“Look. It’s not safe to ride your bike after dark. Promise you won’t do it again, and I won’t tell your parents.”
The boy’s eyes widened, like he was being given a surprise gift. “Yeah. Okay. I promise.”
“Good. This is my area, and I’ll hold you to that.”
The boy smiled for the first time. “Thanks, Officer.”
Luca wondered if it might be the first time anyone had cared what happened to this kid. It certainly seemed like it. He would keep an eye out for him in the future. This was what being a cop was about. He wanted to make a difference in as many lives as he could. And thanks to a cute, spiky-haired, tattooed young woman, he’d been able to save a kid’s life.
* * *
Nurse Patricia Richardson was looking forward to the next few days. She’d just finished a grueling week of night shifts at the hospital and had four glorious days off before going back. She scooped her little girl from the Sunshine Day Care Center and was ready to hit the road. Her husband, Jack, had dropped off their daughter, Mandy, on his way to work so Patricia could grab a few hours of sleep before picking her up and heading out to her mom’s in Rockland for a long weekend. Jack was planning on seeing the Patriots with his buddies, so they were both happy to have their weekend plans all set. Patricia learned early on from her mom that men needed their “bro” time. And while her wonderful mom took care of Mandy, she could scoot over to the day spa and enjoy a couple of hours of R&R herself.
“We’re going to Grandma’s house, pumpkin.”
The four-year-old girl clapped and giggled as Patricia nuzzled her neck and inhaled her soft-sweet scent. Snapping her into the car seat, Patricia kissed her on the nose, making her giggle.
No sooner had they gotten on the highway than Patricia realized she’d forgotten to get some lactose-free milk. Sometimes her mom had some on hand but usually not. Rather than have her make a special trip, Patricia would just pick some up on her way.
“Honey, Mama has to stop off at a store to get some milk, okay?”
“Can I have a treat too?”
“Hmm…what kind of treat?” Patricia knew what Mandy was going to say.
“Gummies!”
“We’ll see.” Her daughter had been obsessed with gummy bears ever since their neighbor’s daughter had come over and shared some with her. Patricia didn’t like the amount of sugar and had been trying to wean her daughter off sweets ever since.
She got off the highway and promptly hit a detour. Before she knew it, she was turned around.
Driving along Dorset Avenue, Patricia spied a convenience store on the corner. Keene Street Convenience. She wasn’t very familiar with the area and knew it was the rough part of town, but she didn’t want to backtrack, since the drive would take two hours, and her mom would have dinner waiting on them.
Street parking was nowhere to be found, so she doubled back and drove down a side street where she found a spot at the end of an alley behind the store. She wasn’t thrilled about the neighborhood, but it was two in the afternoon, and there was plenty of traffic whizzing by on the main road. She tucked her Ford Fusion in behind an old red pickup and noticed a white van blocking the truck. Hoisting her daughter on her hip, she made her way down the street and around the corner to the convenience store. Luckily, the store didn’t carry gummy bears, but she managed to put a smile on Mandy’s face with a small box of animal crackers.
“Hooray!” Patricia sang to her daughter on the way back to the car. “We’ve got some yummy jungle animals to munch on.”
“Mommy, I like the lion the best.”
“I’m sure there’s at least one lion in there.”
Reaching the Ford Fusion once more, Patricia strapped Mandy back into the car seat and then filled a sippy cup with milk. After handing it to her daughter, Patricia opened the box of animal crackers and fished around for the lion.
“You said we’d get the payment tonight!”
Patricia, who was standing on the passenger side with the back door open, looked over and spied three pairs of feet on the other side of the van.
“You’ll get it next week,” a gruff voice replied.
“If we don’t get the money, you know what’s gonna happen.”
“You can’t threaten me.”
“Oh yeah, Sergeant? I’m sure your fellow cops would love to know all the arrangements you’ve made for us.”
“I told you not to call me that. Use my code name, Blue Wolf.”
“You better take care of that pretty daughter of yours,” growled a second voice. “You wouldn’t want that red Corvette she drives to get into an accident.”
