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Back Sunset Beach Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. Epilogue
  71. Also by Mary Kay Andrews
  72. About the Author
  73. Newsletter Sign-up

With her new library card stashed away, Drue sat down at a computer terminal, logged in with her library card number and plugged the flash drive into the monitor.

She leaned forward, staring intently at the somewhat blurry black-and-white images on the screen.

The first sequence on the video, time-stamped 11:05 P.M., showed a wide angle of the hotel hallway. A petite, slender woman appeared, pushing a cart just like the one Drue had seen in the Gulf Vista laundry room. The housekeeper wore a short-sleeved button-front uniform smock, jeans and tennis shoes, and a baseball cap whose bill partially obscured her face.

The housekeeper paused in front of a doorway and used a key card hanging from a lanyard around her neck to unlock the door.

The door opened and the housekeeper pushed through with the laundry cart. Nearly two and a half hours later, according to the time stamp, the same hotel room door opened and the same housekeeper emerged, pushing the cart.

Drue watched while the woman waited in front of a service elevator. A video camera mounted in the elevator then showed the housekeeper in the elevator, staring down at the cart. The elevator doors opened, and the video went fuzzy. In the next clip, the woman was shown pushing the cart down a walkway that Drue recognized as the service entrance to the Gulf Vista’s laundry room. The lighting was much dimmer, but she recognized the laundry room, with its door ajar. The housekeeper pushed the cart through, then closed the door. The computer screen went black.

Drue watched the video clip half a dozen more times, trying to gain some kind of insight into the night of Jazmin’s murder.

She pulled her cell phone from her backpack, but another, crew-cut librarian looked over at her from the front desk and pointed to a large ceiling-mounted sign: CELL PHONE USAGE PROHIBITED IN LIBRARY.

Drue nodded, palmed the flash drive and walked outside the library. She got into the Bronco and called Rae Hernandez.

The detective answered after two rings.

“What? I thought I told you my son has a baseball tournament today. I’m busy.”

“I know, and I’m sorry to bother you. Please tell your husband I said thanks for dropping off the flash drive.”

“What flash drive?”

“Oh. Right. I forgot. An anonymous tipster left an envelope on the front seat of my car this morning. There was a flash drive. It had video clips from the security cameras at the Gulf Vista the night Jazmin was killed.”

“Okay, we’ve established that. Now, what’s your point?”

“Is that all you have for the video? I mean, nothing from that hotel room Jazmin entered?”

“Hotels don’t have video cameras in people’s private rooms. At least, not the legit ones. That’s illegal.”

“Right. Forget I asked that. Isn’t there any other video from that day, something else that shows her?”