Harlequin Intrigue April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2, Carol Ericson [good book recommendations TXT] 📗

“Yeah. The landlord’s letting me break the lease and everything.”

“That’s good. Do you want to show us to Marissa’s room?”

“This way.” She led them down a short hallway and pushed open a door. “Marissa had the master because she made more money than I did and paid more rent.”

Jake poked his head into the neat room. “She worked at an advertising agency in Sherman Oaks, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, she did online content for them.” Darcy sniffed and pointed to a wooden box on top of a dresser. “She kept her jewelry in there, but like I told Kyra, Marissa always wore that jade bracelet. You won’t find it there. He took it.”

A chill whispered on the back of Kyra’s neck. “Let’s make sure.”

As Darcy hung by the door, Kyra crossed the room to the small dresser littered with makeup, perfume, ticket stubs and all the other accoutrements of a life well lived by a twentysomething young woman.

Kyra flipped up the lid of the box, and stirred her finger through a jumble of costume jewelry. “I don’t see a jade bracelet here. Darcy, can you have a look just to make sure?”

“I suppose.” Darcy crept toward the dresser as if she expected someone to jump out at her at any moment. Kyra didn’t blame her.

Darcy picked through the tangle of necklaces and bracelets, working some pieces loose and setting them on top of the dresser. “Told you. The bracelet’s not here.”

“Thanks, Darcy. That’s helpful.” Jake gestured to the door. “Can we talk a little more? Just a few questions that have come up since we last interviewed you.”

Darcy beat both of them to the door and resumed her seat on the edge of the couch, looking ready to take flight. “Is it true that this guy gave her a shot of something before strangling her?”

“We think so. You said Marissa didn’t use drugs, right?”

“She barely drank.” Darcy clutched the arm of the sofa with one hand, her multicolored nails digging into the worn fabric. “Why her?”

“Probably no reason at all.” Jake sat on the chair across from Darcy, mimicking her pose on the edge of his seat. “Do you know if Marissa had any reason to be in the West Hollywood area, specifically Melrose Avenue?”

“Melrose?” Darcy’s dark brows formed a V over her nose. “No. I mean, maybe we shopped there once or twice, but not often. That stuff’s expensive down there.”

Jake asked, “She didn’t know anyone who worked there? Didn’t have any reason to be there for business?”

Her head jerked up. “Is he finding women there?”

“We don’t know that for sure. Just checking out a few things.”

“Darcy...” Kyra shot a glance at Jake to make sure he didn’t have any objections to her asking a question. He gave a slight nod. “Do you know that Marissa had an empty coffee cup from Uncommon Grounds in her car when they found it?”

Darcy’s gaze darted from her to Jake. “It doesn’t surprise me. Marissa drank a lot of coffee. She had some crazy hours and fueled up on caffeine. Do you think the cup belonged to someone else and not her?”

“No, just wondering if she ever went to the Uncommon Grounds on Melrose.”

“Not that I know of. She usually got her coffee from fast-food drive-throughs. If she had a cup from Uncommon Grounds, that probably didn’t happen too often.”

Jake’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he snuck a peek. His stoic face betrayed just one telltale sign—a muscle at the corner of his mouth twitched.

He stood up abruptly. “As always, Darcy, if you remember anything else, give us a call and follow up with Kyra if you need help coping.”

“Thanks. I think I’ll be better once I move out of here.”

Kyra stood up beside Jake and felt his body vibrating next to hers. “Are you okay by yourself now?”

“I have a couple of friends coming over to help me move. I’ll be fine. Thanks—and I hope you find this guy.”

Outside the apartment, Kyra turned to Jake. “What is it?”

“Something important from the task force. Someone may have seen our guy.” He held out his phone. “I’ll call Billy when I get to the car.”

She had no intention of missing out on this message, so she dogged his footsteps to his car. He didn’t even blink when she got into the passenger seat beside him.

He placed the call and put the phone on Speaker. Billy picked up on the first ring. “J-Mac, aren’t you in Reseda at Marissa’s apartment?”

“Just finished up there. Whaddya got?” He cleared his throat. “Kyra’s listening.”

“Perfect. You may need her for this. Once we released Gracie Cho’s name today, the task force got a call from a working girl in Hollywood. Two nights ago, she picked up a john who seemed all hopped up on something. They got down to business and the dude had some kinky requests—nothing she hasn’t dealt with before, but he did call her Gracie. She didn’t think much about it until she saw the name of the victim today. I think we just might have our first sighting of The Copycat Player.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jake slammed his fists against the steering wheel. “He slipped up. The bastard slipped up. Give me her info and we’ll get right out there.”

Kyra grabbed a pen from the console and an envelope from her purse. As Billy recited the name and location of the witness, Kyra jotted it down.

Jake ended the call and cranked on the engine. “Sounds promising as hell.”

“That might explain why the killer didn’t rape any of his victims.” Kyra’s knee bounced up and down.

“Didn’t want to leave his DNA, but got his kicks with hookers after the murders to satisfy his sick lust.”

She clamped her hands on her knees and curled her fingers into the material of her slacks. “If he did this after murdering Gracie, he probably did it after the other killings.”

“Maybe Sunny can introduce us to some of her friends.” Jake hightailed it to Hollywood and cruised down Hollywood Boulevard, a little tawdry