Disorderly Conduct. Mary Feliz
meeting clients—not without his tailored suit, silk tie, and crisply starched shirt.
“Excuse my appearance,” he said after he’d introduced himself. “I wasn’t expecting to conduct any business today. It’s Lizzy’s birthday, and we’re landscaping. I’d just made my first trip to the hardware store when you phoned.”
Forrest, exuding more confidence than I’d been able to drum up, met with Tess in a small courtyard seating area off of Tess’s bedroom. Jason joined them, but not until after he’d told me that Stephen and Paolo were on their way. Until they arrived, it was my job to make sure Sergeant Nguyen and his men adhered to the limits of the warrants. I nodded my agreement, but I was as out of my depth as I would have been if Jason had handed me a baby manatee and asked me to feed it some lunch.
I smiled bravely at the boys and spoke quickly before toddling off to dog the heels of the sheriff’s men. “Forrest knows exactly what to do,” I said, adding, for Teddy’s sake, “He’s a lawyer and an old friend of Max’s. He’s helped us out on several occasions and I trust him.” Teddy relaxed a little, but he seemed more comforted by Max’s reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“Jason asked them to be careful and tidy in their search,” Max added. I hoped the sheriff’s men would comply. There were few feelings creepier than having strangers paw through your personal belongings. The last thing Teddy needed was for them to accidentally break something he treasured as a memento of his father.
“I need to watch them,” I said, pointing toward the garage, where the men had launched their search. We could hear the sounds of boxes being moved and drawers being opened and closed a bit more roughly than I thought was necessary.
“Go,” said Max. “I’ll call Elaine. She wanted to keep an eye on the news vans. If they’ve left, I think we could use her help. Stephen’s too.”
“With what?”
“I’m not sure, maybe just to tip the scales—increase the number of people here who are squarely behind Tess and Teddy.”
Brian followed me to the garage and bumped into me as I paused to open the connecting door. “Mom?”
I stopped, turned, and put my arm around him. Whereas his normal adolescent instinct might have been to duck out of my reach, today’s extreme circumstances made him lean into my embrace. “Is this weird?” he asked. “I mean, Jason’s a cop.”
“What do you mean?” I had no idea what he was getting at.
“I mean, Jason told you to call Forrest. He convinced Nguyen to talk to Tess here instead of at the station. He’s the one who asked you to watch the deputies. But he’s a cop. Shouldn’t he be on their side?”
It was an easy question for me to answer. “You know Jason. He’s on the side of the law. He takes his vow to serve and protect literally. Right now, he’s protecting Tess and Teddy. Making sure the sheriff’s guys follow the law. Not every cop might see that as part of the job, but Jason isn’t any cop, now, is he?”
Brian’s shoulders relaxed.
“Your dad and I are going to look after Teddy and Tess as long as necessary,” I told him. “This is a tough time for them, but they’ll be okay. We’ll see to that.”
“Mom...” Brian bit his lip, and his gaze dropped to his shoes. “Yesterday I was feeling sorry for us. I was afraid our house would burn down. I worried about the damage the fire was doing. Today, I’m pretty sure that doesn’t matter much.”
I gave him a hug and kissed the top of his head. I knew exactly how he felt.
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