Milt Hardcastle sat at his desk and nervously closed the folder he'd been studying. They had tied up all but one loose end on their most recent case against James Buchanan Smith. Sending Smith to prison had been one of Milt's top priorities since retirement. He was the biggest importer of cocaine in the country. He'd ruined countless lives by supplying cocaine to dealers on the streets of every major city in the U.S. Milt stared at the file, trying to calm the uneasy feeling in his gut.
Sure, they had captured Smith, with enough evidence to send him away for the rest of his life, but what they hadn't done was capture his son Roland. The elder Smith had tackled McCormick, knocking the wind out of him and sending him into the lake as a diversion so his son could escape, and it had worked. Milt had abandoned his pursuit of the son when he realized the father was serious about drowning McCormick.
He closed the file folder and shivered, and once again was forced to think about his feelings for the ex con. He'd been surprised at the surge of adrenaline and rage he'd felt when he saw McCormick being held under the water. His reaction had shaken him up, well, not the reaction exactly, after all, he would want to save anyone in that situation. No, it was the magnitude of his reaction that had shaken him. He'd been scared to death that Mark would be killed. And Milton C. Hardcastle didn't scare easily. He had almost caught up with the son, but changed direction and made a beeline for Mark when he realized what the elder Smith was doing.
Now, they still had to capture Roland. Normally, he would try to "stir the pot" a bit more, in order to get Roland out in the open, so he could make a mistake. But now with Tom's arrival, they would have to back off. He wondered what Roland Smith would do if he and McCormick stopped poking around.
It had been almost a year since he'd seen his son, and he'd never actually told him about his new crime fighting hobby. Most importantly, he'd never actually explained that spur of the moment visits might not be the best thing, given his current retirement project. He would definitely have to talk to Tom and explain about that. Still, he looked forward to seeing his son.
In some ways, he felt that he hadn't really talked with him since Nancy's death, and that was over 10 years ago. For some reason, he felt he could open up now, maybe make amends for his previous silence about certain things.
Though he would never admit it to McCormick, he had a feeling the kid had made that possible. McCormick had gotten to him in a way he had never expected. They had connected, and somehow, that had allowed him to feel again. He'd been surprised to learn that he and McCormick were very much alike. A lot more alike than Milt and his son were. McCormick seemed to understand him better than most people; as well as anyone really, except for Nancy of course. But, he could never tell him that, especially since he hadn't actually convinced himself that it was true.