Page 135 of Sunset Beach
Drue shrugged. “Okay, sure. Good idea.”
He sat down at the kitchen table opposite her. “Okay. Now I want to hear all the gory details. How did you end up in jail?”
She hesitated and then plunged ahead, into the story. “I broke into a room at the Gulf Vista,” she said. “Well, I didn’t actually manage to break in, but I was about to, when a security guard caught me. They called the cops, and had me arrested for breaking and entering and trespassing, but I’m pretty sure my dad can make them drop the charges. And then I sort of tricked Neesa into coming over here—”
“Slow down,” he said. “Tell me everything.”
“I know you said this whole thing was a waste of time, but Ben, it really wasn’t. After you guys left the office last night, I watched and rewatched the hotel security video from the night Jazmin was killed, and I figured it out.”
She took a sip of the smoothie and gave him an apologetic smile. “That’s the real reason I didn’t go to happy hour with you guys last night. I was afraid if I told you my idea, you’d try to talk me out of it. I had a theory, and the more I watched the video, the more I needed to check it out.”
“You should never have gone to that place by yourself,” Ben said, shaking his head. “I mean, that’s just crazy.”
“It’s not crazy,” she insisted. “And I proved it.”
She sipped the smoothie. “I never would have figured it out if I hadn’t tracked down Neesa, the housekeeper who was supposedly Jazmin’s best friend. It turns out, she was the key to all of it.”
“How so?” He sat back in his chair and gave her a quizzical look.
“The night I met her at Mister B’s, this honky-tonk out in Seminole, we struck up a conversation. She’d had a lot to drink, and we were just kind of chatting, and I told her that I lived here, in Sunset Beach, and she said she’d worked at the Gulf Vista, which, of course, I already knew. Eventually, she started to talk about Jazmin, and the management at the hotel, and her boss, a guy she called Herman-like-in-the-Munsters.”
Drue yawned widely. “Sorry. I’m so tired, my mind is kind of foggy right now.” It was true. She’d never been much of a napper, but right now, she felt as though she could sleep for a solid week.
“Go on,” Ben urged. “Tell me about theMunstersguy.”
“He’s a sexual predator,” Drue said. “He pressured Jazmin, and Neesa, for sex. And in return, he gave them better shifts, extra pay, whatever favors he could do.”
“Sounds like a pig,” Ben said.
“A murderous pig,” Drue said. “Jazmin’s boyfriend, who used to work at the hotel, said she was trying to get hired at the Silver Sands, down the beach, to get away from this Herman guy. But he wasn’t the only perv. The hotel’s head of security, even the engineering chief, they were all doing stuff like that. One of the other housekeepers told me…”
“Told you what?” Ben asked, leaning forward. “Are you okay?”
“Just super tired,” she said. “What was I saying? God, I’m so tired, I’m loopy.” She gulped more of the smoothie, hoping the B12powder would energize her. “Anyway, it all came down to Neesa. The night Jazmin was killed, at the end of her shift, Byars got her called up to a room in the oldest wing of the hotel. It’s not clear if he tried to rape Jazmin or what, but she fought back, or tried to. So he killed her.”
“How do you know any of this?” Ben asked.
“Neesa told me. I tricked her into coming over here earlier today.” Drue held up the bleached strand of hair closest to her face. “She was supposed to be dyeing my hair blond, because she’s studying to be a hairdresser. Thank God, she won’t get that chance. After she had a lot of vodka and a lot of prosecco, she told me everything, but what she didn’t know was that there was a detective in the other room.”
“Wait. So this Neesa person confessed? You’ve got me confused.”
“Yeah, but of course, she claims Byars threatened to kill her if she didn’t help. After he’d killed Jaz, he called her on the walkie-talkie all the housekeepers carry and told her to come to the room. When she got there, he made her help clean it up. He’d already put Jaz’s body in the rolling laundry cart.”
“Ohhh,” Ben said slowly. “But that doesn’t make sense. The hotel security cameras showed Jazmin later that night. Working the late shift.”
Drue managed a smug smile. “Wasn’t Jazmin. It was Neesa. Wearing Jazmin’s hat and keeping her head down.”
“You said something on the phone about Zee being involved?” he prompted.
“Yeah. Zee, he saw the same videos as me. But he never…” She yawned.
“Have you told Brice about any of this?” he asked.
“Hmm?” Her eyelids felt like lead and she was feeling light-headed and nauseous.
“Does Brice know about any of this?” Ben repeated.
“Not yet. Zee’s his friend…”
