“Not really. Not so far, anyway.”
“Not even with your fi—” He halted midsentence. “Damn, I’m sorry, Jedidiah.”
She’d opened herself up to that one. “Don’t apologize. It’s a natural question. But no, not with him. Noah was an adrenaline junkie. The last thing he was ready for was kids.” Sometimes she thought he hadn’t been ready for her either. That he’d fallen in love with her despite his better judgment.
Trevor covered her hand with his. “The last thing I want to do is to make you sad. Forgive me?”
His eyes were blue, like a clear summer sky. He looked so sincere, so kind. “There’s nothing to forgive.”
He squeezed her hand. Their gazes met, held. She found herself drowning in the deep blue of his eyes. Her heart began to beat erratically. Almost of its own accord, her hand turned over and their fingers linked, palm to palm.
Her doorbell rang. Neither of them moved, caught in a moment out of time. A knock came at the door and the spell was broken. Jedidiah got up and went to answer it, her hand tingling.
What just happened?
*
Get a grip,Holt. No way should holding a woman’s hand get to you. What are you, twelve?
Trevor’s CPS contact, Annie Brewster, arrived first, Ginny Clayborne shortly thereafter.
Absorbed in what had just taken place, he barely heard Jedidiah telling Annie and Ginny how she’d found Ricky. Together, the cop and the social worker managed to get Ricky’s story out of him.
Even though Ricky obviously distrusted the police, he seemed willing to make an exception for Ginny, even giving her the names of his foster parents, although that had taken a lot of persuading on Ginny’s part. While Jedidiah went to put on jeans and a button-down shirt rather than running clothes, Trevor turned the TV on again and parked Ricky in front of it. He was instantly enthralled, just as he’d been earlier. Trevor, Ginny, and Annie moved to the small table by the kitchen, where they could talk a little more freely.
“I’m still in shock he allowed us to call the police, or CPS either,” Trevor said. “You two have worked a miracle. He seems to trust you in particular, Ginny. You’re really good with him.”
She smiled. “I’m the oldest of a big family. It helps knowing how kids that age work.”
“I’m sure it will take him longer to trust me,” Annie said. “Especially since it was CPS who sent him to his foster family. I’m going to need to dig into that.” She sighed. “I’m not familiar with Frank and Sandra Moore. But I guarantee you I’ll find out all about them.”
“I know Annie and CPS here are involved with Bikers For Kids, but what about you, Ginny? I’d heard you were the person to call when we needed law enforcement but you’re not a member, are you?” Surely he’d have known if she was.
“No, but the Whiskey River police have close ties with them.”
“Do you think he’s told us everything that happened?”
“You’re wondering if he’s been abused in other ways,” Annie said.
She didn’t spell it out and Trevor didn’t need her to. They both knew they were talking about sexual abuse. “Yeah. They go hand in hand often enough.”
“There’s no way of knowing until he’s been examined by a doctor. Sometimes you can tell from the child’s behavior but it’s not obvious with Ricky,” Ginny said.
Jedidiah came back in the room, changed into her regular clothes now. Trevor would have been fine with the shorts and T-shirt but he admitted she looked great in tight jeans and a nice button-down shirt. “Did Ricky agree to go?” she asked.
“He’s not happy about it but he said he’d go. And he’s going to let Ginny take some pictures.” Ginny had taken Ricky aside as they spoke.
“Good.” In an undertone she added, “He’s not going to have to go back to those sick bastards, is he?”
“Since there’s no family connection, it’s not likely,” Annie said. “You can be assured I’ll do my best to see that he doesn’t.”
Inexplicably, to Trevor at least, the courts tended to give blood relatives more chances to reform. Sometimes it was the right thing to do. Other times it was deadly. “Given the extent of his injuries—especially those that his fall in the dumpster couldn’t have caused—I’d hope to hell they don’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if the hospital has some record of previous injuries. He said he’d broken his arm once, the same one he hurt today. I doubt it was an accident.”
“There’s no way in hell I’m letting that child go back to those people who abused him,” Jedidiah said.
“It won’t happen,” Trevor said grimly. He planned to make sure of that if he needed to foster Ricky himself.
An hour later Jedidiah and Trevor accompanied Ricky down to the police station. Ricky had been suspicious of Annie too at first but seemed more accepting when she told him he’d be going to a temporary foster parent home and definitely not back to his previous one.
