Saving the officer from his embarrassment, the waitress stopped by and asked for their orders. Sodas were ordered all around, and TT also asked for the chocolate lover’s brownie sundae with strawberries. JD nodded his consent to the sundae when the waitress looked to him for confirmation.

When the waitress left, the officer offered his apologies for his statement. “Listen, I know I am a biased person, and I should not have said what I said, I am sorry. Our training on unconscious bias is a work in progress.” He met JD’s eyes as he spoke.

JD nodded and glanced down at TT’s notebook. To the left of her drawing, on the first line was a “T.” He wasn’t sure what it meant, but decided to just keep going and ask TT later. He looked up at the officer again, “All that aside, can you help me find Marc?” He watched the older man consider the question. He was wearing a plain blue t-shirt and plain blue jeans. The man was basically non-descript, nothing really about him told a story; average height, with a little weight around the middle, his mousy brown hair was greying and receding, and his brown eyes peered at JD through silver rimmed glasses.

“I need to know what you can do for me, before I answer that question.”

JD did not hesitate, he already knew, “I’m willing to retire Vigilante. I can hand it all over, all our equipment, all our information, everything.”

“What if I ask you to turn yourself in, not just retire?”

JD really hadn’t considered that. Turning himself in would mean jail time, ruining his academics and hurting his family. He looked down at his hands as he thought for a moment.

The man continued, “If we’re going to work together on this, there are things I am going to say that will upset you. I need to know how much you’re willing to sacrifice for one friend.”

‘Friend’ JD thought about the word. Was Marc a friend? No, Marc was his partner. Marc was his other half. JD’s life was already in ruins because Marc was missing. “No, sir,” JD looked the man in the eyes, “Marc’s not a friend, or not JUST a friend. I have nothing without him. If you ask me to turn myself in for being a vigilante, for being Vigilante, in exchange for returning Marc to his mother, I will.”

The man nodded solemnly. “I, alone, cannot help you, but there are several of us in the area, with ‘powers’ who are in law enforcement. We discussed at length helping you, whether we should or shouldn’t contact you, and what we would ask of you in return for help. I will be your only contact for the group. No one else will reveal their names, faces, or their role in this investigation.” The man sighed at looked at TT, “I have to ask why you’ve brought your sister?”

JD looked at Tasha for a moment, even noticed she now had a list of ‘T’s down the page, “Well,” he looked back up at the officer, “as you can imagine my grades have slipped while the arsonist was active, my mom has me grounded, but I got my sister to ask her for me to take her for a sundae. Mom can’t say no to my baby sister, so it’s the only way I could get here.” TT stuck her tongue out at JD and he grabbed for it playfully.

The waitress came back and interrupted with the sodas and sundae, which was almost as big as TT’s head. She grinned as the sundae was placed in front of her. JD rolled his eyes and watched her dig in.

“Well, next time, try to show up without her. For now, I am going to tell you something you don’t want to hear. We suspect your friend of working with the arsonist.” He let his words sink in for JD before he continued, “we have surveillance photos of the two of them together, just since the fires stopped.” He pulled the photos from a bag he had on the seat beside him and handed them to JD.

JD’s heart was racing, his mind was racing, and seeing the photos of Marc walking hand-in-hand with some stranger almost broke him. Almost. He shuffled through the 6 photos, all taken at different times, but in all, Marc was holding on to this other person. JD studied the man’s face, trying to remember if he had ever seen him. Next he studied Marc’s face, looking for the truth, for a sign that Marc really had betrayed him, that Marc had chosen this guy instead of JD. JD’s hands were shaking when Tasha reached over and placed her hand on his.

JD looked at her as she peered over at the photos in his hands. “He doesn’t look happy.” She stated it as a matter of fact, so JD looked again. In each photo Marc wasn’t holding on to the other guy, he was being held. Either being pulled or pushed, he didn’t look happy. Actually, Marc looked sick, pale with dark circles under his eyes, and thin. His hoodie was the same one he had on at the bonfire, but it was hanging off of him instead of being fitted like it had been.

JD pushed aside his doubts. “I think I understand why you have your suspicions,” JD handed the photos back, “and I certainly can’t provide an answer as to why Marc is with your suspect. I don’t know what’s going on, but I am all in for catching the arsonist. Bonus if it means finding Marc. I just don’t think you’re going to find any connections between Marc and the fires.”

“I understand your feelings, I guess, but if we do find a connection, he will be prosecuted.” He took the photos back and slipped them into the bag again. “Here’s the deal, we can find them, we’re working on it, and we know this guy is the guy setting the fires. We know it without a doubt, whether Marc is involved or not, that guy is the arsonist. There’s a big problem, though. We know it’s him because of the ‘powers’ not because of classic legal investigation. We can’t connect the dots on paper which means we can’t apprehend him without more dots, or evidence.”

“But Vigilante can.”