“No,” Del said firmly. “No, I won’t.” He nodded at Dr. Atchley who was obviously looking for a way out and took it as soon as he expressed they had no further questions. Then he turned his attention to Harper. “I did nothing wrong. I went and helped Justin when he was in trouble. The police just need me to give my statement so that they know what exactly happened. That’s how the law works.”
Harper looked dubious, and Del could understand why. After all, she’d been raised to believe that the police were the enemy and her family—probably Uncle Steve included—had never done anything bad and they’d been unjustly put in jail anyway.
Suddenly she got off the chair and walked to Del, then climbed onto his lap and held on like the little girl she was supposed to be. Del felt tears threatening to fall, and hugged her close, despite the fact that it meant taking his hand off Scarlett.
* * * *