Cracker Jack

Green's deep brown eyes flashed over to me. "A witness, huh?"

I cleared my throat, feeling extremely nervous. "A confession, actually. Jack is just trying to protect me. I did it."

Disbelief was etched into the man's features. "You did it?"

I glanced over at Bobby, who was staring pointedly at me. "I've done it before; why is it so hard for everyone to believe that I did it this time around?"

Green looked over at Bobby and Angel. "You know I'd like to help you. This isn't my case. Let me ask you something; this Jack kid, will he give me any trouble if I can find him a way out of this? I don't need another Bobby Mercer roaming the streets."

"He won't give you any trouble, don't worry," Bobby assured him. "I'll keep him in line."

Green scoffed, but appeared to be pleased. "Be sure that you do. Give me a few minutes to sort this out. When I get back, we should have a nice chat. I'm sure you've done some interesting things over the past year, Mercer."

Bobby raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I'm not as stupid as I look. You've got a badge now; you aren't going to get any confessions that easily."

"Fair enough," Green laughed appreciatively. "Miss," he looked at me and paused. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Hayley Grove."

"Right. Miss Grove, you're going to have to come with me."

I nodded, flashed a wavering smile at Bobby and Angel, then followed the man through a door and into a hallway. My throat was dry and my pulse was racing. I had spent so much time avoiding the police that it was hard for me to be here willingly. Green seemed to pick up on my nervous behaviour.

"It'll be okay. You're young; you should be tried as a child. And you confessed, as opposed to us finding you, so that should make things easier."

"I won't be tried as a child. This is my second offense. For the same crime."

Green fell silent. He must not have been listening when I'd said that part the first time around. I could hear a phone ringing in the distance, and voices murmured amongst themselves from every doorway that I passed. I folded my arms across my chest and hunched my shoulders forward, as if it would prevent the chill that was spreading through me.

"Wait right here," Green directed me, holding up a hand. "I'm going to go inside and talk to some detectives. Then I'll see what I can do about fetting your friend out of here."

I nodded. "I know how it works."

"Right. I'll be right back."

I leaned my back against the wall and slid down to the floor. I rested my elbows on my knees and leaned my head back. I took deep breaths to calm myself down. As I breathed, I listened to the voices drifting out of the room beside me.

"What do you have on this kid?" Green was asking.

"Nothing. Not anymore, anyways. The charges have been dropped. Apparently, this car was left a block away from the house it was stolen from, and they left almost a full tank of gas. There was no harm done. They just want an apology, and then he can go free. We're just kind of trying to scare him straight before we tell him that part."

My head snapped up. Had I heard that correctly? Not only was Jack being let go, there were going to be no repercussions for me, either? I got to my feet slowly, still listening.

"So it's all over, then? There's no need for him to still be here?"

"No, unfortunately he can go. I was hoping that we could find a way to hang onto this one. He's a new one at Evelyn Mercer's place. If we had him behind bars now, God only knows what we could have been preventing."

Green sighed. "I get what you mean. But you can't hold him here without just cause. His brothers are out front waiting for some news on him. We're better off to let him go so that they'll all get out of here." I swore I heard a smirk in his last sentence.

I was practically shaking. I couldn't remember ever being this deliriously happy. Jack was going to be okay. I was grinning from ear to ear as Green joined me in the hallway.

"I assume you heard all of that?"

I nodded quickly. "I'll make the apology. For once I guess I've done something right. I didn't even really think about how much gas I put in that car. My mind was elsewhere."

"I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you from now on. You did just admit to grand theft auto, you know."

"I swear to God, I'll never do anything that stupid again. Honest, I did learn my lesson the first time. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and I thought it was a life or death situation."

Green nodded his head, but his eyes were wary. "Even so... it's nothing personal. It's my job."

"Oh, of course. Watch me all the time. Follow me to school and back, I don't really care. Jack's okay, so I'm going to be on my best behaviour from now on."

"Be sure that you are."

"Can I go now? I want to tell Bobby and Angel the good news." I began to step away from him, heading back down the hallway.

"Jack will be out soon. You be careful out there, Miss Grove."

"It's Hayley," I corrected him. "And I will."

With a smile and a small wave, I turned my back and raced down the hallway. I burst throught the single door and the end and crashed right into Angel, sending both of us sprawling across the smooth linoleum floor.

"What the fuck?" Angel sat up and looked around, his eyes searching for his attacker. "Hayley?"

I pushed myself up and rubbed my elbow. "Ouch. Why were you standing so close to the door, Angel?"

"I think the real question," Bobby interrupted, hauling me to my feet by my upper arms. "Is why you were in such a rush to get out of there. Trying to run out on your confession, Grove?"

I squirmed in his grip. "Actually, I have news."

"Yeah, sure," Bobby's hands tightened on my shoulders. "You're going to convince me to let go, then you'll take off running and leave my little brother stranded in there. Nice try."

"I won't, I swear. I could never do that to Jack," I argued.

"Yeah, just like you wouldn't let him take the blame for something you did, huh? Oh, wait, that's already happened. That kid can't handle much more, Grove. You're not leaving him here."

"You're right; I'm not. The charges were dropped. Jack is coming home, and so am I."

Bobby looked over toward the door that I'd just come crashing through. "They dropped the charges?"

"He just has to go and apologize. And I'll do it for him. It's just a slap on the wrist, that's all."

As if on cue, the door opened and Jack stepped into the room, followed closely by one of the officers that had taken him from school earlier on. Jack looked tired and worn, but his eyes were alight. He grinned, and Bobby's hold on my arms was released. Without thinking, I darted back to Jack and threw my arms around his neck.

"Oh God, Jack, don't ever do that to me again."

It took him a second to gather himself enough to hug me back. "I'm sorry, Hayley. I had to," he whispered. I could feel his breath in my hair.

"No, you didn't. You could have listened to me."

"It worked out, didn't it?"

"You're an idiot, Cracker Jack," Bobby said pointedly. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't really stop to think about it," Jack admitted, letting me go. "I just kind of went with my instincts."

"Ma is going to have your head when we get home."

"I know. I can take it. Even if I'm grounded for the rest of high school, it'll be worth it."

Angel raised his eyebrows. "It'll be worth it?" He echoed. "Jackie, the Mercers aren't heroes. That's not the way that the world works."

"I don't want to be a hero, Angel," Jack's voice was low and rumbling. "I just wanted to help a friend." His hand found mine and I squeezed it.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Bobby muttered, shaking his head at Jack. "This place brings back bad memories."

Everyone followed him outside, where snow was gently falling. Bobby pulled open the door to his car, and the hinges groaned loudly. He shot us a triumphant look before he ducked inside the vehicle and started the engine. Angel hopped into the driver's side of the minivan. Jack released my hand as he pulled open the door. When I didn't move, he turned to look at me. Concern was dominant in his features as he reached out and rested his warm hand on my cold cheek.

"Are you okay?"

"You've got to let me explain everything to Evelyn. I can't go through that again, Jackie. I thought I lost you. I can't go back to being alone now that I've got a friend like you. I just can't survive."

Jack nodded and ran a hand through his hair. It fell right back into place. "Okay. You do what you need to. But just so you know, if this whole thing happened again tomorrow, I'd do the same thing."

I sighed heavily and brushed a few snowflakes from my sleeve. "That's what I was afraid of. Let's go talk to your mother. I'm going to stop your heroic tendencies one way or another."