“I … .” Harper’s face was flushed, her hands jittery, and the look she sent Jared was one of pure worry.
“What’s wrong?” Jared asked, softening his voice and taking a step toward her. He put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them softly before moving to cup her chin. “Tell me.”
“I think you’re about to be really angry with me,” Harper admitted.
“Okay.”
“I think you’re probably going to yell and swear.”
“Okay,” Jared said, mentally preparing himself for doomsday. “I’m ready to hear it.”
“I … .” Harper couldn’t get the words out. Even though she knew it probably wouldn’t happen, real fear regarding Jared’s imminent reaction coursed through her. “If you’re going to leave after … .”
“Stop right there,” Jared ordered. “You’ve worked yourself into a frenzy over what I’m assuming is going to turn out to be nothing. I’m not going anywhere. Even if you did something stupid, that doesn’t mean I’m somehow going to stop caring about you.
“This is new for both of us,” he continued. “I can’t fix this until you tell me what happened.”
“Well, I brought everyone with me for the stakeout like you asked,” Harper said, wetting her lips. “We sat under the willow tree over there and talked for a little bit … Molly brought Milk Duds.”
Jared tamped down the inclination to laugh. “Okay.”
“We saw someone go in through the sliding glass door,” Harper admitted, ripping the Band-Aid off.
“Who? Was it one of the kids?” Jared was curious. “We pulled David Martin in, but his father refused to let him answer any questions so we just sat there staring at each other for fifteen minutes before cutting him loose. It was a total waste of time. We’re back to being at a dead end. If you saw one of the other kids enter this place it would be helpful, especially since you have witnesses and we don’t have to take the word of a ghost.”
Harper shook her head. “We couldn’t see who it was from where we were,” she said. “He was wearing a hoodie.”
“That’s okay,” Jared said. “Did you think I would be angry at you because you couldn’t see who was going into the house? Harper, that’s ridiculous.”
“I’m not done yet,” Harper said, causing Jared’s heart to plummet.
“We’re about to get to the part I won’t like, aren’t we?”
Harper nodded. “I had to see who it was,” she explained. “We split up. Eric took Molly around to the front and Zander and I followed the person into the house through the sliding glass door. We confronted him in the kitchen.”
“Well, I’m already not liking it,” Jared said, although he didn’t drop his hands from Harper’s face. “Tell me the rest of it.”
“It wasn’t one of the kids,” Harper said. “It was a homeless man. His name is Jeff Clarke and he’s been breaking into the house to shower and eating stale cookies to survive.”
Jared’s heart rolled. “Did he touch you?”
“No,” Harper said, frustrated. “He’s very nice. He’s just down on his luck.”
“Well, while I’m unhappy with what you did because you could’ve gotten hurt, you had backup and are standing in front of me,” Jared said. “I think we’ll survive with only a minor fight tonight. Does that make you feel better?”
“I’m not done,” Harper said.
Jared sighed. “Lay it on me.”
“He was afraid of us … and he’s really torn up from sleeping outside and being transient for six months … so we ordered pizza and had a little party and talked to him inside,” Harper explained. “So we technically trespassed and threw a party.”
Jared pursed his lips. “I see. Is that all?”
Harper shook her head again.
“You need to get it all out there, honey,” Jared said. “I’m starting to lose my patience.”
“He told us he’s been hanging around the woods for weeks and he saw all the kids the night Derek died,” Harper said. “They didn’t see him because he was hiding. He saw all the teens we’ve been looking at – including Lexie – and there was a big argument going on. He couldn’t hear what it was about. We showed him photos we managed to scrounge up on our cell phones by getting people to text us. He identified everyone who was at the school that day, plus Derek.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Jared said. “We knew they were involved. He didn’t see Derek die, did he?”
“No.”
“Is that all?”
“One more thing,” Harper said. “I want to help him and I’m begging you not to arrest him for breaking and entering. If you try, I’m going to claim I was the one who was doing it and you’re going to have to arrest me instead and my mother is going to hate you forever.”
Jared made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat. “Is that all?”
Harper bit her lip and nodded, letting out a relieved gasp when Jared pulled her in for a hug. “I’m not angry with you,” he murmured, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m not thrilled with you, but I’m not angry with you. You have a huge heart. You did a good thing here today. I don’t see any reason we have to tell Jenny what you found. We’ll clean up the house and find a place for this man. What did you say his name was again?”
“Jeff Clarke,” Harper replied. “He’s fifty and he’s a veteran. He lost his house in Detroit because he has PTSD and he can’t be around loud noises.”
Jared’s heart went out to the man and he hadn’t even met him yet. “We’re going to fix this,” he said, kissing Harper’s cheek. “You need to have a little faith in me. I would never arrest a man for trying to survive. I would never be angry with you for trying to help him.”
Hope flitted across Harper’s face, the naked raw emotion almost causing Jared’s knees to buckle. “Even if I broke the law while doing it?”
“You didn’t break the law,” Jared argued.
Harper arched a challenging eyebrow.
“Okay, you technically broke the law,” he conceded. “It was just a little misdemeanor, though. Thankfully you’re sleeping with a cop. I can fix all of this.”
“Thank you.” Harper threw her arms around his neck and Jared hugged her again, internally laughing at the drama.
“Does Zander think I’m going to arrest him, too?” Jared asked, glancing at the house.
“He’s hiding in the closet,” Harper replied. “He swore he’d never go back in the closet after middle school and now I can’t get him out.”
“We’ll fix this,” Jared said. “Come on. I want to meet Jeff and get his statement, and then we’ll find a place for him to stay. I promise this is going to be okay.”
“COME in,” Jared said, opening the door to his rental house and allowing Harper entrance later that evening. He was dressed down in simple jeans and a T-shirt, and yet Harper didn’t think he’d ever looked more appealing.
After introducing Jared to Jeff, the engaging police officer immediately put Jeff at ease as he ate pizza and questioned him about what he saw the night Derek died. Zander eventually came out of the closet and pretended nothing happened, and once he was finished Jared drove Jeff to his house and set him up in the apartment over the garage.
Harper was amazed by his giving spirit, and she greeted Jared with a rambunctious hug the second the door closed.
“This is a nice greeting,” Jared laughed, lifting her feet off the ground as he returned the hug. “Did you miss me that much?”
“You’ve been great today.”
“Only today?” Jared challenged. “I think I’ve been great since you met me.”
“Other than that whole trying to arrest me and then leaving town and not calling for ten days thing, right?” Harper asked, refusing to let Jared’s ego get too big.
Jared slipped his fingers inside Harper’s belt loops and tugged her hips so they were flush with his. “You’re supposed to let me off the hook for that stuff.”
“I have,” Harper said. “I j
ust like keeping you on your toes.”
“You’ve definitely done that,” Jared said, dropping a soft kiss on her lips and then pulling away when he heard the back door of the house open. “No offense, but I don’t want to maul you in front of Jeff. He’s a little jumpy.”
“I understand,” Harper said. “We’ll be able to maul each other in your bedroom after he goes to sleep.”
“You’re staying here with me tonight?” Jared asked, pleased and surprised at the same time. “What about Zander?”
“He was so worked up about having to hide in the closet today he went out and picked up a guy to find something wrong with,” Harper replied. “He’ll be okay.”
“I like this,” Jared said, lifting his chin and smiling as Jeff walked into the living room. “I thought we would order Chinese. Do you like Chinese, Jeff?”
Jeff’s expression brightened when he saw Harper. “I’ll eat anything. Literally.”
An invisible hand squeezed Jared’s heart, but he shrugged it away. “What do you want? I figured we’d order quite a few things so we have leftovers for the next few days. I picked up a menu the other day … here it is.” Jared scooped it off the coffee table and handed it to Jeff. “Tell me what you like.”
Jeff was embarrassed. “I’ll eat anything.”
Sympathy washed over Harper and she took the menu from him. “I’ll pick. I like being in charge.”
“I can vouch for that,” Jared said, smiling fondly at her. “Sit down, Jeff. I have a few things to catch you up on. You were out in the apartment longer than I expected.”
“I didn’t want to bother you,” Jeff admitted. “I … .”
“You’re not a bother,” Jared said, cutting him off. “In fact, I’m going to be glad to have you around. This place is a rental, but I can’t keep up with everything, so I thought you might like to work around here for the next few days to help me out. That will allow you to earn some money while we move forward.”
Harper’s heart swelled as Jeff swallowed hard.
“I could do that,” Jeff said.
“And when you’re caught up here, we need help at our house, too,” Harper said, earning a smile from Jared. “Zander is a wonder in the kitchen, but he refuses to do manual labor because he only likes to sweat at the gym.”
“I really appreciate everything you guys are doing, but I feel guilty that you’re going out of your way for me after I broke the law,” Jeff said.
“Don’t bring that up again,” Jared chided. “You didn’t do anything horrible – other than convincing the real estate agent that the cottage was haunted – and you helped in my investigation. On that front, I called Mel and told him what we have and we’re pulling every one of those kids back in tomorrow. They’re not leaving without giving us some answers.”
“That’s a relief,” Harper said.
“What about you two?” Jeff asked.
“What about us?” Jared was confused. “We’re happy as clams. Wait … are clams really happy?”
“I have no idea,” Harper said. “I know we’re going to be happy with a few shrimp entrees in a few minutes, though. Do you like shrimp, Jeff? Or would you rather have chicken or beef? Or, heck, are you a vegetarian? There’s plenty of stuff on the menu without meat if you don’t want it.”
“You can’t be a vegetarian on the street,” Jeff said. “I … what about you two needing time alone? I don’t want to get in your way. You’ve been too kind as it is.”
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Jared argued. “Stop talking nonsense and help Harper pick out food. Make sure you order those crab puff things. I love those.”
“I just don’t feel right about this,” Jeff said.
“Jeff, you’re tying yourself into knots over nothing,” Harper said. “Jared probably won’t even be here most of the time. He’ll spend a lot of his nights at my house.”
Jared smirked. “You’re awfully sure about yourself,” he teased. “I find that funny given how you thought I was going to have a meltdown this afternoon.”
“Yes, well, I’ve had time to think that over and I realize I might have been a little dramatic,” Harper said.
“Might?”
“Fine. I was overly dramatic,” Harper conceded. “Zander worked me into a frenzy, though. You know how he is.”
“I like him,” Jeff said, chuckling. “He kept going on and on about my great shabby chic wardrobe.”
“He’s funny,” Jared agreed. “Harper is right, though. I will be spending a lot of nights at her place. Even when I’m here, though, you’re not a bother. You have your own apartment over the garage. We’re going to make this work until we figure out a permanent solution. I don’t want to hear another argument. Are we clear?”
Jeff mock saluted. “Yes, sir.”
“Now, let’s get to ordering,” Jared said. “I’m starving.”
Twenty-One
“Every single one of them has a lawyer,” Mel said the next morning, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing the four teenagers in the conference room. “That’s mighty telling.”
“They know they’re in trouble,” Jared said. “The only one who doesn’t look worried is Tim Martin. He either believes his kid or knows something we don’t.”
“He believes his kid,” Mel said dryly. “Trust me. That guy is one of those people who thinks his son can never do anything wrong. Whatever David does is justified … even if he’s the one in the wrong.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because he stood with his cousin Jim Stone during the whole Zander fiasco ten years ago,” Mel replied. “He’s a snake.”
Jared stilled. “I’m confused. How did he stand with Jim Stone? What did he have to do with all of that?”
“He was on the school board,” Mel explained.
“We need to have a talk about that situation one day,” Jared said. “We don’t have time now, but I want more details. Zander seemed pained to tell the story and Harper started swearing like a sailor when I brought it up.”
“Harper is feisty when she wants to be,” Mel said, chuckling.
“Yeah, well, I don’t like what happened to them and I’m not sure I understand everything,” Jared said. “I don’t understand how something like that could happen.”
“Whisper Cove is tiny and this was ten years ago,” Mel said. “Things change.”
“Not that much,” Jared said. “We don’t have time for it now either. Are you ready for this?”
“How do you want to approach them?” Mel asked, his jaw clenching as his mind returned to the task at hand.
“Hard,” Jared replied, pushing open the door and entering the room.
“I want to know what you think you’re going to accomplish here,” Tim Martin announced before Jared and Mel could sit. “I told you yesterday that my son isn’t going to answer any of your questions. I see you’re bucking for a lawsuit by bringing him in two days in a row. If that’s what you want, well … I guess that’s what you’re going to get.”
“Sit down, Tim,” Mel ordered, unruffled. “If you want to play the lawsuit game we can do that later. Right now we’re dealing with murder. We have priorities in this department.”
“Since when?” Tim shot back.
“Sit down, Mr. Martin,” Jared ordered, his tone chilly.
Tim was taken aback. “Excuse me? You can’t talk to me that way.”
“I just did,” Jared said.
“We don’t have to stand for this,” Tim argued, puffing out his chest. “These kids are not under arrest.”
“If you would prefer, we can put them under arrest,” Mel offered.
“On what grounds?” one of the lawyers asked, exchanging a look with another stuffed suit standing behind Lexie.
“We know they’ve been lying about being with Derek the night he died,” Jared replied, opening a file as he sat down across from them. “By the end of this interview, they’re either going to tell the truth or be taken into custody. It’s entirel
y up to them.”
“How … I don’t understand,” Tim said, adjusting his tone. “How can you know they were lying?”
“It’s interesting that you don’t immediately jump to the conclusion that they’re telling the truth and our information is wrong,” Mel mused, sitting next to Jared. “That tells me you’ve already figured out they’re lying, too.”
“I’ve done nothing of the sort,” Tim argued. “I believe in my son’s innocence.”
“Well, you won’t for long,” Jared said. “Okay, since Mr. Martin likes to hear himself talk, we’re going to start with David’s part in all of this first. Don’t worry, you other three will get you turn. So, David, is there anything you want to tell us?”
David, all bravado lost, shrank in his chair. “I didn’t do anything.”
“See! You heard him,” Tim blustered.
“Either shut up or get out, Mr. Martin,” Jared instructed. “I’m done playing games with these kids. I’ve had it with all of them.”
Tim snapped his mouth shut.
“That’s what I thought,” Jared said. “David, we know that you called Derek at around nine the night he died. We got a tip that you did, and we had Verizon pull your phone records and it’s been confirmed.
“Before you deny anything, you should also know that we’re aware you guys were partying out there on a regular basis and Derek was under the assumption that you would be partying out there again that night,” he continued. “We know that Derek arrived, and we have a witness who places all four of you in the woods with Derek that night. You were heard arguing by said witness, and you’re believed to be the last four to see Derek alive.”
“Who is this witness?” one of the lawyers asked.
“We’re not at liberty to discuss that right now,” Jared replied. “Suffice it to say that he identified all four suspects and the deceased. He put the time at shortly before eleven. The medical examiner puts Derek’s death at shortly after midnight. Can you explain that?”
“I wasn’t there,” Lexie said.
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