get herself between child and mother, with Al Hawkin standing over it all. Have to watch your step, Kate.
Still in silence, she started the car and drove the half mile or so to the park with the swimming pool. Jules walked away onto the grass, and Kate trailed after, to the shade of a tree on a low rise. Jules settled down as if sitting in a familiar chair. Kate sat down beside her.
"This is where you used to meet him, you said?" she asked after a couple of minutes.
"His father used to beat him. Did I tell you that?"
"No, you didn't, but it doesn't surprise me. A lot of runaways come from abusive families."
"He's dead, isn't he?"
"He may be. But in all honesty, Jules, I think the odds that he's alive somewhere are considerably higher."
"Did you ever read
Peter Pan
?" Jules asked abruptly.
"
Peter Pan
?" Kate wondered where this was going. "Not in a very long time."
"I hate that book. It's detestable. I read it again last week, because I was thinking about something Dio said, and when you take away all that cute, cheerful stuff they put in the movies, you see it's about a bunch of boys whose parents throw them away, or anyway don't care enough to bother looking for them when they get lost, who get together to try and take care of each other, only to have another group of grown-ups try to kill them all. What's the difference between a pirate and a serial killer, or a drug pusher, or a... a pimp, I ask you?"
Kate was shocked, though whether by the words or the ferociously dry eyes, she could not have said.
"Um, what makes you think --"
"Oh, get real, Kate. I'm not stupid, you know. I do read." She jumped up and stalked off to the chain-link fence around the swimming pool and stood with her fingers hooked into the wire, staring at the lesson going on in the water. Kate followed her slowly, then leaned with her back against the fence, facing the opposite direction.
"You having problems with your mom?"
"I suppose."
"Most people do, at one time or another. She loves you."
"I know. And she has problems. God, who doesn't?" she said with a bitterness beyond her years.
"We don't," said Kate lightly. "Not today. Today is not for problems. Come on."
They spent the next few hours at the shooting range, and Kate considered that she had done the job well, acquainting Jules with the intricacies of the handgun (a borrowed .22 and Kate's own heavier .38) to the point that Jules could hit the target a respectable number of times, and further, she kept the girl at it until she began to show signs of boredom with this, her mother's bugbear. Ravenous, they ate hamburgers, went to an early movie, ended up, of all places, at a bowling alley, and arrived back at the apartment at 10:30 that night, disheveled, exhausted, and reeking of gunpowder, sweat, hamburger grease, popcorn, and the cigarette smoke of the alley. Jules jabbered maniacally for twenty minutes before she began to flag, and then was dispatched to bed. Jani went to make coffee.
"You gave her a good time," said Al, approving and amused.
"She's a nice kid. And tell Jani I think the fascination with guns will fade, now she knows they're just noise and stink."
"How's Lee? Do you need to call to tell her you'll be late?" Hawkin knew the routine as well as Kate did: Call in whenever you're away.
"No, I don't. She's... she isn't there."
Hawkin looked up quickly. "Not in the hospital again?"
"Oh, no, she's doing fine. Or I guess she is. She's up at her aunt's."
"Still? It's been weeks."
"Five weeks, not that long. She writes. She's okay, getting her head straight." That she could admit this much to Al Hawkin was an indication of how very far she'd come since they first began to work together. However she added, "Don't say anything, around the department."
"No," he said, but he watched her closely-for a long minute before he stood up to get himself a drink. Kate thought vaguely of leaving.
"I've asked Jani to marry me," he said abruptly. "She said yes."
"I did
Still in silence, she started the car and drove the half mile or so to the park with the swimming pool. Jules walked away onto the grass, and Kate trailed after, to the shade of a tree on a low rise. Jules settled down as if sitting in a familiar chair. Kate sat down beside her.
"This is where you used to meet him, you said?" she asked after a couple of minutes.
"His father used to beat him. Did I tell you that?"
"No, you didn't, but it doesn't surprise me. A lot of runaways come from abusive families."
"He's dead, isn't he?"
"He may be. But in all honesty, Jules, I think the odds that he's alive somewhere are considerably higher."
"Did you ever read
Peter Pan
?" Jules asked abruptly.
"
Peter Pan
?" Kate wondered where this was going. "Not in a very long time."
"I hate that book. It's detestable. I read it again last week, because I was thinking about something Dio said, and when you take away all that cute, cheerful stuff they put in the movies, you see it's about a bunch of boys whose parents throw them away, or anyway don't care enough to bother looking for them when they get lost, who get together to try and take care of each other, only to have another group of grown-ups try to kill them all. What's the difference between a pirate and a serial killer, or a drug pusher, or a... a pimp, I ask you?"
Kate was shocked, though whether by the words or the ferociously dry eyes, she could not have said.
"Um, what makes you think --"
"Oh, get real, Kate. I'm not stupid, you know. I do read." She jumped up and stalked off to the chain-link fence around the swimming pool and stood with her fingers hooked into the wire, staring at the lesson going on in the water. Kate followed her slowly, then leaned with her back against the fence, facing the opposite direction.
"You having problems with your mom?"
"I suppose."
"Most people do, at one time or another. She loves you."
"I know. And she has problems. God, who doesn't?" she said with a bitterness beyond her years.
"We don't," said Kate lightly. "Not today. Today is not for problems. Come on."
They spent the next few hours at the shooting range, and Kate considered that she had done the job well, acquainting Jules with the intricacies of the handgun (a borrowed .22 and Kate's own heavier .38) to the point that Jules could hit the target a respectable number of times, and further, she kept the girl at it until she began to show signs of boredom with this, her mother's bugbear. Ravenous, they ate hamburgers, went to an early movie, ended up, of all places, at a bowling alley, and arrived back at the apartment at 10:30 that night, disheveled, exhausted, and reeking of gunpowder, sweat, hamburger grease, popcorn, and the cigarette smoke of the alley. Jules jabbered maniacally for twenty minutes before she began to flag, and then was dispatched to bed. Jani went to make coffee.
"You gave her a good time," said Al, approving and amused.
"She's a nice kid. And tell Jani I think the fascination with guns will fade, now she knows they're just noise and stink."
"How's Lee? Do you need to call to tell her you'll be late?" Hawkin knew the routine as well as Kate did: Call in whenever you're away.
"No, I don't. She's... she isn't there."
Hawkin looked up quickly. "Not in the hospital again?"
"Oh, no, she's doing fine. Or I guess she is. She's up at her aunt's."
"Still? It's been weeks."
"Five weeks, not that long. She writes. She's okay, getting her head straight." That she could admit this much to Al Hawkin was an indication of how very far she'd come since they first began to work together. However she added, "Don't say anything, around the department."
"No," he said, but he watched her closely-for a long minute before he stood up to get himself a drink. Kate thought vaguely of leaving.
"I've asked Jani to marry me," he said abruptly. "She said yes."
"I did
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