Jack be Quick - 8. Chapter 8

Tod comes rushing outside as we pull up in the pickup, “You’re back” he proclaims in a loud and joyful voice, “ I thought I would never see you again” Tod claims, as he embraces me into a bear hug.

“Ummm, yeah I’m back,” I say confused, “where else would I be?” I ask as I look at Henry.

“Don’t pay him no mind,” Henry says to me, “You have always been my favorite,” he claims, “Shut up you little shit!” Henry yells as he raises his fist in a threatening way towards Tod.

“YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE” I scream and level my eyes on him and move between Tod and him, determined to protect Tod at all costs.

“I,,, would,,, never harm a hair on his head,” Henry says pointing to Tod, “ Please be sure to remember that if your dad asks,” he mentions, “Look kid, I didn’t know who you were,” he stammers, “I treated you good, right?” he pleads, as he looks at me with wide eyes.

“Tod, we have to get out of here,” I whisper to him as I get close to him.

“What do you mean?” Tod asks in a hushed voice, “We tried that before and you almost died,” he says in a hushed tone of voice with fear in his voice.

“I know,” I say, “this time will be different,” I tell him with confidant and turning to Henry, I demand. “I want you to take me to the closest truck stop,” looking at the ground as a way to avoid his face.

“Of course,” he says, “but don’t you want to wait here for your dad?” he asks with a sense of tension in his voice.

“My dad,” I say, thinking that there is no way in hell I want to go back to him, “he told me to get away form you,” I say hesitantly, “if you do as I say,” a little more confidently this time, “I will tell him that you were just babysitting me and that you treated me like a king,” I claim.

“I guess,” he says looking me in the eyes, “but, he told me to keep you with me and not to let you out of my sight?,” he questions, looking confused, “I’m not sure, maybe you need to stay here,” he says as his face tightens.

“Look,” I say, “if my dad shows up right now, I will be forced to tell him what ever comes into my mind,” I say plainly, “and what is in my mind is what we did last night and that Tod had a bad dream last night,” I say embellishing a little, “but, if I’m not with him right away,” I say hedging, “I would have time to think up something else up,” I say, looking him in the eyes, “and if he was to ask Tod,” I say calmly, “well I have no idea what he will say,” I say matter of factify, “so, if he was to come with me, he would also have time to,,” I say looking Henry in the eyes as I reach my hand over for Tod to grab, “So what do you say, Henry?,” I ask with a hesitation.

“Fine,” he says with a waver in is voice, “but you better not be joking with me, if you are just messing with me, I’ll fuck you myself,” he threatens me.

Looking down I say quietly ”I’m not,” and look up at him trying to convince him of something, “Please just let us go,” I say in a pleading way.

“Go in inside Donna will get you something to eat,” he says with a distant look in his eyes, “I have to think, things over,” he says as he walks away towards the woods.

Holding on to Tod’s hand I head into the house, “come on Tod, let’s go get something to eat,” I say as I drag him behind me.

Donna sees us come in and asks, “you’re back?”with surprise in her face, “well never mind, are you hungry?”she questions as she starts to open the ice box, “how was the trip into town?”

“It was weird,” I say, not sure how much to say.

“I didn’t think I would ever see you again,” she claims as she gets a jar of jelly out of the ice box and opens the cabinet and removing a jar of peanut butter.

“What do you mean?” I ask, confused, “why wouldn’t I come back?”

“Oh never mind,” she tells me, “sit down and tell me all about it.”

I decide to tell her everything and start to explain everything that happened. “We went to a country store and I played chess, well sort of, the man got mad at me cause he said I couldn’t play chess, but he asked me to play and I was playing, but he said I couldn’t, but I was,” I try to explain, “I mean I was, I didn’t know what he was talking about and then I said something that made him mad, and I don’t know why he got mad, and then Henry, err I mean uncle Henry came over and scolded me and told the man he can come here and I would apologize to him, or something,” and then we went to a weird place with a stage and all sorts of costumes and toys,” I say pausing just long enough to take a breath, “they told me to stand on a stage and took my picture and then he looked at a computer and got all upset,” I say, starting to talk even faster now, “then he sent me into an office and they had a bed in there, I didn’t know they had beds in offices, I guess they must work lots and lots if you need a bed in the office,” I say, “and there were more costumes and toys in there as well,” I say, now out of breath.

“Shhh,” Donna says, “catch your breath before you pass out,” she says as she lays a hand on my hand and sits down in front of me, “where is Henry now?” She asks looking past me at the door.

“He’s just walking around outside,” I say, not sure if that’s important or not.

“Why did they get upset?” Donna asks me, “they never get upset,” she says as an after thought.

“Something about my dad,” I admit, I figure that she will soon know everything anyways, “my dad is coming here to get me, and I can’t go back,” I say as tears start to well up in my eyes, “I just can’t,” I say, almost to my self, “anyway, uncle Henry acted all weird,” I say, “he seemed afraid of my dad,”I claim, “and he should be afraid of him,” I inform her, “he will surely kill me if he can,” I claim.

“I won’t let that happen,” Donna claims, “is your dad James Woods, by any chance?” She asks with fear in her voice.

“Ummm, yeah,” I say hesitantly, “how did you know?”

“Henry works for him,” she admits, “well sort of,” she claims, “you see, Henry is sort of like a broker,” she starts to explain and then seems to change her mind, “is James coming here?” She asks with alarm in here voice.

“I think so, but I can’t be here when he does,” I plead with here.

“Who is James and why is he coming her?” Tod asks, obviously confused, “is he going to take Jack away?” He asks in a small voice, “I don’t want him to go away like all the others, “ he says, starting to cry.

Ignoring Tod, Donna asks me, “when is he going to be here?”

“I don’t know,” I admit and reach for Tod’s hand, “I asked Uncle Henry to let me and Tod go to a truck stop, before my dad gets here,” I say in a very small voice, “do you think he will,” I ask in a timid voice, “he just has to,” I say under my breath.

“I doubt that dear, Henry is too afraid of Mr. Woods,” she claims, “you see your dad is a boss of bosses,” she claims, “and has very powerful friends in high places,” she informs me, “no, we have to figure out a different plan,” she says in a whisper, “whatever we decide to do it has to be our secret,” she says in a very serious, but hushed voice, “looking me in the eye and then looking Tod in the eye, “promise me, both of you that everything we talk about from now on,” she says in a whisper, “will be only between us,” as she looks at both of us, waiting for an answer.

“I promise,” I state, “cross my heart, put a needle in my eye,” I say as I do indeed cross my heart with my finger.

Tod just says, “I promise,” and crosses his heart the same way I did.

“Good,” Donna says, “now I have to think,” and gets up and walks over to the window, looking out and ignoring us.

Looking at Tod I ask, “how long have you been here?”

Tod gets a confused look on his face and just says, “Are you going to leave me!” He says as he starts to cry.

“No,” I say trying to sound confident, “I’m going to take you with me,” I say, trying to believe it myself, “we will travel the highways and bi-ways of the world,” I claim, “no one will ever hurt you or me ever again,” I claim, and as I’m telling this to Tod, Henry bursts into the kitchen.

“I just got off the phone with Mr. Woods and he has instructed me to take you to the studio and wait there for him,” he says in a confident voice, “he will be here in the morning and has really missed you Jack,” he says, “he’s been so worried when you got lost and has been looking for you every day,” he informs me, “he was very happy I was able to find you and take such good care of you and he is going to give me a big reward when he gets here,” he says proudly.

Looking down at my hands I say in a low voice, “that’s great,” I say with no enthusiasm, “I can’t wait,” tears starting to fill in my eyes as I realize there is nothing I can do.

“Henry,” Donna suddenly speaks up, “don’t you think we should take Jack shopping and get him some really nice clothes? we wouldn’t want Mr. Woods to get the wrong idea about his favorite bo,,,,,, err I mean his son, would we?”she asks him, with eyebrows raised.

“You are right as always my dear,” Henry says, “come on Jack, we have some shopping to do,” and starts to take me by the hand.

“I think you will need a woman’s touch in this shopping,” Donna claims, “if you want to make the best impression on Mr. Woods,” she says looking innocent.

“I know what you’re up to Donna,” he says as he looks at me for some reason, “I’ve noticed the way you two look at each other and the hushed conversations you have that suddenly stop whenever I enter the room,” he says in his all knowing kind of way, “I can guess what you two are plotting,” he states with a stern look on his face.

“Why, what ever do you mean?” Donna asks, with a little hint of fear in her voice, “I just thought,,,,”

“I suppose that you will want to buy Tod a new set of clothes as well?”he asks,“you are using this as an excuse to buy Tod some new things,” he says, interrupting her mid sentence, “you always have been a tricky woman ever since I acquired you,” he says as his face get red, “errr,,I mean ever since we met,” he corrects himself.

“For Tod?” She asks more than she states, “yes, of course,” she stammers, “that’s just what we have been plotting for,” she says stumbling over the words, “is that ok?”she asks sheepishly.

“You could always melt my heart, my dear,” he says now looking and smiling at her, “I guess I can’t blame you for wanting to look after Tod like that,” he says looking at Tod, who looks even more baffled, “he is ours after,” he claims, “but I don’t want any more of this plotting between the two of you from now until tomorrow,” he says and looks back at me, “do you two understand?” He asks in a threatening voice.

“Yes sir,” both Donna and me say at the same time.

“Am I getting new clothes?” Tod suddenly asks, with a smile crossing his face, “can I get a bike too?”he asks with glee, “Jack can teach me how to ride it and I’ll be extra careful,” he claims.

“We will see about that,” Henry says, “we have to hurry if we are going to go shopping,” he says as he starts for the door, “your dad is really worried about Jack,” he claims as he walks out the door.

Looking at Donna I ask, “do I really have to go back home?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” she states.

“Is Jack going to live here with us forever?” Tod asks enthusiastically.

“Tod,” Donna starts, “we don’t have much time, please just keep quiet and everything will be ok,” she tells him, “now we have to hurry before Henry starts to get worried,” she claims as she urges us out the door.

Henry is waiting in the pick up, looking impatiently as Donna climbs into the cab, I climb in the back with Tod, helping him up and whispering, “I’ll take care of you, don’t worry, “as I climb in and sit next to him, the truck lurches toward and Tod falls in my lap and I just hold him for a few seconds before I push him back to his sitting position, leaning close to him I say into his ear, “when we get to town, we are going to make a run for it,” I say in a hushed voice, “you keep by my side no matter what happens, I would rather die than go back to my dad,” I claim and look him in the face to see if I can tell what he is thinking.

“But,,, what about Donna?” He asks.

“I think Donna is going to help us if she can,” I inform him.

“That’s not what I meant,” he says in a raspy voice, “Henry can be mean and if we runaway and if he knows that Donna helped us, he will kill her,” he says with tears in his eyes, “I know because I over heard him tell her that once, when I was listening when they thought I was asleep,” he says, eyes getting really big, “I wasn’t snooping,” he says as an after thought, “I couldn’t help over hearing.”

“I didn’t think you were snooping ,” I inform him, “I don’t want Donna to be hurt either, but there has to be a way,” I tell him as I look up front and see Henry looking at us in the review mirror, I bolt upright and sit facing the side of the pickup, “he’s looking at us, act normal,” I say as I pretend not to be talking to Tod.

Tod freezes and says in a loud voice, “see I told you Henry is a good guy,” and turns to look at the side of the truck, trying to do as I’m doing.

Glancing at the back window I see that Henry is watching the road again, “that was close,” I say to him, “we have to be careful if we are ever going to get away,” I tell him, “do you know where your parents are?”I ask as I eye the back window.

“They don’t love me,” he says with a down cast face.

“How do you know?” I ask curiously.

“Henry told me that if they really did love me, why have they not ever looked for me?”he asks and starts to tear up.

“Where are you from?” I ask.

“Texas,” he claims.

“Do you know where Texas is?” I ask.

“Ummm, you know, Texas,” he says thinking really hard.

“Could you get there if we ran away?” I ask, wondering if I can get an idea into his head.

“I would take a bus?” He says unsure.

“Well if you don’t know where Texas is, maybe your parents don’t know where you are?” I ask, “don’t you think that might be the case?” I say as a question.

“I never thought of it like that,” he admits, “but your parents hate you and are mean and ,,,” he says as he trails off.

“Not all parents are like mine,” I say, trying to convince him of something, “I’ll help you find out,” I say confidently, “you can’t trust Henry,” I inform him, “he’s evil and we need to get away from him as soon as we can,” I say into his ear.

“Ok,,,,” he stammers, “but I hope you don’t die this time like last time,” he says with sorrow in his voice.

“I didn’t die,” I claim, “I just got hurt, and I got better as you can see,” I tell him as I raise both my arms out for him to inspect.

“So what are we going to do?”he asks me.

“I don’t know yet,” I admit, “Just keep close to me no matter what and act normal,” I instruct him, “everything will be ok,” I say in a way that I hope sounds confident, “and don’t worry about Donna,” I tell him, “she can take care of herself,” I say, wondering if that is true or not.

The truck comes to a stop in front of a store and I look around and see a street sign that tells me we are on Main St. “look over there,” I whisper to Tod, “you see that red door?” I say as I point to his left.

Looking over to his left he says, “yeah.”

“If anything happens to me, you go there and knock on that door and ask for Mary,” I tell him in a hurried whisper, “she will help you find your parents, she is a on of the good guys,” I inform him, “but it’s a secret,” I say under my breath, hopefully I’m leading him in the right way.

“But,,” he says as Henry gets out of the truck and starts to walk this way.

“Shhh,” I say as I gently grab his small hand.

“What’s all this talk about?”Henry asks as he stands in front of us.

“We were just talking about,,,” I stammer, trying to think of anything, “Pokémon,” I say suddenly, “yeah, that’s it,” I say as I get up and start to get up, “I have to go to the bathroom,” I say as an after thought.

“Well I’m sure they have one inside,” Donna says as she walks up behind us, causing me to jump, “let’s go you two, we need to get the shopping done,”she says as she Lifts Tod into her arms and sets him on the ground, jumping down I follow her and Henry into the store, thinking that if I made a run for it, I know I could get away, but then thinking of Tod and Donna, what would happen to them if I did and resolve not to try anything yet. Walking into the store I see it’s just a normal sort of place with racks and racks of clothes.

“I’m going to take Jack to the restroom,” Donna says and takes me by the hand and starts to walk away to the back of the store, “you two start to look around,” she tells them, “come with me,” she says to me and pulls me along away from the other two.

When we are out of ear shot, she says in a whisper, “I’m going to try to distract Henry and let you sneak out the back,” she informs me.

“But,,,” I start to say.

“Shh,” she says and puts a hand over my mouth, “this may be your only chance,” she informs me.

“I can’t leave without Tod,” I inform her as I push her hand away, “I promised him,” I state.

Arriving at the restrooms she looks at me in the face and then grabs my chin, forcing me to look at her, “I know you care about him,” she admits, “I do too, a lot,” but I don’t think I can distract Henry enough for both of you to get away,” she admits, “I know your dad and he is a very bad man,” she tells me, “I used to live with him when I was a little girl and then I was sold to Henry as his wife,” she informs me. I look at here and get a very confused look on my face, “I can’t be sure, but I suspect that James is not your real dad,” she confides in me, “so you need to save yourself,” she says as she pushes me into the restroom.

Standing in the bathroom, my mind is spinning, what,, or,,,how does,,, I mean,, what? Looking around I see a window with frosted glass and go over to it, but it is closed tight and I know I’ll never get out that way, pausing and listening I don’t hear anything, so I open the door a crack and peek out. I don’t see anyone and open it even more. Looking all around I can see a door in the back and start to sneak that way, I’m just about to open the door when a man steps in front of me.

“May I help you young man?” A store clerk says.

“Ummm,,” I stammer and almost pee my pants, “I’m here with my Uncle?” I say as a question.

“Well he is not back there,” the man states plainly, “let me show you to the front of the store,” he says as he offers his hand and taking it I allow him to lead me, thinking as we make outer way to the front, “I hope Donna is not mad at me.”

“Ahhh, there you are Jack,” Henry says, “where have you been?”asking as he eyes the man.

“He seems to have gotten lost,” the man says in a obvious tone of voice, “may I help you find something?”he asks Henry.

“Yes,” Henry says, “I want to buy these two boys some new clothes,” he informs the man as he looks at me and Tod.

“Very well sir,” the man says, “what sizes are the two boys?” He asks Henry, looking me and Tod up and down.

“I’m not sure,” he admits.

“Henry,” Donna says, “this is really a woman’s job,” she says plainly, “why don’t you go get that chicken wire you said we needed and let me pick out the clothes for these boys,” she asks as a statement.

“I don’t know,” he admits, “I’m not sure that is a good idea,”he says looking unsure.

“Well if that’s the way you want it ,Henry,” she says in a sarcastic voice, “I’m sure this man won’t think any less of you for doing a woman’s job,” she says, “these are modern times after all,” she states plainly.

“Ummm,,, maybe your right,” he stammers, “clothes shopping is really a woman’s job,” he says and adds, “now get to it woman, I will give you an hour and you better get both of these boys a full set of clothes by the time I get back, or so help me,,” he says trailing off and looking as mean as he can.

“Yes sir,” she says in a timid voice as he walks out the front door, turning to the clerk, she says, “ I need to converse with my nephews, I’ll call you when we have decided on what we want to see,” she tells him as she smiles.

The clerk just turns and walks to the back of the store and pretends to be busy, all the while watching us. “Now’s your chance,” Donna says to me, “he won’t be gone very long, so you and Tod have to disappear and hide,” she says walking us to the front door, looking out she informs us, “the coast is clear, that chicken wire is all the way across town,” she informs us as she opens the door.

“But what about you,” Tod and I say at the same time.

“Never you mind about me,” she tells us, “I know how to take care of myself, now out the door, the both of you,”she commands and pushing us out the door, she closes it behind us and we hear her saying something to the clerk.

Looking around I take Tod’s hand go straight for the red door, “come on,” I say, “we haven’t a second to lose,” as I start to run down the street and we are soon standing in front of the red door and just staring at it like it is made of poison.

“Aren’t you going to knock,” Tod asks me looking up at me with his puppy dog eyes, “I can do it if you want me to,” he says in a whisper.

“No it’s ok,” I tell him, “I was just catching my breath, “I want you to know that no matter what happens after I knock,” I say stuttering a little, “I’ll always take care of you, I promise,” I claim.

“I know,” he tells me and leans in and hugs me around my waist, making me feel all weird, but a good weird.

“Now cut that out,” I tell him and knock on the door very lightly. Standing there staring up at the big door, I wonder if this is the right thing to do, nothing is happening and so I knock again, this time a little louder.

The door swings inward and a tall man is staring down at me, “well?”he says, “what can I do for you?” He asks with a scowl on his face.

Stepping back I stammer, “ummmm,,, is Mary here?” I ask in a timid voice, “she told me to tell her if,,,umm,,, I found any homeless people,” I claim as I look around to see if Henry has come back and seeing that the coast is still clear, I look back at the intimidating man.

“She is out on assignment,” he informs me, “but she should be back soon,” he informs me as my heart breaks, I do t have time, I think to myself as I prepare to make a run for it. “Why don’t you come inside and wait,” he says as he opens the door wide for us.

“Ummm, I don’t know,” I say, not sure what I’m supposed to do.

“What’s you name?” He asks me.

“Ummm,,I’m Brian and this is ummm,,”I start to say and get interrupted by Tod.

“I’m Tod and this is Jack” Tod informs the man.

“So you’re the famous Jack,” he says with a smile, “Mary said you might be coming by soon,” he informs me, “she told me to welcome you with open arms,” he says as he does indeed open his arms wide, “come in,” he says and steps aside as Tod just walks in the door. Looking around one more time I decide that I have no choice and step inside as he closes the door behind, but not before looking around himself and that somehow makes me feel a little bit better.

I look around and see desks and chairs, it looks like an office. “Have seat,” the man says, “I’m Sargent Bigsbee, he informs us, “I work with Mary, kind of her right hand man,” he tells me, “are you two hungry?” He asks looking us up and down.

“I am,” Tod says.

“Umm,, sure I say,” trying to be polite, “are you in the army?” I ask with wonder in my eyes.

“No,”he tells me, “I’m a police man,” he informs me as my face gets red and my anger flares.

“How could she do this to me,” I think as I get even more angry and scared all at the same time. “I’m not going back to my dad,” I insist, “and if you try to make me, I’ll,,,” I start to say and stop talking as I’m not sure what I’ll do, “I’ll kill myself,” I say finally with determination in my voice.

“Slow down Jack,” the sergeant says, “no one said anything about you dad,” he reminds me.

“But you’re the cops,” I remind him, “that’s your job to put kids back home no matter what, right?” I ask a little confused.

“Well that depends on lots of different things,” he informs me, “look,” he says, “I don’t know what’s going g on here,” he admits, “when Mary gets back, I’m sure we can figure all this out,” he claims, “in the mean time,” he says, “why don’t you two just sit there and I’ll get you both something to eat, do you like hot dogs?” He asks with a big smile.

“Yes please,” Tod says, I just nod and sit down in the chair to think over what he said.

When he goes into the other room, I eye the door and lean over to Tod and whisper, “let’s get out of here,” I say in a whisper, “I don’t trust him or the cops,” I admit, “they will make me go back with my dad,” I tell him in a firm voice.

“But you said you liked Mary?” He says in a question.

“I know,” I say hesitantly , “but I didn’t know she was a cop, she said she worked at a mission,” I inform him, “she lied,” I add for emphasis.

“How do you know she’s a cop, maybe she does work at the mission,” he states, “maybe she only help the cops,” he says, “and besides the cops are the good guys?, Right?” He says Raising the end of the sentence as if we’re a question.

“Ummm,,, ok, “ I say after a short pause, “I guess we can wait till she comes here and we can ask her ourselves,” I say giving in.

The sergeant arrives and gives each of us a hit dog and chips as well as a can of Coke, “thanks” I manage to say as I take the offered food, Tod just takes and digs in without saying a word, “he says thanks too,” I say as I nudge Tod’s shoulder, but he just ignores me and keeps eating as he looks all around.

Going back to a desk, I see the sergeant lift a radio from the desk and say into it, “sparrow to eagle, come in eagle.”

“This is eagle, go ahead sparrow,” says a female voice from the radio.

“This is sparrow, the chicks have come home to roost,” he says in response, “I repeat, the chicks have come home to roost.”

“This is eagle, that’s a big 10-4 sparrow,”the voice responds, “hunting season is almost over, I’m out of film, please have a role ready for me in 10, eagle out,” the female voice says and the radio goes silent. Looking over at me the sergeant says, Mary will be here in 5 minutes,” he informs us and I’m baffled by that radio call.

“Are you a hunter?” I ask with a dazed look on my face.

“Sort of,” the sergeant says with a wry smile, “you see we hunt bad guys and put them away so they can’t ever hurt any one ever again,” he claims, “eagle is Mary’s call sign and she told me she will be here in just 5 minutes,” he tells me.

“But I heard her say 10?” I say confused.

“That’s right you did,” he admits, “but we always talk in code, just in case the bad guys over hear us talking,” he says and smiles.

“So does that,,,,make,,, me a bad guy,,,?” I ask timidity.

“You?” He asks, “of course not,” he says with a chuckle, “why would you think that?” He asks.

“Well,, “ I say, “you were talking in code,, and you said you only talk like that in front of bad guys,, and,,, well,,,” I say, not wanting to complete that thought.

“Oh,,” he says, “ummm,,, that’s not what I meant,” he says, face turning red, “the bad guys can tune into our radios and listen, so we talk like that in case someone is listening on the air, not here,” he says, “if the bad guys were here, we would lock them in a holding cell in the back and it wouldn’t matter if they overheard us or not, because we would already have them, you see?”he says pointing to a door in the back.

“Ohhh,” I say, wondering why I didn’t get that myself.

“Would you like to see the holding cells in the back?”he asks me as he starts to get up.

I shrink back a little and shake my head as Tod says “I would,”

“NO,” practically scream at Tod, “I mean,” I say more calmly, “no thank you,” I tell the sergeant as I grasp Tod’s hand and give it a warning squeeze, Tod looks at me questionably, but shakes his head remains silent.

Sitting back down the sergeant says, “that’s ok, not much to see anyway,”with a disappointing look on his face.

I sort of feel bad, but there is no way I’m going anywhere near a holding cell, it sounds like a trick to me, at least out here I can always make a dash for the door, I think to myself as I move closer to Tod and put my arm around his shoulder and realize that he is shaking.

“Shh,” I tell Tod in a whisper right into his ear, ‘I’m here for you buddy,” I say in a soothing tone of voice, “It’ll be ok.”

Mary bursts through the door causing my to jump to my feet and throw myself in front of Tod and bear my teeth, “STAY BACK” I scream at the top of my lungs, before I realize that’s it not Henry or my dad, shrinking back away, I sit back down and hug Tod and start to cry, this is too much for me and I can’t stop myself and then Tod is crying with me.

“Shhh,” I hear a soft voice and a pair strong of arms around me, “it’s ok, let it all out,” Mary says in a soothing voice, “it’s ok to cry,” she reassures me and Tod, I just ball and ball and hug Tod so tight I feel like I will never let him go, I try to stop crying and I find I can’t and eventually give up and just cry till I can’t cry any more.

Wiping my eyes after what seems like hours I look up at Mary who is still holding us, I say “I’m,,,,, sorrrry,,,I couldn’t,,,, help it,” I say with hiccups in between words.

“Do you feel better?” Mary asks as she runs her hand through my hair, I only nod and look at her waiting for something. “I’m glad you came,” she says, “it takes a very brave boy to ask for help,” she says as she takes my hands in hers and looks me in the eye, “what’s your name?” She asks, “and who is this?”she says as she looks at Tod.

“I’m jack and that’s Tod,” I say mentioning over to Tod, “say hi Tod,” but Tod only stares down at his hands, “he’s shy around new people,” I explain.

“Where do you live?” She asks me in a gentle voice.

“With Uncle Henry and Aunt Donna,” I say, “I thought you knew,” I say in wonder, “do I have to go back to my dad?” I say, my eyes getting wide in fear.

“You mean Henry and Donna are your aunt and uncle,?”she asks with a confused look on her face.

“Them?” I ask, “heck no, they aren’t my real auntie and uncle, they just want me to call them that,” I say as if it’s obvious.

“So your dad sent you to stay with them?” She asks.

“Are you a police woman?” I ask, a little bit confused.

“Yes,” she admits.

“You lied to me,” I accuse, as my face tightens up.

“I am undercover, working in this town to uncover a criminal organization,” she informs me.

“But you lied to me and now that you caught me, I’m going to die when you send me back to my,,, dad,,,” I complain as I start to tear up once again and start to pull away.

“No one is going to hurt you,” she claims.

“Tod,” I say, “we have to go,” I say in a panic as I start to get up and Tod looks at me and jumps up with fear in his face. Mary stands up and wraps her arms around me as I struggle to get away.

“It’s ok,” she says, “you are safe here,” she soothes me, “I won’t let anyone hurt you or Tod,” she explains, “and I won’t let your dad do anything to you or your brother,” she claims. As I struggle even more Tod jumps in and starts to fight her as well, “a little help here Matt,” she calls as she tries to wrestle the both of us into submission.