Page 34 of The Perfect Illusion

Satisfied that everything was in place, she walked through the open front door into the house.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Jessie made good time.

After zipping through traffic, she pulled into a loading zone spot just after 3 p.m. She looked up at the tall downtown building where Diana Hughes's womenswear company, XX ONLY, was based. She was just undoing her seatbelt when she was startled by a rap on her window.

Her hand went to her holster as she looked over. But she relaxed slightly when she saw that it was a uniformed male officer. She rolled down her window.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you,” the young man apologized. He barely looked old enough to be on the force, with brown hair parted neatly to the right, ruddy cheeks, and eyes that looked like they had yet to see many of the horrors his job could entail.

“Officer Devery?” she asked, making sure this was the cop Jamil had mentioned would be meeting her.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, nodding politely, “but you can call me Harper if you like.”

"Okay, Harper, she said, getting out of the car, "though we'll keep it formal when we're with the subject, okay? A little more intimidating, you know."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

“And you can call me Jessie,” she said, “or Ms. Hunt when we get upstairs.”

“Sounds good,” he said, holding the car door open for her as she got out. “I’ve been here for a bit so I went inside. The XX ONLY office is on the 18th floor.”

"All right, let's head up," Jessie told him, slamming her door shut. "By the way, Harper, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you been on the force?"

“I don’t mind, ma’am—er, Ms. Hunt,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I just got out of the academy last week. I specifically requested Central Station in the hope that I might be able to work with Homicide Special Section. So of course I volunteered right away when I heard you needed an officer to accompany you here.”

“We’re flattered, Harper,” she told him as they entered the lobby, “but don’t get your hopes up on this outing.”

“Yes, Ms. Hunt,” he said. “I meant to ask you about that. What exactly are we doing here? All I know is that you plan to talk to a woman named Diana Hughes.”

“That’s right,” Jessie explained as Officer Devery waved to the security guard, who he’d apparently already cleared their entrance with. “Hughes runs XX ONLY. She’s also a person of interest in a murder investigation I’m working with a detective from West L.A. Station.”

“You think she’s the killer?” Devery asked excitedly as they entered the elevator and he hit “18.”

“It’s possible,” she told him before tempering his expectations, “but like I said, don’t get your hopes up. Far more likely is that Hughes is just a disgruntled divorcee unhappy that her ex married someone else, in this case, an older man. She’s been cited for harassment and stalking, which makes her more intriguing than most, but that doesn’t mean she killed anyone. You’re mostly here to remind her—by your simple presence—not to do anything stupid, whether she has committed the crime or not.”

“So I’m here to intimidate her?” he checked as the doors opened and they started down the hallway.

Jessie smiled, hoping it didn’t come across as condescending. Harper Devery didn’t yet have the on-the-job experience to intimidate anyone, but she kept that to herself.

“I think the uniform and the gun will speak volumes without you having to,” she assured him. “Unless Hughes pulls out a mallet and comes at me, you shouldn’t have to do much at all.”

They reached the office doors of XX ONLY. Devery opened one for her, and they stepped inside. The place was hopping, with folks—mostly women—zipping around at breakneck speed with focused looks on their faces.

Jessie walked up to reception with Devery beside her and smiled at the young woman with the short, severe black hair, pale skin, and bored expression.

“Hi,” she said, in no mood to mince words. “I’m Jessie Hunt with the LAPD. This is Officer Devery. We need to speak with Diana Hughes immediately.”

She felt a tinge of satisfaction when her words made the boredom disappear from the receptionist’s face.

"I know she was out of the office for a while," the woman said, picking up her phone, "But she should be back now. I'll check with her assistant."

“Thank you,” Jessie said before glancing at Officer Devery, who was making a valiant but goofy attempt to look intense.

“Gail, is Ms. Hughes back from her appointment,” the young woman whispered into the handset before listening to the reply. Then she continued. “Okay, I’m going to send some folks back to you. They’re from the police and they need to speak with her.”

After a brief pause, the receptionist looked up at Jessie.

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