Temporary Family

by Sally Tyler Hayes

  She settled for nothing more than the smile. “You told me you weren’t such a bad guy,” she said. “And now I believe it.”

  Maybe he didn’t realize it yet, maybe he wasn’t ready to admit it to himself, but he was going to help them.

  “Laura,” he began again.

  She touched her fingertips to his lips to quiet him. “I know. No promises.”

  He looked thoroughly exasperated. She felt a little thrill of feminine power in knowing that she had managed to unsettle him with a little kiss and a little faith.

  “Why don’t you go and make that call?” she said. “Rico and I will be right here when you get back.”

  She had no doubts now. Nick would be back.

  Chapter 7

  Nick didn’t sleep well that night, but it wasn’t his usual nightmare that kept him awake. It didn’t have anything to do with the shooting of a fifteen-year-old boy.

  This time he dreamed of a lovely, dark-eyed woman with hair that never seemed to end and lips that brought the body of a half-dead man roaring painfully back to life.

  He cursed her. He shouted at her from within the barren walls of his apartment, the one that now seemed more like a dungeon than a coward’s refuge.

  He’d been a coward for the past year. It galled him to admit it, but he didn’t see anything else he could call it—not honestly, at least.

  She made him see that. She’d jolted him out of this safe little hiding place and showed him that he’d grown tired of licking his wounds and doing his damnedest to simply disappear, until all his problems did so, as well.

  Laura had done this to him, and he didn’t know whether to thank her or to shout obscenities at her, instead.

  He was certain of only one thing—he wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to know if it could possibly feel as good as he remembered.

  And if it did, he was in even more trouble than he was now.

  As he saw it, all he had to do was kiss Laura Sandoval again and prove to himself that it wasn’t at all as earth-shattering as he’d dreamed.

  If he was smart, he’d talk one of his former colleagues into working with Rico and he’d find a law-enforcement officer he trusted to look after Rico’s and Laura’s safety.

  He’d convinced himself, sometime during the night, that he was being paranoid in thinking someone was after Rico. The police could have easily gotten their wires crossed and sent two people after the same bloodstained clothes.

  So Nick was going to take care of those few details, and then he was going to tackle some of his own problems, like how he was going to put his life back together again.

  He thought about the mess otherwise known as his life for what seemed like hours, then consulted the clock. Maybe fifteen minutes had passed. His mind remained stubbornly in one place—a hospital room across town with one little boy and one maddeningly attractive woman.

  Not long after that, he picked up his coat and walked out the door.

  Between the nurses coming and going to check on Rico, the rumbling and clanging of equipment being wheeled past in the hallway, and the whimpering sounds that Rico made, Laura had little opportunity for steep.

  When the night nurses made their final rounds before going off duty at seven, Laura showered, changed into some fresh clothes a fellow teacher and neighbor had dropped off the night before, then stared at the little boy in the bed.

  He was restless, as he had been all night, but still sleeping. The nurses said that if he truly had spent three days and nights on the streets, then it was likely exhaustion and lack of sleep were catching up to him now. It was not, as Laura feared, some kind of complication from his head injury.

  She didn’t want to leave him yet, but she was itching to get to the library. She wanted to go through some back issues of the paper and find out what she could about Nick and what happened to him and his patient last summer. Laura couldn’t believe Nick would have been reckless or careless in his treatment of a child.

  Even more curious was the way he never tried to hide the fact that he was involved in something tragic. He worked very hard at pushing her away.

  Well, Laura would not be pushed. But she did want to be prepared. It made sense to be prepared, she’d told herself over and over again. She wouldn’t be be-traying Nick in any way by finding out what she could about the incident. He had invited her to do so when he sent her to talk to the doctor yesterday. So why did it feel like the betrayal of a trust or the invasion of his privacy?

  Because she’d kissed him? Because they’d started something and it was still fragile and new? Because she didn’t want to do anything to mess things up between them?

  All those things and more ran through Laura’s head.

  She wanted to help Nick, she reminded herself. She wasn’t doing this out of some morbid sense of curiosity. Perhaps if she knew more she could help him. And maybe she wouldn’t need the newspaper clippings at all—maybe Nick would tell her himself.

  Laura debated with herself before finally picking up the phone and calling her friend Connie, who’d brought the clothes the night before, and asking Connie for one more favor.

  Rico finally woke up around ten-thirty, and he was clearly happy to see Laura. He puzzled over the bandages on his forehead and the side of his face, and she explained his injuries and what would hopefully be a brief stay in the hospital.

  Later, he was a little apprehensive when the doctor came in and examined him. But the boy received a clean bill of health. He could go home soon. They were both relieved.

  Rico still wasn’t talking, though the two of them managed to communicate through a series of nods and shakes of his head. He didn’t exactly remember the car that hit him, but he recalled the noise and the way Nick had grabbed him. Laura was sure he remembered being at Hope House when the policeman had come to talk to him, but he wouldn’t tell her why he’d run into the street like that.

  She didn’t want to press him just yet by asking him to recall anything before he’d arrived at the shelter. Clearly he was still frightened by the whole situation.

  So she talked about the social worker, explained that as soon as the paperwork was finalized and the doctor released him Rico could come home with her. He brightened visibly at the news. Laura pulled him into her arms and held him for a moment.

  The door to the room opened, and she looked up, hoping to see Nick. Instead she found a uniformed policeman, the one she’d seen at the shelter last night.

  Laura didn’t like the policeman who came to question Rico. He was in a hurry, and he didn’t seem to care that Rico was scared or that he hadn’t said a word since showing up at the shelter less than forty-eight hours ago.

  And the policeman wouldn’t let Laura stay in the room with Rico while they talked, which worried her.

  They had nearly escaped the police questioning altogether. In the hallway, the nurses had found her to take a call from Sharon Sawyer at social services. The paperwork was done. She could take Rico home. All Laura had to do was to wait until rounds were over so the doctor could sign the discharge papers. They would be free to go. Now she had to contend with this surly cop, instead.

  She thought about calling someone else on the police force—maybe that man Rico’s mother had dated off and on for the past year—but she still couldn’t remember his name. If she could, maybe he would help. At least he would know Rico. Surely Rico wouldn’t be so scared talking to someone he knew.

  Laura tried to recall his name. Rico had mentioned him a few times in class. Maybe when Rico started talking again, he would tell her. Maybe this could get him to talk.

  Just then the door to Rico’s room opened. Laura turned and saw the policeman coming out of the room with Rico in tow, already in the wheelchair the nurses had brought earlier in preparation for Rico’s discharge.

  The cop looked even more intimidating than before; he wasn’t that tall, but he was beefy, with big rounded arms, a rounded chest, a reddish hue to his cheeks and a crew cut. Laura disliked him on sight
.

  And, if possible, Rico looked even more frightened than before. He was huddled to one side of the chair, his eyes downcast, his expression carefully blank. He had tuned out the world; Laura recognized that pose all too well.

  She bent down to put herself at eye level with Rico, but he refused to look up at her.

  “Rico?” She placed a hand on his knee and gave him the best smile she could manage under the circumstances.

  “We’re going to have to take him to the station,” the cop said.

  “What?” She stood up. “Why?”

  “We picked up someone who was reportedly seen near the apartment building last week, and we need to find out if the boy can ID the suspect for us.”

  “He’s not...” She paused for a moment as this surge of panic ran through her. She didn’t want this man to take him. “He isn’t even talking yet. Did he talk to you?”

  “He doesn’t have to.”

  Clearly the man wasn’t used to having his actions questioned.

  “He can point, can’t he? That’s all we need.”

  The man already had his back turned, dismissing her as nothing but an annoyance. Laura was outraged. “What about what Rico needs?” she shouted.

  The cop turned around, the flush in his cheeks heightened. She wouldn’t want to run into him on a deserted street at night alone.

  “Look, lady,” the man snapped, then halted momentarily as if to reconsider. “I’m sorry, okay? But I don’t have all morning. I can’t hold this guy forever without charging him with something, and I don’t have time to argue with you about this. I’m just trying to do my job, and I need to take the kid to the precinct house on Third Street to see if he can ID our suspect.”

  “Then I’m coming with you,” she said.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Well, I do, and at the moment, I’m his legal guardian.” Laura hoped he wouldn’t ask for proof, because she didn’t have any of the paperwork yet.

  “Then you can pick him up at the station when we’re done.”

  The cop just turned and walked away, pushing Rico along with him.

  “Hey!” she said.

  Rico turned around, eyeing her pleadingly. He was afraid. Couldn’t this surly cop see that? The man didn’t even glance back. He just kept right on walking.

  Laura started to run after him. She didn’t care if she looked like some foolish, overprotective parent; she didn’t want Rico to be alone with this man.

  She was terribly afraid, and she didn’t know why. Were other mothers this protective of their children? Or was she being unreasonable now that she was once again wading into the unfamiliar waters of parenthood ?

  Laura didn’t know. She suddenly felt unable to cope with the responsibilities she’d assumed as Rico’s foster parent.

  Then she saw Nick coming down the hallway.

  “Oh, thank God,” she said to herself, then reached out to him with two trembling hands. “Nick.”

  “What’s going on?”

  He took her hands in his and steadied her. She didn’t stop to think about how right that felt and how reassuring.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. One of the cops came back this morning, and he’s taking Rico with him.”

  “Where?”

  “To one of the precinct offices. He said they picked up some guy who was spotted near Rico’s apartment last week, and the police want to see if Rico can identify him.”

  It didn’t sound unreasonable at all when she said it, but still—it had felt incredibly wrong to her to let him go.

  “And you didn’t go with him?” Nick said.

  “The policeman wouldn’t let me. The man is an absolute ox. I... I don’t know what to do.” Normally she wouldn’t have let anyone run over her the way that policeman had, but she was on unfamiliar ground here.

  “I don’t like the sound of this, Laura.”

  She was so relieved to hear him say it. “Neither do I.”

  “I know a few cops. What was his name?”

  “Welch, I think. He was one of the cops who came to the shelter the first night.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “A sausage.” She smiled at his reaction. “He did. All puffed up and rounded, red in the face, as if he was going to explode any minute.”

  “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him.”

  “Believe me, you would remember.”

  “How long ago did they leave?”

  “Ten seconds.”

  “Then we shouldn’t have any trouble catching them in the parking lot.”

  She smiled again. She was right about Nick. He was going to help her and Rico.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “Which way?”

  “This way. I know I’m probably being silly, but Rico was frightened. And there’s no reason for a policeman to frighten him.”

  They made it to the end of the hall, then waited impatiently for the elevators, which finally came and deposited them on the first floor. They were nearly to the front door, when Nick heard his name over the PA system.

  Laura looked at him questioningly when he stopped walking.

  “I need to get it,” he said. “It may be A.J., and she may have found out something about Rico for us.”

  “Okay. I’ll go ahead. I don’t want to miss them.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Laura walked out the back doors, where a security guard was directing traffic. He remembered seeing the cop with Rico and pointed her around to the alley to the left. She caught up with the two of them as they reached the police car.

  Rico saw her first and gave her a teary smile that did funny things to her heart. But then, she’d fallen hard for this little boy right from the start. There was something about those beautiful brown eyes of his, and his silly grin, that got to her.

  “Well, hello, little man,” she said. “Miss me?”

  He nodded.

  The cop, who was unlocking the door of the police car, whirled around, his eyes narrowing on her, the veins in his temple throbbing anxiously.

  “What are you doing here, lady?”

  “I’m going with you,” she said.

  He gave her a smirk that said he’d like to see her try it.

  The cop opened the door. Laura caught the door with her hand and waited, forcing the man to look at her and to say something rather than letting him close the door.

  “I warned you about this,” he said, then grabbed her by the arm and pushed her away.

  Off-balance, she stumbled and fell to the sidewalk, scraping her knees as she hit.

  When she looked up, the cop was walking back to the car. He’d shoved her to the ground, and now he was going to leave her there. He was going to take Rico. Laura jumped up and ran after him, yelling as she ran.

  “Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?” She caught him by the sleeve and yanked it to make him turn around.

  When he did, she saw only one thing—the gun in his hand—and knew only one emotion — fear, unlike any she’d ever experienced.

  “Dr. Garrett,” Nick said as he picked up the phone, trying not to think about how many times he’d answered a hospital page like this, how natural it had once been to him, how unsettling it was now.

  “Nick, it’s A.J. I knew you’d be there.”

  He decided to let that go unchallenged. He didn’t need to ask how she knew, didn’t need to hear her say that she knew he wouldn’t be able to resist a kid like Rico.

  “Where are you, A.J.?” he asked instead. “At the shelter?”

  “What if I am?”

  “The shelter where you supposedly stopped working two days ago?” He knew her, as well. She’d never stop helping kids in trouble, either.

  “Wise guy,” she said.

  Nick laughed easily. He felt better today. He felt... almost normal. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “I’m worried about Rico. It’s not
like us to misplace something like a pair of bloody jeans, so I called Joe Dailey.”

  “And?”

  “He said he gave the clothes to a cop who came by the shelter late that first night.”

  “So? The cops just got their wires crossed. One of them forgot what the other did.”

  “No. According to the cops, no one assigned to work on this case picked up those clothes.”

  Nick didn’t say anything for a minute, but he turned to face the doors, where Laura had disappeared a moment ago to go find Rico and a cop—a rude, overbearing man who had insisted on taking Rico alone with him.

  “I don’t like the sound of this at all, Nick.”

  “Neither do I.” He wished he hadn’t let Laura go by herself. “What was the cop’s name?”

  “Joe didn’t think the man gave his name. And he couldn’t remember seeing the man’s name anywhere on his uniform.”

  “What did he look like?” Nick pressed, feeling more uneasy, hating to let any more time pass before he went to find Laura, but needing the information.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

  “Dammit.” He backed up and tried again. “When you called the precinct house, who did you talk to?”

  “Officer Mitchell.”

  “He’s in charge of the investigation?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did he tell you they picked up a suspect someone saw near the apartment three or four nights ago? That they wanted to see if Rico recognized the guy?”

  “No, he didn’t say anything about a suspect. He said they’re stumped. They don’t have any idea what happened there.”

  Nick didn’t need to hear anything else. His instincts were screaming at him. He didn’t even take the time to explain things to A.J.; he was afraid he didn’t have that much time to waste.

  “I have to go, A.J. I’ll call you later and explain.” He dropped the phone, turned and ran for the door.

  Outside, a security guard directed him to the side of the building where the man saw the policeman go with Rico, then saw Laura follow. She couldn’t be that far ahead of him. No way. He couldn’t have eaten up more than a minute on that call to A.J.