Page 25 of Jep

“Yeah,” Bryce said. “I’m a kid. You should let me go.”

“And aren’t you two kind of like the cops?” Em asked.

“This is outside our jurisdiction,” Jep said, looking inside the boy’s backpack and pulling out a bag of pills.

“That’s Advil,” Bryce said.

“Oh, yeah? You get a lot of headaches?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“Uh-huh.”

Jep tried to pull the bag off his back, but Bryce crossed his arms, so Jep pulled a knife from his pocket and cut the straps.

“Hey, you can’t destroy my property,” Bryce said.

“Probably not. You can let the cops know you want to file a complaint when they come pick you up.” He handed the bag to Pearce, who was making the call.

He sidled up beside Em, forcing her to take a step to the side. “You really don’t like me,” he said.

“I barely know you. But while I may not agree with your methods, you did a good job here all in all.”

“Thanks.”

“The police are on their way,” Pearce said.

Jep pulled a card from his wallet and handed it to Bryce. “Once they let you out of Juvie or wherever you end up, call this number if you decide you’d like to a chance at a better life.”

“What’s this?” Bryce said.

“A once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Bryce ripped the card in two and dropped it on the ground. Jep shrugged, hoping when he turned his back the boy would change his mind.

“Suit yourself,” he said, then turned away and locked eyes with Emery, who had been watching the exchange. She looked away immediately.

There was more to this woman than what appeared on the surface, but it was hard to say if he’d ever find out more. Or whether the team he was about to meet would give him the benefit of the doubt. But he prepared for an icy welcome.

Once the police arrived, they were back on the road.

“That was a good pick up back there,” Pearce said to him.

“It was,” Emery said. “I kind of felt bad for that kid. I’m glad we were in the right place at the right time, and you were paying enough attention to do something about it.”

Jep was about to tell her it was her that noticed first but decided he’d save that information for another time. Did she really not know?

It wasn’t long before they were passing through the gate at headquarters, and Pearce escorted him to get his badge sorted out while Emery excused herself. She said she had to get back to work, but despite her nice comment about his work in the park, she remained prickly around him and disappeared as soon as she could.

“I should have mentioned this earlier.”

“Here we go,” Jep said.

“You’d already know this job is temporary at this point.”

Jep blinked when the camera flashed. “I know how these things work—did that picture take okay? Or do I need to do another one?”

The camera operator showed him the picture. “You happy with that?”

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