidal ideation, life-threatening eating disorders, even uncontrolled OCD. Hannah had checked in there voluntarily two weeks ago, at the insistence of the therapist she shared with Jessie, Dr. Janice Lemmon.
Officially, she was there to deal with a diagnosis of self-harm tendencies, but that didn’t accurately describe her circumstance. For months, if not longer, Hannah had been deliberately putting herself in dangerous situations that could end badly. She had admitted that normal human interactions mostly left her numb and emotionless. So she courted confrontations with neighborhood bullies, creepy stalkers, drug dealers, pedophiles, and even a sexual slavery ring, all as part of a need to get a hit of adrenaline. Even if the feeling was fleeting, at least it was something.
But then an elderly serial killer called the Night Hunter trapped Jessie, Ryan, and Hannah in a remote mountain cabin. Jessie and Ryan managed to capture and subdue the man. But while he was handcuffed and unarmed, Hannah shot and killed him. She claimed it was a form of self-defense, a way to stop a man she knew would never stop searching for a way to get at them, even from behind bars.
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