“So, he is a patient then?”
“I didn’t say that. But I will need the warden’s approval before I speak with you any further.”
“Warden Blevins is aware.” He’d spoken to Blevins on the way and told him only what he’d needed to secure entry into Crescent Bay. That he had official police business with Dr. Rockwell related to the McMillan case. Still, the half-truth left a bitter taste. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’ll have to talk with him first. I’m sure you understand.”
“I can see Devere’s file right there.” The way she kept fidgeting with the stack, he had a hunch. “Can’t you just answer a few questions off the record? Or should I assume you’re protecting him from something?”
Olivia’s glare pinned him to the seat, and he knew he’d pushed too far. This must be how it felt to be one of her inmate patients. Leveled with a single look.
“Listen, Deck.” She made his name sound like a dirty word. “I’m following the ethics code. And the law. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
He stood up and turned to go but reconsidered. No smarty-pants doctor would make him slink out with his tail between his legs. “You know, after the way you acted yesterday, I didn’t think you’d be so by-the-book.”
“You’re one to talk.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Will knew exactly what it meant, and he hoped she wouldn’t answer. He couldn’t bear for anyone to say it out loud. Mercifully, she only shrugged at him. There it was again. That look.
He flung open Olivia’s door. “Let me out.”
Sergeant Wickersham flinched, nodding his head so fast Will wondered he didn’t pull a muscle.
Out in the hallway, he leaned against the cold bricks, watching the inmates file past. Guilt settled on his chest, the way it always did when he thought of Ben, heavy as a millstone. He started back down the hallway toward the exit, feeling the weight of it around his neck. It wasn’t just knowing Ben would spend five more years in a prison just like this one. It was knowing he’d put him there.
“Hey, I know you.”
Some voices you never forget. You hear them in the dark spaces in your head. You wake up drenched in your own sweat, your heart pounding against your rib cage like the hooves of a racehorse. Drake Devere had a voice like that. Will had been hearing it for five years. Like the Vulture had pecked his way into Will’s brain and taken perch there.
But this voice didn’t come from inside his head. It came from behind him.
“Detective William Decker. After all those letters I wrote you, it’s about time you paid me a visit.”
Chapter Six
“Who was that?” Leah asked, poking her head into Olivia’s office.
“You mean, Mister Wise Guy?” After Will fled, Olivia had counted to ten, waiting for her frontal lobe to catch up to her amygdala. Then, she’d counted to ten again, until her blood had gone from a boil to a simmer.
“I mean the ruggedly handsome gentleman you just sent running for the exit.” Leave it to Leah to notice the ruggedly handsome part.
“He’s a homicide detective.”
“Homicide?” Leah came inside and shut the door behind her. “Was he here about Bonnie?”
“That’s what he said. But then he asked me about Drake.”
Leah frowned, twirling her ponytail around her hand the way she always did when she was worried. “What did you tell him?’
“Nothing.”
Olivia thought of the morning. Her walk down the runway. Melody’s whispered words. Strangled by an inmate.
“So, why did he run out of here like he’d seen a ghost?”
Olivia didn’t answer, and when Leah dressed her down with an accusatory look, she changed the subject. “Hey, have any of your patients said anything about Bonnie being strangled by an inmate?”
“What? God, no. Where did you hear that?”
“Good ole Crescent Bay rumor mill.”
“Do you think that detective knew something about it?”
“His name is Will Decker.” Olivia felt the sting of shame hot on her neck. She shouldn’t have thrown it in his face like that, even if she hadn’t said it aloud. The past should never be a weapon. She’d learned that long before she’d come to work in the prison, where all of her patients had pasts sharp as axe blades.
“Okay. Will Ruggedly Handsome Decker. Got it.”
Olivia sighed. “Ring any bells?”
Leah shrugged, so Olivia waved her over and typed Will’s name into the search bar on her computer. The same way she’d done dripping wet on the rock by the Earl River. She picked the first article on the list and waited for the gasp as Leah read over her shoulder.
“Oh. Jesus. The poor guy. No wonder he moved here.”
San Francisco Post
“SFPD Officer Convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter in Tenderloin Shooting”
by Angela Nguyen
Former San Francisco police officer Benjamin Decker was sentenced to six years behind bars for the fatal shooting of an unarmed female, Rochelle Townes, who he had observed behaving suspiciously outside of the Aces High nightclub in the Tenderloin District. At the time of the shooting, Decker was employed by the San Francisco Police Department as a patrol officer. A jury convicted Decker on multiple charges, including violating the oath of office, making a false statement, and voluntary manslaughter, but rejected the more serious charge of second-degree murder.
Witnesses testified that on the night of the shooting, Decker was off duty and had left the nightclub after drinking there with several other police officers, including his brother, William Decker, when he encountered the victim loitering by his vehicle with another suspect. When confronted by the officers, the pair ran. Both Benjamin and William Decker gave chase, pursuing the suspects into the Double Rock Projects, where Benjamin fired several shots from his service weapon, fatally wounding Ms. Townes. Though Benjamin told detectives Ms. Townes had reached for a gun, no weapon was recovered at the scene.
The case gained national attention due to allegations of police misconduct in the handling of the investigation. Attorneys for the victim’s family told the Post that the police had waited five hours before obtaining blood samples from the officers involved. By that time, Benjamin Decker had a BAC of .07%, just under the legal intoxication level in California. The San Francisco Coroner’s Office also came under fire for ignoring crucial evidence. A private autopsy requested by the family revealed fresh bruising on the victim’s face and indicated the fatal shot had been fired from close range, rather than the distance testified to by Benjamin Decker.
Earlier this week, William Decker appeared in court on behalf of the prosecution, giving testimony against his brother, including damning statements that Benjamin was intoxicated at the time of the shooting; had not followed proper police procedure before using lethal force; and that a “reasonable” officer would not have acted similarly. Benjamin Decker testified in his own defense on Friday, describing Ms. Townes as a known drug dealer who often carried a firearm and had refused to follow his commands.