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“Yes, I’m sorry. But if there is no clear-cut evidence that Harry has been here, in this house, I do need to question him deeper.” He turned back to Harry to make sure he understood what he was saying, but before he could get a word out, Harry was charging at him.
It happened fast and without any sort of warning. In fact, Harry was already moving toward him the moment Jack turned back to face him. Harry delivered a solid shouldercheck as he blasted by. Jack defended himself well so that he didn’t fall over, but he still stumbled slightly—just enough for Harry to get around him.
“Harry!” Deborah yelled. She reached out to stop him but without much energy. Harry was able to easily slap her hand away.
Jack pivoted, turned, and nearly collided with Deborah as he gave chase. He watched Harry bolt through the front door while also hearing Deborah calling out from behind him:“Please don’t be rough with him! He can’t help it!”
Jack tried to keep this thought in his mind as he followed quickly behind Harry. He wasn’t very fast, and already, as he came to the bottom of the porch stairs just ten or twelve feet in front of Jack, he seemed to freeze up. At the same time, though, Jack figured there must besomereason Harry had felt the need to run.
Because he’s paranoid, you idiot,he chided himself.
“Mr. Jensen, please, don’t make this any worse than it already is!” He was closing in on him and really didn’t want to tackle him down to the ground.
Fortunately, Harry had come to a stop at the sidewalk, just a few feet away from Jack’s car. He was turning his head left and right very quickly, as if sure there was a threat lurking in every direction. Behind Jack, Deborah had come out onto the porch but stopped at the stairs.
“Harry! Come on back! You don’t have anything to run from. I know you were here the whole time and if you just talk to this nice man, he’ll know, too!”
Harry turned to face them, and as Jack closed the distance between them, he could see panic and fear in his eyes. Jack took another step closer, holding his hands up a bit so Harry could see he meant no harm. Harry apparently didn’t see this as a sign of peace. Instead, he drew back and delivered a stiff and excruciatingly slow right-handed haymaker of a punch.
Jack dodged it easily and hated what he did next. He caught Harry’s right arm and twisted it slightly, just enough to turn him. He didn’tshoveHarry in the direction of the car but guided him with a bit of force, making sure not to get overly physical.
“Harry!” Deborah yelled from the porch. It sounded as if she were aggravated at her brother for the way he’d handled things rather than concerned for his well-being…for the moment, anyway.
“I’m sorry to do this,” Jack said as he drew his handcuffs out, speaking loudly enough so that both Harry and Deborah could hear him. He cuffed Harry’s right hand and then, holding the chain, pulled the left arm back and did the same to that one.
Harry didn’t fight at all. Hewasbreathing rapidly and making little whining noises. Jack wasn’t sure if he’d ever felt so guilty for handcuffing someone.
Deborah slowly approached, coming down the sidewalk in a slow march.“Agent Rovers, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think he’ act like that. But do you really have to arrest him?”
“He attacked a federal agent twice. Or,triedto. I do have to take him in. But if there’s a health concern involved here, you’re welcome to wide along, too.”
She sighed and nodded. Jack felt for her; he could tell that she was worried about her brother but also a little irritated. And, of course,he was probably very upset that he’d ever even shown up at all.
“Can I sit in the back with him?” she asked sadly.
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Jack released Harry, though he continued to whine a bit.“Debbie…they’re going to get me out here. Damn it, what’s even happening? Why am I—”
“It’s okay,” Deborah said. “You’ll be safe in the back of the car. No place safer than a cop car, I reckon.”
As Harry and Deborah got into the back of the car, Jack took a deep breath to collect himself. He was sure Rachel may have handled that differently somehow. Actually, he doubted Rachel would have arrested the poor guy in the first place. But, as he was having to constantly remind himself, Rachel wasn’t there right now, so he was going to have to do his best on his own.
And even though he was already feeling tremendous guilt over it, his best had already nabbed the most likely suspect, and it wasn’t even 9:30 in the morning yet. He grinned slightly to himself as he opened his door to get behind the wheel, thinking of how he would explain this one to Rachel when he texted her with an update.
CHAPTERNINE
After Jack left the house, Rachel carried on with her morning as usual. She had breakfast with Paige, read a few pages of world news on the iPad, and then helped Paige pack her lunch. There was an element of sweetness to it all, and a small part of her thought this may not be a bad way to spend whatever time she had left—making peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches while listening to Paige’s Disney playlist on Spotify. There was an even smaller part of her that wished she’d started appreciating this sort of thing much sooner.
When it was time to head out, Rachel threw a change into the normal order of things. On most mornings, the three of them went out together to take Paige to school. On the occasional morning when Rachel was feeling slightly off, it would just be Grandma Tate. But ever since she’d spoken with Jack and the details of his case had clung to her brain, she’d been thinking more and more about how she could help.
She had an idea…though she had to admit, it was a bit juvenile. There was also a very good chance she might get caught. But it was worth a try. And even if she did get caught, what would her punishment be? In her condition, there would be no jail time, and she wasn’t living in fear of losing her job.
So after finishing with Paige’s lunch, Rachel found Grandma Tate sitting in the living room, ding a crossword from one of her many puzzle books. Rachel sat down across from her and wasted no time.
“So,” she said. “I want to run something by you, and I want you to be open-minded about it, okay?”
“Oh no,” Grandma Tate said with a smile. “What is it?”
