Chapter 8

Jack watched Harper pace nonstop around the interrogation room. He looked around the familiar green room. He'd been there so many times, so many situations, with so many different people over the years.

"What could be taking so long?" Harper said as she interrupted his reminiscing.

"It's going to take as long as it takes," Jack answered with a patient smile. "And wearing down an path in the floor isn't go to make it go faster."

Harper was absently chewing on her thumbnail as she stopped pacing. She couldn't help it. She felt like a current of electricity was surging through her body. She pulled out the chair across from Jack and attempted to wait patiently.

Within a couple of minutes Harper was up pacing again. Jack chuckled at her half-hearted attempt. She just shrugged sheepishly at him. "So you have four brothers?" Jack asked trying to put her at ease.

Harper smiled at Jack's attempt to distract her. "Yes. I'm the only girl and the youngest."

"So you were extra spoiled then?"

"More than you could imagine, McCoy." She slide back into the chair across from him. "What about you?" Her gaze narrowed, "You strike me as an oldest child. The one in charge, always taking care of things."

Jack continued to be amazed by the young woman's intuitiveness. "I have a younger sister."

"Mm-hmm," Harper flashed a satisfied smile. "I know a big brother when I see one. So it was just the two of you then?"

"Yes." Jack sighed heavily. This was getting dangerously close to a topic he avoided, painstakingly so. "A family of four must seem quite small to you."

Harper nodded. "Between the six of us and the friends we were constantly bringing home we usually had a pretty full house." She smiled, trying to imagine what Jack was like as boy. Was he one of those disconcertingly serious children? Or was his seriousness just a by-product of the life he's lead? "Are you a native New Yorker, Jack?"

Jack shook his head. "I grew up in Chicago. But after forty plus years I'm pretty close to the real thing. And you? Where in the south are you from?"

"I am from a little town called San Saba, Texas." Her accent slid in effortlessly when saying the tiny town's name. "It's a couple of hours north of Austin. Not very big, about three thousand people. I moved here in '92 for school and I've lived here pretty much ever since."

Jack raised his expressive eyebrows, "Pretty much?"

Harper shrugged, "Well-"

Just then Det. Cyrus Lupo came into the interrogation room. Harper rose from the table immediately jolted back to the situation at hand.

"So what's going on?"

"Well," Cyrus sat at the table and opened a file. "We're trying to get him down here for a lineup. That OK with you?" He looked up at Harper for reassurance.

Harper's face became ashen and she nodded absently. "Of course."

"You don't have to…" Jack intervened. Lupo shot him a bothered look.

"No... no, I want to." She nodded firmly trying to assure both Jack and herself.

"OK, well, I need to get a statement." Cyrus put on the voice of a man going through the motions, "How did you happen to remember that your perpetrator had a tattoo?"

Harper exhaled and tried to contain the enthusiasm in her voice. "We were playing ball at the Y." She motioned towards Jack as she started pacing the room again. "Afterwards we were standing around talking and the little girl with the broom ran into me. As she walked away I saw some stars tattooed on the back of her neck. And that's when I remembered his star. During the attack I remember thinking 'Pay attention. Look for anything you can use.' and I did. But I guess it was just lost somewhere in here." She grabbed her head in a very animated motion.

"So your memory was just jogged." Cyrus said with a shrug as he began to write down the statement.

"Exactly." Harper stood watching Cyrus write as Jack continued to be his patient self.

"So, uh, you two play ball together, huh?" Cyrus continued to write and tried not to look too interested.

Harper blushed at the insinuation. "No, um, it was league play. Our games just happened to be on the same night." She felt like a teenager caught in a lie.

Jack watched as Harper stumbled over her words - not a usual trait of hers. He disliked Lupo for embarrassing her. He had to resist the urge to come to her defense. As much as he wanted to he knew Harper could handle herself.

"Cozy…." Cyrus smirked, "I didn't know the DA's had an over-50 league."

"Cyrus…" Harper made no effort to conceal her disapproving tone.

Jack chuckled. "Believe it or not detective, I'm still managing to hang in there with the young guys." He leaned back in his chair. His cockiness was palpable.

Harper couldn't believe it. A verbal pissing contest!

"Oh, really," Cyrus flashed his boyish smile. "Well maybe the precinct should get a team together. Give the great legal minds a run for their money."

Jack smiled confidently. "You could, but be forewarned, we're undefeated. I'd hate for you to get your ass handed to you by the legal minds."

This was ridiculous. "If you guys wanna go ahead and whip 'em out, I'll measure 'em and we can get this over with." Jack and Cyrus just looked up at her, surprise etched on their faces. "No? No takers? OK then, shut up," she looked back and forth between the two men, but settled her eyes on Jack. "Both of you." Her cheeks flushed in mild irritation.

Just then Connie came into the interrogation room with good news. She immediately sensed the tension in the air. She looked at Harper almost apologetically, "Am I interrupting?"

Harper lifted her eyes from the two men. "Not at all. What's up?"

Connie crossed her arms and grinned with satisfaction. "We've got a lineup." She and Jack instantly began strategizing. Harper could see the fluidity of their former partnership emerge.

Without saying a word Cyrus gathered his files and quietly exited the room. Harper followed him, finally catching up with him at his desk. "What was that?" Her tone tinged with a little more annoyance than intended.

"What?" Cyrus feigned ignorance poorly.

"Cyrus…" He just looked at her stubbornly. "You know what. Why are you suddenly playing the jealous boyfriend?"

Cyrus knew he had no defense. He just smiled a crooked smile and shrugged.

"You don't want to be with me, Cyrus."

He shot her a baffled look, "Why would you say that?"

"If you had wanted me you would have called after we went out." She smiled and poked his arm playfully. "We hung out, we had fun, it was convenient."

"You know you're too practical for your own good."

Harper recalled the look on Cyrus' face when he talked about his sister-in-law, Jenny - which he did several times in their few hours together. "Yes, and I'm practical enough to know that both of our interests lie elsewhere."

Cyrus squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. "Yeah," he paused and studied Harper closely. "But McCoy? Really Harper?"

"That, Cyrus, is none of your business." She winked as she walked away.

"Ms. Van Meter, you know how this goes. The lineup can't see you and because this is a voice lineup you can't see them either. If you hear the voice of your perpetrator let us know." Lieutenant Anita Van Buren gently guided Harper through the identification process. She was right, Harper knew the drill. She also knew she needed to be certain. She'd never been claustrophobic before, but she was beginning to understand how it felt. The room was small and dimly lit. Connie and Mike were by her side functioning as representatives of the district attorney's office. Lt. Van Buren, Cyrus, Bernard, and a defense attorney were also present. She wished Jack were here. It was decided he should stay out, in case he were called as a witness in the future.

Harper felt on edge. Her heart pounded inside her chest as the men, one by one, began reading their prepared words. Number one, not him. Number two, nope. Number three, negative. Number four. Harper's head started pounding the second he began talking. Her cheeks flushed. She felt like she'd been hit by a ton of bricks.

"That's him. Number four."

"Are you certain?" Mike asked.

She turned to look at him, suddenly aware of the tears streaming down her cheeks. Her appearance may have been shaky, but her voice was confident and unwavering. "I'd stake my life on it."