Nick’s eyes narrowed. What was this little gremlin hiding? “Don’t worry, Carlos. Andy is my amigo. Everything will be okay. Let’s get you clean, and I’ll take you to the pharmacy for breakfast.”
“Señor Mann won’t be upset?” he asked, his chocolate eyes staring at Nick’s in anguish.
Nick shook his head. “No, buddy. It’ll be okay.”
Carlos nodded. “Okie dokie.”
Nick turned to Grady who was staring at him like he’d never met him. “Go to the store, dollar store, wherever. Get a size that’ll fit the kid. Bring it to the house.”
“How do I know what size?” he asked, his arms flailing.
“Ask Emily. Just do it.” Nick winced as he realized his words sounded like Taylor’s, but cupped his hand around Carlos’s shoulder anyway and led him over to his car.
****
“What do I know about what size little boys wear?” Emily stared up at Grady like he’d just asked her the million-dollar question on a game show.
“Nick told me to just do it.”
Emily closed her eyes. “He’s been hanging around my brother too long. Hang tight. Aunt Millie used to dress Taylor. She’ll know.” Emily got her aunt on the cell phone, talked to her for a minute and hung up. “She says she has it covered. Seems she has a bunch of clothes at her house to give to the clothing drive, so all we have to do is get the little kid clean and dried off.”
Grady nodded. “Nick’s workin’ on it. That child smelled like a sewer when he walked up.”
“Well, something’s wrong, no doubt about it.” Emily threw down her pen. “So much for work today. Sheriff’s gonna have to give me the day off. Let’s get to the bottom of this craziness and make sure the munchkin gets back where he should be.”
“Millie’s pretty reliable, isn’t she?” Grady asked.
Emily grinned. “My aunt? She’s the best. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have graduated high school. Woman doesn’t take no for an answer.”
Grady chuckled. “What if the answer’s yes?”
Emily smiled. Looked like a budding romance in the making. But for now, one little Hispanic boy needed to get up and running on the right track.
****
“I sure am glad you gave him a bath.” Andy smiled. “If I could have found him, I would have done the same thing.”
“Yeah. Kid ate enough at Millie’s pharmacy counter to fill up a family of four. He couldn’t have had more than your sandwiches for the past few days, maybe a week.” Nick sat in Andy’s office after bringing Carlos back to his class. His chest tight, he wondered what would happen to the boy if his family were really MIA. “What do you think happened to his parents?”
Andy shook his head and shifted in his chair. “I don’t know, but I’m bound by state law to report this as negligence. I can’t get around it if I want to keep my job.”
Nick nodded, his jaw clenched. “That little fella was scared to death social services was going to take him away. His mom and dad must have made them out to be the bad guys.”
“They aren’t ideal.” Andy stood up and walked out from behind his desk. “Since we’re so far out in the sticks, maybe Millie can weave her magic with those people and see if he can stay with a family here in Climax.”
Nick felt a sharp pain stab his gut. He remembered being twelve when his dad died. The loss was overwhelming. The guilt he’d never recovered from. His mother never had much to do with him after his dad died. So he might as well have lost them both that day. He knew a little of what the child was going through. To have to endure leaving his school, too, would probably ruin him for life.
“Do you think he could stay with me?” He glanced up at Andy. “I mean, I know I’m not staying. But I’ll be here at least six months and that would give things a chance to simmer down and maybe find him a happy permanent home.”
Andy’s eyes widened. “I’m surprised you said that. I don’t know. I mean, Emily is there, so although there’s no connection between you two, there’d be a female influence.”
“And Grady.” Nick grinned. “Grady’s great with kids. Used to coach peewee league. Plus I’m sure Millie would help.”
“I guess this really is taking a village to raise a kid.” Andy chuckled. “Let’s see what Millie can do. But first, I think it might be a good idea to see if Emily will go for it.”
Nick winced. “Oh yeah. Maybe Millie could do that too?”
Andy grinned and shook his head. “Nope. I think since this is your brain child, you get to do the honors.”
Nick cleared his throat. “Right.”
****
“Thank the Lord I didn’t smell him before Nick threw him in the shower, but Nick said he had to make the kid get in twice to get all the grime off his body and force him to use more soap.”
Millie laughed as she watched Emily tell the story while alternately sipping on her limeade. It had been a long time since she’d seen her niece this animated, and she loved to see it. “Where are they now? At the school?”
Emily nodded. “Nick was going to drop him off and go back to work, I guess. Though I haven’t a clue what he can do until all the paperwork’s finished.”
“Probably not much,” Millie said. “But that’s men. They have to stay busy. Don’t do real well with downtime.” She leaned her elbows on the counter. “So what are they gonna do with the boy?”
“What do you mean?” Emily stared blankly at her. “They’ll find his parents.”
Millie shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. If the little fella’s folks didn’t come back, they’re either in lots of trouble they won’t let the boy get into the middle of or somebody kidnapped them for who knows what, killed ’em, something bad.”
“Well we can’t just keep him,” Emily said. “Not like a stray kitten or puppy. He’ll have to go through the system.”
Millie, stroked her hand. “Honey, you went through the system. You were just too young to remember it. If you could, you wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”
Emily shivered. “Don’t say that. After finding out my real mother was an addict, I worry every day I’ll get addicted to something. Even in high school when Carolina wanted to experiment with pot, it scared me. I won’t even drink more than two drinks at one sitting. Believe me, I don’t want to be exposed to anyone who lives on the fringe of such activity.”
Millie rubbed her back. “That little boy hasn’t been around shit. I’d bet my life on it. Would you have liked to grow up in foster homes?”
Emily shook her head furiously and placed her hands over her eyes. “Of course not. It was hard enough to know I was the adopted child when my brother was the only son.”
“But they chose to bring you to their family.” Millie said. “That is and was an honor.”
Emily swallowed hard and Millie could tell she was fighting back tears. “Sometimes I wonder if Daddy would have chosen it.”
“Oh, honey,” Millie crooned. “Robert loves you.”
Millie shook her head. “You loved me. Mama loved me. Daddy never showed me much but military discipline.”
Millie sighed. “I’m sorry I brought all this up. It’s just that I saw the look in Nick’s eyes. That little boy lights a fire in that young man. It was like he was burning with love, flowing fresh from a pure heart when he looked at Carlos.”
“What are you saying?” Emily asked, staring up at her with red-rimmed eyes.
“I’m saying you may have another houseguest. A very young one.”
Emily smiled weakly. “Oh, no. Nick is too much of a business as usual kind of guy. He’d never do that.”
Millie raised an eyebrow. “You think so?”
Emily slapped the counter. “All conjecture. I’m getting out of here and try to get some laundry done since I took the day off.” She jumped up. “See you later.”
Before Millie had a chance to say another word, Emily had gone out the door. Millie sighed. She thought her niece was in for a big surprise.
She heard the loud thud followed by the squealing of tires. Someone screamed, and then everybody outside seemed to be talking at once. Millie turned toward the plate glass window at the front of the store.
Cal rushed inside. “Millie, you better get out here. Somebody just hit Em!”
****
Nick raced into Danville Memorial Hospital, his heart pumping furiously against his ribs. Seeing Carolina, Blue, Maggie and Millie congregated, he caught his breath. A sense of calm enveloped him. “How is she?”
Millie smiled and patted his hand as he reached them. “She’s gonna be okay, but looks like Aunt Millie’s moving into your house a few days to help keep you men going.”
“What exactly happened to her?” Nick asked. “That deputy from her office just said some huge monster of a Cadillac mowed her down like three-week-old grass. Quoting him exactly.”
Millie rolled her eyes. “Sounds like Cal, all right. Yeah. Seems the car’s a hit-and-run. The sheriff’s on it.”
“Which isn’t saying much,” Blue said. “Anything we want to find out, we’re a lot better equipped to handle than the sheriff and his flunkies.”
Nick watched as Maggie jabbed him in the ribs.
“What?” Blue asked. “It’s the truth. Carolina’d be dead right now if we’d left it up to the sheriff to find out who the kidnapper was and where she might be.”
“He’s right, Mama.” Carolina nodded. She glanced over at Nick. “Emily was lucky. She got hard contusions to the left side of her body where the car hit her in a glancing blow when she was crossing the street. But none of her organs are bleeding internally, and she doesn’t have any broken bones, despite having flipped up in the air, and got a bunch of scrapes from road rash.”
“I know one thing for sure,” Millie told him. “She’s gonna be sore as hell for at least a week. What’s going on with the small fry?”
He grinned sheepishly. “I was coming to check if it’d be okay to bring him home and if maybe you could, um, intervene with social services and see if he could stay there awhile?”
Millie laughed. “I knew I was right! You fell hook, line and sinker for those big ole chocolate eyes.” She shrugged. “I think I can finagle a little with the right people. You just bring the little boy home tonight, and Aunt Millie will cover that little cherub face with kisses.”
Maggie smiled. “Don’t you think you ought to ask Emily first?”
Millie waved her hand. “Aw, honey, she’ll be on pain meds for a few days. By the time she’s out from floating through la-la land, she’ll be used to the whole situation.” She nodded at Nick. “Why don’t ya go in and say hello? She’d probably like to know you’re concerned.”
“Do you think so?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Okay, here goes.”
Nick entered Emily’s hospital room. It was dimly lit, the blinds shut, and Emily lay there, cranked up in her bed. Her face looked like a graffiti artist had striped it with red spray paint. Bandages on her arms indicated just how much surface skin had been wiped away.
She turned her head toward the door as he walked up. “Oh, good Lord in heaven, you don’t need to see me looking like this.”
He grinned. “You think you’re going to look good after taking a ride through the air on the fender of a Cadillac? Not even stunt men get out unscathed from that.”
“Thought I knew every car in Climax, but not that one.” She groaned. “Fact is the damned thing sped up when it got near me. I think whoever was driving clipped me on purpose.”
His eyes narrowed, and he felt his pulse quicken. “Why would someone want to hurt you?”
She closed her eyes. “I don’t know. Can’t remember pissing off anybody lately. Now if I go back a bit, I’m sure I could make a short list. Hell, I could probably fill up a legal pad.”
Nick’s lips twitched. She hadn’t lost her sense of humor. “You think it has anything to do with having Grady and me as houseguests?”
“No, I don’t think so.” She paused. “But it could do with my being Taylor’s sister. It was most likely some rabid radical religious groupie from Heaven’s Gate trying to make sure he gets past St. Peter on the other side.”
He laughed. “Come on, do you think that nut of a preacher has that kind of control over people after such a short time?”
She nodded. “’Fraid so. Take people who aren’t well educated, add a generous helping of rigid Christian upbringing. Stir well with poverty and anger over those that have what they don’t. And presto, chango, instant aggression.”
“But we’re trying to make things better by supplying more jobs for those who want to work and make a decent living.”
“May be,” she said, turning sideways in the hospital bed, wincing as she moved. “But given the right tilt, good old Luke Lincoln feeding them the bullshit line that Dazzle says it’ll increase employment while all the while vilifying the community with their own employees resettled into a cheaper cost of living, and all our poor, barely making it, all uneducated people will see is more foreigners taking away their only avenues for a paycheck.”
“That’s pretty far-fetched.” He stared up in her eyes.
She shook her head, her eyes reddening. “Not if all you’re used to is your opportunities drying up before your eyes. Remember, most of the textile mills around here promised everybody the moon, then shut their doors and moved on. To other countries, no less.”
He nodded. “Maybe you’re right.”
She frowned. “Damned straight. You guys better be especially careful around that construction site. I expect for you to encounter carpet tacks and nails strewn in parking areas, knife slits on tires, hate notes on your windshields. I wouldn’t be surprised at pocket rockets and homemade bombs.”
“Emily, you just got hurt. Why are we even talking about this? Besides, you’re talking about your own townspeople.”
“I’m okay, Nick. I’ll heal.” She bit her lip “As for these being my townspeople, I’m talking about those few lost unfortunate human beings who follow crusaders, a fringe of miscreants with hopeful hearts and heavy souls.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Honey, there’s no way in hell you’re ready to go to a church service, much less this one, after just one day being out of the hospital.”
“Maybe not in hell, but heaven will find a way.” Emily shook her head at Aunt Millie and continued dressing, wincing as she pulled a dress on over her head. “If you think I’m missing out on Operation Expose a Fraud, you’re crazier than I thought you were. I’d pay admission for this pleasure.” She struggled with the zipper, and Aunt Millie stepped forward to help her. “Thanks. Fact is stretching all these sore limbs will only do me some good.”
Her aunt let out a low moan from the base of her throat. “Oh, get out of here. The doctor himself said you should conserve your energy for at least seventy-two hours.”
Emily sat on the side of her bed and began to put on a pair of stockings. “I hate wearing these. But, there’s no way I’m letting these white chicken legs inside a church, even if it is in a tent.”
“Come to think of it,” Aunt Millie said, staring at her, “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen you in a dress.”
Emily chuckled. “Then wait until you get a load of the heels. As for the last time I was in a dress, that would be Carolina’s wedding. Bridesmaids have to wear them, I think. Something in the code of etiquette.”
Aunt Millie sighed. “Well, you do clean up nice, even if your face is still kind of purple.”
“Those are badges of courage.” Emily grinned. “I proved I could tackle an asphalt-covered street and not get flattened like a pancake.”
“Oh, honey! It’s not funny.”
Emily shook her head at Aunt Millie’s sad eyes. “Don’t you dare go and cry. I’m fine, and I hope people do know I’m at the church, including whoever did this to me or someone who knows about it. It’ll prove to them I’m tough just like all you other Titanium Azaleas.”
“Titanium what?” she asked, looking up, her eyes wide.
Emily waved her hand. “Never mind. It’s something I said to Nick a few days ago, but the name’s caught my fancy.” She grabbed her purse from its normal spot on the arm of her computer chair and slung it over her arm. “Which reminds me, where is he?”
“He’s, uh, out with Carlos.”
Emily shook her head. “He’s been spending a lot of time with the boy. I’ve heard him bring the child over here a couple of times, but I feel out of the loop since I’ve been in bed since I got hurt. Where on earth is Carlos staying while they look for his parents? You haven’t mentioned it, which is unusual come to think of it.”
She stopped as she opened the door and glanced back at her aunt. “Is there something you’re keeping from me that I should know?”
Aunt Millie’s eyes darted to the stairs. “Oh my, we better hurry. We’ll be late joining the girls.”
She strode forward, and Emily grabbed her arm. “Hold on, Gabby. How come all of a sudden you’re silent Susie?”
“I-I-I don’t know what you mean, dear.” Aunt Millie stared down at the floor.
Emily walked around her aunt and stood there, blocking the woman’s retreat. “Okay, out with it. It’s something about Carlos, isn’t it?” Suddenly, horror filled her, and her body began to tremble. “Please tell me that little boy isn’t staying here. Just let me hear those words.”
“You know, you used to love to teach Sunday School to the First Graders, do you remember, Emily?” Aunt Millie giggled nervously. “You used to say they looked like little cupids with devilish smiles. I thought that was just precious.”
Emily sighed and then smacked her forehead with her hand. “Why didn’t I see this coming?” She glared over at her aunt. “That precious little devil is staying here, isn’t he?”
Aunt Millie nodded.
“The little boy with the strung out parents, who are going to come here, trying to milk us for money, and bring the drug lords to our neighborhood to burn down my house.”
Unforgettable Heroes II Boxed Set Page 132