Chapter 8

"Hey, Milt," Harper greeted as he looked up from his magazine. "You look a hundred percent better; do you feel it?"

"I'm fine," Hardcastle said dismissively as he dropped into the chair closest to McCormick. "How are things here?"

"Things are good. The doctor was here and he said Mark's readings seem even stronger than yesterday. He said he'd stop by later this evening in case you had any questions. And, Mark was awake for a few minutes."

"Really? Good. Was he talking? When he woke up early this morning he was still pretty foggy."

"Oh, he was coherent," Harper answered. "He wasn't awake long, but he was basically okay for the time he was."

"What did he have to say?" Hardcastle asked innocently.

"Not a lot. He was worried about you."

"He should worry more about himself," the judge said gruffly. "Unless, of course, you meant he was worried about me finding out about what happened."

Harper looked at him sharply. "What?"

"I stopped by to see Garza."

Harper rolled his eyes. He should've known Hardcastle had some ulterior motive for agreeing to leave the hospital. "First of all, now that we've got him behind bars, why don't you let us handle things from here? And secondly, I sent you home to rest, remember?"

"I did rest. And I thank you for that, by the way. Then I saw Garza. When were you planning to tell me he had the kid doing some work?"

"Honestly? It was gonna be a while."

"You don't think that's something I deserve to know?" Hardcastle demanded.

"Deserve to know? Sure. Need to know? Not really. At least, not right now." Harper showed none of the agitation that was brewing in his friend. "Milt," he continued reasonably, "you've had more than enough to worry about the last few days. What difference does it make anyway?"

"What difference?" The judge was incredulous. "He can't go around committing felonies every day, Frank! The kid's out on a pass, in case you've forgotten."

Harper was amused by Hardcastle's righteous indignation, spoken in a harsh whisper in deference to the sleeping McCormick. But he didn't allow himself to laugh. There was no sense inciting the judge further.

"I meant, what difference does it make right now? What are you gonna do about it? Revoke him?"

Hardcastle stared coldly at the detective. "Don't be stupid."

"Well, then..."

Hardcastle threw his hands up in exasperation, but he allowed the logic of Harper's words to sink into his brain. "Oh, all right," he finally huffed. "But, dammit, Frank, how am I supposed to keep him in line if I don't even know what's going on? Besides, you're supposed to be on my side."

Harper did allow himself a small chuckle at Hardcastle's new, childish tone. "I didn't know this was about taking sides, Milt.

"And, anyway," he went on, growing more serious, "I don't think you really have to worry too much about keeping him in line; he's doing a pretty good job of that himself lately. Of course, that is mostly because of you, but even so..."

The detective stared directly into the eyes of his long-time friend. "He would've told you about Garza, Milt. Just give him a chance."

Hardcastle sighed loudly. Harper was right, of course. Even as badly as he had treated McCormick before—on what he had morbidly come to think of as their 'last night'—he knew the kid would confess. Always the smooth talking con man, it just wasn't in McCormick to actually lie. Not really. Not about anything important. Not to Hardcastle.

The judge sighed again. "Of course he would've. But for right now, why don't you tell me about the job?"

"Garza didn't tell you anything?" Harper was surprised.

"Nah. He was more interested in taunting me about the idea of McCormick turning bad on me than he was in giving me any real information. So what gives?"

Harper shook his head. "Details are for Mark. Besides, I told you not to be worrying about it right now."

The detective rose from his chair, not intending to argue the topic any further. "Okay, Milt. I promised Claudia I'd deliver my daily update in person this evening, so I'm gonna go on home. I'll be back tomorrow."

Hardcastle grinned. "Okay; point taken. I'll let it go...at least until the kid wakes up."

"Yeah, well just in case I'm not here to run interference, don't be too hard on him."

"When am I ever?" Hardcastle harrumphed.

Harper laughed slightly, and rolled his eyes, but wisely chose not to answer as he turned to leave the room. "See ya, Milt."

Hardcastle smiled to himself as he grabbed a magazine and settled in for another night of waiting.