“Whether I wanted to grab a pizza pie from Firenze’s or beg for one of your wife’s fabulous dinners.”
“Ah, but Anita is going to a PTA meeting up at the school tonight. We’re ordering pizza. You’re welcome to stay.”
Before Noah could acknowledge the invitation, his attention was drawn to the boys heading down the street. “I thought TJ walked home with Danny Merlot.”
“So that’s why you have graced my neighborhood with your presence this fine afternoon. Jennie has you doing surveillance on Danny.” Raúl let out a deep laugh. “Just don’t let Elizabeth Merlot catch you. She can be one scary, protective mom when it comes to Danny and Erin.”
Noah chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not her favorite person. Maybe it’s my mug,” he said, rubbing a hand over the stubble on his jaw.
“You should just ask her out. You get this look on your face whenever she’s in view. I figured it was a natural progression since you were spending time with her son.”
“After what that bastard Mendoza did to both of us, Danny seemed to want me around. There was a bond there, and I like the kid. To hit on his mom would make me a first-class ass.”
“Yeah, but his mom is smokin’ hot. Her legs go on forever and that face! Gorgeous, doe-like cocoa eyes, lips that beg to be kissed. She’s not my Anita, but man oh man…”
“If your wife ever heard you call Elizabeth Merlot anything but an exceptional mother, she would put your balls in a vise grip. Elizabeth doesn’t like me, and she distrusted me on sight. When I’m with Danny, she looks me like I’m on a most-wanted poster.”
“No woman on this planet hates you, amigo. All you have to do is wiggle your brow and they line up around the block.”
“Not Elizabeth. Maybe she hates all things McNeil. She has even stopped talking to Jennie. They used to be great friends.” Noah shoved his hands into his pockets. “Maybe life is just busy, and they have gone their separate ways. But Jennie’s hurting and that pisses me off. She blames herself for Mendoza using Danny to get to her.”
“That’s not on her.”
“Jared and I have mentioned that a few times, but it’s not sticking. Mendoza’s sins are his own, and he’ll never be released from prison, but neither Jennie nor Danny have healed.”
“We all want Danny to be his old self. We see little of him these days.”
“Jennie mentioned he has cut himself off from most of his friends. Does TJ still hang out with him?”
“Not much. He quit the soccer team, which he was damn good at. As his coach, I did what I could, but he won’t open up to me. TJ says he spends most of his time in his room playing video games or up at the gym taking Jim Hoe’s martial arts classes. He’s in there five times a week.”
Noah’s spine stiffened. “At thirteen? Why? Is someone picking on him?”
“No. Danny watched Mendoza put a bullet between his enforcer’s eyes. It’s hard to get over that kind of violence. I think he’s still dealing with his kidnapping by trying to learn to fight.”
“The enforcer is roasting in hell, and as for Mendoza, he’s serving a life sentence on the other side of the country. Who does Danny need to fight?”
Before Raúl could answer, the bell over the flower shop dinged and TJ entered.
“Hi, Uncle Noah.”
TJ was doing well in his new home. The intense, quiet eight-year-old from three years ago was now a thriving preteen.
“Dad, I’m hungry.”
“And I’m talking. Your mom’s upstairs,” Raúl said, nodding to the staircase. “The Os are playing the Nationals tonight. Get your homework done.”
The kid fist bumped the air and raced up the stairs.
“TJ, wait. Have you seen Danny Merlot today?” Noah asked.
“Yeah. He ran right past Trevor and me.”
“Where was he heading?”
“He said he was meeting some guy at the arcade on Lombard Street.”
“Some guy?” Noah faced Raúl. “I don’t like the sound of that one bit.”
“Me either. One of us should check it out.”
“I’ll take a rain check on that pizza.” He nodded to his friend and left the shop.
A new sense of dread hit Noah as his long legs ate up the sidewalk toward the arcade. The couple of times he’d reached out to Danny after the kidnapping, they ended up at the arcade, Elizabeth stalking close, never taking her eyes off Danny for a second while also watching Noah like a hawk.
It had been almost six months since he’d even received a text from Danny. Noah just assumed he cut off communication because he was getting on with his life, just being a kid. And what teen wanted to hang out with an old guy like him, and a cop, at that?
Noah crossed over the threshold of the open doors of the arcade and moved past Danny’s favorite games. The place wasn’t busy. If he was there, Noah would find him.
Heading toward the rear of the building, he turned a corner and spotted Danny talking to some guy in his early twenties in the short hallway that led to the restrooms. The guy scanned the crowd over the top of Danny’s head, grabbed him by the elbow, and exited through the back door. Noah retraced his tracks to the entrance. Racing around the side of the building, he entered the alley that ran parallel to Lombard Street. The stench of rotting garbage and other odious smells he chose not to identify assaulted his senses. At the next block, he spotted Danny handing the man something, and in exchange, Danny grasped a crumbled paper bag.
Noah slowed his pace and spread his sport coat so his badge and gun were in view. “Hey, how’s it going?”
The guy took one look at Noah, clutched Danny’s collar in his fist, and whispered something in his ear. He then heaved him against the chain-link fence and ran full out down the alley.
Noah reached out a hand to steady Danny. “Should I go after him?”
“What are you doing here?” he asked, shrugging out of reach.
“What’s in the bag, Danny?”
Color drained from the boy’s face as he stared at his hand. He swung his shoulder pack off and stuffed the bag inside. “Nothing important.”
A car backfired and Danny almost jumped out of his shoes. Tucking his head down, his eyes on the asphalt, he nudged past Noah. Reaching out, Noah placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “That’s not an answer. Again, what’s in the bag?”
“It’s none of your business.” Danny’s eyes narrowed and a deep blush edged into his cheeks.
Noah had seen Danny scared shitless, depressed, even nostalgic, but the raw anger in his eyes was new.
“Sorry, son. I think it is.”
“I’m not your son. I’m not anything to you.”
Noah raised both hands out. “Okay, bad choice of words. I thought we were at least friends.”
“I haven’t seen or heard from you in a long time. I don’t need friends like you, Detective McNeil.” Danny’s body slammed him, knocking him off balance, and stormed down the alley toward the street.
Understanding be damned. The kid didn’t get a break when he jammed himself up with dumb-ass, stupid decisions. Noah rushed ahead and repositioned his body so it blocked Danny’s path.
“You can’t throw that in my face. I let you know I was going undercover. But my brother was around as well as my father. I’m sorry I wasn’t, but that was the assignment. Now I’ve been back for months, and if you recall, I did contact you, but it was you who blew me off, not the other way around.”
Danny tried again to edge around him. The kid was really pissing him off, but Noah’s temper would not get him anywhere. “What did you buy off that guy? From the colors he wore and the tat on his arm, he hangs with the—”
“I don’t know the guy or who he runs with.” Danny’s fists clenched at his side and a deep blush swept across his cheeks. “He was just a guy, so drop it.”
Like hell he would drop it. Noah wanted to punch the wall. What was going on in this kid’s life to make him so damn angry? He didn’t have to guess what was in the bag. Something made Dan
ny desperate or angry enough to purchase a weapon off a local gang member. Noah’s badge gave him the right to search the bag after what he had seen, but that would destroy what little trust Danny had left in him. There was only one play left, and it left a nasty taste in Noah’s mouth.
“You don’t want to show me what’s in the bag, fine. I know someone you will listen to,” he said and tugged on Danny’s arm. He strolled and half dragged the kid toward the entrance of the alley.
“Let go of me,” he spouted, pulling at his elbow.
Noah tightened his hold. “No.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not yet.”
“Then what the fuck—”
Noah stopped in his tracks and Danny slammed into his arm, then jerked back. “Watch your mouth, kid. I’m pissed off enough. Don’t push me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Show me what’s in the bag and we can part company right here.”
“I can’t.”
“I know what’s in the bag. You’re not keeping it, and you’re going to tell me the name of the guy in the alley.”
“Like hell I am.”
His gut hurt, but Danny gave him no other option. He took the kid’s arm and headed past Raúl’s flower shop to the brick covered townhouse with the red door. It held a wreath with orange ribbon, two white paper ghosts that fluttered in the breeze, and several small pumpkins. He slammed the brass knocker three times, hard. “Last chance, Danny. Give me the bag.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
“Desperate times and all that.”
The door opened, and a breath caught in Noah’s throat. He didn’t forget the impact Elizabeth Merlot had on him for an instant. It was the face that visited him in his dreams for the last three years. She, on the other hand, was clueless.
Noah’s fingers twitched. The strand of wavy auburn hair that rested over her shoulder screamed out to be brushed away, and that full bottom lip had a magnetic pull. He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets before he embarrassed himself.
Her face brightened with a smile as her gaze settled on her son. Then she glanced at Noah. Her facial expression changed so quickly, it was as if she shoved half a lemon into her mouth.
“Detective McNeil. What are you doing here?”
“It’s Noah, remember? Nice to see you again, Elizabeth.” He could almost hear her teeth grinding.
She arched an eyebrow. “Danny, where have you been? You were supposed to come home right after school. Erin waited for you. What happened?”
“Nothing happened. I…”
“Elizabeth, we need to have this discussion inside.”
It must have been his tone because for the first time, she stepped aside and nodded for him to enter.
The townhouse opened into a cool, narrow living room. An oak stairway to the left of the room led to the upstairs. Beyond the living space was a small dining area where Danny’s older sister, Erin, appeared to be doing homework. Like the owner, the room had a classic, comfortable beauty about it.
Danny again tried to nudge past Noah. He grabbed a chunk of the boy’s sweatshirt and tugged him against his side just as Erin jumped up from the table and ran over to give him a quick hug.
“Detective McNeil. Long time, no see.”
“Good to see you, too, Erin.”
At fourteen, Erin was turning into a beauty like her mother. She moved with grace and spent most of her free hours at the neighborhood dance studio.
“Okay, what’s going on, Detective McNeil?” Elizabeth said directly behind him.
Her tone and the way she spit out his title ate at the thin layer of his temper. He turned and offered a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Noah, easy name to say. No, and then just add an ah. Go on, give it a try.”
“How about you just tell me why you’re here?”
“Mom!” Erin stepped between them. “Would you like to sit?” She indicated the love seat a few feet away.
“It’s okay, Erin. This really isn’t a social visit, is it, Danny?”
“I’m going to my room. Stay, go, I don’t care.”
This time when Danny shoved passed him, Noah let him go but yanked the backpack off his shoulder. “Not with this, you’re not.” He handed it to Elizabeth. “I watched Danny buy something off a ganger in the alley behind the arcade.”
Danny reached for the strap, but his mother jerked it away from him. “He did what?”
“He wouldn’t hand it over when I asked. I have a really good idea what he purchased, but I don’t want this to become a police matter. You need to check his pack.”
The color slowly drained from Elizabeth’s cheeks as she eyed her son. “Danny Merlot, what did you do?”
“Never knew you were a rat, detective.”
“Danny,” Erin hissed through her teeth. “Shut up and stop being so rude.”
At least Noah had one person in the room on his side. Elizabeth shot a glance at her son. “Couch, now!”
Danny didn’t argue, but moved over and dropped onto the cushion, his hands fisted on his knees. Elizabeth sat on the coffee table, facing her son. “Open it,” she said, handing him his pack.
Danny unzipped the front pouch and pulled out the brown paper bag.
“Now the bag,” she ordered.
Noah wouldn’t have argued with that tone either. Elizabeth Merlot may have loved and protected her children with the fierceness of a mother lion, but she was a firm, no-nonsense mother.
He edged around the coffee table and gripped Danny’s wrist. “Don’t touch it. Right now, that man’s prints are on it. Let’s not add yours.”
“Here, take it,” he spit out. The anger drained from his narrow shoulders as he stared at his feet. A thick wave of hopelessness seemed to swallow him. Noah wanted nothing more than to put an arm around Danny’s shoulders and make his world bright again. But whatever drove Danny to that alley today could not be fixed with a hug and a few words of encouragement.
He took the bag and gently dumped the contents. The black revolver clattered on the wooden tabletop. Elizabeth and Erin let out identical moans.
“You bought a gun? Danny, what the hell were you thinking?”
Noah cleared his throat. “Elizabeth, maybe what you need to ask is why.”
The glare she shot his way made him straighten his stance. Noah reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pair of purple latex gloves left over from the crime scene he’d worked a few hours earlier. After slipping them on, he lifted the gun and set the safety. Hitting the magazine release button, the clip dropped into his hand. “Why, Danny?”
A dead silence settled over the room. Erin joined her brother on the sofa, resting her hand on his arm. He didn’t jerk away. Instead, he raised his tear-filled eyes and studied Noah.
“Mr. Ibarra says that it’s a man’s responsibility to take care of his family. It’s my job to protect my mom and my sister.”
“Danny, that’s my job as your mother. I don’t doubt that Mr. Ibarra said that, but you misunderstood what he meant.” She faced Noah. “Raúl would have never suggested this,” she choked out as she nodded at the weapon.
“No, I didn’t misunderstand. I asked him if he would use his gun to protect his family.”
Elizabeth moved to sit next to her son. “Mr. Ibarra is a federal agent, not a thirteen-year-old kid.”
Those words seem to draw Danny further into himself. Elizabeth bit down on her bottom lip. “Just who do you think you need to protect us from?”
Danny swallowed a sob. “You won’t believe me.”
“I’m your mother.” She hugged him close to her. “I’ll always believe you.”
He wiped the tears with his sleeve. “The man in the subway wanted to hurt you.”
Anger cut through Noah. “What man?”
“It was nothing,” she said. “Three weeks ago on the subway home, a crazy guy on drugs tried to steal my purse, but the passengers pulled him off me.
At the stop, he broke away before the police could catch him.”
“Were you hurt?”
“No, just a scratch on my arm and a few bruises.”
Her eyes softened just a little, and a glimpse of a different Elizabeth shimmered to the surface.
Danny shot up. “You’re wrong. It was something. He was there to hurt you and will do it again.” This time when Elizabeth placed a hand on his shoulder, he jerked free and rushed toward the stairs. “See? You don’t believe me.”
Noah stepped in his path. “Wait, Danny. Why do you think this guy targeted your mother?”
“I don’t think it. I know it.”
“How?”
His voice dropped so low, Noah barely heard his reply.
“The man… in my room last night told me the jerk on the subway and the other man who tried to hurt my mom will keep coming back unless I stop him.”
Elizabeth rushed around the sofa. “What man? Damn it, what man has been in your room?”
Anger drained from Noah’s body and a heavy sense of dread consumed him. “What’s his name, Danny?”
Elizabeth pushed Noah to the side and reached for her son. Without breaking eye contact with the kid, Noah lifted Elizabeth out of his way. “What’s this man’s name?”
Danny inhaled deeply, then swallowed. “Evan. He said he’s a cop.”
“What else do you remember about this man?” Noah clenched his fist. Evan McKenzie couldn’t be back.
“It’s really weird. You will never believe me.”
“Try me.”
“One minute he’s there and then…”
“And what?” Noah choked on the words.
“He’s not.”
GET YOUR COPY ON KOBO
Books by Nancy C. Weeks
Shadows and Light
* * *
In the Shadow of Greed
In the Shadow of Evil
In the Shadow of Malice
In the Shadow of Pride
In the Shadow of Vengeance
His One Wish—Modern Day Novella Retelling - Aladdin
* * *
The D’Azzo Family
* * *
In the Shadow of Pride Book 4 Page 21