Page 407 of A Matter of Time

“Are you kidding?”

“No. Explain.”

“The danger is from you running around getting in the way of both criminals and law enforcement. You need to be home under lock and key.”

“Okay,” I said, placating him.

“The police have been notified, so I suggest you sit tight and wait for them.”

He was so full of crap. “Look, I really wanna see Susan and Daniel’s house. I have a theory.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do.”

“Listen, Dane, I⁠—”

The noise cut me off, something moving over the phone.

“Jory, you need to listen to me.” Sam again. “I want you to just⁠—”

“I can’t stop now, Sam.”

“You’re just gonna keep doin’ whatever the hell you think is right, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” I told him honestly. “I hafta save Caleb.”

“Jory—”

“He’s innocent, Sam, I know he is.”

“You don’t know shit. You’re just hoping that he⁠—”

I grunted, cutting him off.

“Agent Calhoun wants to talk to you.”

“Is he gonna put me in jail again?”

“No, Jory, what would be the point? You would just get out.”

I chuckled, and he growled at me.

“You’re in trouble for slipping out of custody.”

“Collins let me out of jail and he’s on Rego’s payroll, so maybe that should be the bigger takeaway here.”

Silence on the line for a moment.

“Sam?”

“Jory.” Sam’s deep, resonant voice came over the line. “Tell me where you are.”

“I’ll call ya later. I just wanted you to know that I was okay.”

“Hanging up would be a mistake.”

But I did it anyway, then turned off the phone before I climbed into the back of the cab that stopped for me.

Now, should I have told Sam and Dane where I was going? Probably not. Did I think the Dallas police department, or technically a police department outside of Dallas, would simply deploy on Sam’s word to stop me? No. No I did not. But I decided not to worry about the situation until I had to. That was how I got through quite a bit in life. Worrying about things outside one’s control was not helpful in the least. So I concentrated on what I was going to say when I got there instead.