"I'm going to go on record as saying I don't like this," Bill said, a frown on his face. He looked Elizabeth square in the eyes. "A witness talking to the suspect to get information? What am I paying you boys for?" he asked, looking back wryly at Nathan and Lee.
Elizabeth straightened her shoulders, meeting Bill's gaze head on. "I don't mind, Chief Avery. I wouldn't have mentioned it to Detective Grant if it wasn't something I was comfortable with."
"You mentioned it to him?" Bill didn't look convinced.
Elizabeth hid a smile, deciding against telling him that Nathan had been planning on asking her before she offered. "Yes, sir."
"Humph," he grunted, still looking less than pleased. "Fine, I'll allow it." He pointed at Lee and Nathan. "But one of you is in the room with her!"
"Umm, actually, I don't think that's a good idea," Elizabeth said.
Bill pursed his lips and exhaled, raising a brow at her. "And why might that be, Ms. Thatcher?"
She glanced at the men, noticing that they were both trying to hide their amusement at where this conversation was going. Looking quickly back at Bill, she smiled sweetly. "Billy saw both of them when they arrested him. He's not likely to be cooperative if they're in the room. What about Hickam instead?"
"Hickam!" Bill shouted.
Hickam materialized behind Bill with a "Yes, boss?," making Bill jump.
"Don't sneak up on me, Hickam!" Bill snapped, putting his hands on his hips. Hickam joined Lee and Nathan in trying his best not to smile. Bill pointed to Elizabeth. "You're going to be in the room with Ms. Thatcher here while she's talking to our suspect."
"Alrighty," Hickam said good-naturedly. "Is he there now?"
"I'm going to bring him in," Nathan said, pushing himself into a standing position. He smiled at Elizabeth, making her heart flutter. "Lee and I will be right there behind the one-way mirror, so we'll be able to hear and see everything."
Elizabeth nodded. "Okay."
"Follow me, ma'am," Hickam said as Nathan disappeared into the holding cell area. Lee followed Elizabeth, taking his spot behind the mirror. Hickam ushered Elizabeth into the room, holding her chair for her while she sat, then took a seat a few feet from her. After a couple minutes, Nathan came into the room with a handcuffed Billy. He got him situated, then nodded at Elizabeth formally. "I'll be back in a little bit." He left the room to join Lee.
Elizabeth looked at Billy, something like sympathy washing over her. He wore a tough look, but she could see the fear and hurt under the surface. His eyes had the hardened look of a man in trouble, but also the vulnerability of a child. At nineteen, he seemed to be a strange mix of old and young. He looked at her, but his blue eyes were unable to hold hers for long.
She didn't say anything for a while. After several minutes of silence, Billy began to squirm. "Aren't you going to say something?" he asked, his voice hard but brittle.
Elizabeth tilted her head, studying him. "Is there something you expect me to say?"
He blinked, mouth opening then closing. A defensive look crossed his face. "Are you just going to stare at me this whole time?"
Elizabeth shrugged, leaned back into her chair. "I guess that depends, Billy. I've heard you've not been very cooperative for Detective Grant. If I try to talk to you, will you talk to me as well?"
A smirk appeared on Billy's face. "Ah, yes, the good detective. Your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," Elizabeth said evenly, ignoring the jolt of electricity that went through her at the thought.
"Oh sure," Billy said, looking more cocky by the second. "You're just living together."
Elizabeth raised a brow, refusing to give in to his ribbing. "A situation brought on by you, if you remember." She crossed her arms, staring him down to let him know she wasn't intimidated by him. "I can sit here all day. And silence seems to make you uncomfortable."
"Does not!" he said, squinting.
"Okay," Elizabeth said, letting the silence play out for as long as Billy could stand it. After two minutes he started fidgeting. After five minutes he broke into a sweat.
"All right, all right, you win!" he growled. "What do you want to know?"
Elizabeth smiled sweetly, glad her ploy had worked. "All I want is the name of the man behind your operation. And then I'll leave you alone."
Billy's face became a mask of fear before he could hide it. He looked down, shaking his head. "I can't tell you that."
Leaning forward, Elizabeth waited until Billy looked up at her. "Billy, I know you might have a hard time believing this, but the police force here will do everything they can to find the man in charge and make sure he goes to jail for a long time. We want to make sure he can't hurt anyone else. Not you, and not your grandfather."
Tears filled Billy's eyes. "I can't risk anything happening to Grandpa. He's all I have left."
"Why don't you tell me about him?" Elizabeth said gently, hoping Billy would feel comfortable talking about that.
He did.
"It's been me and grandpa for years," Billy said, looking a lot like a lost little boy. "My parents have been gone since I was eight. Grandpa took me in. He's the only family I have." His voice dropped so low Elizabeth could hardly hear his next words. "He's my only friend."
Elizabeth kept her tone light. "You must love him very much."
Billy simply nodded, staring at the table.
"There's something I don't understand," Elizabeth mused out loud. Billy's ears perked up, but he kept his gaze on the table. "Why would you turn to robbery if your grandpa is so important to you? From what I've heard about him, he's a good man. I can't imagine he would be happy with you stealing."
Billy was quiet for a time. "I…I don't…" He stopped, sniffing. "I didn't have a choice."
"Why not?" Elizabeth asked, using her empathetic voice. She could see that he truly thought that.
"I couldn't pay for Grandpa's medicine any more," Billy said, his voice faint. "Then someone told me they knew of...of...an employment opportunity for me, one that would solve all our money problems." He lifted his face, tears swimming in his eyes. "I didn't think. All I cared about was making sure Grandpa was cared for. I should have known," he said, his shoulders slumping. "Once I realized what I had gotten into, I wanted out. But then…"
"But then?" Elizabeth repeated, giving him an encouraging look as his voice trailed off.
"He said he would kill Grandpa," Billy said flatly. He looked Elizabeth full in the face for the first time. "And he said he would harm him if I told the police anything if I got caught."
"Billy," Elizabeth said, a note of pleading in her voice. "The police can protect your grandpa. There are safe houses for this kind of thing. We'll make sure we can get him in one." She glanced at Hickam, hoping she was right about that. He gave a light nod. Elizabeth turned back to Billy. "He will be safe, Billy. Detective Grant won't let anything happen to him." She leaned forward. "But for him to be safe, we need you to give us the name of the man behind all of this. Please."
Billy hesitated. A hush fell over the room as he debated with himself. Elizabeth unconsciously held her breath, not daring to make a sound.
Finally, Billy nodded slowly. In a voice quieter than any he'd used yet, he whispered, "Charles Spurlock."
Nathan clapped his hands together, excitement coursing through his veins. "We've got a name! She did it!" He laughed, feeling ecstatic. "Lee, go run that name through our database. See what you can find on Charles Spurlock." Lee hurried off, and Nathan entered the examination room.
Billy's eyes grew wide and fearful when Nathan came in, but Nathan put up his hands. "You have nothing to worry about, Billy." Looking at Hickam, Nathan said, "Can you please make sure Mr. Hamilton is moved to a safe house within the hour?"
Hickam nodded. "Sure thing, boss." He rose from his seat and went through the door, closing it behind him.
Relief flooded Billy's eyes. "Grandpa will really be safe?"
Sitting next to Elizabeth, Nathan nodded. "He will be safe. We'll make sure he's protected until we find this Spurlock fellow. Can you tell us where he hides out?"
Billy looked nervous. Nathan leaned forward. "Billy, I don't think you're a bad kid. You've gotten into some trouble, but there were extenuating circumstances. If you cooperate with us, I'll make sure you get a very lenient sentence."
Hope lit Billy's eyes, and he again looked like a very young boy. "Really?"
"We'll get you out of this mess, Billy," Nathan said. He raised a brow. "But you will have to promise me that you'll keep yourself out of trouble after this."
Billy nodded. "Yes, sir." He shuffled his feet. "Mr. Spurlock is a very bad man, detective. He's not going to like being exposed." Fear shone in his eyes again. "If I help you, I'm afraid he'll kill me."
"We won't let that happen," Nathan said firmly. "You have to trust me on this."
Swallowing, Billy looked down, nodding slowly. "When would you go find him?"
"As soon as possible," Nathan said. "Maybe even tonight. Is it easier to find him at night or during the day?"
"I always saw him at night," Billy said, his voice shaking. "I can tell you where he is."
"Very good," Nathan said. "But I think you're going to have to lead us there."
Billy's eyes widened. "What?" He sounded shocked. "I can't do that! He'll kill me!"
Nathan infused his voice with patience. "He might not know that you've been arrested. Has he been expecting you?"
"No…" Billy said, his voice trailing off.
"When were you supposed to meet with him next?"
Billy's throat worked. "Tomorrow night."
Nathan thought for a moment. As much as he wanted to get started on finding this man right now, it would probably be prudent to wait until an expected meeting. "Okay, Billy," he said finally, nodding with decision. "Here's what we're going to do…"
Elizabeth looked up as Nathan came back to his desk. She had gone to wait for him there while he returned Billy to his cell. Her eyes searched his, a feeling of fear coursing through her.
"So you're going to go through with that plan?" she asked, knowing it was the right thing to do but suddenly worried for Nathan's safety.
Nathan glanced around, making sure they were alone, then pulled her into his arms. "Yes, Elizabeth," he said gently. "Lee is in the process of clearing it with the chief while we wait for information on Spurlock, but I think we'll be all set for tomorrow night." He lifted her chin, gazing at her. "You were amazing in there. I don't know how you did it, but you put Billy at ease and got him to talk. And now we should be able to catch the guy responsible for all these robberies."
Elizabeth nodded, leaning her head on Nathan's chest. "I know." She smiled. "I heard that Hickam already has Mr. Hamilton on the way to the safe house. He worked fast."
"Good," Nathan said. "That will put Billy's mind at ease. Though he's terrified for tomorrow." He frowned. "I'm half worried that his fear will give us away before we can arrest this Spurlock character."
Elizabeth pulled away, sitting on a chair. She tilted her head, studying Nathan for a moment. "You know, I'm sure you would be able to calm his mind a bit if you talked with him. He seemed to be warming up to you when you were laying out your plan."
Sitting across from her, Nathan nodded and leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. "I'll try to talk him down, both today and tomorrow. I don't blame the kid for being terrified. If Charles Spurlock is as bad as Billy thinks he is, I would be pretty terrified too in his shoes." He smiled at her with an inscrutable look on his face. "You know, Billy made an interesting point while you were talking with him."
"Oh? What's that?" Elizabeth asked absently, picking at one of her nails. It was starting to come loose. She would have to cut them soon.
"He called me your boyfriend."
Elizabeth's head shot up, and she stared at Nathan, butterflies pulsing through her at his unexpected words. "Um...he did."
"But I'm not," Nathan continued, brows raised.
"Um...no." Goodness, Elizabeth, could you be less articulate right now?!
A smile tugged at the corners of Nathan's mouth, and his blue eyes bored into hers. "I'd like to be."
She couldn't speak. Joy burst through her as Nathan kept talking. "I know we haven't known each other that long, Elizabeth, but I feel a connection with you unlike anything I've known before. I would really like to be in a relationship with you and see where it takes us." He glanced around, giving a wry chuckle. "This isn't how I planned on asking you, but the timing seemed right." He looked back at her, a vulnerable look on his face. "What do you think?"
Elizabeth didn't have to think. She knew the answer.
"Yes!"
