Page 164 of Tides That Bind

I lean down and whisper to Harper, “Your call.”

Harper takes a deep breath. “With all due respect, your honor, you’d have to ask Lucas if he’s comfortable speaking with you, not with me. If he consents, so do I.”

“Forgive me,” he chuckles. “Mr. Lucas Jones?”

Lucas slides off Caroline’s lap and walks through the partition, pushing into the small space between Harper and me. “Yes, Mr. Judge?”

“Would it be alright if you and I talked for a few minutes?”

Lucas looks up at me.

“You don’t have to,” I tell him.

“But you can if you want to.” Harper places a hand on his back.

Lucas lifts a hand, taking the action figure off the table. “Okay. I’ll talk.”

“I think you guys won,” Finn says, leaning forward from his place in the front row before asking Caroline, “don’t you think?”

My sister has never been one to lie to make me feel better. “Lucas isn’t really relevant to the case. It could go either way. They technically are in violation of contract, but for all we know they could assign Tides a new handler before Lucas even comes back out.”

Harper lets out a heavy sigh.

“It’s alright. He’ll be fine,” I whisper before nudging her with my arm, as professional as I can keep it at the moment. It’s taking everything in me to not tug Harper into my arms. “Everythingwill be fine.”

Nodding, Harper appears only a smidge more convinced, unable to keep her eyes from darting back to the door Lucas walked through with the judge.

“Maybe I should’ve said no.”

“You let him make the decision for himself. I know you don’t want to hear it, but we all have to grow up one day.” I lift my arms. “See? Even me,” I try to joke.

Laughter at my expense isn’t something Harper is interested in buying at the moment and I sigh when she looks away.

“You can’t protect him forever, Harper.”

There’s so much more there than wanting to protect Lucas from the harshness of reality, to keep him a kid for a little longer. But we’re here because Lucas was forced to grow up too fast. He already knows how unfair the world can be.

I watch Harper’s throat swell with a swallow. “Nate used to tell me that.”

“Yeah, well,” I begin. “Then I’m happy to be the reminder. And whatever happens.” I step closer, as close as I possibly can without setting off some sort of ethical alarm in the courtroom “He’s always going to need you.”

But now it’s Harper’s turn to do the reminding.

“Us,” she corrects me. “Lucas is always going to needus.”

Harper could say this to me every day and I’ll never get tired of hearing it. It never will stop sounding like a victory, no matter the circumstances, even if we lose today.

The door leading to chambers opens and the bailiff appears, announcing Judge Pearson’s return. Unlatching the door of the partition, I guide Harper back to our table. By the time we reach it, Harper lets out a sigh full of relief when Lucas walks out of the door, superhero in one hand, and an unopened lollipop in the other. He crosses the room quickly, sliding back between Harper and me.

Keeping a tight hold on the lollipop, Lucas passes Captain America back to me with a smile.

I look down at the toy. Something tells me I won’t be needing the extra help today.

“I’d like to remind both parties I’ve been instructed to issue a Writ of Replevin, which has to do withownership, and the property at hand is a police K9 currently in possession of the Oceanside Police Department, as, according to the contract signed between the late Nathaniel Jones and his former employer, he legally should be.”

My stomach drops.Shit.

Judge Pearson clears his throat. “However, what K9 Cruz should also be doing, according to the contract”—he pauses, lifting a piece of paper and taping it—“isworking. And it’s my understanding, based on the paperwork submitted, that working for a police K9 includes, but isn’t limited to the following: pursuing and apprehending fleeing suspects, detecting drugs, explosives, assisting in the location of missing persons, et cetera, et cetera.”

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