“Something wrong?”

Devin’s inquiry as he was about to pass by Jenn almost didn’t reach her ears from the emotional jolt she’d just been hit with, her arm still frozen in call position. She responded to him with significant delay, like a website on dial-up a century and a half before. “Yeah. Very wrong.”

“Go on.” The concern in Devin’s tone was tangible.

“It’s Miss Harady. Turns out she isn’t as clean as we thought she was. Tried to kill Harashima two years ago.”

A similar look of shock to what Jenn had had mere seconds ago spread across Devin’s face. He raised a hand to his chin and turned his gaze to the floor as he muttered: “Fuck.” Then, turning back to Jenn, he stated what didn’t need stating, but somehow he felt the need to anyway: “So that eliminates her chances at witness protection.”

“Yeah. And I’m the one who has to tell her she’s now a suspect.” The heaviness of Jenn’s voice spelled regret in giant scarlet letters in the air between the two.

“Doesn’t have to be you,” Devin offered.

“I know,” Jenn replied gratefully with a sigh. “But I’d still rather be the one to deliver the news. She’s already got chemistry with me. And I especially don’t trust Josh to be as gentle.” Which was by no means a jab against Josh – he was simply a lot more pragmatic by nature than Jenn. And she wasn’t sure that’d go over well with Enez.

Devin simply looked into Jenn’s eyes for a moment before muttering: “You do you.”

“I knew you’d understand.” Jenn punctuated the state-ment with a collegial pat on Devin’s shoulder. “But I won’t stop you from tagging along if you want to. Could use the emotional support.”

“Happy to oblige. We moving?”

“Yeah. Thing’s just gonna gnaw on my conscience if we delay.” And with that, Jenn and Devin turned towards the main elevator. Destination: infirmary floor, room 265.

Enez woke up to the sound of the door to her cozy little cubicle opening. She didn’t even realize she’d fallen asleep again – must’ve really needed that rest the doctor and Officer Walters had told her to get. She produced an excited smile upon seeing the officer in question entering the room once more. Already her favorite police officer.

The smile didn’t last long, turning into a frown when she saw another police officer on Jenn’s tail. One she hadn’t seen before.

“Who’s this?” Enez asked Jenn demandingly.

Jenn introduced the other figure calmly: “This is Officer Nichols. Hope you don’t mind that I brought him along.”

“Actually I do,” Enez uttered sharply. The two officers looked at each other, exchanged a nod, and Officer Nichols backtracked to the other side of the door.

Enez’s mood brightened significantly with the know-ledge that only Jenn was in the room with her. Pasting the earlier smile back onto her face, she hollered excitedly: “So?”

The sigh that came out of Officer Walters immediately told her the news wasn’t going to be good. Her smile faded again.

Jenn shot it at her with both barrels: “We can’t get you into witness protection. You’ve become a suspect in the case.”

“A suspect?!” Enez yelled in shock, scrambling to sit up on her bed. Defense mode activated. “But I was nowhere near The Falcon. I couldn’t—”

Jenn interrupted Enez, maintaining her calm demeanor: “At your previous workplace. Two years ago. You stabbed Ha-rashima with intention to kill. Twice. Remember?”

Ah. So that was the deal. Well, if Enez couldn’t get into witness protection on account of a two-year-old stabbing in-cident, she still had to make her defense. “That was two fucking years ago. And you said you knew I wasn’t the murderer, didn’t you?”

“I did. But like it or not, you’re a piece of the puzzle now. And the dirt you have on Harashima won’t save you either. Not until we verify its legitimacy.”

“It’s all true, alright? Harashima was a monster. You don’t build an empire like his on a foundation of purity. I have the evidence, just ask me to bring it.”

Jenn paused, evidently torn on what kind of response she should formulate. The one she finally settled on came out as such: “What kind of evidence?”

Now the conversation was going in the direction Enez wanted it to. “Testimonies from my coworkers, secret record-ings, a few old investigative journo pieces from the Dark Net that I saved.”

Jenn’s resolve was starting to crack. Enez could see it in her eyes. The two of them remained quiet for what felt like an eternity, the gray cloud of justice and professional integrity hanging heavy above them. Finally, Jenn muttered carefully: “I’ll think about it.”

“Works for me,” Enez replied, the remnants of her rage still coloring her voice. Jenn didn’t speak another word as she exited Enez’s “hotel” room.

Enez settled back on her bed and let out a breathy, exasperated “Fuck”.

Enez had given Jenn a lot to ponder. While she understood Enez’s animosity towards Harashima – provided she was telling the truth about him – she wasn’t entirely convinced stacking her evidence onto the cake would benefit the investigation. If any-thing, it risked adding too much extra weight. The consequences of the allegations would be far-reaching if the tower crumbled. Harashima had been powerful while he was alive, and in some ways, he was still powerful after death. A lot was at risk. There were entire industries that relied on Harashima’s reputation – industries where the allegations wouldn’t be received well, even if they were proven true.

“How’d it go?” Devin asked Jenn as the door to Enez’s room on the infirmary floor closed behind her.

“Could’ve gone better,” she confessed with a sigh that carried the weight of everything Enez had said with it. “There’s a lot on the line. Enough to discuss over the round table.”

Devin nodded, not fully understanding the implications of everything but understanding enough. “Should I give Josh a call?”

“Nah, I’ll do it,” Jenn replied authoritatively, already tapping on her wrist comm.