At the words, Danny blinked. “Jason,” he echoed, confused. His frown deepened. “What’s Jason got to do with this?”

Pain swept over Jordan’s face. Though she had quieted, the quiver in her voice remained. “They know where we live, Danny. They know about the convent.” She sniffed, pushing back her knotted black hair with her hand. “And they know about Jason. When we were at the playground, they saw him there.”

Again, he caught her eye. “Who are ‘they?’”

Every time he asked, Jordan broke a little further. “I already told you. I can’t tell you that.” Exhausted by her display, she let herself slide back into her seat. “I can’t. Not when Jason might get hurt.”

Danny followed suit and joined her at the table. But where she was calming down, he was becoming the picture of urgency. “Have they ever threatened you?”

“No.” She shifted uncomfortably. “But…I’ve seen what they can do when someone crosses their line. That’s not going to happen to me or to my brother. Not where I have the power to stop it.”

“Jordan,” he said as he had in the last half hour to gain her attention. “These people will be caught, whether you give us the information or not. But as long as they know where you live, yours and Jason’s lives will still be in danger. Along with whoever else is living at that convent.”

Her face iced over. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Danny said. “That in taking that job, you’ve put a lot of lives at risk. Especially your own.” He sighed, not believing he still hadn’t gotten through to her. “Jordan, whether you tell us or not, people can still get hurt, get killed, or worse. You’ve seen it happen.”

She frowned. “Then what’s the point?” she demanded.

“The point is if you do tell us. We can get to them before they get to you.”

“Bullshit,” she said immediately. “You don’t know these people.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” Danny gave her that. “But I’ve seen what happens to people who hold back, thinking they’re making the right decision by not talking to the police. Do you want that to be you? Do you want to look back and regret what you’ve done when Jason’s life is in jeopardy? Because that’s what will happen, if you don’t tell us who these people are.”

She glared, her cheeks still streaked with dried tears. “Don’t talk to me about regret,” she told him. “Everything I’ve ever done has been for Jason.”

Danny’s eyes warned her. “Don’t hide behind that.”

“He deserves so much more than I’m able to give him. He deserves nice clothes and books…and video games, and a place to play. And a college education.” This time she was the one to point to him. “That’s regret. Knowing that no matter what I do, I won’t be able to give him those things.”

Danny struggled to reach her. “Jordan, he’s not your son.”

Jordan’s eyes couldn’t glow, but they held just as much intensity. “I’m all he’s got. That makes him mine.”

He sighed. “You’re just a kid-” He would have said more, but he was cut off when the door of the interrogation room opened.

Swerving around in his chair, Danny sent a death glare to whoever had interrupted his interrogation, when Frank Sanders appeared in the doorway.

“Danny,” he began. There was something in his voice that Danny couldn’t place. It wasn’t sadness or exhaustion. But something that dawned closer to disappointment.

“I need to have a word with you outside.”

Heaving a sigh of frustration, Danny reluctantly got up from his chair and cast a glance to Jordan to let her know they weren’t through yet.

When door shut behind them, it took all of Danny’s willpower not to explode into Frank’s face. “Do you have any idea how close I was?” he nearly shouted. “Why’d you pull me out?”

Frank’s bleary eyes addressed his. “Who’s Jason?”

Danny, who had started out with so much animosity, sobered at the question. “He’s her three-year-old brother. What’s that got to do with anything?”

Frank hesitated and stood back, resting his chubby arms against each other. “Everything in that room goes on file, you know that,” he shared with the agent. “You told me you were close with her, but you neglected to tell me just how close.”

Danny squinted. “What are you talking about?”

His eyes lowered, as if to say ‘what do you think I mean.’ “Danny,” he addressed him. “I don’t know what’s going on with you and that girl in there. And I don’t care. It’s none of my business. If I know you – and I think I do – all you’re interested in is her protection.”

Danny stared forward to Frank. “Your point?”

Frank humored him and put up his hands to show he was backing off. “I pulled you out, because the objectives have changed.”

Danny blinked. “How?”

“The boys we brought in with her are copping a plea,” he said. “There’s no use putting yourself on the line in there. We’re on our way to getting all the information we need.” He shook his head as he stared at the quiet interrogation room. “But from the way things are looking…it just won’t be from her.”

“So that’s what you brought me out to tell me?” he asked, becoming upset. “Not to try any more because you’re not interested.”

“Hey.” The detective frowned at the very implication. “I’m doing all I can for that girl in there, and I intend to keep doing so. But if I’m going to do that, I need some respect.”

Though Danny didn’t like what he was hearing, he realized that Frank was right. “No,” he said, losing some of his anger. “No, you’re right. You’ve done a tremendous favor for me…” He looked to the detective. “It’s time I recognized that.”

Frank’s features lost some of their severity, and he clenched a strong hand on Danny’s shoulder. “I promise you I’m gonna do the best I can.” He gave him a pat on the back. “There’s coffee in the back. It’s awful, but it’s something to keep your mind off this.”

Danny understood. He was being dismissed. “Anything happens-”

“You’ll be the first to know,” Frank assured.

Danny’s voice was soft. “Thank you.”

The two parted ways, and almost immediately, Danny was confronted by Sr. Rachel, who looked to be about as distressed as everyone else he had spoken to in the past few hours.

“What happened?” she needed to know. “Did she say anything?”

Brow furrowed, Danny shook his head. “Not anything that’ll help.”

She pursed her lips. “What’ll happen to her?”

“I don’t know,” he breathed, resting his chin against his fist. “I just don’t know…”

It was then, as he stared forward toward Jordan’s interrogation room, that his eyes began to blur, and faint, remembered words echoed into his head. He heard them as clear as day, as if they were being spoken once again.

But if you truly care about Jordan, you’ll set boundaries… It’s the only way to protect the both of you…

As his eyes closed, Danny’s sigh drew out heavy and prolonged.

Perhaps this was something that Jack had been talking about.

He and Sr. Rachel stood in contrast to the bustling police station, silent and stationary. Neither moving, neither sure of what to say.

They waited, through time Danny was certain the officers spent grilling Jordan, threatening things they could legally never do, and sweating blood trying to break her code of silence.

The hours wore on, and eventually, the police went into her interrogation room less and less, until finally they didn’t go in at all.