Disclaimer: Not mine.
Chapter Twelve
Once they'd landed and caught a cab to get back to the office, Jack opened his phone and found a message from Danny. He looked at his watch, and told the driver to change their destination. He looked at Sam. "They think they've found Ricky Gomez."
When they arrived at the hospital, Danny and Martin had already been in to see the boy, with no success. Not even the picture on Danny's phone had helped; they couldn't get him to look at it. "Let me try," Jack said, pulling an envelope out of his bag. They shrugged. "Knock yourself out."
It was definitely Ricky, but he was a shell of his former self, not that he hadn't had issues to begin with. He was dehydrated and malnourished; they'd been starving him for a while. Poor kid was probably having horrific hallucinations. His eyes were sunken into their sockets, dull and listless. His bones were clearly visible through translucent skin. He was under the small table by the window, rocking himself and mumbling incoherently. The nurse said he'd been like that ever since he'd been brought in. An old man taking a smoke break had noticed him hiding in an alley and had called the police. They'd had to forcibly put him in the shower and carry him from place to place; he had yet to respond to anyone. He hadn't slept or eaten, as far as they could tell.
Jack sat down on the floor a safe distance away from Ricky. "Hi, Ricky," he said quietly, remembering what Kate had said about sudden movements. He also remembered what she'd said about trusting men. He hoped Dwayne hadn't cured the kid of that totally. "Ricky, my name is Jack. I'm a friend of Mrs. J. She sent me to find you, Ricky, she was worried about you. She sent something for you, Ricky. She sent you a letter, and a birthday present." The boy stopped making noises, and looked slowly at Jack, though he kept rocking.
"Would you like them?" Ricky stared at him with those haunted eyes, huge in his face. He continued to rock.
"Come sit over here and we'll see what Mrs. J. sent you." He opened the envelope and focused his attention on it, seemingly oblivious to Ricky. He sat still and waited. And waited. He heard the boy sidle closer, then closer, until he was sitting next to him. He put a hand on Jack's arm, reaching for the envelope. Jack's heart lurched a little for this boy. That after all he'd endured, he still had it in him to trust. Jack knew there was a lesson for him there.
He pulled out the picture first. She'd had to search for it and printed it out this morning. She'd wanted to be with him when he found Ricky, but that wasn't possible, so she'd put together a little care package for him. The picture was of Kate and Ricky in the classroom, a graduation banner behind them and a little cardboard mortarboard on his head. She had her arm around his shoulders and smiled into the camera, and Ricky had been smiling too. Happy. She'd also included the one of her with Tommy, knowing that he'd ask for it. Sure enough, he sat and stared at the picture for a long time. He touched his own face, and then Kate's. Then he looked up at Jack. "Need Tommy pitcher too." Jack nodded, unable to speak, and gave it to him. Ricky nodded, and studied the picture, touching Tommy's face. "Where Tommy?" he finally asked.
He'd gotten instructions about this, too. Kate had said he needed to be told the truth; he'd been lied to too much in his young life, and she'd promised the boys she would never lie to them. It had been the key to earning their trust. She told him she wouldn't accept him lying to Ricky, even about this. It would be better for him to know the truth, she insisted, and now he hoped she knew what she was talking about. If it were up to him, he'd lie. Instead, he looked into the boy's eyes. "He died, Ricky. He died so that you could get away. He protected you."
The little boy's lower lip came out, and his eyes swam with tears. But there were no hysterics, just a quiet acceptance that broke Jack's heart completely. Ricky nodded. "Tommy o-ways pro-tec Ricky," he said softly, touching Tommy's face in the picture again. "O-ways. Lub you, Tommy." Now Jack knew he was crying too, and he didn't even care. Ricky looked up at him again. "Where Miss J.?"
Jack cleared his throat. "She's at her house, Ricky. In Texas. In San Antonio."
Ricky nodded. "Go see her. Go see Miss J. now. Take me?"
Jack shook his head slowly. "I can't right now, Ricky. You've got to stay in the hospital for a while; you're in pretty bad shape, buddy. But we can call Mrs. J. and ask her to come see you when you're better."
The kid's eyes lit up instantly. He nodded. "Thas good idea, Jack."
"You want to hear the letter she wrote you?"
He nodded eagerly, his eyes still shining. Jack stood and held out a hand. "Come on, let's go sit down over here." The boy came with him willingly, and Jack lifted him up onto the hospital bed, sitting down next to him. Ricky put his hand on Jack's arm, seeming to want the closeness. Jack began to read.
"Dear Ricky,
I sent my friend Jack to find you because I was worried about you. He's a good guy and you can trust him, Ricky. He will help you. He won't ever hurt you. I'm sorry I can't come right now; it's too far away. But I will come see you when I get enough money. Just think of me and I will be with you in your heart. Just like Tommy will always be there in your heart, watching over you, forever and ever. You're a good boy, Ricky, and I love you. Mrs. J."
Ricky smiled, took the letter and held it over his heart, finally allowing himself to relax against the pillows. Jack handed him the wrapped present Kate had picked out before she'd gone to visit Maria Gomez. Ricky unwrapped it slowly, carefully, and when he saw the handheld video game inside, he smiled again, confounded, shaking his head. "How she know this what I want? How she o-ways know?"
Jack looked at this boy, and he was suddenly able to identify what he felt. The love this woman had given this boy long ago, when she'd thought she was getting nowhere with it, but gave it anyway, had saved this boy. How could he not be in love with this woman? He'd felt it since he'd first seen her, but pushed it away, telling himself it was too much, too soon. Now, he knew he could trust her with his heart. He knew it would be safe with her. He put his arm around the boy's bony shoulders carefully. "Would you like to call Mrs. J. and say thank you for the present?"
Ricky's eyes lit up again and he nodded enthusiastically. Jack opened his phone and dialed. She answered on the first ring. "That was fast," she said, laughter in her voice, and it made his heart squeeze a little. She was so full of laughter, of life.
"Hi, Kate," he said. "We found him."
Silence. He heard her say a prayer of thanks. "That was fast," she said again. "Wow. You guys really are a bunch of miracle workers."
He looked up at Danny, Martin and Samantha standing in the doorway, watching them with smiles on their faces. "I can't take the credit for this one. The guys here did all the work. I just got off the plane, took a cab here and showed up to take all the glory."
Danny stepped forward and took the phone. "Don't listen to him, Kate. Jack charmed your boy here right out from under the table." Jack elbowed him in the ribs and grabbed for his phone. "Listen, I've got someone here who wants to talk to you." He handed the phone to Ricky.
"Hi, Miss J.," he said happily. "Yeah, I okay now. Your friends found me. Thanks for looking for me. I was so scared, and Tommy wasn't there to pro-tec me. I scared without Tommy."
"I know you are, sweetheart, but we're going to find a nice place for you to live where you won't need anyone to protect you. Do you know what I mean, Ricky? A place where everyone's nice and no one hurts you, Ricky. A good place."
"Okay, Miss J. I don't go with mama?"
"No, baby, not anymore." The kid let out a huge sigh, and Jack felt him relax completely.
"I don't go with grandma?"
Oh, Ricky, none of those people were good enough for you. But she didn't say it. "Not mama, not grandma, not Dwayne." Kate knew he'd had high hopes for Dwayne as a father. "It wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. We're going to find you a nice family, to take care of you. Ricky?" The kid had fallen asleep nestled in the crook of Jack's arm. Jack took the phone from him gently and settled him more comfortably into the bed, then eased himself away. Ricky didn't stir. "Hold on a sec, he's asleep," he whispered to Kate, then left the room. The nurses too were standing at the door, beaming at him. He handed them his card. "Call me when he wakes up, please? I'll be back then."
The older one looked confused. "Do you have questions for him?"
Jack shook his head. "No. I just want to make sure he's okay, be here…you know, if he needs anything."
He turned to his team then. "Great work. Let's get back to the office."
As they walked, he filled Kate in on what had happened.
"You see what I mean about these kids?" she asked him.
"Yeah, I do. You're right about that. Kate, it was incredible; you should have seen it. He hadn't moved from underneath that table in three days. I mentioned your name, and he was out of there. I've never seen anything like that."
"I'm sure part of it was you, Jack. You have a way with kids." Now when had she noticed that? He sure as hell didn't have a way with his own.
"Maybe, but your name was the secret password. And your letter and your gift, and those pictures—they were just what he needed."
"I'm glad."
He wanted to say more, wanted to tell her what he'd realized, but now wasn't the time. "I've got to get caught up at the office. I'll call you tonight." When he hung up, he didn't realize he had a smile on his face, though his team did, and nudged each other.
"Texas certainly seems to agree with him, doesn't it?" Danny said.
"Sure seemed happier to be there than he ever is here," agreed Martin.
"Just wait," Sam warned them. "He actually smiles now. Laughs even. It's kinda creepy. He's almost…happy." She did a mock shiver that had the guys hunched over with laughter.
Jack just shook his head in disgust and hailed a cab. He didn't think it would be chivalrous to point out in mixed company that she'd been the reason he'd been walking around like a zombie, so he didn't. Hell, let them laugh. He'd spent the best night of his life with Kate Janoreski.
