Devil in Detroit | Detroit: Become Human

𝐕𝐈. LOSING FACE

CHAPTER SIX

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

( November 24th, 2032 )

JACOB SPUN AROUND IN THE office chair boredly, humming under his breath. He reached up, rubbing his hand against the cut on his cheek—covered by a Hello Kitty band-aid that Officer Chen had repeatedly told him not to pick at, but she didn't understand how irritating the wound felt on his skin. Lieutenant Anderson and Detective Reed were having a conversation at Reed's desk, out of earshot of Jacob's ever-curious ears.

Jacob moved his gaze onto Officer Chen as she sat down in front of him, at the end of the L-shaped desk with nothing on it. It was an open desk—the only reason Jacob had chosen it in the first place. That, and it was directly across from Lieutenant Anderson's desk. Jacob looked up at Officer Chen, slowly lowering his hand from his face sheepishly. She gave him a kind smile, holding out a mug to him. "Drink. It's apple juice. My wife ran to the store and brought it for you," she said. Jacob hesitantly took the cup, pulling his knees up to his chest in the chair to better hide himself.

"Thank you," he murmured. She nodded. ". . . To you and your wife," he added.

Officer Chen smiled at him. "I'll pass that along." She sighed, looking over her shoulder to Lieutenant Anderson and Detective Reed with a frown. The two looked to be in a heated argument, but it was quiet, their words not being heard by Jacob or Officer Chen, but he knew that they were talking about him. She turned back to look at him. "So, Officer Miller and Detective Collins—you'll meet them later— they just called ahead, they have . . . Portman in custody," she explained, noting the way that Jacob lowered his cup to pay attention to her words. "They'll be coming in with him in a few minutes. There are a few places that you can stay while they get him into interrogation," she offered.

Jacob thought for a moment before nodding. "Where?" he asked softly.

"Well, there's Captain Fowler's office, he's offered that. Then there's the backroom, through there, where the bathrooms are—" She pointed down the hall, to a small enclosed space with two doors that led to the bathrooms. "—or, uh, we can take you outside right now and bring you back in after Portman is out of the way, but Captain Fowler would prefer if you stayed inside just in case," she explained.

"He thinks I'll run away," Jacob muttered. He hadn't yet met the captain that Chen spoke about.

"We have to take precautions, Jacob, it's just protocol," she told him. Jacob shrugged.

"It's fine. I guess I have a track record for running away." He smiled thinly. Chen sighed, smiling back, though the grin didn't reach her eyes. ". . . I think I'll hide in the bathroom," he decided. Chen nodded, turning to look at Anderson and Reed once again. She pinched the bridge of her nose when she saw that they were still arguing. Jacob took a sip of his apple juice. He liked that it was in a mug. It made him feel fancy. "They're talking about me, aren't they?" he asked.

Chen glanced at him, startled. "They're just . . . trying to figure out what to tell you." She sighed, looking back at him again. Her brows were pinched together, concern written across her face. "Do you have grandparents, Jacob? Up in California?"

Jacob took another sip of his juice. "No. They died, like, two years ago. Home invasion, I don't know. Mom— Melissa. She was pretty sad about it." He shrugged. ". . . You'd only ask that if I had nowhere else to go. What happened to my parents?" he asked, tilting his head, unbothered.