Page 8 of The Perfect Deception
Jamil looked like he might want to say something more, but at that moment they were joined by Officer Harper Devery.“Hi, Ms.Hunt!”
Jamil, not comfortable continuing the conversation with a relative stranger around, offered Devery a curt nod, gave Jessie a half-smile, and retreated to the research office without a word.
“Did I do something wrong?”Devery asked, confused by Jamil’s sudden departure.
“You’re fine.”She had no intention of getting into the details of Jamil’s sometimes prickly personality.“Good to see you again, Officer.”
“You too.I heard you were back and immediately came looking for you.”
Devery was a newly minted officer who had specifically requested to be assigned to Central Station so that he could eventually work with HSS.He barely seemed old enough to be on the force, much less part of a specialized unit.He had a boyish demeanor with brown hair that was parted neatly to the right.He had ruddy cheeks and wide, friendly eyes that had yet to encounter many of the horrors his job could entail.
Even though he’d only been with LAPD for a short time, he’d already proved helpful.On her last case before leaving town, Jessie had brought the eager officer along on a suspect interview.He mostly stood outside the office of the person she questioned, but his presence had provided an extra helping of intimidation that she found useful.
“It’s been over two months since I saw you,” she said.“Anything exciting happen for you in my absence?”
“It’s all exciting, Ms.Hunt.”He sounded genuine.“But I’ll admit that I’d love to help you guys out a little more.The other folks in the unit have thrown me a couple of bones while you were gone.But please know that I’m available to help out HSS anytime you need it, assuming I haven’t been assigned elsewhere.”
Just then, Hannah poked her head out of the research office.It looked like she had a question of her own so Jessie decided to wrap things up with Devery.“We’ll definitely keep you in mind.Just know that you’ll likely be getting grunt work.”
“Happy to do it,” he said, before giving Hannah a polite grin.“Anyway, I’ll leave you two be.See you around, I hope.”
Once he was gone, Hannah stepped out into the hall, standing exactly where Jamil had been minutes earlier.
“I worry about that kid,” she said.
Jessie found it amusing that her 19-year-old sister called Devery—a police academy graduate at least three years her senior—a "kid."But she kept that to herself.
“Why?”
“He’s so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.I feel like a bank robber could come up to him in a mask and he’d offer the guy a warm handshake.”
“He’ll get there,” Jessie said, hoping she was right.She was rooting for Devery but he was definitely wet behind the ears.“What’s on your mind, little sis?”
Hannah paused briefly, as if reconsidering if she really wanted to broach whatever was bothering her.But as usual, she couldn’t hold back in voicing what she was thinking.They shared that trait.
“I know you just got back after a crazy long flight, so I don’t mean to throw this at you right away, but I just don’t want to let it languish.”
“What?”Jessie acted as if she didn’t suspect what was coming next.
“You remember Finn, my friend who was stabbed just before you left?”
“Of course.I’m the one who coordinated the 24-hour security outside his hospital room.”
“Right, well he was kept there for three weeks, but then his family had him moved.”
“Okay,” Jessie said.“Is there something wrong with that?”
“Not technically.But something felt off about it.He was moved at the exact time that I was downstairs in the cafeteria, almost as if it was intentionally done then so I couldn’t ask questions.”
“What questions would you have had?”Jessie asked.
“Where was he being taken?Under whose authority?Why at that moment rather than a week before or after?”
Jessie pressed her.“Didn’t the guard on duty have those answers for you?’
“Sure, in general.He said the family had decided to move him to a hospice and that it was done by U.S.Marshals to protect him during transport.He said the Marshal’s IDs checked out.But I didn’t get why he needed to be moved to a hospice anyway.He didn’t seem to have gotten any worse over that three weeks.And when I reached out to the family to learn more, they wouldn’t tell me anything.They weren’t mean about it but they said the Marshals had instructed them not to share any details of his hospice location for his own safety.”
“That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me, Hannah.”Jessie wanted to be delicate with her pushback.“The person who stabbed Finn hasn’t been found.As long as Finn’s alive, he’s a threat to the killer, so they might come after him.I know you’re not a risk to him but we can’t expect the Marshals to view it that way.”
