Sam looked at the candy, then divided a look between the patrol officer and Matti. “Can I eat it now?”
“If you want. It’s all yours.” Matti ruffled Sam’s hair lightly. “Will you come sit over here in these chairs with me while I finish making a few phone calls?”
The patrol officer nodded to Sam as he unwrapped the lollipop. “You’re in good hands with Ms. Colton, sweetie. I’ve got to go do some other things now. Okay?”
Sam heaved a sigh and gave Matti another wary look, then said in whisper, “Okay. ’Bye.”
Matti took his free hand as he poked the candy in his mouth and led him to the chairs near Cal. His sister stroked the boy’s hair in a motherly gesture that touched Cal’s heart. “What are some of your other favorite things, Sam?” Matti asked.
Cal smiled at her tactic, redirecting the boy’s thoughts to happier things while also learning tidbits that might help the foster family acclimate Sam.
Sam shrugged.
“Do you have a favorite flavor of ice cream?” she asked.
Another shrug.
“A favorite television show? Favorite color? I’m guessing…pink?”
Sam shot a disgruntled look at Matti. “No-o-o! Pink is for girls!”
“Not always.” She tapped Sam on the nose with one finger. “That, my dear, is what’s called a cliché.”
Sam wrinkled his nose, obviously confused by the new word.
“Okay, you tell me. Green? Brown?” Matti continued, and Cal could see the child relaxing.
“Red,” the child said quietly.
“Of course!” Matti said as if it should have been obvious and she’d missed it. “So not just red lollipops. Red lots of things, huh?”
Sam bobbed his head in a nod.
“Good choice!”
Cal heard the door to the back hall of the police department squeak, and he glanced up to see Wyatt waving him over. He leftMatti and Sam to continue getting acquainted and stepped over to his brother.
“So Hamilton wasn’t such a tough nut to crack,” Wyatt said in a hushed voice, guiding Cal even farther away from listening ears. Once they were in an isolated nook by the vending machine, Wyatt continued, “Almost as soon as his public defender arrived, he agreed to give up names.”
Cal clapped his brother on the arm. “Good work.”
“With stipulations.”
“Naturally. No one really thought he’d flip without a cushy deal. What did he ask for?”
“He swung for the fences. He wants a clean slate, all charges dropped. His record expunged.”
Cal snorted. “I hope you said no! The greedy bastard.”
“The DA is considering it.”
Cal goggled, knowing how this news would devastate Jules.
“But,” Wyatt added, “given the hour and our current impasse, we decided to let him sleep and have a good meal in the morning before we resumed. His PD requested time to study the charges against Hamilton more closely.”
Frustrated, Cal smacked a hand against the vending machine. “So that’s it for tonight?”
His brother nodded. “We’ll be moving him to a jail cell soon for the night. If you want to observe the negotiations tomorrow, we’ve set that up with his PD for nine o’clock.”
