The Perfect Impression by Pierce, Blake (essential reading TXT) 📕

that point, Jessie would no longertechnically be accountable for her. It didn’t mean she’d feel any less responsible,but at least if the kid stayed out all night, she couldn’t be held liable forwhatever trouble her sister got in. Considering that Jessie was only thirtyyears old herself, being free of responsibility for an eighteen-year-old she’dknown for less than two years seemed like a generally positive thing.

He wondered if Hannah would want to move out after her birthday. Thoughshe was a constant challenge, he didn’t love that idea. With all the traumathat she’d suffered in the last few years, she didn’t seem ready to be on herown. But if she insisted, they couldn’t stop her.

More probable was that she’d leave the house when she started college.She’d mentioned it several times already. And despite everything she’d beenthrough, Hannah was an excellent student who had already gotten a fewscholarship offers. Ryan suspected that a few of them were partly due to hernotoriety as the child survivor of an infamous serial killer, but whatever paidthe bills.

That last thought gave him a pang of guilt. He ought to have morepatience with her. The fact that she was a functional human being rather thanbabbling incoherently in an institution was a testament to her toughness andmental fortitude. If that sometimes manifested as rudeness or icy disinterestin others, was that really all that different from other kids her age?

He knew that some of his low-grade resentment was due to his desire tostart a real life with Jessie. After all, they lived together now. He wasrecovering nicely. She had a normal job when she wasn’t taking freelance gigshelping solve murders. He wanted to move to the next level. But with Hannah atthe center of Jessie’s world, that just didn’t seem possible right now.

Ryan took his last sip of coffee and made a conscious decision to putthose concerns out of his head, deciding that focusing on a potential serialkiller might be a good distraction. He slid a note under Hannah’s door to lether know where he and Jessie were. Then he ordered his rideshare, reset thesecurity system, and went outside to wait for the car.

He was able to do many things that hadn’t been possible just weeks ago,but driving was not yet among them. As he waited for his driver to arrive, hetexted Jessie to let her know their status here on the mainland and see howthings were going on Catalina Island. He didn’t get an answer. She must bepretty busy.

*

As he limped through the main lobby of Downtown Station, Ryan went overhow he planned to broach things with Captain Decker. He had decided to stickonly to the connections between the two recent cases and make no mention of thepossible Night Hunter angle.

Decker had made it clear what he wanted when he brought Ryan on in aconsulting capacity. Homicide Special Section, the investigative jewel of thedepartment and Decker’s baby, was in trouble.

Garland Moses, the department’s top profiler, had been murdered. Hisheir apparent, Jessie Hunt, had left LAPD to pursue a career in academia, onlyoccasionally taking cases Decker didn’t trust in lesser hands. Ryan, the headof the unit, had been incapacitated since the summer.

That still left the unit in the hands of competent, talentedprofessionals. But without Jessie’s brilliance and Ryan’s experience andleadership, Homicide Special Section just wasn’t that special anymore. HSS wassupposed to take on the most challenging, high-profile cases in the city. Butwith a few notable exceptions, their recent case closure record wasunimpressive. According to Decker, the unit was starting to be viewed as a glorifiedmoney pit that no longer delivered the glowing headlines headquarters craved.

That’s why Decker had Ryan scouring cold case files. It was also why hehad ordered him to poach any case he thought might help restore HSS’s luster,even if another station was already well into their investigation. Thatdecision bred even more animosity, only making the unit’s position moretenuous.

So while Ryan was glad to be able to bring Decker a case that mightchange that dynamic—a potential serial killer murdering attractive youngAngelenos in a horrific way—he also had reservations. If he mentioned the NightHunter at all, he feared Decker would run with it, using the legendary killeras a way to regain the unit’s clout.

Even as he considered the thought that this might be the infamouskiller he’d read about in textbooks, another fear crept into his gut, one hedidn’t like to acknowledge: what if he wasn’t up for hunting the man down? He’dbeen out of the game for half a year, which was challenging under any circumstances.But to hit the ground running (or hobbling in his case) by pursuing someone who’dslaughtered more than eighty innocent people? Was he really the man for this?

Of course, as he and Jessie had discussed, there was no guarantee thatthis was the Night Hunter’s work. In fact, he was dubious. The man might noteven be alive, and if he was, he’d be a senior citizen. This could be a protégéor a fan boy copycat. Suggesting it was the Night Hunter and having that not betrue could permanently destroy HSS’s reputation, guaranteeing its demise.

So after he passed through the fairly quiet bullpen on this Sundaymorning, making his slow, deliberate way to Decker’s office, he vowed to beequally deliberate in what he revealed.

“Detective Hernandez,” Decker said, standing up as Ryan entered hisoffice. “I’m surprised to see you here so early on a Sunday. What would Ms.Hunt say?”

“I think you know she’s too indisposed to say anything, sir,” Ryan saidas he hobbled over to the chair across from Decker’s desk and settled in.

He wondered how long the captain had been here. The man’s starched dressshirt was already showing signs of wrinkles. His tall frame seemed in danger offolding in on itself. And his hair, comprised mostly of occasional whitestrands, looked like it was trying to escape his head entirely.

His deeply creased face made him look much older than his sixty-oneyears and the bags under his eyes seemed to stretch almost down to the nostrilsof his eagle-like nose. Only his eyes, sharp and penetrating, hinted that thiswas a man