“Thanks, Trembley,” she said sweetly. “Talk soon.”
She hurried down the back hall. Vice had a dedicated section of the bullpen, but its leader, Detective Gaylene Parker, had a second, smaller office at the far end of the building. It was designed as a place where sensitive material could be reviewed and discussed without prying eyes or ears.
She was halfway down the hall when she saw Decker returning in her direction. They made eye contact and she immediately knew something was wrong. He stopped in his tracks with a guilty look on his face. That only made her move toward him faster.
“What the—?” she started to say as he held up his hand and shook his head.
“Join me in the courtyard, please,” he said quietly.
She followed him outside and to an isolated corner where no one else could approach them without being seen well in advance.
“What is it?” she hissed, preparing herself for whatever bad news she knew he was about to share.
“I may have screwed up,” he said.
“What does that mean?” she asked, doing her best to keep her anxiety in check.
“Yesterday, after you played the audio for me, I dropped the thumb drive in Parker’s secure locker.”
“Oh god,” Jessie muttered, already sensing where this was going. “Please don’t tell me what I think you’re going to tell me.”
“I left her a voicemail letting her know to check it first thing this morning,” he said, pressing forward. “I was completely generic, other than to say it was high priority. When she got in this morning, the locker was busted open and the drive was gone.”
Jessie knelt down and hugged her knees. The things she wanted to say to Decker wouldn’t just get her kicked off the case, they might get her arrested, so she stayed silent, waiting for the wave of rage to pass. Instead it lingered like a rain cloud that wouldn’t move on.
“This is on me,” he said. “I don’t know how it happened but clearly my house isn’t in order. Someone knew you had the file and gave it to me. Someone knew I gave it to Parker. Someone in this station took it. I don’t know where the leak is but I’m going to plug it. I’m going to personally review security footage alone in my office when we’re done here. I’ll check every second from when I dropped the drive in that locker until Parker called me back. I’ll check the entry logs. I’ll check access card swipes.”
“Captain,” Jessie said, her head still down. “Obviously someone with resources didn’t want that file investigated. We can both make educated guesses about who that might be. Almost no one knew about it and yet it was taken. Do you really think the people responsible for that don’t have the power to cover their tracks? We’re never going to find out who did it.”
“You let me worry about that. I’ve talked to Parker and given her the essentials about the interview with Marla. She said she’s heard rumors about this kind of thing for years but has never been able to pin anything down. She’s going to open some doors—quietly. This isn’t over, I assure you.”
“I feel like this girl was reaching out to me for help,” Jessie said. “And I’ve failed her.”
“You didn’t fail her, Hunt. If anyone did, it was me. But truth be told, she may be past saving. That interview was from 2017. The chances that ‘Marla’ is still alive aren’t great. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help the other Marlas out there.”
“How?” Jessie asked.
“I don’t know yet but I’m going to run this to ground. You stay focused on the Estrada case. That’s the one thing you have some control over right now.”
Jessie nodded. He was right. There was nothing she could do about Marla right now. But she could find Milly Estrada’s killer. If fate was just, maybe the two would intertwine at some point. She stood up.
“I need something,” she said, knowing full well that there was no better time to make a tough demand of Decker. “Otis got a judge to grant a stay on our search warrant for the estate. I need it lifted.”
Decker scratched his head.
“That’s not going to be easy,” he warned.
“I don’t care, Captain. It’s a goddamn crime scene. We’re entitled to access. Who the hell ever heard of a private citizen being able to prevent law enforcement from investigating the site of a murder? I know the guy is powerful, but