The last sentence widened her eyes.
“I work nights. I don’t know anything about what they do while I’m sleeping or at work.”
“Okay, that’s all for now. You have any next of kin in the area?”
“I have an aunt in Sarasota. She’s my mother’s twin sister.”
Sharkey kept a straight face. Great, he thought. He took a breath before he said, “You might want to call her. You’ll need to stay here until this is over, but not alone.”
“Okay, I’ll call her. Can I go now?”
“Yes, just don’t leave town.”
“I have to work tonight.” She looked at Sharkey as if it was starting to register that her life had just changed in a big way. “I guess I’m on my own now. I won’t leave.”
“Take care,” Sharkey said softly.
“I will…” The resolve in her now-not-timid voice registered hard in Sharkey’s mind.
* * *
Javier returned to his house and was settling in when his cell rang. He recognized the voice on the other end of the call.
“You sound upset. What’s wrong?”
“I just received a notice that Mateo already has a passport. What the hell is going on? Are you trying to fool me? I told you what I would do if you betrayed me.”
“I know nothing of this. It must be Susan. She must have gotten it. She most certainly didn’t tell me. I’m as shocked as you are. I had no idea.”
“Find the passport now. I don’t care where you have to go, or what you have to do. You get it, or you will pay with your life and Tyler’s. You have two days.”
The connection went dead.
Javier was shaking. He made his way to a chair and sunk into it.
“What now?” He picked up the home phone and dialed Harris.
“Harris here.”
“I’m dead…”
“Javier…what’s happened?”
He relayed the conversation.
Harris took a deep breath. “Okay, calm down. Let me check with Alex and I’ll call you back.”
“I have two days…”
* * *
Billy Nash had just finished his workday of selling his shell jewelry and woven palm tree leaves roses to the tourists. He headed back down Duval Street feeling like it had been a good day. He headed down Green Street and back towards what he called home when a car pulled over to the side of the road and a young boy got out. The boy started running towards the next corner and the car turned around and headed the opposite way.
Billy thought this strange because the kid was no more than seven or eight. He followed the boy and found him standing on the corner looking around. People just pushed past him and when he looked back Billy saw his face covered in tears.
Billy walked up behind the boy and asked, “You all right?”
The boy turned in terror. “No.”
He started to run. Billy caught up to him.
“It’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you. Come on, you need to get off this street. In case that car comes back. I’m Billy. What’s your name?”
“Tyler. My mom was supposed to come here and meet me. She didn’t come and I don’t know where to go now.”
Billy put an arm around his shoulder. “It’s okay, Tyler. I know you’re scared. I’ll take care of you. Come to my place. We can talk there.”
Not knowing what else to do, Tyler walked next to Billy.
“I saw you get out of a car and run.”
“The man in the car said my mother was just around that corner. She wasn’t there.” He was shouting now.
“Okay, we’ll find her. I’ll help you.” Tyler looked at Billy and tried to decide if he was okay.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“You hungry?” Billy asked.
“Yeah…she gave me a lunch but…”
“Come on, how about a hamburger, fries and a pop?”
“That sounds really good. I have money in my shoe.”
“My treat. This way. There’s a street vendor set up on the next street.” Billy bought two hamburgers, fries and two pops.
“You got a girlfriend, Billy?” the vendor asked.
“Na, I just had a big day and I’m hungry and thirsty.”
“Well, here you go. Enjoy.”
“Thanks, Pat.”
He returned to Tyler and gave him the burger and fries.
“Thanks, Billy. This is good.”
Billy laughed. “Yeah, being alone on the street can make you really hungry.”
When they had finished eating, Billy asked, “Where are your folks?”
“My mom, I don’t know. My dad’s in Miami. I came here with my mom and baby brother. Mateo is staying at the house I was at.”
“Come on, I’ll show you where there’s a bathroom and where my camp is.”
“You have a camp? I know how to camp. My dad and I go camping all the time.”
“Good, let’s go this way. We need to stay to the streets I know that don’t have a lot of people on them. There are good people here and some not so good. I know which are which. You’re safe with me.”
* * *
Harris called Alex to find out what he thought about checking Susan’s house again.
“We brought a lot of her papers to your house. You know, those shoe boxes?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t bring myself to read her letters.”
“Let’s meet at your house and we’ll look through them first. If we don’t find anything, we can think about another road trip.”
“Okay. I’m going to have Javier join us. It’s his life on the line. I’ll
