Protection Detail

“You can, but you shouldn’t.”

She would, anyway. That’s the way things were when a person mothered kids. She didn’t bother explaining, just headed toward the kitchen. Gavin followed. She didn’t have to look to know it. She could hear his dog’s feet padding on the wood floor, smell the scent of pine needles and outdoors.

She stepped into the kitchen, bracing herself for what she knew she’d find.

It was as chaotic as she’d imagined.

Destiny stood with her head in the open refrigerator, a bottle of chocolate milk in her hand. Little David sat bleary-eyed at the table. Rachel, Axel, Tommy and Kent huddled near the stove. Lila sat under the table, her thumb in her mouth, a blanket pulled around her shoulders.

And then there was Virginia.

She sat next to David, eyes closed, tears streaming down her face as she hugged Juan, the toddler, close. Two police officers stood to either side of her. One held a cup of water and seemed intent on shoving it into Virginia’s hand.

“She’s dead,” Virginia moaned. “I know she is. Dead and all of these children are just going to miss her so much. She’s—”

“Standing right here, Virginia,” Cassie cut in.

Virginia’s eyes flew open and she jumped up, the chair nearly tipping over.

“You’re alive!” she cried, rushing forward and throwing her free arm around Cassie. “I heard you scream and I thought the worst.”

“I’m fine. Sorry for scaring you.”

“Scaring me? You took a dozen years off my life.”

“Sorry about that, too,” Cassie responded.

“What happened?” Virginia asked, bouncing Juan on her hip. The poor little guy’s eyes were wet from tears, his face red. He reached for Cassie, and she took him, kissing his soft cheek and murmuring the kind of comfort she figured a mother would offer.

She didn’t know.

She’d never had a mother.

Just a father who’d had little use for her and a grandma who’d been too busy growing pot in her backyard and selling drugs from her living room to pay much attention to Cassie.

“Nothing that I want to discuss in front of the kids,” she responded, smiling brightly at Destiny. The teenager wasn’t buying it. She took a sip of chocolate milk and scowled.

“Adults always have secrets. It’s stupid.”

“No secrets, Destiny. Just a need to have a little quiet. It’s so loud in here, I can barely hear myself think,” Cassie said. “Would you mind helping Virginia get everyone tucked back into bed while I speak with the police?”

“Yes,” Destiny snapped. “I would mind.”

But, she crouched and reached for Lila’s hand, pulling her out from under the table with a gentleness that belied her angry expression.

“I’ll do my best to get them settled.” Virginia sighed. “But you know how things get when they’re up after bedtime.”

She did, and it was never good.

“Thanks, Virginia. I’ll fill you in on things when you’re done.”

“With the way this crew is, I may never be done.” She took Juan from her arms. “Come on, sweetie. Time to go back to bed. The rest of you, too. Tomorrow is Sunday, and we’ve got to be up early for church.”

“I hate church,” Destiny griped, snagging a cookie from a jar on the counter and shoving it into her mouth. A small chunk fell to the floor and landed near Glory. The dog didn’t even drop her eyes. She was staring at Gavin as if the sun and moon rose and set on his command.

“I don’t hate church,” Tommy said with a scowl. “God is good, and church is good.” At seven years old, he was way too serious for his age, years of neglect and abuse causing him to sink into himself and hide from the world.

“I’m glad you feel that way, Tommy,” Cassie said gently, touching the little boy’s shoulder. “Now, you go on to bed. I’ll be up in a few minutes to check under your bed.”

“And in the closet, too, Cassie. That’s where the bad guys like to hide the most.” He looked up at her, his eyes wide and solemn.

“I’ll check in your closet, too. And, in your book bag and in your church shoes.”

“Bad guys can’t fit in shoes,” he responded, not even a hint of a smile curving his mouth.

“You’re right, but I’ll check, anyway. Now—” she gave him a gentle nudge toward the doorway “—go on. To bed.”

He shuffled away, his dark hair falling over sea-green eyes, his flannel pajamas bagging around his narrow frame. He didn’t say a lot. He’d come from a family where right words and wrong words, right actions and wrong ones all led to a harsh word, a slap, a punch or a kick. Even after seven months of living in a safe environment, he still scurried around at the edge of the action, tiptoed through the rooms to avoid being noticed, sat still as a statue while everyone else talked and giggled.

“You didn’t ask any of them about the mitten,” Gavin said as she filled the teapot, set it to boil. She didn’t want tea, but she needed something to do with her hands.

“I know.”

“I guess you have a reason for that?”

“My kids are...vulnerable. I don’t want them to think they’re being accused of something.”

“I get it.” He sighed. “More than you might imagine, but we don’t have time to worry about your kids’ sensitivities.”

“I know, and I know you need a witness, but—”

“I want a witness,” he said, cutting her off. “But I’m more concerned with keeping your kids safe.”

“I’ll talk to them.” She crossed the room, would have walked out into the hall, but one of the officers stopped her.

“Ma’am, we’d like to ask you a few questions before you do that.”

She tensed. She’d spent too many years being on the wrong side of crime-busting efforts, too many nights being pulled out of bed so the police could search her room for whatever narcotics her grandmother was suspected of selling. “About?”

“The incident on the back porch,” the older of the two responded, his dark brown gaze shifting to Gavin. “Unless you’re stepping in on this, Captain?”

* * *

Gavin wasn’t stepping in. He wasn’t leaving, either. He had questions, and someone at All Our Kids had answers. He needed to find out who. Aside from Juan Gomez, it could have been any of the children he’d seen in the kitchen.

Juan...

His mother Rosa Gomez had been Harland’s housekeeper. She’d been found at the bottom of a cliff in President’s Park two days ago. DC police were investigating.