Page 31 of The Perfect Illusion (Jessie Hunt #39)

“I have some names for you,” Victoria Sterling said two minutes later. “How do you want to do this?”

But Jessie was barely listening. Instead, she was reading the response that Jamil Winslow had just texted to both her and Brady. Sterling misinterpreted the lack of a response as an indication that she could proceed as she wanted.

"I have five young women who were vocally disappointed at being passed over," she said.

"I'll share their names with you, but I have to say I'm skeptical of their involvement in this.

I did detailed background checks on all of them before considering them as candidates.

I even had a private investigator look into each of them.

Not a single one had a criminal record, nor any mental health issues that we could find.

I can give you all that information, but personally, I think it's a waste of time. "

“I think you may be right,” Jessie agreed. “Tell me more about Rachel Thompson. How did you end up hiring her?”

Sterling looked perplexed but answered anyway.

“There’s not much to tell,” she said. “I put a posting on a couple of job boards. She applied. When I interviewed her, I liked that she was a little older than the other applicants. I was less concerned that she was just using the service as a way to find a man of her own. So I hired her.”

“When was that?” Jessie pressed.

“About three months ago,” she said. “Why are you suddenly asking about Rachel?”

Brady answered that question with one of his own.

“Did you know that Thompson is Rachel’s maiden name?” he asked, looking at Jamil’s text.

“No. Why?”

“Her married name was Calloway,” Jessie explained. “For nine years, she was married to a man named James Calloway. I guess he’s a big-time film producer. Does that name mean anything to you?”

For the first time, Jessie saw Victoria Sterling’s facade of cool professionalism crack. Her jaw dropped open.

“James is a client of mine,” she said, sounding stunned at her own words. “He’s one of my great success stories. I paired him with a young actress named Amanda. They just got married six months ago.”

“We’re going to need his address,” Jessie said.

“Why?” Sterling asked. “You really think my assistant killed two people?”

"Potentially three," Jessie told her. "Another woman was murdered just this afternoon around the time Rachel was at the doctor.'"

“Who?” Sterling asked in a hushed voice.

“Caroline Walters,” Brady told her.

“Oh no,” Sterling said, putting her hands over her mouth. “Carrie is the sweetest girl I’ve met since doing this. Are you sure?”

“We are,” Jessie told her. “Please get us Calloway’s address now. And while you’re at it, we’ll need Rachel’s too—ASAP!”