“An incident?” John asks.
“A guy came in, seemed to know him, pulled a knife and roughed him up a bit.”
John’s heart rate spikes and his mind goes to a very dark place. “Is the man gone now? Is Bayani okay? Is he hurt?”
“He’s fine. A bit shaken though. Thought he could use a friend.”
“I’ll be right down. Don’t let him leave.”
Don’t let anyone take him.
John grabs his pistol and stuffs it into his waistband, then quickly locks up the shop. Glancing up and down the street, he jogs the few blocks down to the supermarket, cursing himself for allowing Bayani to go alone. Never again. He blasts through the automatic doors and surveys the scene, scanning the aisles with the same eagle eye he used as a Marine to search for suspicious activity. John doesn’t recognize any of the customers as members of the Hand, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still pose a threat. For all he knows, they could be Emile’s spies.
John doesn’t bother calling for the boy. Instead, he jogs the perimeter of the store, head down, one hand at his back in case he needs to draw his weapon. He finds Bayani huddled on the floor in the back of the store, gripping his knees tightly and shaking all over with tears slipping silently down his cheeks.
“What’d the guy look like?” John asks George who is hovering near Bayani like a mother hen. John continues to scan their surroundings in case the bastard is planning a surprise attack.
“Bottle blonde, floppy hair, fancy clothes, prick.”
Emile.
John squats next to Bayani, lays a big hand on the boy’s shoulder. They’re too exposed here—a couple of the Hand’s thugs could easily overpower them like this. John needs to get Bayani back to the shop where he can defend them more easily on home turf.
“Come on, sweetheart,”John signs, then takes one of Bayani’s hands to ease him to his feet.
“I didn’t get ice cream,”Bayani signs, somewhat frantically, and glances around at the other groceries scattered on the floor.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s go home. Now.”
John bundles Bayani under one arm and steers him out of the store. Once outside, John is regretting his decision to walk—on the street they’re an open target. He doesn’t think Emile or his people will shoot him down in broad daylight, but he’s also not sure the extent of the man’s madness. Thank God he didn’t succeed in kidnapping Bayani. John doesn’t know what he would have done, probably something that would get himself killed.
Once they reach his building, John locks the butcher shop doors and guides Bayani upstairs and straight to the couch. He drags Bayani onto his lap and wraps them both in a blanket. It takes awhile for Bayani to stop shaking. John is patient, waiting for the boy to share with him what happened. It sounds like Emile, the devious bastard, waited until Bayani was alone to accost him. Coward.
“What did he say to you?”John asks because Bayani wasn’t very clear on that detail.
“He asked me to go with him. He said he wouldn’t hurt me if I went nicely.”
“He will hurt you, sweetheart. He’ll kill you.”John knows it to be true, and some part of Bayani must know as well.
“He’s going to punish you,”Bayani signs, hands shaking.
“No, he won’t.”
Bayani’s face is bereft, no hope at all in his pretty brown eyes.
“He’s going to punish you because of me.”
“I won’t let that happen, baby, I promise. Donotgo back to him.” John says the last bit with some sternness. Bayani only blinks in response, so John hugs him tightly and whispers in his ear, “It’ll destroy me, Bayani. And I’ll go in there guns blazing and get us both killed. I’ve got a plan for us. I just need a little more time. Trust me, okay?”
Bayani nods, his eyes wet with tears and swollen from crying.“I trust you,”he signs.
Sending the boy away won’t be enough. The only way for John to ensure Bayani’s safety is to eliminate the threat.
* * *
After the incident with Emile,John doesn’t let Bayani out of his sight. He installs cameras around the shop and inside the apartment, a few in the front parking lot and back alleyway as well, so that he can keep an eye on the premises at all times. The gun stays strapped to him, holstered underneath his t-shirt and hidden by his apron. He considers closing the storefront altogether but ultimately decides not to–he doesn’t want to arouse the Hand’s suspicion.
It’s with his gun’s pebbled grip pressed solidly against the palm of his hand that he greets an odd-looking stranger who enters the shop one afternoon. With the hat, face mask, and sunglasses obscuring the stranger’s face, the man is clearly trying to hide his identity. Bayani is behind the counter and John moves in front of him instinctually. The boy knows to stay out of harm’s way.
