She pulls back and looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”
I lean down and kiss her forehead. “Come introduce me to the kid.”
She steps aside and opens the door before taking my hand and leading me up to the apartment. I itch to grab my gun, because I know better than to walk into an unknown situation, but those tears in her eyes hold me back. She trusted me with this. I can’t let her down, not at the first hurdle.
She walks me inside. I scan the room, noticing the trash on the table that wasn’t there the last time I was here. She leads me back to the bedroom, making me grit my teeth. But when we walk in, I don’t see anyone.
She lets go of my hand and walks farther into the room. “There you are.” She moves around the bed, which is when I notice the mess it’s in and the blood. I follow behind her and grit my teeth when she drops to her knees in front of a figure huddled in the corner.
“Hey,” she murmurs, reaching for him. As soon as he feels her hand on his arm, he jolts, his head snapping up. He relaxes when he sees Delphi, until his eyes land on me. His face bleeds white, and his eyes dart to the door.
“Not gonna hurt you, kid,” I tell him gruffly. Taking him in, I can see someone has already beaten me to the punch. “Get him up on the bed. I’ll go grab the first aid kit.” His eyes don’t leave mine. “You hurt her, and I’ll make this look like child’s play. You get me?”
He nods as Delphi glares at me.
“Good, so we understand each other. You got a name?”
The kid swallows, looking like the last thing he wants to do is share it, and that’s okay, I get it.
“Alright, Bud, don’t strain your brain. I’ll be back with some shit to clean you up with.”
I leave Delphi to get him up and move to the bathroom, where there is a first aid kit. Usually, I wouldn’t take my eyes off Delphi in a situation like this, but I’m not sensing a threat from this kid. Hell, given his current state, Delphi would likely be able to put him on his ass herself.
When I walk back in a few moments later, the kid is sitting on the side of the bed with Delphi beside him. She’s not touching him, but she’s offering him support just the same. She talks about the fact that it’s supposed to rain later and that traffic was busy in town today. And as she talks, he settles more.
While she has him distracted, I move to the kitchen and grab a stack of clean kitchen towels along with a bowl of warm water. When I walk back in, he seems calmer, but he watches every move I make as if he’s waiting for me to lash out.
“I’m going to clean you up and we’re gonna talk, man to man. You don’t bullshit me, and I’ll see what I can do to help. You lie to me, though, and I’ll send you back to wherever it is you came from.”
I won’t, but he doesn’t need to know that. If Delphi had lasers for eyes, I’d be dead right now. But this isn’t the time for bullshit. I need to know if whatever trouble this kid is in will spill over onto Delphi.
He licks his split lip and winces. I crouch in front of him and take the towel, dipping it in the warm water before using it to clean him up.
“Who did this to you?”
He fists his hand but doesn’t speak.
“Kid…” I warn.
Delphi moves closer, sliding her hand over the boy’s. He looks down at it, his eyes widening in wonder, and I can’t help but feel something inside me soften toward him. The kid is clearly touched-starved.
“We won’t let anyone hurt you. It would hurt me. And do you really think Kruger would let that happen? No, he really, really doesn’t like me being hurt.”
“Was he mad about the grenade?” the kid asks quietly, his eyes lifting to mine once more.
“Furious,” I answer. “And scared out of my fucking mind.”
“Language, Kruger,” Delphi chides, making me roll my eyes.
“Kid’s not six. Bet he hears a shit-ton worse at school.”
The kid nods, his lips twitching a little.
“I don’t care,” she says stubbornly.
“You got kids?” he asks, looking from me to Delphi.
A look of pain crosses her face before she shakes it off. “I lost a lot of babies, some before I even knew I was pregnant,” she answers softly. She fiddles with her wrist, which is when I notice the cuff is missing. “The last time, though, we were so close. We found out he was a boy and called him Samuel. It was said to mean ‘God has heard’ and I really did think he’d heard my prayers this time.”
