When she opened the door to the Vice Unit’s back office, Detective Gaylene Parker, who was alone in the room, looked up, startled. But Jessie didn’t apologize as she closed and locked the door and sat down opposite the head of the unit.
Talking to Karen and Jamil had calmed her down a little. She no longer felt the need to scream at Parker, which wouldn’t have been very constructive anyway. But she wasn’t in the mood to give her a pass either.
Parker’s expression quickly changed from surprise to defensiveness. She clearly knew why Jessie was here and was girding herself for whatever onslaught was forthcoming. The woman crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows skeptically.
Gaylene Parker was somewhere in her mid-forties. A short African-American woman with an unfussy haircut and little makeup, she oozed veteran weariness. With the department for over twenty years, she’d worked her way up from street cop to detective to undercover vice to leading that unit. She’d even helped out HSS on occasion when they were short-handed.
Jessie always found her to be straightforward and competent with a no-nonsense attitude that was refreshing. But she was also extremely protective of her unit—both its people and its reputation. Even before she spoke, Jessie could see that she was on edge, aware that Vice might be blamed for yesterday’s breach of security.
“How’s it going, Gaylene?” Jessie asked, trying to avoid starting off adversarial.
“To be honest, I’ve been better, Jessie. I’m having one of those days. You know about those, don’t you?”
“I do,” Jessie assured her. “I’m having one of them myself. I was kind of hoping we might help each other out on that.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well,” Jessie said, treading carefully so as not to alienate a possible ally or adversary, “I know you’re probably as frustrated as me about what happened yesterday. And I know Decker is trying to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, I’m hoping you’ve had some success in finding leads on the case itself.”
“I’m waiting for the part where you help me out,” Parker said, not sounding especially accommodating.
Jessie could feel the irritation rising in her chest. She was the one who had secured the trust of a skittish potential witness. She brought in the Marla lead. She had a possible suspect using all his power to shut this down. What else was she supposed to do?
“I’m happy to run down any leads you have in mind,” she said evenly. “I’m already in the thick of it with a potential suspect, one I assume Decker briefed you on.”
“Here’s the problem, Hunt,” Parker said, apparently deciding they were no longer on a first name basis. “I’m trying to make sure my own house is clean. At the same time, I’m trying to investigate the circumstances of a detective’s death, one from another division, without getting noticed. And I’m being asked to figure out if a mysterious, anonymous teenage girl was being trafficked by one of the most powerful men in the world. So my plate’s a little full.”
Jessie’s reservoir of patience was just about full too. She took a deep breath before responding, hoping to take one last swing at amicability.
“I get your predicament, Gaylene. I don’t envy it. But I’ve got a mess of my own, including a murder victim found at the home of that same powerful man, who knows I’m looking at him for the crime. I’ve also got a source who thinks, rightly, that his life might be in danger because the evidence he gave me was almost immediately stolen, likely at the behest of that same powerful man. So I’ve kind of got a target on my back. Maybe we could prioritize here. Decker said he’s looking into the leak, which means you can set that aside. And if you let Internal Affairs handle Detective Shore’s death, you’ll be free to focus on the claims made in that audio file.”
Parker shook her head.
“Decker doesn’t trust IA right now,” she countered. “That’s why he has me looking into Shore, because we were both Vice. I knew him. I know the guys in that unit and how they think. But I have to tread carefully. So it’s taking longer than I’d like.”
“Okay, then hand over the Marla component to me and I’ll look into it.”
“You have time for that?” Parker challenged. “I thought you were conducting a murder investigation.”
The question stung in a way Parker hadn’t intended. Jessie