“So what you’re saying is…” I pretended to think about it. “I’m essentially Lord Voldemort.”
Ralph threw his head back and laughed. It was a throaty, carefree sound that made me want to laugh too.
“Not exactly.” He half turned to nod at the door behind him. “Do you mind if I walk around your birdhouse? I heard you have quite the collection.”
“I don’t know. Was that included in the don’ts part of the contract?”
His guilty grin was enough of an answer for me.
“You know, if you hope to keep your internship, you might want to consider following more of the rules,” I said, wagging a finger at him.
“I have an inquisitive nature. Isn’t that what the captain is looking for in a detective?”
“It’s definitely a good trait for a detective to have, I’ll give you that.” I stepped back. “Thanks for the talk, Ralph.”
He cocked his head, surprise pulling at his mouth. “Anytime.”
I was on the landing about a story below before I realized I could’ve stayed. This was Anthony’s weekend with his boys; he’d made sure I finished all of my school assignments for the week last night so there wasn’t any work waiting for me. Charlie and Uncle Vic wouldn’t be back from court for a few more hours. Why would I pass up an opportunity for more conversation with a stranger who wasn’t afraid of me? I could’ve offered to let him into the birdhouse!
I groaned up at the ceiling and dragged my feet down the next few flights of stairs. It had been too long since I’d talked to another human being outside my circle. I’d become even more socially awkward than Charlie. To race back up to the roof now would come across as weird, maybe even desperate. The best I could do was hope I’d run into Ralph again some other time.
I bumped into Anthony at the elevator. For the first time since I’d met him, my doctor/tutor was dressed casually; boots, jeans, windbreaker. With his car keys in one hand and his tablet in the other, he looked like…well, like a normal man in his late thirties running errands on a rainy day.
“Tony,” I said, taken aback. “Hi. What’re you—?”
Three boys stood with him. Hayden, Connor, and Jackson, ages ten, eight, and five. I only recognized them because of the picture Anthony carried in his wallet, the one with their names and ages written on the back. His ex-wife had made tons of copies and mailed them to their relatives along with their most recent Christmas letter. Anthony had snagged one somehow.
He’d told me very little about his other family, his other life. As if that would somehow make me feel less guilty for stealing him away from them. It wasn’t until I looked into those three little faces that I realized he’d been right.
“Jasmine,” Anthony said, as if he’d gotten punched in the stomach. He smiled thinly. “We can’t make a trip to Bainbridge Island without the tablet, apparently, and I left it here. Since the boys had never been inside the precinct…” He seemed so embarrassed, so apologetic. I wanted to say something to put him at ease but all I could do was stare at his boys.
Hayden looked just like his father; curly brown hair, dark eyes, tall, athletically built. Connor was all arms and legs, with glasses that amplified his blue eyes. Jackson was a blue-eyed, blond-haired cherub. All were dressed appropriately for the weather in brightly colored raincoats and boots. The way they stood around their dad, almost possessively…they loved him. And in that moment, I loved them. I wanted to say I was sorry. I wanted to say I was firing Anthony so they could keep their father forever. I wanted to say a lot of things.
“I thought you might’ve gone to court with Victor,” my doctor murmured.
I shook my head hard and conjured up a smile somehow. “Charlie wouldn’t let me. Something about paparazzi. But it’s okay. I’m glad I was here to meet your sons.” I bent over to put my hands on my knees so as to be more on their level. “Hello, there. I’m Jasmine. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Hey,” Hayden murmured awkwardly.
“Dad says you’re sick, but you don’t look sick,” Connor said.
Anthony sent his second son a sharp look. “Connor.”
The boy scrunched his shoulders around his ears, giving his dad a “What? It’s true!” kind of look.
“My sickness is of the mind,” I said, pointing at my temple. “It’s not the kind that can be seen on the outside.”
“Your eyes are purple,” Jackson chirped.
“Yes, aren’t they cool?” Anthony handed the tablet to his oldest before scooping Jackson up into his arms. “We better get going if we want to beat the traffic to the ferry. Say goodbye, boys.”
Hayden had already turned on the tablet and was tapping away on its surface. “Bye.”
“Nice to meet you,” Connor murmured as he walked past.
“Buh-bye,” Jackson said, scrunching his chubby hand at me.
With one last apologetic look over his shoulder, Anthony said, “Sorry again. I’ll see you Monday.”
“No worries.” I straightened up to raise a hand in farewell. “Have fun.”
“Dad, can we meet the captain?” Connor asked, tugging on his father’s shirt.
“Maybe some other time,” I heard Anthony say before their voices became lost in the hubbub.
I watched them snake their way through the cubicles, wave at the people manning the reception desk, push past the big glass doors, amble out into the city and the rain. I had half a mind to run after them, beg them to let me be a part of their afternoon. I’d be safe on Bainbridge Island so long as I was with my doctor. I could travel by ferry for the
