The Perfect Accomplice

PROLOGUE

Nikki Fleetwood knew she was being silly.

She had entered this mansion hundreds of times and without any issues. There was no legitimate reason for her to be skittish. And yet, for some unexplainable reason, things felt off today.

She slid the key in the lock, opened the door quietly, cringing at the slight creaking sound it made, and then locked it behind her. She walked along the long, marble-floored hallway, hearing her flats echo with each step. She made a cursory pass through the living room and kitchen, even though she was certain that the person she was looking for wouldn’t be there at this early hour of the morning.

The lights were on in both rooms, which was a surprise to her. Normally, every light in this home was diligently turned off when not in use. As Nikki passed through the breakfast room, she arrived at the sliding glass door that led to the backyard and caught a glimpse of her reflection.

The image was distorted by the sunlight streaming in, but she still recognized herself. Her already pale skin was nearly translucent in the glass, and the sun made her blondish-white hair glow like a night light.

She slid the door open and stepped outside. The chill in the air was more pronounced here in the back. The front of the house faced the street and was somewhat protected against the elements. But the backyard of the Hollywood Hills mansion was exposed to the whipping canyon winds, which snuck into the opening of her jacket near the collar and cut through her like a knife, making her whole body shiver.

She put her hand to the collar and pinched it tight to keep the wind at bay as she walked along the edge of the pool to the guest house, the most likely remaining spot to find her. She noticed the powerful breeze causing ripples in the water of the pool, almost creating a mini-wave.

She had just arrived at the guest house door when a cloud passed in front of the sun, darkening the canyon and making it suddenly seem ten degrees colder than the listed 47. Nikki knew that she had gotten soft in the two years since she left Milwaukee, but she didn’t feel bad about it. One of the reasons she’d moved to Los Angeles was for the weather. And even if today was nothing compared to a Wisconsin winter, she still hated it.

Before speaking, she knocked on the door softly, as she’d been asked to do in situations like this. Only then did she call out.

“Erin, it’s Nikki,” she said. “Just checking in for the day. Can I get you anything?”

Her boss, well-known socialite and recent best-selling author Erin Podemski, liked to start writing early each morning and had usually been at it for a couple of hours before Nikki arrived at nine. In fact, she usually timed her first writing break for right around Nikki’s arrival, so she could brief her on the plan for the day.

But not always. Sometimes, she got caught up in a chapter and lost track of time. That”s why Nikki could never be sure of the situation when she arrived to work. Was Erin puttering in the kitchen, thinking about her next chapter? Was she taking a mini-dance break to get the blood pumping after sitting for hours on end? Or was she in the guest house office, typing away?

It was always a mystery. And while Erin was fairly easygoing, Nikki still entered the house on eggshells every morning because she didn’t want to be responsible for interrupting her boss when she was in the middle of a particularly fertile creative moment.

But Nikki didn’t know what to make of this. There was no answer to her announcing her arrival. She almost always at least got a “give me a minute.” After waiting several more seconds, she knocked again, this time a little louder.

“Erin, are you in there? Can I open the door? I just want to get today’s table of contents.”

That was what Erin liked to call the schedule for the day. But there was no response, so Nikki made the command decision to open the door. It was locked.

That was especially odd. Erin only kept the door locked after she was done with her writing session for the day. Once she began the next morning she kept it unlocked so that Nikki could come and go without needing to be let in.

She turned and looked back at the house. For the first time, another possibility occurred to her. The only other time that Erin had left the guest house door locked without notice since Nikki had started working here three months ago was when she got the flu and was too sick to even call, much less get out of bed.

Nikki hadn”t thought to check the bedroom that day and had eventually just left the house, confused. But she knew better now. She turned and headed back to the sliding door, again noting the ripples of water on the surface of the pool. Only this time, she noticed something else that she”d missed before.

From this direction, she saw the chaise lounge chairs next to the pool. Erin was lying on one. Though the woman looked relaxed in her sweatpants and cashmere sweater, Nikki was still unsettled.

It was just too cold to be relaxing by the pool. Plus, this was prime writing time. Nikki had never known her boss to just kick back like this in the middle of the morning. And lastly, why hadn’t she said anything? Erin must have seen her walk all the way around to the guest house. Why didn’t she call out to her?

“Morning,” Nikki said, delicately skirting the edge of the pool as she walked over. “Not feeling inspired so far today?”

The joke fell flat as Erin didn’t respond at all. As she got closer, Nikki realized that the woman had fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t stirring at all.

“Aren’t you cold out here—” she started to ask as she arrived at the chaise, but what she saw made her stop mid-sentence. Now that she was closer, she noticed that Erin’s face was ashen and pimply, and her limbs looked oddly stiff. There was a thick ugly bluish-purple bruise around her entire neck. And she didn’t just look like she was resting. The angle of her body and her general limpness suggested something far worse.

“Erin?” Nikki whispered, feeling the panic rising in her chest.

Though it terrified her to do so, she reached out and shook her boss’s shoulder, hoping that the woman would startle awake and make her feel like an idiot. Erin, frozen to the touch, slumped heavily over to the right, nearly falling off the chaise entirely.

Nikki, whose consciousness seemed to leave her body, heard a bloodcurdling scream. It took her a moment to realize that it was coming from her.