Page 157 of Twisted Knight

“I am. Should I assume you’re Leo’s mom?”

“What do you want with him?” she asks. She’s a little over five feet with the same features as Leo. Her hair is a little darker and she’s built a bit stockier but there’s no doubt in my mind she’s his mom. She’s wearing a set of worn scrubs with the name of a medical facility embroidered on the top right chest.

“With Leo?”

She nods again. “What are your intentions?”

I shrug. “I used to live here. I used to be him. I don’t know. I saw him. I spoke with him. I thought he was a good kid and offered him a chance to earn some extra cash to help out.” I hold my hands up. “No strings attached.”

“Everything comes with strings around here.”

“Not what I have to offer.”

“It’s the people with the fancy cars and shiny shoes you have to sometimes worry about the most. The flash blinds most from the bad they’re doing right beneath their noses.”

“Agreed. You have no reason to believe it, but not when it comes to me.”

“Then why Leo?”

“From what I can tell, he has a good head on his shoulders. Simple as that. I looked at him and saw me, saw my brother when we lived here years ago, and wanted to give him an opportunity I wish I’d had.”

“Mmm,” is her only response as she scrutinizes me.

“I know you’re busting your ass to provide for him. I didn’t mean any offense by the help. It’s just … if he’s sticking to his word, if he’s doing the chores, then he’ll get paid as promised.” I point to the building behind her. “And it looks like he’s doing just that.”

“Don’t fill his head with promises, mister, if you don’t intend to fulfill them. He’s been hurt enough by all of the men in his life. He’s starting not to trust them. I can’t have that—can’t have you hurting him too—if he’s going to succeed in life.”

“I understand that more than you know,” I say softly. How is it I don’t talk about this shit with anyone, and I feel completely comfortable confessing it to her?

Because she understands. She knows. She is standing in your family’s old shoes.

“Mom!” We both turn to see Leo jogging down the sidewalk toward us from the direction of the bus stop. His backpack is slung over his shoulder, his baseball hat low on his head, but his smile—pure relief—when he sees me, sees that I came back, is everything I didn’t know I needed. “Oh my god. I’m sorry, Holden. I fucking begged her not to bug you. I promise—”

“Leo,” she warns, I’m assuming for the cursing.

“It’s okay. She’s just being a good mom, wanting to make sure I’m on the up-and-up.”

He stops a few feet before us and looks from her back to me. “You’re not mad?” The cautious fear in his voice is fucking brutal. Almost as if he thought his mom questioning me would make me go back on my word.

“It’s fine. All good.” I point to the work he’s done. “I’m impressed. You’ve done a great job since I was here a few weeks ago.”

He bristles with pride. “You think?”

“It looks great.” I reach in the window of my car to pull out a small gift bag with tissue fluffed out of the top of it. Cash. Gift cards to the grocery store and Walmart. Another for a sporting goods store. All packaged like a small present from Audrey’s swift thinking. “As per my word.” I hold up my hand when he goes to dig through the tissue paper and pulls out what’s sitting on top, a teddy bear.

“What the—”

“You know there are eyes on us, Leo. Every apartment. Across the street. Curiosity isn’t always a good thing. Open it inside. No one needs to see what’s in there. For all they know it’s a stuffed animal. Let them keep thinking that.”

Leo’s mom nods subtly. She understands what I mean. That locks on doors can’t prevent gunfire through walls or baseball bats through windows in a quest to take what they’d see is in that bag if he opened it now.

“I promise you it’s there.”

Leo’s eyes hold mine, and he nods. “Yes, sir.”

“I’ve got to get going.”

“That’s it?” he asks and then catches himself and what it sounds like. “I don’t mean what’s in the bag. I mean…”