Chapter 5:

Henry did not wake Shawn; he took Lassiter and inspected the whole house to find where Jack might have gotten in. Juliet was given the job of watching over Shawn. When the men got back to the living room they both plopped on the sofa.

Lassiter spoke first, "There were no signs of forced entry anywhere." Then it dawned on him and he yelled out, "BUZZ!"

Henry and Lassiter jumped from the couch and went outside to find the happy go lucky officer facedown in the dirt. He was walloped on the back of the head and was passed out. Henry bent down and patted the gentle giants face and said, "Wakey, Wakey."

Buzz awoke with a start and saw the elder Spencer looking down at him and he asked, "What happened, one minute I was walking back from inspecting a noise in the backyard and the next you are waking me up."

Henry patted his shoulder and told him, "It was Jack, and he must have knocked you out and then went inside to torment Shawn."

Buzz was shocked and apologetic, "Oh God Henry, I let him get past me? Is Shawn okay? I am so very sorry."

Henry smiled at the volunteer sentry and assured him that Shawn was fine, Jack was sending a message that we aren't safe."

Chief Vick was called to the scene. When she arrived, Shawn had woken up from his nap and had been filled in on what happened. When the Chief saw Shawn she could tell the young man was visibly terrified.

Chief Vick spoke with Buzz, then Lassiter and Henry to find out the details of what went down with Jack. She pulled chair up beside her Psychic detective, the young man who she thought of more like a son than an employee. She asked him how he was doing.

He didn't speak at first he just stared at the floor then he looked at the woman he thought of as a mother figure and blankly said, "I am a dead man, as long as I am living no one close to me is ever going to be safe again." He looked at the chief for a minute with terror filled eyes then went back to staring at the floor.

Chief Vick mustered all the strength she had in hopes of transferring some of that to Shawn and held his good hand in both of hers and said, "Not only as your Chief of Police but as your friend, I assure you that I will not allow anything to happen to you or anyone you care about, do you hear me?"

At this point Shawn was in tears, he looked at his friend and said, "He is playing a game with me, killing me is the final play, he wants to torture me for telling on him. He told me he would hurt Gus and kill my Dad if I ever told. He is keeping his promise."

Gus came walking in right as Shawn finished. He looked at his friend and said, "No one has done anything to me and no one will. I have my trusty body guard that has gone everywhere with me, even the thrown room." The image of Gus and the Police Guard in the thrown room merited a micro chuckle from Shawn.

Henry was listening to the conversation from the kitchen doorway. He wanted to jump in and assure his son that he was going to be all right but when he heard that Shawn was more worried about him and his friends he couldn't take it anymore and sat at the table with his face in his hands.

The older Spencer man did a good job of hiding the tears falling from his face but you could still see his shoulders jumping with each passing sob. Lassiter witnessed Henry's melt down from his perch in the living room. He honestly did not know how to comfort the distraught father so he didn't try but he vowed right then and there to catch Jack and hopefully Jack would give him a reason to fill him with bullets.

Shawn yelled for his Dad and that brought Henry out of his breakdown. Henry wiped his eyes and went to his son. He sat on the couch next to Lassiter.

Shawn looked at him with all seriousness and said, "Dad I want you to take me to my apartment. Gus is safe with his shadow but you aren't safe as long as I am here, I can't drive myself and I would walk but I would never make it."

Henry looked into the terrified but determined young man in front of him and smiled as he said, "Not happening kid, if I would have done a better job watching over you as a kid this would not be an issue now because I would have all ready killed Jack."

He got of the sofa and went over to Shawn. He cupped his face in his hands and looked him straight in the eye and told him with just as much determination that Shawn spoke with, "You, young man are my life, I would gladly laydown my life to save yours. We are in this together and together we will beat Jack. Do you understand?" Shawn began to protest but Henry said, "I don't care how much you argue kid, I am not going anywhere till my no good brother is gone and you are safe" Shawn just smiled at his father holding back tears and shook his head in agreement.

The crowds of police left soon after their talk. Chief Vick stayed with Lassiter and Henry; she sent Gus and O'Hara home. Buzz was still stationed outside and Vick asked Lassiter if he could spend the night at the Spencer home too and they would figure out what to do for protection in the morning. Lassiter agreed and Vick left the men to get ready for bed.

Lassiter took the couch allowing Henry to go laydown in his bedroom, a place he hadn't seen a week or more. Shawn took his evening pills and that left Lassiter to watch reruns of COPS on his own.

Shawn woke up at 3 a.m. and noticed Lassiter snoring away on the sofa and his Dad was nowhere to be seen.

When he noticed he was alone he began to hatch a plan. He quietly got up out of his chair making sure not to wake the detective; he slipped on his shoes and jacket., the best he could with one arm.

He went to the kitchen and wrote his father a note:

Dear Dad, I can't live with myself knowing that I caused you to be in such danger. I am going back to my apartment where the only person I put in danger is myself. Dad, I love you so much. The seven years I have had with you have made me so happy. Thank you for loving me even when I was unlovable.

Love your son

Shawn

He waited at the front door till Buzz walked to the back of the house, then he as quickly and quietly as he could escaped out the front door and made his way on foot toward his apartment.

He wasn't gone for more than a few minutes when Lassiter woke up and started to panic when he didn't see Shawn. He searched in the bathroom and then went into the kitchen and saw the note that he left. He yelled for Henry to come down and mumbled under his breath, "God Dammit Shawn" and pounded his fist on the table.

Henry came running down the stairs with his gun in his hand saying, "Where is Shawn? Where is Jack?" Lassiter said, "Neither of them are here" and held the letter out for Henry to read.

Henry read the letter then balled it up and threw it against the wall. He looked at Lassiter with a fire in his eyes and said, "Come on lets go get my mule of a son and when we bring him home I am going to cuff his ass to a chair so he cant pull this shit again." Lassiter grabbed his coat and told Henry on the way out he could use his cuffs.

They jumped in Henry's truck after informing Buzz his perimeter was breached for a second time today. They started out toward Shawn's apartment. They made it about a mile down the road when Henry saw something on the side of the road that looked familiar.

They stopped and they found Shawn's jacket bloodied and in a pile on the side of the road. On top of the jacket was a note that said, "Too bad he is mine now" and it had a penny taped to it.