Page 63 of Smitty

I felt tears sting my eyes. Not from sadness, but from relief. Dylan would be okay. After Lisa dismissed us, Mark and I shared a bit of small talk at my cubicle, and I told him how much I appreciated his working with Dylan. Before he left, I promised to call him as soon as I got any news.

I went back to my desk and tried to keep myself busy. I checked my email, returned phone calls, and updated case notes that should’ve taken ten minutes but somehow took over an hour because I kept rereading the same sentence.

My eyes drifted to the clock and then over to the window. They would’ve been at Jimmy’s by now, and just like that, every horrible possibility came rushing through my mind.

Jimmy could’ve had the gun. He could’ve tried to shoot them when they came into the house. Jimmy’s father might have been hostile and fought them. And then, Jimmy could’ve gone after Dylan.

And this was why I was sitting at my desk, and Daniel was doing the home visit.

I rubbed my temples and reached for my coffee. I took a sip, and it was cold. Of course, it was. I stood and carried the mug to the break room. I dumped it into the sink before pouring myself a fresh cup.

“Good morning.”

I glanced behind me and found Gloria standing in the doorway with a warm smile. “Looks like you’ve had a long morning.”

“You could say that.”

“Something with Dylan?”

“Yes, but you know I can’t talk about it.”

“Yes. I know. I also know that Lisa and Daniel are good at what they do.”

“So, you know they have taken over the case.”

“Yes.” She winced. “Everybody knows.”

I let out an embarrassed groan. “Of course they do.”

“I know it’s hard, but things will work out.”

“But what if they don’t?” I held up my hand and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t talk about this right now.”

“It’s okay. I’m here if you need me.”

I nodded, then carried my coffee back to my desk. By lunchtime, I’d given up on trying to be productive. I took out my phone and looked through my messages to Brayden, hoping they might help distract me. They did, but not in the way I’d hoped.

Just seeing his name made me think about Ryan and the look on his face when I pulled out of the driveway. My stomach sank as I slipped my phone back into my purse.

I was just starting to collect myself when I heard the front door open. I looked up just in time to see Lisa walk into the office, and Daniel was right behind her. In a blink, I was on my feet and rushing toward them. “Well? What happened?”

“We met with the police. A detective went to Jimmy’s school and was able to pull him from class.” Lisa continued toward her office as she told me, “The situation is every bit as complicated as Dylan described.”

“So, there was a gun?”

“Yes,” Daniel answered. “It was Jimmy’s father’s, and he admitted to the officer that he’d shown it to Dylan and threatened him with it.”

Lisa sat down at her desk before continuing, “The officers have been to the house and have confiscated the weapon, and needless to say, the father wasn’t happy about having to turn it over.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t but thank goodness he did. Otherwise, who knows what Jimmy might’ve done.”

“Yeah, but he told the officer that he never intended to threaten anybody,” Daniel added. “He said Dylan teared up, and he panicked… He didn’t want Dylan to get him into trouble, so he tried to scare him. He tried several times to make it up to him, but it only seemed to scare Dylan even more.”

“Do you believe that?”

“It’s hard to tell, but yes. I do.”

“I do, too,” Lisa agreed.