Everyday Hero

by Jo Leigh

  She wondered what kind of a life it had been for T.J. with that father and stepfather. No wonder he’d been in trouble. The real question was how he’d gone from grand theft auto to homicide detective. What a trip that must have been.

  She led T.J. past the booking desk into the central jail area. On her right, a man in a torn T-shirt and jeans sat handcuffed to a low bench. Posters, explaining the rights of the citizens, were plastered on every wall. She could hear the odd echoed voices of inmates as they spoke in the concrete cells.

  She nodded to Jenny Teague, a policewoman Kate had known for many years. It didn’t surprise her when Jenny’s gaze moved past her to lock onto T.J.

  Jenny, ever the pragmatist, eyed him as if he were a saletable sweater. She liked what she saw, too. Her normally obdurate face softened and Kate wondered if she was going to sigh.

  When T.J. figured out what was going on, he flashed Jenny a killer smile. His confidence, shaken by the exchange with Officer Fleming, was back with a vengeance. Kate finally knew what cocksure meant.

  She wanted to dislike him. She saw what he was and who he was. Dangerous. A classic bad boy. Still there was something else inside him that belied all his posturing. She felt sure that if she could understand what it was that made T.J. Russo tick, she would be able to understand Bobby. The brothers shared a common wound. Something had happened in that family that had alienated T.J. from his home, from his past—from his only brother. The same thing was happening to Bobby. If she could find out what, she had a chance to help the boy. She doubted anything could be done for the man.

  “Where is he?” T.J. asked, looking into the cells that faced the center of the room.

  “Back there, I think,” she said, guiding him toward the rear of the building. They would put Bobby away from the others, being a juvenile. Sure enough, he was in the farthest cell. Alone. Staring at his high-tops. He looked small in the concrete room. The only decor a lone cot, inhospitable metal covered by a too-thin mattress, a sink in the corner and the etched testaments of hapless criminals on the scarred walls. T.J. slowed before he reached the cell door.

  “Hi, Bobby,” she said.

  His head came up and she could tell he was glad to see her. It wasn’t exactly a smile on his lips, but it was close. His eyes widened with relief to see a friend. Well, at least someone familiar. Then he looked past her and a cloud descended. Surprise, hurt, anger. All that and more played on his young face. He hadn’t learned yet to shutter his feelings. Not completely.

  “What’s he doing here?”

  She glanced back at T.J. He held himself still as a statue. His face was unreadable. Bobby could take lessons. “He’s here to see you.”

  “Why?”

  She waited to see if T.J. would answer. The silence just grew. She closed her eyes briefly, wishing she knew what to say.

  “How are you, kid?” T.J.’s voice was soft, strained.

  “Why’d you bring him?”

  He spoke to Kate; but the message was to T.J. The bitterness in Bobby’s tone cut right through all pretense. He’d been betrayed and it wouldn’t be easy to win back his trust.

  “I heard you were in some trouble,” T.J. said, as if it weren’t crystal clear that his brother wouldn’t talk to him, wouldn’t even look at him. Bobby stood several feet from the bars. He was still rigid, as if relaxing his muscles would disarm him.

  Kate moved forward and wrapped her hands around the steel bars that separated them from the teenager. The more she looked at him, the more she saw the resemblance between the brothers. Bobby also had dark hair, although he wore his long, pulled back in a ponytail. He was several inches shorter than T.J. and he was much leaner. His face was where the real clues were. Those large, dark eyes with the thick lashes. The straight nose and even white teeth. The kind of male beauty that leads only to trouble. They both had that in spades.

  “Tell him to get out of here. I don’t want him in my business.” Bobby stood up. He paced to the back of the cell and leaned against the wall, his left side toward Kate.

  “Can’t you just listen?” she asked, her words echoing off the concrete. “It seems to me you could use a friend right now.”

  Bobby snorted and hunched his shoulders.

  “Damn it,” T.J. said, his voice loud now and sharp. “You’re in trouble, little brother and I’m here to get you out of it. If it’s not too late.”

  Bobby swung around. “Too late? How about by nine years, brother. ”

  “You know why I left.”

  “Yeah. I do. I woulda left, too, only I was just a kid. So I had to stay. While you went off to Hollywood to screw movie stars.”

  “It wasn’t like that.” T.J. moved closer to the cell.

  Kate didn’t think he realized she was still there.

  “Get outa here,” Bobby said. “I got nothing to say to you.”

  “You damn well better have something to say. You think I can’t leave you here in jail to rot?”

  Kate spun on T.J. “What are you doing?” she whispered, sure Bobby could hear her anyway.

  T.J. looked at her and she stepped back to get away from the anger.

  “Keep out of this.”

  “You think you can just waltz in here and take over?”

  “He’s my brother.”

  “He’s my responsibility.”

  “Not for long.”

  T.J. left her standing by the cell. He walked down the hall, his boot heels loud in the empty room. She glanced back at Bobby, then took off after his brother.

  She caught up with him at the booking desk, although he didn’t acknowledge her.

  He called the officer on duty over. “What’s your name— Reynolds? What are you doing about the Sarducci kid?”

  Reynolds turned to some stacking trays behind him and shuffled through papers. He found the documents pertaining to Bobby and brought them to the desk. He read for a moment, using his index finger to guide his eye. “He’s a minor.”

  “I know that,” T.J. said sharply.

  Reynolds glanced at T.J.’s badge. “You should also know that someone has to sign the Notice To Appear and then he can go home.”

  T.J. leaned forward, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Before he could speak, Kate grabbed him by the shoulder. “I told you I’m taking care of this,” she said.

  He spun, turning on her with fire in his eyes. “This is not—” He looked behind him, only to see Reynolds watching them with interest. “You enjoying this?”

  Reynolds’s face hardened. “This is my desk, buddy. Who the hell are you?”

  Kate stepped closer to T.J., taking him by the arm. “Excuse us,” she said to the cop behind the desk. “We’ll be back.”

  She led T.J. down the corridor, stopping by the drinking fountain where they wouldn’t be overheard. “Are you crazy? You’re worse than Danny Arcola. I’ve never seen—”

  “I told you. This is not your problem,” he said.

  She didn’t flinch. “I didn’t have to bring you here.”

  “But you did. So back off.”

  Kate straightened up to her full height. “Why don’t you go back where you came from? You’re not here to help Bobby. You’ve got your own agenda. Whatever it is you need to work out, do it on your own time. Don’t come in here and bleed all over the floor. All you’re doing is making things worse.”

  He stared at her for a long minute, his dark eyes still filled with a rage that was as old as he was. She could see he was ready to bolt, to put as much distance between himself and Bobby as he could. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She’d hoped that T.J. could help his brother. With a little patience and some luck, Bobby wouldn’t have to come back here again. He could make something of himself. It wasn’t to be. That’s all.

  T.J. finally blinked and she waited for his excuses.

  “All right,” he said.

  “All right, what?”

  “I’ll sign him out.”

  “Then what?”

  “I’ll
talk to him.”

  “Talk? Or yell?” She could see she was making him angrier, but she couldn’t back off now. Not when she was so close.

  “Look, I said I’d stick around.”

  “For how long? Until it gets uncomfortable again?”

  Just when she thought he was going to lash out at her, the edge of his mouth quirked up in a slight smile. “You are one tough cookie, you know that?”

  “I eat tough cookies for breakfast. Answer the question.”

  “I’ll see it through.”

  “It won’t be easy.”

  “Nothing ever is.”

  She nodded. He’d surprised her. That hadn’t happened in a long time. “Let’s get Bobby out of here, okay?”

  He stepped back and rubbed his face with his open palm. He looked at her again, as if he didn’t quite know what to do with her, then held that same hand out in front of him. “After you.”

  She walked past him toward Reynolds’s desk. She’d won that one. All she could do was hope it was Bobby’s victory, too.

  Reynolds was on the phone. While they waited, T.J. leaned back against the desk and looked around the booking area. His anger had disappeared as if by magic. He seemed calm and cool, but she knew it wasn’t that simple. It was all still there—anger, bitterness, rage. But if she’d met him right now instead of a few minutes ago, she would never have guessed.

  This one is a master of disguise, she thought. A shapeshifter.

  T.J. turned around as Reynolds hung up the phone. “I’ll sign that NTA, if you’ve got it,” T.J. said.

  Kate waited to see if the officer would be satisfied with T.J.’s conciliatory tone. Reynolds didn’t look happy, but he seemed assuaged.

  “Can you tell us how long a wait it will be for his court appearance?” Kate asked.

  Reynolds went through some more paperwork. “Tomorrow, probably. Judge Hammond is quick.”

  “Good,” she said, then turned to T.J. “He’s strict, but fair.”

  Reynolds handed her a form to fill out. Of course, she knew the drill. She’d done this before. Normally the parents came to spring their kids, but often she would get a call from a single mother who couldn’t get off work, or who was just too frightened to go through the procedure alone. The parents had to show up in court, but for misdemeanor offenses, her role as social worker allowed her to sign the Notice to Appear.

  “I’ll sign it.”

  She turned to T.J. “If you sign it, you have to appear in court with him.”

  He nodded. “I know.” He slid the triplicate form closer.

  Kate heard someone behind her. She turned, expecting to see a police officer. Instead, she saw trouble.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Russo?”

  T.J. spun around. The moment his eyes settled on Gus Sarducci, Kate saw T.J.’s hackles rise. His back stiffened and his right hand, still holding his pen, curled into a tight fist.

  “Go back to your bottle, old man,” he said, his voice deceptively soft. “Bobby doesn’t need you to start any trouble.”

  Gus Sarducci was a bear of a man. He wasn’t fat, just thick. His neck, his arms, his legs, all were outsized. Even his fingers were like bulging sausages. She guessed he’d been drinking. His eyes were bloodshot and she thought she saw a slight waver in his step.

  “You’re the one that don’t belong here. He’s my son. Mine.”

  T.J. barely moved. She could hardly see him breathe. He stared at the old drunk through narrowed eyes, but the quick anger she’d seen earlier had been replaced by something more dangerous, more controlled.

  “Look what that’s got him,” he said.

  Gus took a step toward T.J. “You button your lip, you son of a bitch. Or I’ll button it for you.”

  “Hey.” Reynolds moved quickly. In an instant, he’d come from behind the desk and positioned himself between T.J. and Gus. “Take this out of here, or I’ll lock you both up.”

  Gus pointed a beefy finger at T.J. “He’s got no business here. Tell him to go back to the hole he crawled out of.”

  “Wait a minute,” Kate said. “Just stop this right now. I’m signing Bobby out. And I’m taking him with me.”

  She turned to face Gus. He was several inches shorter than she, which made her job easier. “Go home. Bobby will be at the youth center. If you want to come and talk with him there, be my guest. But if you’ve been drinking I’ll have you arrested on the spot.”

  His eyes darted from side to side, as if he were scanning his options on some private screen. Not that he had many. It wouldn’t be hard to press Reynolds to lock him up right now and he knew it.

  “Just so long as he don’t take him. That’s all I’m sayin’. He’s just like his father. He’ll steal the bread from your table. He don’t give a damn about anybody but himself. Go ahead, ask his mother. See what she has to say.”

  T.J. turned his back on Bobby’s father and on her. She should have been relieved to see his self-control. Instead she grew more uneasy.

  Kate held up her hand. “Officer Reynolds, would you please see Mr. Sarducci out? I’ll finish up the paperwork here.”

  Reynolds looked from Gus to T.J., then nodded. He took hold of Gus’s arm. “Let’s go.”

  “Hey, you can’t do this—”

  “I can do whatever I please.” Reynolds said.

  Gus turned to stare at T.J. “Don’t you go near him. Or you know what will happen.” Then he shook his arm free and walked down the hall. Reynolds followed him, his hand resting lightly on his holster.

  “So,” Kate said. “You two are pretty close, huh?”

  It took a minute for T.J. to register what she’d just said. He gave her a half smile, although there was damn little that was amusing about any of this. Seeing Gus had been worse than he’d anticipated. It was as if time had stopped in this small coastal town, stopped dead the moment he’d left.

  He remembered the feel of that thick fist pounding his gut and his face. He remembered the filthy words spewing from those lips, the lies, the taunts. The threats. The accusations that he was just like his father. That he would end up bad. He remembered his mother, too drunk herself to intervene.

  “He hasn’t changed. Nothing’s changed.”

  “You have. You’re not a helpless kid anymore. He can’t touch you. But he can still get to Bobby, so I need him cooperative.”

  T.J. shoved his memories aside and eyed her carefully, letting his gaze linger all the way down her body and back up again. “I don’t get you. One minute you’re Robocop, the next you’re Pollyanna. Which one is it?”

  Kate shook her head. “Neither. I’m just trying to do my job.”

  He shook his head. “We’ve just put off the inevitable. The minute Bobby goes home, Gus will beat the crap out of him, just like always. Worse. He’ll beat Bobby twice—once for him, once for me.”

  Kate turned to the booking desk and reached for the Notice to Appear form. “Bobby won’t be seeing Gus. Not for a while at least. I’m going to take him to the center. He can stay there until his court appearance.”

  “What then?”

  “I’m going to ask the judge to remand him to me. Bobby’s going to be given community service. At least a hundred hours. I want him to work with me. Where I can supervise him every inch of the way.”

  “You think if you get him under your roof, you can save him?”

  She met his eyes. Her gaze was clear and impassioned, full of conviction. He recognized that look. He’d seen it in rookies at the precinct. In young lawyers and brand-new D.A.’s. But it never lasted. The world beat the idealism out of those Young Turks, just like Gus beat the future out of Bobby.

  “I can try,” she said. “Someone’s got to.” She turned back to the form and picked up a pen from the desk.

  “Hold it.”

  She stopped, but she didn’t look up at him.

  He placed his hand over hers, then slid the form from beneath her fingers. When he put the pen to paper, he got the feeling he
was signing up for a lot more than just a court appearance. Against his better judgment, he was going to throw his hat into the ring. It was probably a huge mistake. One both he and Bobby would have to live with for a lifetime.

  T.J. waited none too patiently while the booking officer finished up the paperwork on Bobby. His gaze kept returning to Kate. Did she really believe she could save his brother? That she could offer him more than the prestige and danger of Danny’s posse? He would have thought the whole idea ridiculous, coming from most of the social workers he knew. But Kate was different. He’d watched her stand up to Danny Arcola, to Gus, even to him, without hesitation. Her physical presence was only a part of it, her strength went much deeper than that.

  In some ways, she reminded him of his old partner, Nick Castle. Nick was a hell of a cop—sharp, quick and as tough as petrified wood. But Nick had lived by a moral standard that set him apart. He’d held on to his beliefs long after any other man would have thrown in the towel.

  How many times had he told Nick to wise up? To forget about changing the world? But Nick hadn’t listened to him. And he didn’t think Kate would listen to him, either.

  The difference was, Nick had been lucky. He’d met Joanna and she’d taken him out of Hollywood and out of homicide. He knew Kate had no plans to leave. Which meant the rock-hard core that made her stand tall and shoot straight would be chipped away, day after day, year after year, until there was nothing left inside. Until she was just like him.

  “They’ve gone to get Bobby.” Kate walked toward T.J. from the back of the room, where she’d been talking to Reynolds.

  She pushed back her hair and he looked at her neck again. That lovely hollow spot at the base, the curve under her ear. He’d never been interested in necks before. Not to say he ignored them, they just hadn’t been high on his hit parade. But damn, if there wasn’t something about that neck.

  “Come on. We can meet him out back.”

  T.J. pushed himself away from the booking desk. He was anxious to be out of this place. Away from cops and criminals and bars and handcuffs. He should have gone to Hawaii. He would have wasted his time there, too, but at least he would have come home with a tan.