Page 17 of The Perfect Appearance

“He’s actually a civilian,” she said conspiratorially, “Watching my back while all this Clone Killer stuff is going on.”

“Gotcha,” the officer said. “I’ll still need him to sign in.”

Grover nodded, though he didn’t speak, apparently not wanting to make a memorable impression with his accent. He signed the form unintelligibly and printed his first and middle name rather than his last.

“Thanks,” the officer said, buzzing the entry gate. “Come on in.”

“Thank you officer,” Jessie said,” and remember, low profile.”

He nodded in understanding. Jessie led them down the hall, looking for the sign for the evidence room.

“Why no last name?” she asked Grover as they hurried past multiple cops with their heads down.

“Precautionary,” he said as they entered an elevator and pushed the button for the basement. “If Haddonfield, or especially Pierce, is tracking us and somehow gets eyes on that form, the name I gave will make it harder to ID me. The more challenging it is to determine who I am and what I do, the harder it is to figure out how to counter me. But if Pierce knows I’m your bodyguard and I run Secure Analysis Services, then she can get background on me, learn the assets I have at my disposal, and try to neutralize them.”

“Makes sense,” Jessie said.

They exited the elevator and turned a corner down a quiet hallway that led to the evidence room window.

“What’s your plan here?” he said.

“Depends on who I’m dealing with,” she told him, taking off her cap and running her fingers through her hair. “If the officer on duty is anything like our friend upstairs, I'll try to use that. If they don't have a clue who I am, it’s lying time.”

“I thought we were trying toavoidletting people know you were here,” Grover reminded her anxiously. “Are you sure that using your celebrity is the wisest course of action?”

“Not even a little bit,” she admitted.

They got to the evidence room window, and Jessie rang the bell. After a few seconds she was greeted by a middle-aged officer with the remnants of dark hair, reading glasses hanging from his neck, a thick salt and pepper mustache, and a rounded, pasty complexion that suggested he hadn’t been on the street in a while. On the counter beside his keyboard was George R.R. Martin’sA Feast for Crows. His nametag read Peterson, and he appeared decidedly uninterested in helping. In fact, he barely looked up at her. Based on that alone, she was tempted to launch into misinformation mode, but decided to give the charm offensive one try before going with pure deception.

“Case and box number?” he asked in a monotone.

“Britton, Gemma,” Jessie told him before sharing the box number that Jamil had been able to access via the department database.

He put on his glasses and punched at his keyboard for a moment before replying, “I need your officer authorization number.”

She smiled brightly before responding.

“I actually don’t have one because I’m not an officer,” she said. “I’m a profiler.”

Peterson looked up and really took her in for the first time. She waited nervously to see how he would react. At first, his eyes remained dull. But after a couple of seconds, something seemed to click in his brain, and his bored expression changed to excitement.

“I know who you are,” he said in a hushed voice.

“And I know whoyouare,” she replied, laying on the schmooziness as thick as possible, “Officer Peterson, lord of the evidence room.”

She hoped that herGame of Thronesstyle reference would have the desired impact. When his lips curled into a grin, she knew she’d hit paydirt.

“What are you doing here?” he asked with a bit of awe in his voice.

“I’m helping out on a case, but in kind of an unofficial capacity,” she explained, leaning in as if she was sharing a special secret just with him.

He nodded like he understood completely, then looked over her shoulder at Grover.

“Who’s that?” he asked with less enthusiasm.

“This is crazy to hear myself say, but he’s my bodyguard,” Jessie muttered, as if in disbelief herself. “You know about the Clone Killer on the loose right now, the one who has been murdering people that I helped save from other killers?”

“Of course, it’s all over the news.”

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