Normally, Kirstin kept her coffee intake to one cup at work. However, the morning after spending time with Sakeena led to her seeking her third. There was little she could do to concentrate with the anxiety she felt about Jessica revealing Kirstin's picture. Sakeena insisted it would be taken care of, but Kirstin was skeptical. Someone would have to have intercepted Jessica that night and not even Melissa could move that fast. Kirstin rested her arms on her desk, waiting to hear the laughter of her male peers.
Sipping on her coffee, Kirstin returned her focus on documenting Helena's testimony. She couldn't write "witness could not recall previous events" without feeling stupid. Just then, an object hit her desk, heavy enough to make a noise to pull her away from the computer. Standing at her desk was Alan, wearing tan dress slacks, a white button up with the sleeves rolled and a wide grin on his face. He gestured to the desk. "Did you hear?"
"Hear what?" Kirstin asked as she looked down at a newspaper, folded up as if it had been just purchased. The cover image was of a woman in a bar, open mouthed expression as she had her arms wrapped around her body. Kirstin felt her heart sink in her chest before she realized the woman's hair was black. She was also curvier than Kirstin. Upon glancing closer, Kirstin gasped when she recognized Jessica Hillier, stripped down to her leopard print bra and panties in what looked to be a hole-in-the-wall bar. The headline read, "No Pants: No Service: Hysterical biker woman thrown out of bar for wearing no clothes."
"Holy shit." Kirstin said as she opened the paper to read what had happened. The article didn't give away Jessica's name, stating that the strange woman had a date and begged not to be thrown out. "This was in Hell Michigan?"
Alan nodded, "Narcotics has been passing copies around the department. Hillier's team is puh-iiiisssed that she blew this sting."
The sympathy Kirstin might have felt faded when she thought how Jessica would have done the same to her. A smile spread across Kirstin's face as she looked at Jessica's wide eyes, hands over her wide bosom. "What's that white stuff on her legs and arms?"
"Toilet paper." Alan snorted. "She tried wearing it like a toga and then some waitress spilled water all over it. You won't have to worry about the department mocking you, they're getting such a kick out of Jessica getting knocked down a peg. She always liked to boast about what work she was doing and we're hoping this will shut her up."
Rolling her eyes, Kirstin said, "Well unfortunately we can rely on the men in this department to do just that, I can only imagine what they'll do to mock her."
Alan nodded and then shifted his eyes to the door leading to the hallway. Kirstin wasn't sure what he alluded to, looking in his direction only to see that it was empty. She checked her watch and saw that it was still early, just around the time when Jessica would be in her office. "You want to find out?" she asked in a hushed voice. When Alan nodded, they both hurried out the hallway and down to the Narcotics department.
No sooner did they leave the stairwell did they hear a loud banging sound come the other side of the door leading to Narcotics. Kirstin bit her lip as she grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. Narcotics had six desks placed in the room and Jessica's was at the end. Sitting on top her desk was a twenty four pack of toilet paper. She stood at her desk wearing a blue blazer over a black shirt and jeans. Her face was red and her eyes, like daggers were aimed at her colleagues.
"What the fuck is this?!" she screamed.
"It's your new uniform Detective." a woman in the room said, causing the others to laugh.
Screaming, Jessica grabbed the toilet paper and threw it across the room. It made a soft noise as it bounced off the wall, making her look more childish in throwing her tantrum. "I don't want to ever hear you fucking mention this to anyone again! Do you hear me?! If you do I swear I'll kick your asses!"
It was the crack of Jessica's voice that took the wind out of her threat and everyone in the room went back to their business. While the clamor of voices was still loud, Kirstin took the opportunity to leave her copy of the newspaper on a nearby desk. "Let's go!" she whispered as she pushed Alan out the door.
As soon as they were back in the hall, both of them laughed, wiping tears from their eyes. "Oh man that's good. I'm going to start leaving toilet paper nearby whenever I get a chance." Alan said.
"Let me know, I'll go in on some." Kirstin said.
"I should get back to work. Did you learn anything from Dr. Fakhouri?"
Kirstin had learned, but it was the contents in Sakeena's purse that stood in her mind. Kirstin closed her eyes to refrain from blurting it out. "She's going to look into it. I'm just writing up the report of Helena's story."
"I'm going to check up on Matthew workplace to see if I can speak with any of his coworkers." Alan said as he opened the door to the stairwell.
"I'll be back up in a sec." Kirstin said as she decided to use the bathroom before going back to work.
Just then, the door to Narcotics burst open with Jessica standing in the doorway. "You!" she shouted.
With her arms folded, Kirstin took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Knowing that she had endured the same humiliation gave Kirstin a newfound strength. "Detective Hillier. how are you this evening"?
"Shut up Delaney!" Jessica stomped up to Kirstin and was inches away from her face as she spoke in a hushed voice, "I don't know how you...you...did that to me..." Her hand wrapped around her chest to clutch her shoulder as her face turned pink, "...but this isn't over between us! You might have gotten me to hold off on those pictures but I swear I will get you for humiliating me!"
Blinking, Kirstin made a shocked face as she said, "Humiliated you? Jessica I don't think i know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do!" she stomped, Kirstin could have sworn she saw a tear in her eye. "You sent someone to...strip me during a sting operation. I could have been killed! "
Shaking her head, Kirstin spoke in a soft voice, "I'm so sorry that happened to you Jessica. I would never do that to a colleague. I know how much your job means to you. I'm just glad you're okay." Without waiting for a retort, she turned away and headed for the stairs. She could hear Jessica punch the wall nearby and couldn't help but smile. Sakeena told the truth, but Kirstin doubted it was the psychologist that managed to get the best of Jessica. After all, it wasn't Sakeena who stripped Kirstin, it was Melissa.
*****
If Sakeena didn't have anything about Melissa in her home, Kirstin thought she could find something in Sakeena's office after hours. Kirstin just wasn't sure how she was going to sneak into Sakeena's office. Kirstin drove to downtown Ann Arbor and parked her car several blocks away on the other side of town, walking the rest of the distance to better conceal herself. She wore a hooded sweatshirt under her leather jacket to conceal her face.