Starting Point (9 page)

“Hey,” I replied with a smile.

“Hello, Kira,” Claude said cheerfully. “What movie are you going to see?”

Kira’s eyes shot to mine. “I’m not sure yet,” he said cautiously.

“I told them we were going to see something,” I explained.

“Actually,” Claude said, all bright eyes and huge smile. “Matt said you’re having a date night and your taste in movies is crap.”

My mouth fell open. “Hey! Where’s the camaraderie?” I asked Claude. “I thought my second lieutenant was supposed to have my back?”

Kira laughed. “Is that what he said?”

Just then, the waitress returned with two plates of burgers and fries. She slid them onto the table in front of the two kids, and their eyes went wide. Without another word, they both started to eat.

When they were about half way done, I said, “Well, we better get going if we plan to catch a movie.”

Ruby put down his half-eaten burger and swallowed what was in his mouth. “Thank you,” he said. It was a quiet, humbled, genuine thanks.

Then Claude chimed in, “Yeah, thanks, Matt. Will I see you at work tomorrow?”

“You sure will,” I told her. “And don’t be late.”

Claude rolled her eyes at me, then I turned to Kira and said, “You ready?”

The look in his eyes was brief, but I saw it. It was a very quick
should we leave them here alone
kind of look. “Yeah,” he said hesitantly.

“Okay then,” I said, standing up. “You two take care. Enjoy your dinner. We’re off to see some crap movie.”

Claude laughed again. Ruby gave me half a smile and a nod as Kira and I were leaving. He drove and was quiet for a few blocks. “Are they okay?” he asked. “I mean, should we just have left them there? It’s almost eight at night. And you bought them dinner?”

I smiled and put my hand on his thigh. “They’ll be okay.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t,” I amended. “I just hope they will.”

Kira was quiet again after that, as though my answer didn’t sit well with him. We went into his favourite sushi bar for take-out rolls and still made the nine o’clock movie. He still hadn’t said much since we’d left the diner, but as we were waiting in line for tickets, he frowned and his brow creased. “Rueben didn’t seem too happy to be there,” Kira said. “Tonight, in the diner. And you didn’t answer me before. Did you buy them dinner?”

“Of course I did,” I told him. “And no, Ruby probably wasn’t too keen to be there. He looks after her, and he’s a proud kid so it probably stung to have someone provide something, ya know? But Claude was all excited for it. They were both still at the club when I finished, and I knew Claude hadn’t eaten, so I suggested a burger. Ruby wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for the fact that Claude was getting something to eat.”

Kira frowned. “Watching them eat… It was…sad. They scoffed half the meal and left the rest,” Kira noted, as though that confused him.

“Well, Claude was with me all day. She came in just before nine, made herself a hot chocolate for breakfast, I gave her my salad for lunch and that was dinner. They’re probably keeping half their burgers to have tomorrow. They would have waited until we left, wrapped what was left in a napkin and shoved it in their jackets.”

Kira’s frown deepened, and he looked over at the ticket counter. The idea of those kids stashing food wasn’t very pleasant. With a gentle pat on his arm, I walked over to the cashier and ordered two tickets. When I got back to Kira, I gave him a smile. “How do you compartmentalize that?” he asked. “How are we supposed to just walk away from them, knowing they have no food, no anything?”

I put my hand on his arm again and smiled sadly. “Years of being a cop, I guess. It’s a fact of life. It’s not easy, and I’m not dismissing it, because it does matter—
they do matter
—but like you’ve said before, we can’t fix all of them.”

“Just two.”

“I’m not trying to fix them. Just showing some kindness. That’s all.” Then I asked, “Is that wrong?”

Kira shook his head and looked around the cinema foyer. “No, not at all. I guess it just hits home when you watch them eat like it’s the first thing they’ve had in a week.”

“That’s why I bought them dinner.”

“You’re a good man.”

I snorted out a laugh. “Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m trying.”

Kira finally smiled. “You’re doing just fine.”

“Come on, let’s get this movie over and done with.”

* * * *

I was holding the punching pads for Arizona, while he was giving three-punch-jab combinations. He was strong, he hit hard and it was a good workout. As we’d got more into the coaching side of this fight club, our own training and practice sessions were restricted by time, so when we did step into the ring and spar it felt great.

Arizona didn’t fight competitions anymore, just like he didn’t fight underground for money. He didn’t have to. He had a paying job, with benefits. Now boxing was for fitness and for fun.

I’d been egging him on to stop hitting like a girl and have a real go, so when he surprised me with a kick to my thigh, I dropped the punching pad, and he laughed.

I liked that we joked around when we could. I picked up the padded mat and pulled out my mouth guard. “You kick pretty hard,” I taunted him. “For a girl.”

Arizona laughed this time, but I put my mouth guard back in and goaded him to try again. “Is he giving you a hard time?” I didn’t notice the two guys walk over to the ring until one of them had spoken.

I looked over then, to find Mitch and Ricky standing at the edge of the boxing ring, watching us. “Hey!” I said. Then I pulled out my mouth guard and tried again. “Hey! Here’s the newlywed man himself!”

Mitch grinned at me, and as I ducked through the ropes of the ring and jumped to the ground, I put my arms out wide.

“If you think I’m hugging you when you’re all sweaty, think again,” my old partner said, still grinning.

I ignored his jibe and hugged him anyway. “Good to see you, man. You look great. Married life agrees with you.” He did look good—relaxed, suntanned. “How is your beautiful bride?”

“She’s great,” Mitch said, smiling wider at the mention of Anna. Mitch reached out and touched the ring on my necklace. “And I hear of big news with you, too?”

Now my grin matched his, and I clapped my hand on his shoulder. I looked at Ricky. “Berkman keep you busy without Mitch around?”

The younger cop groaned. “You know him well.”

I laughed and looked back at Mitch. “What brings you here? Did you miss me that much?”

“Have you got a sec?” he asked. “Somewhere we can talk?”

“Sure,” I said, nodding to my office. I called out to Arizona, “We done, man?”

“Yeah, you hit like a girl anyway,” he called back with a grin.

I snorted out a laugh and led Mitch and Ricky to my office, where Claude was sitting at my desk, organizing and reorganizing whatever she wanted, apparently.

“Hey, squirt,” I said to her. “Can you give us ten?”

The little girl got up from the chair, and after eyeing the two men with me, she raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you in trouble, Matt? Did they come here to arrest you?”

“No, ma’am,” I said. “This is my old partner Mitch, and his new partner Ricky. They’re just here to talk.”

Claude nodded suspiciously. “Mm hm. ’Course they are.”

We watched her leave, and once she’d gone, Mitch said, “Is she in charge?”

“Yep.”

He laughed and parked his ass on the table near the window. “You asked Kurt to find out some intel on two guys that have been hanging around,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. They seem a little suss,” I told him. “To be honest, it wasn’t my initial reaction to them. We have a lot of people that hang around, some live local, some don’t, but if they don’t come in here, I don’t pay ’em much attention. I got talking to the pastor from the church down the road, and he made mention that they were bad company.”

Mitch nodded. “Your pastor is right. Darius McInnes has done time for drug trafficking and some pretty serious assault charges.” Then Mitch sighed. “He’s also been flagged as an associate of Nazi Lowriders, Matt.”

“What the hell do white extremists want with a thirteen-year-old black kid?” I whispered.

Mitch’s eyes fell to the floor. “They pick up street kids, Matt. Get them hooked, give them a hit if they mule and carry. These kids are disposable, Matt. They don’t give a fuck.” He shrugged. “No one cares, no one misses a homeless kid.”

“I do.” I ran my hand over my face and waited for him to continue.

“We’re gonna look around, see how deep it goes,” he said. “But yeah, their names have come up in certain circles.”

“Narcotics and gangs?” I asked. “Jesus Christ.”

“They seem pretty diverse.”

Mitch was being evasive in his answers, which told me two things—one, he wanted me to know these guys were bad news, but two, couldn’t say outright what it was because it was now an open case. And I was no longer a cop.

“Thanks, Mitch,” I said. “I appreciate the heads up.”

“No worries. Just wanted you to know.”

“Nothing like having a honeymoon and then jumping straight back into work,” I said with a laugh.

Mitch rolled his eyes. “Always more bad guys, Matt.” Then he said, “Who was the kid?” He gave a pointed nod to where Claude had disappeared to.

“That’s Claude. Claudia,” I added. “She’s my second lieutenant.”

“Is she here often?” he asked.

“More often than not.” Then I said, “Her and her brother do it kind of tough, so I don’t mind if she hangs out here.”

“And she’s here with you?”

I nodded. “Yep. Keeps me and the boys in line. She’s a little firecracker.”

Mitch’s look of disbelief gave way to a smirk and a shake of his head. “Jeez.”

“What?”

“Things are really different for you now, aren’t they?” he said. “Not you. You’re still the same, but you’re running a different ship.”

“I am.”

“You happy?”

“I am,” I repeated.

“That’s good,” he said with a genuine smile.

“Are you?” I asked him, unable to stop smiling back at him.

“I am,” he said with a laugh, and held out his hand for me to shake in the way sportsmen often did—the way brothers did—which I gladly took.

“You just don’t want to admit how much you miss me,” I joked with a pat on his shoulder.

He pulled back and tapped my face. “Don’t make me regret coming to see you.” Then, as though he thought better of tapping the side of my face, he clapped my shoulder instead. “Hey, how’s the ear?”

“Ear’s okay,” I told him. “Still the same.”

“Still dizzy?”

“Sometimes. Not too often. Usually if I turn suddenly, or stand up too quick. Or sometimes for no reason whatsoever.”

Mitch’s brow furrowed a bit, then he sighed. Before he could say anything about my deafness, there was a knock on the open door. It was Ruby. He eyed Mitch and Ricky cautiously, but finally looked at me. “Hey, Matt, is Claude here?”

“Yep. She was in here five minutes ago, so if she’s not with Arizona, check with Boss.”

The kid gave a nod. “Thanks.” He turned to walk away, but stopped. “And thanks again for dinner,” he said quietly. “You really made Claude’s night.”

“Really?” I asked. “Because she’s been giving me a hard time all day.”

Rueben laughed. “Sounds about right.”

He walked off in search of his sister, and when I turned back to Mitch, he was wearing that stupid, shit-eating grin. “Man,” he said, shaking his head. “You buying kids dinner now?”

“Just them, just once,” I said. “I don’t think they eat real often,” I added.

The smile soon slid from his face.

I nudged him with my shoulder. “It’s a different world here, man.”

“I can see that,” Mitch replied.

“They don’t go to school?” Ricky asked.

I shook my head. “Not many do around here. I’ve made a contact at the local community college, which is great for the older kids, but not much help for Ruby. He’s twelve or thirteen, and doesn’t go to school.”

“Don’t authorities make kids go to school?” Ricky asked.

I smiled. “These kids can smell authority,” I told them. “And they disappear. I don’t want them to go to ground. At least here, they’re safe. We let ’em hang out, hope they see some good for a change.” I shrugged. “You’d think there has to be something a kid can do to stay out of trouble.”

Mitch smiled. “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”

“Hope so. Ruby’s the one that I’ve seen those two thugs talking to. I try to keep him busy, off the streets, but I can only do so much,” I admitted.

“Matt,” Mitch said with a sigh. “You’re doing a lot. Probably more than what we do as cops.”

I snorted. “I seriously doubt that.”

“Maybe not in the big picture,” he agreed. “But in the lives of these people, you are.”

I smiled at his compliment. “I’m trying.”

“Very fucking trying,” he joked. Then his smile faded. “But you’re right, Matt. You should try and keep kids away from McInnes and James.”

“Received and understood,” I said with a nod.

Mitch’s eyes darted over my shoulder then quickly back to me. “I think someone is waiting.”

Not hearing anyone approach, I turned to find Claude in the doorway, with a none too pleased look on her face. “Haven’t got all day, Matt,” she said with that sassy pout.

Mitch laughed, and even Ricky failed at biting back his smile.

“Righto, squirt,” I said.

My old partner snorted. “Jeez, no wonder you don’t miss Berkman. You have a mini-Berkman right here.”

Claude raised her eyebrow at him then walked out the door while giving him the stink eye, and Mitch grinned. He clapped my shoulder. “On that note, we’d better get back to it, or the real Berkman will have our asses in a sling.”

As they walked towards the door, I said, “Oh, don’t forget! Last weekend of next month is the day we want to have our community fundraising day. I’ll let you know if it’s gonna happen, and you all need to be here.” Then I added, “Tell Berkman I said I want to see his sorry face here too.”

We said our goodbyes, and I followed them out, to where Claude was not-so patiently waiting. “I thought Ruby was here?” I asked, looking around and not seeing him anywhere.