A/N strange how review for chapter 8 came through after I posted Chapter 9...But so pleased they did - thanks again to all for reading
Chapter 10
The next day, Friday the 23rd August, was a quiet day. Yelina came in to give her official statement, hoping to see Horatio, but she saw no sign of him. She had given her statement to Eric.
Horatio knew she had arrived though, and just kept out of the way, but from a window, he watched her leaving with the first signs of compassion on his face since they had fallen out. She looked sad and lonely and for a moment, he felt sorry for her. Then he hardened his heart again, and dismissed her from his thoughts. He would never forget Aileen's tearful eyes, the day Yelina had tried to cause serious trouble between them and at a time, Aileen was not at all well.
For once, he was pleased that it was a quiet day. The last two had been hectic, and he took the opportunity to write up full reports on recent events, and he left sharp at the end of the day, as he had agreed to take Tommy to the meeting Walter had arranged at the recreation center that evening.
At 7:30 pm Walter was pleased to see that all the boys along with one or both of their parents had turned up, including Horatio and Tommy. He thanked them all for attending and then gave them the complete background as to how the idea originated of the possibility of a basketball game between the boys in Miami and New York, and what had been decided up to now if the trip were to go ahead. He then told them that the plan was to take twelve boys, five players per team, and two extra in case any of the boys, once in New York, were unable to play for one reason or another. He also told them that he now had a definite date, and that if they went they would depart on Saturday, October the 19th, returning the following Wednesday evening.
There was a lot of excitement shown by the boys at this stage so Walter let them talk to their parents for a few minutes.
As the noise subsided, one of the parents, Mr Paul Bradshaw, stood up and asked, "Mr Simmons, as you have just the fourteen regular boys, can I suggest that those not actually chosen to play, could still go on the trip for the experience, and to support those that play. I personally would be happy for my son to go for the experience whether he plays or not."
"Mr Bradshaw, I am pleased you raised this point, as ideally, I would love to take them all, if all are in agreement, but I first need to know if you all definitely want your sons to go on this trip as we may not even have enough boys to make the trip possible. Can I therefore ask all of you parents who are happy for your sons to make the trip to raise their hands?"
Much to Walters's pleasure, they all raised their hands and he gave a happy smile of satisfaction.
"What about accommodation Mr Simmons?" another parent asked. "Do you know what this will cost us in addition to the plane fares?"
Walter smiling replied, "I am coming to that next Mr. Matthews. I just needed to know if we had enough to make the trip first. The situation is that it is my responsibility to make the traveling arrangements from this end, and Father Downey, once he knows the numbers involved, will arrange for places for the boys to live for four nights. He has assured me he will find good places for them, and there will be no cost to any of you for their upkeep. In the event there are any costs, he will settle them from a cash fund he has for his club. However, he is sure that the people he selects will not want payment of any kind. As you will be aware, from his title, he is a priest and he will have the welfare of your sons at heart while they are in New York."
Looking at Horatio, Walter added, "Lieutenant Caine over there knows, Father Downey personally...Perhaps you would say a few words Lieutenant?"
Horatio smiled, and went and stood in front of the audience. He had not expected this, but he was pleased to help Walter out here.
"Ladies and Gentleman - Father Downey, or Jerry as known to his friends, is in fact a very good friend of mine. I was born in New York and as a young police officer, I played basketball myself on a regular basis for a police team, and during that journey, I met Jerry through another friend of mine, and since that day, I have had and still have the greatest admiration and respect for the man. He was here in Miami a couple of weeks ago as Mr Simmons has already told you. He is fanatical about basketball and has taught many children over the years, many from deprived areas. This was in addition to running adult teams in his earlier years, and playing himself. These days he, like a few of us, is getting older, so he restricts his time to coaching children. He is a wonderful kind man, and I can assure you he will pull all the stops out, to make sure your sons will be in accommodation with trustworthy people."
"I can tell you that they love their basketball in New York, and I think the trip Mr Simmons and Father Downey are putting together will be a wonderful experience for our sons."
Then looking at Tommy and indicating to him to come over to him, he placed his hands on Tommy's, shoulders and continued, "Tommy here, before I knew him, was coached by Father Downey, and he loved his basketball club, and missed it for a while when he and his mother, my wife, came out to join me in Miami."
Tommy piped up, "Yes I did miss it Dad, but then you found Walters club for me, and I love it here."
"Are we all really going to New York?" Tommy asked looking excited.
"Yes son."
All the parents smiled ...they had all at one time or another heard that Tommy was Lieutenant Caine's adopted son, and had in fact, met the boy when they took their own boys back and forth to the basketball club.
Horatio ruffled Tommy's hair, and continued. "As Tommy will be going on the trip, I will also join the trip as my wife still has an apartment in New York. Tommy and I can stay there, and I have given confirmation to Mr Simmons and Father Downey, that we could put up a couple of boys with us in the event I go to New York. If for some reason, I am unable to go, my son Kyle, who is currently a training police officer, will hopefully go in my place."
Looking directly at Walter, Horatio said, "I do have one concern myself Mr Simmons. As there will be fourteen boys and two adults, I was thinking that maybe we should not all be on the same flight traveling to New York. You could perhaps take seven boys, and I will take the other seven, one of them being Tommy of course."
"Good point Lieutenant Caine. I will make sure of that. I will book subsequent flights if I can so they arrive there within an hour or two of each other."
The parent's all looking at each other nodded their heads in agreement to this...it made sense for there to be two flights.
I have a question now, said Walter "This trip is of course going to mean the boys will have to take three days off from school. Do any of you see any problems with that?"
The parents all shook their heads from side to side.
A delighted Walter then said, " Okay, everyone unless you have any more questions, I would now like to seek your approval for me to try and book the air flights tomorrow, as the earlier I book, the cheaper the fares will be. However, this means you will need to foot fare costs as soon as I have booked. I can fund the fares initially, but would need payment from you within the week."
Everyone was happy with this, so Walter then sat down at a table, and asked the parents in turn to give him details of their son's full names, as shown on their birth certificates, dates of birth, full addresses, and the name of their school just in case this was needed, and it appeared only two schools would be affected. All of the boys were between 10 and 11, except for Tommy who was nine, but would be ten just a couple of days after their return from New York.
While he was taking details, Horatio stood around, chatting among the parents who were waiting their turn with Walter.
When everyone had left, Horatio asked "Are you sure you are okay with funds at the booking stage Walter? Do you need any temporary help from me?"
"No thank you Horatio, I am okay as long as they pay within the week."
"Well, as soon as you book, let me know and I will settle up with you for mine and Tommy's fares immediately."
"And well done Walter, the evening has gone smoothly; you have them all on side with no doubts."
"Thank you Horatio, you helped me out there as well."
"I'll try and book the flights tomorrow afternoon - the boys have recommencement of basketball in the morning."
Just as Horatio and Tommy were about to leave Tommy piped up, "Walter, why was everyone calling you Mr Simmons? The boys all call you Walter on Saturdays, and you told me to always call you Walter the day I joined your club."
Before Walter could answer, Tommy turned to Horatio saying. "Even you called him Mr Simmons Dad. Why, you always call him Walter?"
Horatio grinned at Walter. "Well Tommy, Walter arranged this meeting to talk to all the parents and at events like this it is courteous and respectful when raising a question to address the person talking to them by their full name, which is why they were all referring to Walter as Mr. Simmons. They were all being very polite."
"Does that mean I was bad for saying Walter at the meeting," asked Tommy with a pensive look on his face.
Horatio hated seeing that look on his son's face, and kneeling down on one knee, he hugged him saying, "Not at all Tommy. Walter didn't mind - did you Walter?"
"Gee Tommy of course I didn't mind. I would not have cared if they had all called me Walter."
"Come here; let's give you a carry on my back out to Horatio's car," said Walter as he lifted a now smiling Tommy on to his back..
When they arrived home, Tommy told his mom all about the meeting, and was too excited to settle down to going to bed straight away. Then finally, at 10:00pm he was ready, kissed his mom who was attending to Hannah, and trotted off to his bedroom. Horatio followed him in to tuck him in and kiss him goodnight, and Tommy wrapped his arms around his neck and mumbled, "Thank you for saying you will be going to New York with all of us Dad -that will be super."
Horatio leaned over, and tenderly brushed Tommy's hair away from his eyes, kissed him on the forehead and said, "Looking forward to it Tommy."
"Now try to get to sleep, you have basketball in the morning."
Tommy shut his eyes - "Goodnight Dad."
"Goodnight son."
Five minutes later Tommy was asleep.
Saturday afternoon, following the mornings basketball session, Walter sat down at his lap top at home and searched for airline deals and flight times from Miami International Airport to JFK, New York, his preference being American Airlines, although now part of the American Airlines Group. After a lot of time and effort, he finally managed to secure bookings for 8 seats, on each of 2 separate flights departing on October 19th returning Wednesday, 22nd in the early evening. The first flight due to depart from Miami International was at 11:00 am arriving at JFK, New York at 1:30 pm, and the second flight leaving at 12:15 pm arriving at 3.00 pm. He had booked himself on the first flight with seven of the boys, and Horatio and Tommy on the second flight with the other six boys. He had taken the boys names randomly, and it had seemed like forever that he was sitting there typing all the details in on the application form. The all round trip fare was going to cost $200 per person, and he paid the total sum due of $3200 with his credit card.
Standing up, he stretched his body, stiff from sitting down so long; made a coffee, and then sat down again and sent a text message to all the parents attaching a copy of the confirmed bookings. Following this, he printed the booking and confirmation forms to give to the parents when they brought their sons to basketball the following Saturday.
Then he phoned Jerry and told him the two return air flights had been booked.
He was just wondering whether to go for a run when he received a call from Horatio.
"Horatio, is there a problem?"
"Not at all Walter, I just wanted to thank you for booking the flights - that must have been time consuming."
"Well you could say I am pleased it is finished, not one for sitting down at a lap-top for long spells. I was just thinking of going for a gentle run to stretch my legs."
"Walter - Aileen and I were wondering if you would like to come over and have a meal with us this evening. That is if you have nothing else planned of course, other than your run, and I can settle-up with you at the same time. Our way of saying thank you for the work you have put in so far, Tommy is ecstatic."
"We thought we would eat Al Fresco tonight. It is going to be a warm evening."
"That would be lovely Horatio. Thank you for the invite."
"Okay Walter, see you around 7:00 to 7:30 pm then."
Walter closing his cell phone smiled, thinking how nice it was of Horatio to invite him.
Late that night, having enjoyed the evening with Horatio, Aileen and Tommy, and a little cuddle with Hannah, he was getting ready for bed and feeling very contented. Everything his end had gone smoothly and now all he had to do over the next few weeks was to make sure his boys practised hard. The rest of the organising was down to Jerry now.
The next day, Monday afternoon, John met up with his informant again, and two hours later, he phoned Michael asking him to join him at his office.
John arrived first, with Michael arriving just fifteen minutes later. Sharon made them a coffee, and then John sitting on the corner of his desk said, "I have some new information for you Michael, and you can tell Trevor Carson the drug shipment is a definite fact. It is going to happen."
"Okay, what do you have for me?"
TBC