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ELEVEN

Jason

I looked down at the table, trying to decide whether or not to answer Alice.
This isn’t over
. That’s all Mason had said, but the insinuation was bad. He knew about my abilities. Had said I’d be an interesting ‘specimen’ to study. Like his name, Mason’s threats seemed mild, but sent shivers of fear down my entire body all the same.

“Jason?” Alice sounded worried now as she broke into my thoughts.

“I’m fine,” I repeated, still hesitant to answer her. “He told me it isn’t over,” I said quietly.

Alice leaned closer. “It isn’t over?” Her eyes flashed angrily. “I’ll say. He doesn’t know what he got himself into. Don’t worry, Jason. You have me, Dan, and most of the cops in our precinct looking out for you and hunting Trevor Mason.”

“Does that mean… you won’t need me to look for him anymore?” I asked hopefully. Alice opened her mouth but closed it without saying anything as she winced slightly. I stared down at the pattern in the wooden table, resigned to the situation. “Never mind; I’ll do what I need to do.”

She put her hand over mine and leaned in. “I would give anything to go back in time and keep you off Mason’s radar. Now that you’re there…”—she shrugged uncomfortably—“unfortunately you're probably going to have to take an active role in your own protection. If you don’t go after him, he’s still coming after you.”

She sighed and removed her hand from mine, but she kept her gaze on me as she tried to find a different solution. “If you don’t want to hunt him down and help us take him off the streets, we can put you up in a safe house.”

Alice’s tone told me she knew I wouldn’t want the safe house option, and she sounded apologetic even as she suggested it.

Her offer was sincere, as was her regret. Neither did me any good. “If I went that route, there’s no telling how long I would have to stay in protective custody. No. It would probably be safer for me to be on my own on the street.” A place I really didn’t want to be, but often found myself: alone and on the street avoiding another dangerous man. Well, in this case trying to find him while preventing him from catching me. “I’m harder to find if I’m by myself. I’ll need a few days to get back on my feet, and I would prefer to stay here to do it.”

She nodded, seeming almost relieved. “I expected as much. What do you want to do about the kids?”

I closed my eyes and bowed my head over folded hands. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how to keep myself off his radar; how do I keep them safe? Would they be safer if I just leave them?”

I hated the apprehension and fragility in my voice. Alice was looking at me in sympathy, and Hannah was pretending not to hear us.

Dishes clattered and silverware clanged as I thought over what to do. “Can you give me some time? Is that possible?” I asked, longing for a positive answer.

“I don’t know,” she sounded genuinely upset that she couldn’t give me a clear answer. It was yet another sincere emotion that did not help my situation. But it wasn’t her fault. “We don’t know what Mason knows or how much of a window we have before he attempts anything.”

I nodded, trying to accept the situation. “Soup’s ready,” Hannah said trying to sound cheerful, probably in her continuing effort to pretend she hadn’t heard every word we just said. “I have chicken noodle for me and Jason, and broccoli and cheese for Alice.”

“Thanks, Hannah,” I said. I tried to push the worries out of my head and focus on the task at hand: supper. Now my main concern would be trying to push past my nausea and eat some soup. My headache was more manageable now, but definitely still there.

“Don’t forget your dessert,” she said, handing me two pills. “It says to take them with food, so eat up.”

Thankfully the meal went well. Conversation turned from my issues to Hannah’s college and I went back to bed that evening feeling much more relaxed than I had the entire day. The massage Hannah had given me before sending me down to my room didn’t hurt either. I hadn’t even realized how tense my shoulders were until she touched me. Even the lightest touch felt like my muscles were being torn apart. The bed in my room was basically a mattress on the floor, so it was easy for me to find a position where I could touch the ground. Hopefully I’d be able to feel any threat before it became an issue.

I fell asleep quickly, but not as deeply as I had that afternoon. The result was a half-aware state, which was restful, but not as useful for healing as deep sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, I lowered my guard and curled up completely on the bed, finally falling into the deep sleep my body craved.

What felt like minutes later, I jerked awake, going from lying down to standing next to the bed in a split second, my guard raised without knowing why. I heard some creaking from upstairs as a door opened. I wanted nothing more than to find a corner to hide in, but if there was someone breaking into the house I couldn’t leave Hannah and Alice to deal with it on their own.

I crept up the stairs as silently as possible and stopped at the top, straining to hear anything out of place that would lead me to the noise I had heard. A floorboard groaned as someone walked across it and I followed the noise into the kitchen. Hannah jumped and screeched as I entered the room almost completely silently.

“Hannah!” I exclaimed in a loud whisper.

“Jason, you scared the crap out of me!” she scolded. “What are you doing up?”

“I heard a door open up here and thought someone might have gotten in. I figured I should check it out, but now I’m going back to bed.”

“Sure,” she said. “Goodnight, Jason. I’m sorry for waking you.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’m just a bit jumpy right now.”

“Understandably so,” she said with sympathy. “I hope you’re able to get back to sleep. Do you need anything before you go back down?”

“Maybe a little water,” I said, noticing how dry my mouth had gotten from sneaking around the house. Fear apparently made me thirsty.

Hannah grabbed a glass. “Do you want it from the fridge or the tap?”

“Tap,” I said. The closer to room temperature the better. Some of my earlier nausea had returned and I’d heard somewhere that lukewarm water was better for nausea than cold.

She filled my cup and handed it to me. “Thanks, Hannah. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sleep well, Jase,” she said gently.

“I’ll try” I took my cup of water and headed back down the carpeted steps to my room. As much as I needed the sleep, I couldn’t bring myself to cut off my contact with the ground again. I was determined to stay in my half-aware state to keep an eye out—so to speak—and make sure no one could approach the house without my knowledge. It would be a long night, but if something happened to Alice or Hannah because I wasn’t paying attention, I’d never be able to forgive myself.

TWELVE

Alice

The door creaked as I opened it and I cringed at the noise. I knew Jason would be on edge waiting for any noises, so I was trying my best to get out of the house without waking him. He needed as much sleep as possible in order to heal. Dan had called and said we needed to be in a little early, so I was up and out of the house by six. Hannah would sleep through a hurricane, so there was no way I’d wake her.

I hit the speed dial button for Dan’s number and turned on my Bluetooth. “Dan? I’m on my way. What’s going on?” It wasn’t unusual for us to get called in early, but we were typically told ahead of time that we would be on call. This wasn’t one of those days.

“One of Jason’s kids showed up last night and won’t talk to anyone but you. She asked for ‘Officer Alice’ and then wouldn’t say a word after she was told you weren’t in yet.”

“And this made them call us in early?” I asked cautiously. Dan seemed more on edge than a street kid showing up at the station would warrant.

“She probably wants to know how Jason is doing,” I continued as I drove down the street. My anxiety level rose slightly, knowing by the hesitation in Dan’s voice that something else was up.

“I’m almost there,” I said calmly. “Make sure she knows that I’m coming, and tell her that Jason is doing well. Even if that isn’t her main reason for coming, she probably still wants to know.”

“I’ll do that,” Dan said. “I’ll see you when you get here.” Without waiting for a reply he hung up, and I was left wondering what was going on.

“Five minutes,” I muttered under my breath. That five felt too long as I got stuck at a red light and crawled forward slowly after a student driver. When I finally arrived at work, I rushed in, almost dropping my keys in my haste. “Where is she?”

“Ginny is right over there,” Dan said pointing to my desk.

The little blonde girl had her head down so her hair fell over her face as she stared at the floor. Her shoulders were tense, but shook slightly; I then realized she was crying.

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked quietly.

Dan shook his head and shrugged. “I have no idea,” he answered softly. “She’s been crying for several minutes already, but she won’t let me or anyone else talk to her.”

I could see that Dan was upset by his inability to help the girl, but I needed to figure out what was wrong, so I left my partner and walked over to Ginny. “Ginny. What’s the matter?”

She looked up when I spoke, her face streaked with dirt and tears, but her eyes shone with hope when she saw me.

“Erin and Sam are gone!” she exclaimed as she threw her arms around me and wept.

“Oh, honey,” I mumbled as I held her. “We’ll try to find them, okay? Tell me what happened, and Dan and I will go out and find them.”

Ginny shook her head against my shoulder as she continued to cry. “No, no… we can’t… he said…” she gave a hiccupping sob and stopped talking for a moment.

“Who said what?” I asked, trying to stay calm as I dealt with the distraught girl. It was difficult, because my mind was making a connection that I really didn’t like. She’d said ‘he said’ and that most likely meant someone had taken the other two kids and left Ginny as a messenger.

“Who took them, Ginny? You can tell us.”

“A man,” she sobbed. “I didn’t recognize him. He took them and told me… he said to tell you that Jason needed to come out and play. Jason needs to save them or he’s going to hurt them!” Ginny had made an obvious effort to speak around her sobs but once she stopped talking, she gave in to them again.

“It’s okay,” I said gently as I rubbed her back. “Sit here for a minute, okay? I need to talk to Dan.”

“A—-All right,” she said, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Before I go, where are the others?”

“In the alley. They didn’t want to come to the police. The boys don’t trust the other cops.”

“Okay. I'll be right back, and then I’m going to take you and the others back to my house. How does that sound?”

“Really? You’ll take us to Jason?” The eager anticipation in the girl’s eyes made me smile, despite the circumstances.

“Yeah, you’ll be with Jason. Wait here and we’ll leave in a couple minutes.” Ginny nodded and wiped her eyes again, her fears settled at the thought of going to Jason.

“Dan, we have a major problem,” I said quietly. “Mason didn’t give any time for Jason to recover. He or one of his men took two of Jason’s kids off the street. He wants Jason in the open or he’s going to hurt them.”

Dan spat a curse as he glanced at Ginny. “We should have gotten them off the street right away when Jason got hurt. We knew this was a possi—”

I cut him off. “We can play the ‘what if’ game later. For now I need to go get the other kids over to my house. Then you and I need to hit the streets. Jason isn’t up to playing Mason’s games. We need to find the kids and buy him some time to heal.” Dan wasn’t the only one fuming over the lack of foresight in protecting the kids; Jason was going to flip.

“Why is he so hung up on this kid? Jason hasn’t really threatened any of his businesses yet, and he’s not the only resource we’re using on this case. Why would Mason go this far to get at him?”

I shrugged, feigning a lack of knowledge on the subject. “I don’t know. That’s something we’ll have to ask Mason about when we catch him.” I didn’t like lying to my partner, but it wasn’t my secret to tell. “Look, right now we need to focus on finding Erin and Sam. I’ll talk to the other kids and try to get a description of the guy that took them. Would you—”

Dan interrupted. “Canvas the area around the alley and find out if anyone saw anything? Of course. Good luck with Jason,” he called out as he walked out of the building.

I groaned aloud at the thought of having to tell Jason that his kids were in danger, but I went to my desk, collected Ginny, and we went to the alley.

“We’re gonna go to Jason!” Ginny exclaimed when we found the boys hiding by the dumpster. Paul and Jeffrey came out slowly, the older boy glared at me as he pulled Ginny to him.

“This is your fault,” the sixteen-year-old accused. “If you hadn’t gotten Jason involved, none of this would have happened.”

Behind the anger, I could read the fear in Paul’s blue eyes as he yelled at me. All of the kids had a fierce loyalty to Jason and would never blame him, even though he had agreed to help me. I had not coerced him in any way, and I couldn’t help feeling a bit upset by the accusation.

“Paul, that’s not going to help,” I said sharply. The boy ran a hand through his dark brown hair as he continued to glare at me. Jeffrey stood silently as the older boy allowed his anger out. He seemed upset also, but didn’t turn it at me. “Yes, I asked Jason for his help, but there was no way I could have known that he would end up in danger because of it. This is not the first time I’ve asked him for help.”

“No, but it had better be the last,” Paul warned.

Paul was quite often angry and sullen, but it had always been directed at his life before he’d run away from his family. With his street family, he’d been happy. I had become a threat to his new family, and he was trying to warn me off. The threatening effect was somewhat tarnished by the fact that Paul was about 5’10” and weighed in at about a hundred twenty pounds. He was not a threatening figure by any means, but I believed he would fight fiercely to protect the people he cared about.

“That is going to be entirely up to Jason. Keep in mind that he keeps you clothed and fed with the money he pulls in from helping me with cases. I know you’re scared for Erin and Sam, but the sooner we stop arguing and start discussing what happened, the sooner my partner and I can go out looking for them.”

I paused, waiting for a response from the angry teen. I received none so I continued, keeping my voice calm as I tried to prevent my previous frustration from coming through. Paul was scared, worried, and lashing out. I was the adult and I needed to remember that Paul was just a kid who needed help. “Please come with me, and we’ll go to Jason and tell him what happened. Chances are he’ll have the same opinion as you.”

“Fine. We’ll come with you,” he said grudgingly. Ginny looked relieved as the older boy agreed to come. She must have been afraid that he would say no and she wouldn’t be able to go to Jason.

“Jeffrey, are you okay?” I asked. He hadn’t said a word, just continued to stare at the ground. The thirteen-year-old seemed willing to let the older boy deal with everything. I suspected the boy had some kind of learning disability, but I hadn’t spent much time with him. He always seemed to speak and act like a young child rather than a teen, but he clearly loved his street family.

“Scared,” he mumbled. “Erin and Sam are scared.” He looked up at me, trust in his eyes. “You’ll find them?” he asked. “You’ll get them back and keep Jason safe, right?”

I nodded, trying to hide the fear I felt for the missing children. “I will certainly do my best, Jeffrey.”

“We need to get to Jason now,” Ginny took Jeffrey’s hand leading him toward the car. “Officer Alice needs to get back to work and Jason needs to know what happened.” The young girl sounded like Erin, and the look she gave Paul was a mix of Erin’s glare and Jason’s ‘listen to me now’ frown. She had clearly been paying attention to the leaders of her little group.

Paul still looked rebellious, but after a pause when I thought he was going to refuse to come, he said, “We’ll come. We need to know what Jase wants us to do while he’s healing.” The teen glared at me. “Whatever he wants to do is what we’ll do. If he wants to be done with you, we’re out. We’ll find Erin and Sam on our own.”

“You have police help regardless,” I tried not to snap at him. The open hostility was getting hard for me to deal with, but pushing him too hard wasn’t the way to get his cooperation. “We’re already involved, and if Jason is going to search for them, he’ll need whatever backup we can provide.” I left it unsaid that I knew Jason would demand police backup even if it had to be covert. Paul wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say, but he would come with me now to see Jason. Their unwavering loyalty to Jason never failed to impress me.

My phone rang as we were getting into my car. “Dan? What’s going on?”

“You need to get back here ASAP,” he said urgently. “Mason left a message for Jason.”