Sometime soon thereafter, he drifted off. She waited a while longer, not wanting to leave. But she had promised Hannah she’d be home for dinner and it was getting late. So, she gently extricated her hand from Ryan’s and quietly left the room.
She wrote a short note and asked Nurse Tamara to read it to Ryan if he woke up and wondered where she’d gone.
She didn’t want him to think she’d abandoned him.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jessie’s heart skipped a beat when she saw it.
She had hurried back to Kat’s apartment, arriving just as the clock hit 7 p.m. When she got to the door of Kat’s place, on the fourth floor of a walk-up, she saw that it was slightly ajar.
As she approached, Jessie pressed her back against the opposite wall and pulled her gun out of its holster. She listened for voices, any sign of distress. But there was nothing.
She was already on alert because of the man she saw loitering just outside the building as she approached. He’d been holding something in both hands. She was just reaching for her holster when she saw that it was a camera. He raised it quickly, took a few shots, and darted off without a word. A paparazzo. She didn’t know if he was shooting her because of the Weatherly case or her own infamy. Either way, it had her on edge when she saw the open apartment door.
She was just about to kick it open completely when she caught a waft of something good emanating from inside. It took her a second to realize that it was the smell of fresh-broiled salmon. Instead of kicking the door in, she pushed it open carefully and stepped inside.
Hannah was nowhere to be found. But Kat was at the dinner table. Her plate, pushed to the side, was empty save for a used lemon wedge, herb sauce, and a few stray bits of asparagus stalk. She was intently studying something on the laptop in front of her.
On the table, in the spot where Jessie normally sat, was a plate covered in foil. Apparently they hadn’t waited for her. Jessie closed and locked the door, holstered her gun, and walked into the room. Kat looked up and smiled.
“Have a nice day, honey?” she asked, batting her eyes extravagantly.
Jessie smiled. If Kat wasn’t in a bad mood, hopefully that meant Hannah wasn’t either.
“I don’t want to bore you with business talk, little lady,” she replied, playing along. “How was your day?”
“Oh, you know, a little cooking, a little cleaning, a little surveillance of a potential drug dealer selling MDMA to high school kids; same old, same old.”
“And the young one?” Jessie asked. “How’s she doing?”
“I believe she’s in your room creating a Spotify playlist based around the theme of sisters who show up late for dinners that they say they’ll be on time for after taking a murder case when they supposedly quit their jobs.”
“Ah,” Jessie said, her heart sinking slightly. “That’s a rich musical text. She should have lots of options to choose from.”
“You might want to poke your head in and say hi before you eat. Just make sure it doesn’t get bitten off.”
Jessie nodded. She kicked off her shoes, removed her gun, and walked across the living room, knocking on the door before opening it. Hannah looked up and hit pause on her phone.
“How’s it going?” Jessie asked.
“Okay. I bought a few odds and ends for school next week.”
“Oh yeah?” Jessie said. “Anything exciting?”
“Just a few shiny baubles so that the boys will notice the new girl and fight over who gets to try to impregnate her first.”
Jessie felt the muscles in her neck clench up but refused to be baited. She knew Hannah was just being passive-aggressive because she’d agreed to take on a new case.
“Fantastic,” she replied amiably. “Those baubles must be super shiny. Maybe you can show them to me after I eat?”
“Maybe.”
“Sorry about running late, by the way. I made a pit stop at the hospital on the way back.”
“How’s he doing?” Hannah asked, sounding genuinely engaged for the first time.
“Better actually. He was conscious and able to communicate through blinking. He has a long way to go but the doctor seemed to think it was a good sign.”
“I’m really glad to hear that,” Hannah said.
“Yeah. It’s nice to finally get some good news. If he continues to improve, maybe we can set up a time for you to see him later in the week.”