Page 65 of The Perfect Accomplice

That seemed to give Kat pause, if only briefly. She was about to reply when the doors were pushed open by a tall, black-haired officer. He looked startled by the two of them.

“What are you doing here?” he asked sternly. “This is a secure area.”

Jessie saw Kat tense up and decided to jump in first.

“It’s all right, officer,” she said, holding up her ID. “I’m Jessie Hunt with Homicide Special Section. I wanted to check on the status of Ash Pierce. There was a recent murder, and we're here to make sure she wasn’t involved in some way.”

Jessie noticed Kat flinch at the word “murder.” The officer looked briefly confused before finally replying.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Hunt,” he said. “I’m a big fan of HSS. But it would be pretty hard for Pierce to be involved in any kind of crime right now.”

“Why is that?”

“Because she only just got out of major neck surgery a few hours ago. She was under anesthesia, and she’s been groggy ever since. In fact, she’s out like a light right now.”

“When was the surgery?” Jessie asked.

“It started at three and ended around seven.”

“Where was she prior to that?” Kat asked, speaking for the first time.

The officer looked like he wanted to ask who she was, but apparently decided that if she was with Jessie, he would give her the benefit of the doubt.

“As usual, she was in her room, under armed guard,” he answered.

“And then?” Kat demanded.

“Then in surgery prep, under armed guard,” he told her, then expounded, sounding slightly offended. “Her surgery was performed with two officers in the room along with the medical staff, and while she was in recovery, she was under armed guard. Like I said, she’s back in her room now, still under armed guard.”

“You’re sure she was never unsupervised?” Kat pressed.

“Considering that I was one of the officers watching her during most of her conscious hours, I’m pretty confident,” he said. “I’m only just getting off my shift now.”

“What about her phone access?” Kat asked. “Does anyone listen in on her calls?”

“She doesn’t have any phone access, ma’am. There’s not even one in her room. In addition, all of her personal communications are strictly supervised,” he explained, before turning back to Jessie. “Can I ask what murder you think she was involved in?”

Kat flinched again at the word “murder.”

“I’d rather not get into the details right now, officer, but you’ve been very helpful,” Jessie replied quietly.

“Of course,” he said, eyeing Kat cautiously, “but I’m still going to have to ask both of you to leave this area. I’m happy to escort you back to the general waiting room if you like.”

“Kat?” Jessie said expectantly, hoping that was all she’d have to do.

Her friend looked back at her, then at the young officer. She didn’t speak. The officer waited, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. He seemed on the verge of saying something else when Kat finally spoke.

“Okay,” she muttered quietly, then turned and shuffled down the hall to Jessie, who wrapped an arm around her and led her back in the direction of the nurses’ station and then to the small waiting area beyond it.

“Are you planning to wait here?” the officer said. “I can ask one of the doctors to come out and answer any additional questions you might have.”

“That’s okay,” Jessie told him, pushing the elevator button. “I think we’ll just go back down to the lobby level.”

“All right,” the officer said, seeming to sense that there was much more going on here than he could possibly understand. “I hope everything works out.”

“Thank you,” Jessie said as a pair of elevator doors opened. They got in, and Jessie pushed the button for the lobby. Once the doors closed, Kat looked up at Jessie.

“Thank you for stopping me,” she said softly.

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