Page 54 of The Perfect Crime

“I disagree, Captain,” the older one said.“We’re just trying to get a clear picture of how events transpired.”

"I think you've got a clear enough picture," Parker said."If you have any more questions, you can pose them in a formal setting with her union representative present.Right now, Ms.Hunt wants to see her husband, who, I might remind you, is an LAPD detective who almost died tonight.This interview is over."

Parker then helped Jessie to her feet and led her out of the room and down the hallway.

“Thanks, Captain,” she had said once they were clear of the detectives.

“I’m just keeping an eye out for my team,” Parker deflected.“You didn’t deserve the full-court press in there.But I can’t promise there won’t be more questions down the line.Prescott is a murderer, but he’s in pretty bad shape.That makes folks nervous, even if you did nothing wrong.”

Only after issuing that warning, did Parker send Jessie off to Ryan’s room, where she’d spent most of her time since.She’d gotten occasional breaks, when Hannah, Kat—who had given her a big hug upon arriving—or a member of the HSS team would take her place so she could get a checkup on her injuries or run home for a quick shower and change.But other than that, the last two days had been spent mostly in this small hospital room.

Right now, the cot was killing her back, so she decided to sit upright.Maybe she could get a quick catnap that way.She felt her eyes starting to get heavy when she heard a noise that made them snap open.It sounded like a grunt.She looked over at Ryan.His eyes were open.

“Hey,” she said, getting up and moving to the chair next to his bed, “welcome back to the land of the living.”

“Was I that close to leaving for good?”he asked, his voice scratchy but surprisingly strong.

She grabbed the cup on the tray next to him and held the straw to his lips.

“It’s water,” she said.“Sounds like you could use it.”

He nodded appreciatively and took a sip.

“To answer your question,” she told him, “it was touch and go there for a while.We don’t need to get into all the particulars right now, but let’s just say that you were less than an hour from having your ashes scattered somewhere.”

"I don't want to be cremated," he said drily, thankfully playing along with the lighter tone she'd purposely adopted.She didn't want to discuss this too seriously, or she feared she might lose it completely.

“Noted,” she said, even though she already knew his wishes and was teasing him by pretending not to remember.

“How areyou?”he asked.“No offense, but you look a little rough around the edges.”

“The stuff you see looks worse than it feels,” she said, before pausing and adding, “actually it feels as bad as it looks, and the stuff you can’t see is worse.But I’ve been assured that nothing is broken and that I’ll be good as a used car in a week or two.”

“What about your head?”he asked, not playing along anymore.“I saw you get hit in the face with that shovel.Did they check for a concussion?”

She could hear the concern in his voice and understood why.Her surgery last fall was a result of swelling on the brain caused by multiple concussions in a short period of time.

"I was assured that I didn't get one," she said."In this instance, it seems that the soft mush of my face took the brunt of the blow."

“I’m glad,” he said quietly.

She offered him another sip of water, which he accepted greedily.After he was done, she put the cup down.She could sense that he had another question but waited for him to ask on his timetable.

“What happened with the guy?”he finally said.

“His name is Nathan Prescott and he’s here,” she said, “in a different wing though.His condition is described as serious but stable.He’s under guard until they’re able to transport him to the jail.They think it will be several weeks at least.I won’t bore you with all the details right now, but suffice to say, he’s been charged with a laundry list of crimes.It’s not going to go well for him.In addition to matching that partial print at the Whitaker house to him, he basically confessed to me while we were waiting for you to kick the bucket.He’s not getting out.”

Ryan nodded.He looked like he had another question about the case, but then his attention was diverted to something behind her.

“Who sent the flowers?”he asked.

“Everyone,” she answered.“Even Chief Decker stopped by with some.But the biggest bouquet is from your favorite lady, Captain Parker.She’s been coming by twice a day to check on you.”

“That’s very nice of her,” he said.

“Especially under the circumstances,” she agreed.

“What do you mean?”he asked.

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