Trent glanced at the clock, glowing on the bedside table. 1:32. He had been trying to fall asleep for over an hour. Finally he gave up, throwing back the covers and padding in to the kitchen. His mind was working feverishly. He had run interference with Ryan at Uppercuts, keeping him busy while Carlos and Jess had gone up to the office. When Trent had followed them 45 minutes later, they had gone. He had checked the parking lot, noting that the Durango was gone. Okay, he figured they had left. But to where? There had been no answer at either Jess’ or Carlos’ place and no answer on their cell phones. ‘They’re fine,’ Trent thought. As he put the kettle on to boil his mind wandered back. "Carlos is missing," he heard Kim say over the phone. He had ignored her then and looked what happened…A bullet to the gut and a month-long hospital stay. Trent tried to shake off the memory. "They’re fine," he said aloud, trying to convince himself. As the kettle boiled, he found himself smiling. Sam had always made tea when she couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t much of a tea drinker but he kept it in the house because…well, just because. Now, here he was, adopting Sam’s habit. God, he missed her. Just to be able to touch her, hold her again. He knew he loved Jess, he really did but…

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking. Putting the kettle down, he hurried to the door, pulling it open. An immense feeling of relief passed over him as he saw Jess standing on his front porch.

"Hi," she smiled. "Sorry to wake you. I just wanted to let you know what was going on so you wouldn’t worry."

"C’mon in," he motioned. "I’m just making tea. Want some?"

"Tea? No, thanks. I’m not staying."

Trent stopped in his tracks. "What’s up? Did you and Carlos get everything worked out?’

"No. We actually didn’t even discuss it." Seeing Trent’s confused look, Jess continued. "We found Heather, Trent."

"Is she okay?" His face registered his shock and surprise. There were a million questions he wanted to ask.

"Physically, I think she’s okay but emotionally is another story. I’m heading back to Carlos’ now. I just wanted to let you know."

"Jessie, I don’t want you to get involved in this," he told her.

"Too late, I’m already involved."

"I mean it, Jess. We’re talking murder here. People are dead."

"Trent…"

"I’m serious. I want you out of it."

"Trent…"

"No!"

"But Trent…"

"Dammit, Sam…" As soon as he said it, he knew. The words hung like icicles between them. Jess felt like she had been slapped. He reached for her. "Jess…"

Quickly, she pulled away. "Don’t. First, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that." Her eyes told Trent a different story. "Secondly, I’m a grown woman and you can’t stop me." She fought to keep her voice even. "There is a little girl who has been through something so horrible I can’t even imagine. She needs a friendly face…my face. So if you can put aside your selfishness you might want to think of her." Jess knew this was a low blow but she didn’t care. She had been hurt. As she turned to go, she said, "I’ll be at Carlos’ if you care to help." With a slam she was gone, leaving him standing alone.

**

"Hi. How is she doing?" Jess asked as Carlos opened the door for her.

"I don’t know, Jess. She won’t say anything," he told her as he took one of the bags that were in her arms. "She’s in the living room. She’s got Bert and she won’t let go." Bert was a stuffed bear of Carlos’. After putting the bags down, Jess pulled out a vial from her purse, along with a hypodermic needle. She moved to the living room.

"Hi Heather," she said speaking calmly. "This is just something to help you sleep, okay?" As she saw the fear register in the little girl’s eyes, Jess spoke again. "Don’t worry, Carlos and I will still be here when you wake up. No one is going to leave you and no one else will know you are here." Slowly, Jess moved the needle to Heather’s arm, watching her expression. As she gave Heather the needle she smiled. "It’s going to be okay, Heather. You’re safe here." The little girl clung to the bear, and slowly closed her eyes.

"I didn’t know psychologists knew how to give needles," Carlos remarked.

"They don’t. My brother is a diabetic. I used to help him inject himself with his insulin." Jess took a cover and laid it over the now sleeping Heather, before heading into the kitchen. "I’ve brought some food for sandwiches if you’re hungry."

"Okay. Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?" Jess didn’t look at him.

"The reason why you’ve been crying."

"It’s nothing," she murmured as she unpacked the cold meat and buns she had taken from her own refrigerator.

"Let me guess. Trent. He doesn’t want you involved in this." Carlos noted how Jess tensed slightly, showing him he had hit the nail on the head.

"He has no choice," she told him quietly. "He’s being selfish."

"He has a right to be."

Turning, she faced Carlos. "No, he doesn’t. That little girl needs our help. And if he can’t deal with the fact that I am going to help her then that’s too bad!"

"He knows, Jess. He is just afraid of losing someone else he cares about. You of all people should know that."

"What’s that supposed to mean? I should just let him tell me what to do?" She was getting angry.

"No, but cut him some slack. If I had my way, I wouldn’t let you get involved either."

"I’m not helpless. You don’t need to protect me."

"Jess, let’s put this in perspective. This isn’t a client walking into your nice safe little office. Heather may be the only witness to a brutal murder. Now, if the murderer finds out she's alive, don’t think for a minute that they would hesitate to take you and her out to protect themselves. If they killed before it gets a whole lot easier to kill again."

Carlos words sank in to Jess. She had known of the danger before but when it was actually put into words, the threat became almost tangible. "I still have to help her, Carlos."

He took her in his arms. "I know, Jess. But cut Trent some slack. I’m sure he understands but just doesn’t like it. We will do everything to protect both of you." As she returned his hug, the doorbell rang. Puzzled, they looked at each other. Carlos motioned for Jess to move out of site of the door and he stepped quickly to it. As he opened the door, he smiled and opened it wide enough for Jess to see.

"What can I do to help?" said Trent.

**

The detective looked up from his desk and groaned. "What the hell do you want?" he yelled at the approaching figure.

"Nice to see you, too, Ryan," Trent smiled as he took a seat across from the detective. "I have a little information that you might be interested in."

Ryan scoffed. "What could you possibly tell me that I would want to know?"

The smile vanished off of Trent’s face. "How about if I have an idea where Heather is?"

"If you know where she is, Peanut, you better tell me or I’ll charge you with obstructing justice." Ryan’s tone was hard.

"I just said I might know. But first a few ground rules. I want to know what you’ve found out so far." Trent stared at him evenly.

"Like hell am I going to tell you anything." Ryan looked down at the papers on his desk. Truth was there wasn’t much there.

"Okay," Trent said, getting up. "Bye." As he headed to the door, he knew it would come and finally it did.

"Malloy! Get back here!" Trent turned around and returned to his chair. "Okay. You tell me where the kid is and I’ll tell you where the case is at."

"No. You tell me where the case is at and I’ll tell you what I know about Heather. And, you promise that you won’t go get her until Jess is finished with her."

"Jess? Who the hell is Jess?" Ryan was getting frustrated now. Maybe this wasn’t worth it.

"Jess is Jessie McNamara. She is a Doctor of Psychology and has a practice here in town. Her specialty is helping traumatized children and she is with Heather now."

"Is the kid okay?" It was the first time Ryan had asked about her.

"Physically, yeah, she seems okay but she hasn’t said a word. Jess thinks she can get through to her but it has to be somewhere Heather feels safe, not here at a police station where she doesn’t know anyone."

"Okay." Ryan leaned back and put his feet up on his desk. "It looks more and more like your friend Henderson pulled an O.J."

"Why?" Trent didn’t want to think of that possibility.

"Seems he had a charge against him last year of domestic assault. Also, people saw his car leave about 10 minutes before Heather was due home from school. It’s a gated community and there is only one way in or out. And no one else was in or out except for Henderson. We also found out that the victim had a life insurance policy for a substantial amount and it is rumored that Henderson is almost broke."

"Wait, wait, wait," Trent interrupted. "Broke? The guy makes 4 million a year playing for the Cowboys. How can he be broke?"

"Nothing concrete yet but word on the street is Mr. Henderson has a serious gambling problem. We are working to confirm this now but we need a court order to open his books." Ryan leaned forward in his chair, taking his feet off the desk. "Do you think the kid is a witness? Will she be able to help us?"

"Well, if anyone can help her it’s Jessie. Heather is pretty shaken up and Jess seems to think she saw all or part of her mother’s murder. She’s going to need protection, but it has to be such that she doesn’t feel threatened or overwhelmed."

"I’m going to need the police psychiatrist to talk to her."

"Nope. Not now. Just Jessie. Otherwise, Heather will just withdraw further."

"Where is she?"

"A safe place," Trent told him as he got up to leave. "I’ll let you know when she is ready to talk to you."

"Wait!" Ryan yelled at the figure leaving his office. "You haven’t told me anything! Malloy! MALLOY!"

Part 4