THE PERFECT STRANGER by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-12-22T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“I’m sorry,” Webb said in disbelief. “What?”

Even as she tried to wrap her brain around what Jason Mannix had just said, she saw that he was doing some mental processing of his own. He closed his eyes for several seconds before opening them and quietly responding.

“I have two other wives,” he said, wincing. “They’re not official either. But as far as they know, we’re married. And I’m worried that whoever killed Lauren and Sarah won’t care about that distinction.”

Jessie sat with what he’d said for a moment. The idea that Mannix had four fake wives spread out over who knows where was a lot to process on its own. But he was right. The more pressing concern, assuming he wasn’t the threat facing them, was their safety. She pulled out her phone, called the research department, and put the call on speaker.

“Hello, Ms. Hunt,” Jamil said before the first ring had even finished.

“Jamil,” she said, “there’s about to be a lot of information coming your way in a short amount of time. Is Beth with you?”

“Yes, she’s right here.”

“We’re questioning Jason Mannix right now and he’s about to share some details that I need you both to follow up on in real time. Got it?”

“Got it,” Beth chimed in.

Jessie turned back to Mannix. “Mr. Mannix, you just told us that you have two other fake wives in addition to Lauren Mitchell and Sarah Winters. I need you to give us their names and locations right away.”

Mannix didn’t need to be prodded.

“They both live in California,” he said, getting the words out as fast as he could. “Allyson Rhodes—she goes by Ally—is in Fresno. I’ve been with her for just over a year. We celebrated our ‘anniversary’ a few weeks ago. Nicole Thorington lives in Santa Cruz. We tied the knot—or she thought we did—about five months ago.”

Jessie needed a few moments to figure out how best to respond to this stunning news. Beside her, Webb was slack-jawed. When she spoke, she tried to keep the judgement out of her voice.

“And none of these women knew anything about each other?” she asked, before adding, “Is it possible that one of them discovered the others and decided to eliminate them?”

He shook his head vehemently. “I was incredibly careful about that. Obviously, if any of them found out, my whole world—and theirs—would come crumbling down. I met all of them once I had this job, so the idea that I was away a ton and often unreachable wasn’t anything unusual or suspicious to them. And I had a burner phone for everyone but Lauren.”

That answered one question that Jessie and Karen had raised before Webb had unceremoniously dumped the detective. Mannix did have a burner, apparently several.

“Why not Lauren?” the agent asked.

“Because she was the first one I got together with. So, there was no reason to have an extra phone. And with the others, it was easy to justify the burner. I told them that I got my main phone through work and didn’t like using it for my personal life.

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