recordings unless there is something notable. There are six security officers in a dedicated facility on the estate monitoring the footage in real time. If there’s nothing suspicious, they delete the files every hour. As a result, there are huge sections of time in multiple areas on the estate that have no coverage.”
Jessie tried to keep her voice even, not wanting to take her frustration out on him.
“Do you buy that?” she asked.
She could almost hear him shrug.
“It’s not inconceivable,” he admitted. “With the sheer volume of raw footage that place accumulates, it would become unwieldy pretty fast. But you’d think they’d want to hold onto the stuff a little longer after a party, if only for liability issues. As it turns out, the material we do have is mostly still there because of money.”
“Money?” she repeated.
“Yeah, Tech says the best stuff we have is from the camera across from the entrance to the main house. Apparently they kept that active and recording all the time to tally the total number of attendees in order to better track catering needs.”
“So the only workable footage we have exists because they want to make sure they had enough food?” Jessie confirmed.
Before Jamil could reply, her phone alarm went off. It was the reminder to give Ryan his meds.
“I have to go,” she said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
After hanging up, she noticed a text from earlier she must have missed. It was from Nurse Patty: Leaving for the day. Reviewed Ryan’s status with Hannah. See you tomorrow.
A wave of shame washed over her. She’d been so immersed in the research that she’d been gone all afternoon and never thought about it. She’d insisted that this case wouldn’t interfere with her personal life and yet she was getting sucked in again.
And there was more. Despite the relaxed nature of the text, a burst of apprehension shot through Jessie. The idea of leaving Ryan alone in her sister’s care made her uneasy.
“Excuse me,” she said to Karen as she dashed from the room. “I have to make a call.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“So you don’t trust me.”
Hannah couldn’t decide if she felt more offended or put upon.
“I didn’t say that,” Jessie told her. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have let Nurse Patty leave. I just wanted to review the medications with you since it’s the first time you’re giving them to him.”
“You didn’t let Patty leave,” Hannah reminded her. “She was going no matter what and now you’re trying to make it sound like it was all part of your grand plan to entrust me with responsibility. But I already told you that Patty walked me through the meds, so this feels a lot like you’re checking up on me.”
She could feel the resentment building in her.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” Jessie insisted. “I’d be hypervigilant no matter who was giving him the meds, myself included. It just happens to be you doing it right now.”
Hannah knew that she should have some sympathy for her sister’s situation, and yet she couldn’t help going in for the kill. Jessie had been taking her for granted all day and she deserved to be put in her place.
“And why is it that I’m doing it right now?’ she asked rhetorically before answering her own question. “Could it be because on the very day that your invalid boyfriend is released to your care from the hospital, you’re running around the city on a Sunday afternoon, chasing down a case that can’t possibly be as important as what’s going on here?”
The silence on the other end of the line told her that she’d hit pay dirt with that. She felt a satisfaction only slightly moderated by the sense that maybe she’d gone too far. She continued before her sister could try to reprimand her.
“I’ll give him his meds. I’ll feed him his gruel. But maybe you can try to get back here in time to put him to bed, if that’s not too much to ask.”
She hung up without waiting for a reply, then sat on the couch, seething silently. The truth was, she’d already given Ryan his meds even before Jessie had called her. She’d also helped him reposition himself on the bed and turned on a fan because he had grunted “hot” to her. When he’d asked about his girlfriend’s whereabouts with the word “Jessie,” Hannah had soothingly assured him that she’d be back soon, not having any idea if it was true.