security numbers. “Yeah, Marty, I could do with some help. Could you do me a trace on a missing husband and wife?” He read out their details.
“I thought it was the kid who’d run away?”
“Yeah, well, everybody’s playing hard to get around here.” Connell crossed back into Molly’s room and his eyes were drawn to the little bed. The pillow was on the floor and the pink pajamas were missing. “I gotta go, buddy. Call me if you get anything.”
“Tommy?”
“Yeah …”
“Remember the rules have changed, pal. You haven’t got a badge now to back you up. You get in trouble, you’re going to have to hope Gerry is there to bail you out.”
“Sure, Marty, I know what I’m doing.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“And is it worth it, Tommy?”
“It’s worth a child’s life at the very least so, yeah, I think it’s worth it.”
* * *
Connell stopped at a convenience store on his way back to the alley. He picked up a selection of batteries, a pack of marker pens, some of Joe’s favorite candy and a bottle of soda. He checked his watch when he parked his car in the alley outside the library. It was six-thirty and he still wasn’t on the home stretch yet.
He was losing his touch. He d idn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it earlier, although maybe being zapped by the equivalent of a lightning strike had helped channel his thoughts. A big cat, a little girl and one funky looking cat door. He found it right where he’d seen it, and ignored it, earlier.
Squatting down , he opened the convenience store bag and retrieved half the candy for Joe. He took the paperback book he’d found under Molly’s pillow from his jacket pocket and hesitated for just a moment before slipping it into the bag. It was evidence, he supposed, but of what he wasn’t sure, and he figured it was probably of more value to her than him. As an afterthought he tore out some loose sheets from the back of his notebook and stuffed them in the bag. No point in having colored pens without any paper to draw on.
He rolled down the top of the bag and pushed it through the cat flap as far as he could reach, before pulling his arm back fast. He didn’t much like the idea of coming into contact with those giant feline claws. He’d seen the damage they’d done to the library counter. Cats were okay, but he was more of a dog kinda guy, if truth be told. Dogs could do cool things . Cats just did as they pleased and that cat had given him a warning look.
He glanced around. When he was sure the alley was empty and there was no one nearby to raise an eyebrow at him for talking to a cat door, he flopped down wearily onto the dusty ground and called softly through the opening.
“Hi, Molly, just Tommy here. We met this afternoon.” Well, he was pretty sure they’d met. If you could call the fleeting image in the rearview mirror a meeting and if he hadn’t just been suffering the after-effects of a concussion and imagined it all.
No, he’d had worse blows to the head. He definitely hadn’t imagined it.
“Don’t know about you, kiddo, but I’ve had a kinda rough day.” He stifled a yawn. It was a mistake to sit down, he realized. Standing was better for keeping awake, for keeping on his toes. “I’m ready to hit the sack, Molly, and I expect you are too. So, kiddo, here’s the deal. First off, you’re not in trouble and I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to bail on you or forget about you either. I just want to help you out and make sure you don’t get hurt.”
He paused, listened, but didn’t expect a reply , though he was sure he heard the whisper of a held breath on the other side of the flap. Maybe he was imagining that, just hearing what he wanted to hear. He pulled up one knee and rested his arm loosely against it. Leaning his head back against the brick wall, he felt the soothing coolness through his scalp and closed his eyes. He was in a hurry but there was no way he wanted the child to know
“I thought it was the kid who’d run away?”
“Yeah, well, everybody’s playing hard to get around here.” Connell crossed back into Molly’s room and his eyes were drawn to the little bed. The pillow was on the floor and the pink pajamas were missing. “I gotta go, buddy. Call me if you get anything.”
“Tommy?”
“Yeah …”
“Remember the rules have changed, pal. You haven’t got a badge now to back you up. You get in trouble, you’re going to have to hope Gerry is there to bail you out.”
“Sure, Marty, I know what I’m doing.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“And is it worth it, Tommy?”
“It’s worth a child’s life at the very least so, yeah, I think it’s worth it.”
* * *
Connell stopped at a convenience store on his way back to the alley. He picked up a selection of batteries, a pack of marker pens, some of Joe’s favorite candy and a bottle of soda. He checked his watch when he parked his car in the alley outside the library. It was six-thirty and he still wasn’t on the home stretch yet.
He was losing his touch. He d idn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it earlier, although maybe being zapped by the equivalent of a lightning strike had helped channel his thoughts. A big cat, a little girl and one funky looking cat door. He found it right where he’d seen it, and ignored it, earlier.
Squatting down , he opened the convenience store bag and retrieved half the candy for Joe. He took the paperback book he’d found under Molly’s pillow from his jacket pocket and hesitated for just a moment before slipping it into the bag. It was evidence, he supposed, but of what he wasn’t sure, and he figured it was probably of more value to her than him. As an afterthought he tore out some loose sheets from the back of his notebook and stuffed them in the bag. No point in having colored pens without any paper to draw on.
He rolled down the top of the bag and pushed it through the cat flap as far as he could reach, before pulling his arm back fast. He didn’t much like the idea of coming into contact with those giant feline claws. He’d seen the damage they’d done to the library counter. Cats were okay, but he was more of a dog kinda guy, if truth be told. Dogs could do cool things . Cats just did as they pleased and that cat had given him a warning look.
He glanced around. When he was sure the alley was empty and there was no one nearby to raise an eyebrow at him for talking to a cat door, he flopped down wearily onto the dusty ground and called softly through the opening.
“Hi, Molly, just Tommy here. We met this afternoon.” Well, he was pretty sure they’d met. If you could call the fleeting image in the rearview mirror a meeting and if he hadn’t just been suffering the after-effects of a concussion and imagined it all.
No, he’d had worse blows to the head. He definitely hadn’t imagined it.
“Don’t know about you, kiddo, but I’ve had a kinda rough day.” He stifled a yawn. It was a mistake to sit down, he realized. Standing was better for keeping awake, for keeping on his toes. “I’m ready to hit the sack, Molly, and I expect you are too. So, kiddo, here’s the deal. First off, you’re not in trouble and I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to bail on you or forget about you either. I just want to help you out and make sure you don’t get hurt.”
He paused, listened, but didn’t expect a reply , though he was sure he heard the whisper of a held breath on the other side of the flap. Maybe he was imagining that, just hearing what he wanted to hear. He pulled up one knee and rested his arm loosely against it. Leaning his head back against the brick wall, he felt the soothing coolness through his scalp and closed his eyes. He was in a hurry but there was no way he wanted the child to know
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