“Thank you.” I punch the disconnect button on my phone and place it on Garret’s kitchen table. Sammy and Harlan look expectantly at me. They’ve already had their breakfast, so I can only assume that they’re waiting for me to reveal Garret’s whereabouts.

I shoot them an apologetic look. “Sorry guys, I can’t give you what you want, but believe me, if I could, I would bring him back here right this moment.” Feeling helpless, I chew on my lower lip. “Since I’m not related to Garret, they won’t give me any information about how he’s doing or even what he’s been charged with. I don’t know if that’s because I’m not related to him, or because they’re worried about jeopardizing their case.” I resist the urge to kick the wall. “This is so frustrating.”

I rub my breastbone, trying to ease the ache that settled around my stomach last night as the two cops slapped cuffs on Garret’s wrists. Every time I think about what happened, what he must have gone through when they got him to the county jail, my anxiety levels ratchet up.

If I could, I’d crawl into Garret’s nice warm bed, pull the covers up over my head, and cry myself to sleep. And once I woke back up, I’d do the whole thing all over again.

Unfortunately, that’s not an option. As long as Garret is sitting in the county jail, with only his lawyer in his corner, pretending the world doesn’t exist isn’t an option.

Someone knocks on Garret’s front door. “Erin, are you in there?”

Tracy. I should have guessed she’d stop by. She tried last night, but I told her I was fine.

I hurry to open the door. Tracy doesn’t wait for an invitation before racing in. She throws her arms around me. “Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry.”

I hug her back. Until this very second, I haven’t realized how much I need human contact. For the first time since Garret’s arrest, I burst into tears.

“Oh Erin,” Tracy cries. “It’s going to be okay.”

Somehow she manages to half-walk, half-drag me to living room and gets me to lie on the couch.

Harlan flops down on the floor beside me. Sammy jumps up on my thighs, and from there, jumps up and onto the back of the couch.

Tracy drags a chair over to the space by my head. She strokes my hair and whispers nonsense until I’m finally all cried out. I hiccup instead.

Tracy smiles at me. “Feeling better?”

“No, not exactly,” I struggle to sit up as I keep hiccupping. “But I do think I needed that.”

“Any word on Garret?”

I shake my head. “No not really.” I take the tissue she hands me and blow my nose. “No one at the jail will tell me what’s going on, but I did find out that his lawyer is there and working on getting him ready for his arraignment.”

Tracy starts to say something and then thinks better of it.

I blow out a sigh. “What is it?”

She shoots me an apprehensive glance. “Promise you won’t be mad?”

“I promise.”

Tracy links her fingers together. “I was just thinking, you really don’t know Garret very well, and I know you want to think the best of him, but isn’t it possible that maybe he’s into some shady stuff and deserved to be arrested?”

“My gut tells me no. I genuinely think he’s one of the good guys.”

I expect Tracy to rebut with a list of reasons why I shouldn’t trust Garret, but she doesn’t. Instead, all she says is, “Okay.”

I gape at her. “Okay! Really?”

She nods. “You trust him and the few times I met with him, my spidey senses didn’t set off alarm bells, so until something changes, I’m going to trust him too.”

“Do you know what sucks even more than Garret being arrested?” I ask.

“Seems hard to imagine anything could.”

“The fact that it’s all my fault.”

Tracy’s eyes bulge out of her head and her jaw drops. “You? How can this possibly be your fault?”

“I don’t know.” I pick a piece of lint off my sweatshirt. “I feel like it is.”

Tracy’s eyes narrow.

“Now what?” I ask.

“I’m not really sure. Something stirred in the back my mind. Something that might be important, though I don’t know why, but I can’t quite remember what it is.” She shakes her head as if hoping that will knock the thought loose and then shrugs. “Oh well, sooner or later it’ll come to me.”

Before I can think of a response, there’s another knock at the door. Tracy glances at me, an unspoken question burning in her eyes.

I shake my head. “I’m not expecting anyone.”

Tracy hurries out of the room, Sammie close at her heels, and gets the door.

A few seconds later she reappears, followed closely by Hannah, Garret’s housekeeper, and her son Eli.

”Ms. Burkley,” Hannah cries out. “We just heard the rumors. Is it true that Garret was arrested?”

“Yes,” I tell her. “I’m not sure why and I don’t know when he’ll be home.”

“It’s my fault.” Eli looks and sounds like a seven-year-old kid who has just been caught stealing candy at the grocery store.

“Your fault?” Tracy smiles. “Garret must be quite the guy. In less than five minutes, two different people have decided that his current problems are their fault. Pretty impressive, given that we live in a society that actively practices the act of blaming someone else whenever things go wrong.”

“What happened, Eli?” I gently press. I don’t have to be a shrink to see that the kid is very upset about something, that keeping it in is starting to take a toll.

“A few days ago—” He scrunches up his face and moves backwards through his memory. “I think it was Tuesday. Some guy stopped me. He asked if I knew Garret and if I knew anything about computers or how cell phones work.”

My heart starts pounding. When the police came to this apartment while Garret and I were at The Sex Project, about the only thing they took with them was Garret’s desktop computer. “What did you tell him, Eli?”

The teen shrugs his boney shoulders. “Of course, I told him yeah. Do you know how many computers I’ve taken apart and put back together?”

“Or how many times you’ve gotten in trouble for hacking into other people’s computer systems,” Hannah says in a low undertone.

I ignore both Hannah’s comment and Tracy’s answering snigger. “Then what happened?”

“The guy gave me a device that can really mess up a person’s computer. It’s wicked awesome.”

“Eli,” Hannah warns.

Eli rolls his eyes but keeps talking. “Whoever has the other part of the device can see what files are on the hacked computer, but also allows the person to manipulate the hacked files. It’s an amazing bit of technology. I didn’t know that the police used them.”

“The police,” I whisper.

“Yeah.” Eli nods. “He flashed me his badge and asked me to install the device on the computer in Garret’s office. He wanted me to put another one on Garret’s cell phone, but I couldn’t get my hands on that.”

“You bugged Garret’s computer.” My voice rises with each word.

“I didn’t want to.” Eli crosses his arms over his chest. “I like Garret, he’s nice to me. I told the guy no, but he said that the law says I had to help him no matter what. That if I didn’t cooperate, he’d have me arrested.”

“Erin,” Tracy says, but I ignore her, keeping my focus on Eli.

“Did you catch the officer’s name?” Maybe if I can speak to this officer, I could start unraveling the mess.

Eli shakes his head. “If he told me his name, I don’t remember it.”

Great, another dead end.

“Erin.” Tracy plucks at my sleeve. “I just remembered what I was trying to remember before this pair showed up.”

“What?” I snap at her.

“When I ran into Dillion last weekend. He told me he’s now working for the IRS as a forensic accountant. Which means he carries a badge.”