A plan to help Littles in trouble.
Littles like Iris. Well, maybe Like Iris. If Iris was indeed in some sort of trouble. Only time would tell.
That proposal had been a good one, though. Perhaps she needed to reach out to her friends and discuss it further.
“Oh! There’s Auntie Athena!” Elena declared, pulling the matronly woman from her thoughts. “I didn’t see you there on the stairs.”
The two Littles left Travon in the yard and walked toward the front porch.
“Iris, this is the best Auntie in the whole wide world! Auntie Athena. You’ll love her.”
Athena stepped down and smiled warmly as the women stopped before her.
“Good afternoon, Little Iris. It’s so good to have you here. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Iris opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her hand was obviously shaking as Athena shook it. Clearing her throat, she was finally able to say, “Thank you, ma’am. I’m so happy to be here.”
Athena searched her eyes for another moment. There was definitely hurt in them. Perhaps betrayal? Certainly desperation.
Yes, my Mommy instincts are correct. This Little needs some help.
Good thing she came to the right place.
Good thing she’s at Auntie Athena’s Nursery now.
Chapter Four
“Damn perp was just a low-level thug,” Matteo Batista growled as he shook his head angrily, looking at the skinny guy who sat in the holding cell. “Doesn’t know a damn thing about the operation.”
Jack looked at his fellow Brother in Blue—though Jack didn’t actually wear the uniform anymore, except when a special occasion called for their dress blues.
Matteo did, though, and he wore it in a way that drove all the women crazy. He was tall, dark, and handsome, checking those boxes the ladies seemed to love. His father was Hispanic, and it showed in his dark skin and eyes.
“Yep,” Jack said. “They just paid him a few dollars and let him live in that shack to stand guard. He wasn’t even supposed to shoot at us.”
“What?” Mateo said before a look of recognition flashed in his eyes. “Ah. A lookout. He was just supposed to alert them when we showed up.”
“Not just alert,” Jack said, holding up a small black rectangular device with a single button in the middle of it. “He was supposed to detonate this. Whole house was wired to blow.Thankfully, this idiot panicked, fired at me instead, and then took off.”
“Son of a—” The curse trailed off as the realization of what might have happened seemed to dawn on Mateo. “There were over twenty cops in there! He would have blown us all sky-high!”
“That’s the idea,” Jack confirmed. “Let’s thank our lucky stars that didn’t happen.” He let a few seconds pass before he said, “This shows that Frank and his crew aren’t playing around. We’ve got to take them off the board and fast.”
Sgt. Batista nodded. “I’ve got all the patrolmen keeping an eye out, spreading the word, and talking to CIs.”
Confidential informants were good sources of information. But Jack had his doubts they could provide anything in this instance. Their enemy, Frank Halloway, knew how the game was played. He was too smart to let anyone talk.
“Thanks,” Jack said. “And me and the other detectives will keep chasing down leads. Maybe we can get these guys—and their guns—off the streets before anyone else get hurt.”
Based on the look in Matteo’s eyes, Jack suspected the man wanted to say more.
All around them, the station buzzed with life. Cops left and some entered. A few carried shotguns and gear bags, ready to setup their “shops” for an evening on patrol. A few who came in were escorting cuffed detainees toward the holding cells.
The aroma of cleaner, piss, and vomit reached Jack’s nose, reminding him of how much he hated this area of the station. At any given time, there were a handful of drunks sleeping it off in one of the cells. They never smelled great, that was for sure.
In fact, sometimes Jack hated the entire station—no matter which part of the building he was in.
He was just getting tired of the bullshit. Right now, he just needed to be away, in the fresh air, or maybe at Auntie Athena’s…
