"I get a phone call, you know."

Boo wraps her hands around the cold bars of the cell door and stares intently at her guard dog dressed in blue. He doesn't bother looking up from the worn crossword book in his hands. She glances at the clock on the wall and sighs dramatically; still no response from him.

"How long can you hold me here before I get to leave?"

"Twenty-four hours," Darryl answers languidly. "You've been here for one. Get comfy."

Boo scowls at the back of his head. "Am I being charged with something?"

"Not shutting up," he grumbles. "I can't concentrate with you yammering away over there."

Boo rolls her eyes and steps away from the bars. Darryl absently begins to chew on the end of his pen as he mumbles, "Drops on the ground."

"What?"

Finally, he turns to glare at her from over his shoulder. "It's my crossword clue: drops on the ground."

"How many letters?"

"Three."

"If I solve it for you, do I get my phone call?"

Darryl laughs aloud, a cold sneer on his face. "Sure, Einstein. Solve it and you'll get your phone call."

"Dew," Boo answers smugly. "D, E, W. Three letters."

The smirk on his face falls. He glances at his crossword, checking her answer before muttering aloud, "Son of a bitch."

Boo thrusts her arm through the bars and displays her palm to him. "Can I get my phone call now?"

He stares reluctantly at her open hand before conceding with a sigh. He fishes a small flip phone from his desk and hands it to her. "Five minutes. Use your time wisely."

"Finally," she grins, flipping open the phone, "an honorable cop."

« • »

Frenzied and confused, Harry rushes into the holding cell area of the jail an hour later. His eyes immediately land on Boo, anxiously pacing the length of her four-by-four and chewing on her fingernails. An overwhelming sense of safety floods her body as she glances up to see him rushing toward her.

"Boo, oh my God," he breathes in relief. "Are you hurt?"

"No, Harry, I'm okay," she smiles gratefully, reaching to hold his hand through the bars. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course," he says immediately. "I just paid your bail at the desk. They're sending someone now to come let you out. Did they charge you with anything?"

"Not that I know of." Boo doesn't want to admit it out loud yet but part of her already knows her arrest was more of a power move from Nathaniel than anything else. "Did they tell you who brought me in?"

His head shakes in confusion. Boo drops her voice to a whisper as she says, "Nathaniel. He must've raced right outta the courthouse to get to where we were. I'd only been driving for a couple minutes."

Harry's face contorts into an expression of extreme distress. His mouth opens to reply but just then, a desk officer strolls in and unlatches the lock on the cell door. Harry grasps Boo in a brief hug before they begin making their way towards the exit. Just as they reach the lobby, Nathaniel Waters himself comes strolling out of the main department office and stops in the hallway, his black eyes landing directly on Boo.

She halts, unafraid to face him down now despite the flurry of police officers crossing in between them. Harry squeezes her hand reassuringly and she takes off in a beeline for Nathaniel. He watches her and Harry approach, that same gloating grin residing on his face.

"Good to see you walking around a free woman," he sneers. "Perhaps you've learnt your lesson now."

"I'm not afraid," Boo answers defiantly.

Nathaniel's expression doesn't waver but a flash of uncertainty crosses his eyes. He glances past her and to Harry standing stolidly behind her. "Pity. Fear is the only thing that keeps people like you in line anymore."

Boo can't help but jerk forward in anger, only to be stopped by Harry gently pulling her back. Nathaniel's grin grows a little bigger at her response. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you very soon, Miss Taylor."

He moves to leave but Boo can't let him, not yet. "Wait. I want to know more about what happened to Ms. Commons."

He turns, searching her for a brief moment. "I'm not at liberty to discuss her case."

"Who was the neighbor that called this morning?"

His jaw tightens. "It was anonymous."

"Was it a male? Female?"

"Anonymous," Nathaniel repeats through gritted teeth, taking care to spit each syllable at her.

"Is she getting autopsied?"

Harry places a hand on Boo's arm, letting her know she's pushing her luck. Nathaniel's face twitches in annoyance. "Miss Taylor, this is an ongoing police investigation. If I won't give that information to the press, what makes you think I'll give it to you?"

Nathaniel's words are poisonous but Boo fights to keep a calm demeanor, not willing to let him get under her skin anymore than he already is. He's given her enough of an answer.

"Understood," she replies. "We'll get out of your hair now."

She tugs Harry toward the exit without another word, frantic to get back outside into the warm air and out of Nathaniel's radar-like gaze.

"What was that about?" Harry asks, trailing after her as she takes the stairs two at a time.

"There's something weird going on," Boo says aloud, shaking her head. "Who calls for help after someone doesn't get their mail at seven in the morning? Half the city was probably still asleep at that time."

"Maybe she was just really punctual and someone was worried about her," he offers.

Boo chews on the inside of her cheek. She waits until they're both safely inside Harry's car before saying, "Then why not go over and check? Why call the police right away?"

"Maybe they did go over," Harry answers. "Maybe she didn't answer the door and then the neighbor called."

Something still isn't sitting right with her. "He didn't say the neighbor checked and then called, he just said the neighbor called. He even said it's an ongoing investigation, but what is there left to investigate if they have a natural cause of death?"

She pauses and Harry inhales deeply, absorbing her words. "I think whatever happened to Hazel is connected to Damien and Nana."

"Boo, that's a big jump to make," Harry counters. He starts the engine and puts the car into reverse. "Captain Waters said Hazel died of a heart attack. She was in her late sixties, sometimes those things happen."

Boo yanks the gear back into park before Harry can move the car and glares at him incredulously. "Since when do you call him Captain Waters? His name is Nathaniel. Don't give him any respect that he doesn't deserve."

Harry holds up his hands in defeat. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"You said we shouldn't believe in coincidences, Harry. We talk to Hazel about Damien's disappearance and two days later she's dead, and you want to say these things just happen? You realize there are ways to fake a heart attack, right?"

"I know, I just . . ." He trails off with a heavy sigh. Boo can't understand where his sudden doubt is coming from; the answers seem so obvious to her. Maybe she's too close to it.

"Harry, nothing in this town happens by accident. Someone knows we talked to her."

"But why kill her? Why not go after one of us?"

Boo furrows her brow and glances away. "I . . . I don't know. Maybe Hazel knew more than she told us. We have all these pieces but don't know how they fit together, we can't be that much of a threat to someone."

Harry doesn't respond, and when Boo looks back she realizes he's staring intently at something beyond her. She turns to follow his gaze and her breathing nearly stops when she catches sight of a tall figure in all black clothes, a black cap, and black sunglasses standing motionless in the alleyway of the buildings across the street. Hidden in the shadows of tall brick structures, Boo hadn't noticed him earlier. Even through a pair of tinted sunglasses, she can feel the figure's gaze running right through her like a train.

"Who is that?" she asks quietly, as if the figure could somehow hear her from over a hundred feet away.

"I don't know but he's been there since I went in to bail you out."

"What?" Boo cries, turning to gape at Harry. He flashes her an unsure grimace before putting the car in reverse again.

"I didn't think anything of it at first, I thought maybe he was waiting for someone. But he's been in the same spot for almost an hour now."

Boo keeps her eyes on the dark figure as Harry slowly pulls away. As soon as his car reaches the street, the figure turns and melts into the shadows completely. "Looks like he was waiting for us."

« • »

The ride back to Boo's house is incredibly uneasy. Harry's face is stoic, unwilling to display his thoughts, while Boo feels like she's openly drowning in her worry. He parks out front and Boo unbuckles her seatbelt, waiting for Harry to do the same, but to her surprise he doesn't. That's when she realizes the engine is still running.

"You're not coming inside?" she asks hesitantly.

"I need to get home," he answers vaguely, suddenly unwilling to meet her gaze. "I have a few things to finish up."

"Please come in," she asks softly. "I think we should talk about Hazel."

Harry releases a hard breath through his nose as his head falls back against the headrest. "What is there to talk about?"

Boo's face scrunches up in confusion. "Everything. Don't you want to find out what happened?"

"We know what happened," he protests gently.

"We know the police's version," she cries. "That's never the full story."

Harry stays quiet, brows pulled low over his eyes in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Boo presses earnestly. "You and I have been on the same page this entire time, what's with the change of heart?"

"That was before I had to bail you out of jail," he snaps, his sharp tone catching her off guard. "Before you had Nathaniel breathing down your neck and some creep watching us from across the street. I think that whatever's going on here with Damien and Hazel and Martha is bigger than we realized, and I don't think it's safe for either of us to keep getting involved."

"So you can acknowledge that something's going on but you suddenly don't want to know what it is?" Boo snaps.

Harry shakes his head. "Not if it's going to keep putting your safety at risk. First the fire at the church, now this."

Boo deflates in her seat. "Damien is still missing, and now his sister is gone too. We were two of the last people to see her alive. I still don't know exactly how Nana died, the entire police department still despises me, and I still have no answers to any of my questions. I know there's a connection here, we wouldn't keep running into the same people if there wasn't. We just can't see it.

"Harry, you're the first person here not to run away the moment I look at you. I can't figure this out by myself, I need your help. I need you to believe me."

Harry exhales heavily and pushes his hands through his hair. "I-I want to, but we have no real proof about anything."

"Then help me get proof," Boo urges. "Help me get the nine-one-one call released."

He gapes at her like her head's just fallen off. "Are you insane? What will that prove?"

"I want to know what the neighbor said," she reasons eagerly. "If they tried to check on her before calling, whether it was a man or woman . . . if we know who called, we can talk to them ourselves."

"Lita, I don't know about that," Harry says unsurely. "Do you really think someone would fake a heart attack on an old woman?"

"If Hazel knew something she wasn't supposed to and she was planning on telling us, then yes I think someone would," Boo answers firmly.

Harry purses his lips and stares at his lap.

"Think about it," she continues. "You're right: a woman in her sixties, dying of a heart attack-it must happen naturally a hundred times a day. No one would ever think to question it. It's the perfect way to cover up a murder."

"These are big, serious crimes you're talking about," Harry says in a grave voice. "You have to have proof before you can go around thinking everyone is killing everyone."

"They are though!" she cries in frustration. "Harry, stop treating me like a child! I get how scary this situation is, you think I want it to be like this?"

"Don't yell at me," he snaps, his eyes taking on a dark edge.

"I'll yell if I want to!" she shouts. "You're acting like I'm crazy and don't realize what we're getting into-I realize what we're getting into!"

"I don't think you do!"

Her agitation reaches a head. "Let me out," she demands in distress, attempting to open the locked door. If he's not going to listen to her, if he's going to be like the rest of the town and act like she's crazy, then she won't tolerate another moment of his presence. She bangs her hands against the door and screams, "LET ME OUT!"

Harry unlocks the door swiftly and Boo nearly falls onto the sidewalk in her rush to get away from him.

"When you decide to stop treating me like I'm some kind of crackpot conspiracy theorist, I'll be here waiting for an apology. Until then, stay away from me."

She slams his door and stomps up the front walk; his car is gone by the time she reaches her door.

hey my little sleuths! long time, no see. i don't know about you but i love to see harry swooping in to save boo again, need me a freak like that.

where are your minds at so far? any new theories? i gotta say, i don't like how harry's attitude just changed like that. wonder why he's so scared, hmm

until next time! ;)