Sloan thought for a minute. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” He went out into the lobby and called Sharkey.
“Sloan here. You gonna charge my client Javier with anything?”
“Not my call, but no charges at this time. Not a lot of evidence unless there was a signed agreement.”
“There wasn’t any.”
“Then I’d guess the DA doesn’t have a lot of evidence to charge him. And he was voluntarily very helpful in the capture of the abductor.”
“Thanks, Sharkey.” Sloan returned to Javier’s room.
“You bet.”
Sloan returned to Javier. “Okay, I’d say you’re in good shape. However, if anybody tells you differently, just call me.” Sloan smiled. “You make the best kind of client. Be happy.”
* * *
Harris got a call from Amy that Tyler was up and eating pancakes and couldn’t wait to meet him.
“I’m on my way, Sweetie.”
Harris entered though the kitchen door.
Tyler’s eyes went big and a smile covered his face. “Grampa?”
“That’s me.” He held out his arms and Tyler ran into them. “You’re just like mom told me you looked like.” Harris hugged him for a long time.
“You’ve been through a lot for a little guy. I’m so glad to finally meet you.”
“Where is my mom? She loves you too.”
“Why don’t you finish your pancakes, and we’ll talk about that.”
“Okay.”
Harris nodded to Amy and she followed him into the living room.
“How do I tell him?”
Amy looked into the tormented eyes of the man she loved more than life.
“We will make him feel secure first. Children have a way of being wise and intuitive beyond their age. As for me, I’m willing to be home with him. We make good money, and I can adjust my hours to fit if necessary or just take a leave. I thought about this all last night, while I watched him sleep. We can do this, Burt. I never had children, so this is an opportunity to be a grandmother to our little boys.”
“I know you love your work.”
“I love you and those boys much more. We need to do this for Susan.”
“I believe that too.”
“Then it’s settled,” Amy said. “Come on, let’s go talk to him and you’ll know when the time is right to tell him about his parents. Let him tell his story of being separated and his adventure of being on the streets with Billy.”
“He was with Billy Nash?” Harris asked.
“Yes, he saved Tyler from a molester.”
“Oh, my Lord. Okay. Let’s do it.”
They entered the kitchen where Tyler was just finishing his milk. He looked at them, and said. “My mom isn’t coming, is she?”
Harris sat down next to him. “No, she can’t.”
“Billy said his mother is dead. Is mine?”
“I’m so sorry, Tyler. She is.”
Tyler climbed into Harris’ lap.
“I was afraid of that. She would never leave me with strangers.”
“No, she wouldn’t.”
“My dad must be with her, because he’s not here either.”
“I’m afraid you’re right.”
Tyler leaned against Harris. “Can I stay with you?”
“Yes. Amy and I will take care of you. We’ll be here for you. If you’re afraid or sad just talk to us and we’ll help you understand,” Harris said.
“Okay. Mom always said if she wasn’t there for me, she would be just a whisper away. I don’t want to stay with Grandma Williams. I don’t like her. Is that okay?”
“Okay with us,” Harris said.
“Okay. Can I go lay down?”
“Sure. We’ll be just outside your door.”
“You’re right, he’s so like Susan when she was that age, understanding far beyond her age. He even looks like her with that curly blond hair and those big blue eyes.”
“We’ll give him a good home. How about Javier, what will happen to him?”
“I’m not sure. Sharkey said that he’s not under arrest. He played a big and dangerous part in taking down Vasquez. That’s for sure.”
“And Mateo? He’s your grandson too,” Amy asked.
“That will be up to Javier. He needs time and he needs to take some time to figure out what’s best for Mateo. You’ll love him, he’s cute as a bug’s ear.”
“I have the feeling he will make a good choice. You know that it’s been a day or so since I visited Stephanie.”
“Yeah, I know. I guess I better check on her. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up.”
* * *
Stephanie was sitting up and eating a bowl of Jell-O.
“Hey, you look better.”
“Had plenty of time to recover…not that you cared. Where were you?”
Harris smiled. “A lot happened over the last two days. I was kind of busy.”
“Too busy to come see me. Well, that’s okay. I have a friend who cares about me. Those flowers are from him.”
“That’s nice. Well, I do have some good news that just happened. We have both children back safely.”
“That’s good.” Stephanie was not cutting Harris any slack.
“Yes, it is. Javier came through for us and worked with me and the police to help catch the people who were holding the children.”
“So, Tyler is safe?”
“Yes. He’s with me.”
“Well, you going to keep him? I can’t raise another kid,” she said, her eyes boring into Harris’.
“I will keep and raise him. As for Mateo, that depends on Javier.”
“Sounds like you two are just chummy as hell. I didn’t think you were a pushover too.”
“Stephanie, you can feel free to go back to your life. The children are taken care of. As far as Javier goes, he’s a fine young man and just got himself into a really bad deal with his uncle.”
“Whatever. Remember, you can’t trust foreigners.”
Ignoring her last sentence he continued. “We
