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Deep Down (1/1)

"Dad, can I talk to you for a few minutes?" DJ asked hesitantly as Steve entered the kitchen after returning home from work and securing his weapon.

"Of course, buddy." He looked at Catherine, who shrugged, letting him know she was in the dark about what was going on in their son's mind. "You can talk to me anytime."

DJ looked at Angie who, after greeting her father, had gone back to helping Catherine make a salad. "Maybe on the deck," he suggested.

After they settled themselves on opposite sides of the table, facing each other, Steve waited patiently for DJ to gather his thoughts.

"If someone tells you something but they ask you not to tell anyone," DJ began, "Then you should keep their secret, right?"

Steve nodded.

"Unless the thing they told you involves something dangerous, right?"

"That's right," Steve said. "If what they told you puts them in a dangerous spot, or anyone else in a dangerous spot, the right thing to do is tell an adult you trust."

DJ bit his lip. "There's a kid in my school named Corey. He's in my grade but not in my class. I know him from lunch and recess mostly."

"And he told you something and asked you to keep it secret?" Steve guessed.

DJ nodded. "He told me that his dad has been doing some bad stuff at their house and there have been lots of scary looking people around and he opened a closet looking for his soccer ball and it was filled with guns. His parents are divorced and he hasn't seen his mom in a long time."

Steve kept his tone even. He didn't want to alarm DJ and he definitely didn't want his son to think that coming to him had been the wrong choice.

"What's Corey's last name?" he asked.

"McGuire," DJ replied. "He said he's scared something bad is gonna happen but he really loves his dad and…" DJ swallowed hard. "He has two little sisters."

Steve reached across the table and tipped DJ's chin up until their eyes met. "You absolutely did the right thing. I'll take it from here, ok?"

"Thanks, Dad. I knew talking to you was the right thing to do. He said he thought about telling his teacher but didn't know what would happen if he did."

"He's scared," Steve said. "That's understandable. So I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure everyone involved stays safe and gets whatever help they need."

DJ smiled for the first time since the conversation started. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, buddy."

"I would have told Mom when we first got home but I didn't want Angie to overhear because I think one of Corey's little sisters is in her grade."

"I understand," Steve said, "Mom will too."

The two of them headed back into the house and after a short sidebar with Catherine to explain what was happening, Steve grabbed his weapon and headed back to HQ.

After a cursory investigation, Steve and Danny identified Corey's father as a man named Vince McGuire. He had a few arrests for possession, mostly personal use amounts, all occurring within the last two years.

Which, as far as they could tell, lined up closely with the last time he held down a job. He was let go from his position as an airline mechanic in January of 2023 and didn't appear to have any steady employment since that date.

He was currently on parole stemming from a guilty plea on a driving while impaired charge several months earlier, which was all the excuse Steve and Danny needed to go knock on his door and have a chat. They called McGuire's parole officer who agreed to meet them at the house.

Thirty minutes later the three men stood on the front doorstep and Steve rang the bell.

McQuire opened the door and after initially looking stunned to see his parole officer along with two faces he recognized from television, he became defensive.

"What are you doing here? This is harassment," he claimed.

"As you know," his PO said, "I can search you and the premises you live in at any time without notice. This is my first spot check on you in three months, so I hardly think it constitutes harassment."

The man began to look edgy.

His eyes darted around as if looking for an escape hatch.

Steve and Danny both moved their hands to their weapons.

At the same time they looked over the man's shoulder and saw three frightened children standing in the living room.

"Look," Steve said, keeping his voice soft and even, "We're here to talk. If I need to take you down and throw you in handcuffs to make that happen, I will. But I don't really want to do that in front of your kids and I'm sure you don't want them to see their father going through that either."

McGuire deflated immediately and nodded.

"So how about if you just come out here and let us do what we need to do," Steve suggested.

"Is there somebody we can call to come and stay with your kids?" Danny asked.

"My mother," McGuire said. "Her number is in my phone. It's on the coffee table."

Steve took the man out onto the front lawn while the PO began a search of the house and Danny called the children's grandmother.

Within ten minutes, McGuire had broken down and admitted to Steve that after his wife left he began drinking too much, which led to him losing his job. When he couldn't pay his bills, he turned to a local loan shark for help. He kept hoping month after month that he'd find a way to turn things around, get back on his feet and pay the man back.

Unfortunately, that hadn't happened.

Then a few months previous the loan shark offered him a way to pay off his debt. All he had to do was serve as a middleman and pick some packages up and hold them at his house until someone came to pick them up. It was the same every time. He'd get a call telling him where to do the pickup, bring the merchandise home, then wait for a call from his contact telling him who would be doing a pick up and what to give them.

Lately he'd been picking up more and more and his house was starting to feel like a warehouse for illegal goods.

He was willing to tell the police everything he knew about the operation, including names, if they would guarantee to keep his kids safe.

When Steve promised that they would, he could see the relief on McGuire's face, like he was actually happy to unburden himself.

Inside, Danny sat on the couch with the children, waiting for their grandmother to arrive.

"I asked DJ not to tell anyone the secret," Corey said, trying unsuccessfully to hold back tears. "Now my dad is gonna get in trouble."

Danny, who had received a text from Steve a few minutes earlier with the short version of what McGuire was saying assured the young boy, "We're gonna get your dad the help he needs. We just want all of you to be safe."

"My grandma and my dad fight sometimes," Corey said. "Grandma says we should go live with her until my father straightens his life out but he loves us and we love him and we all want to stay together."

"I understand that," Danny said. "We just want to figure out what's best for you." He smiled at the girls. "All of you. And it'll be fun to stay with your Grandma for a while. I know I always have fun with my grandmother. I call her Nonna."

"That's funny," one of the girls said. "We call ours grandma."

"I love my grandma but … my dad … I asked DJ not to tell anyone," Corey said again.

Danny could tell that the young boy was torn. He clearly adored his father but he loved his little sisters too and knew their father was doing some dangerous things.

He was mostly scared about what was going to happen next.

"Do you have lots of friends at school?" Danny asked.

Corey bit his lip. "I guess so."

"That's where you met DJ, right?" Danny asked.

The young boy nodded.

"Are the two of you close friends?"

"Not really," Corey admitted. "We eat lunch at the same time and sometimes we play during recess. But we don't have any classes together."

"But you knew who DJ's dad was before you told him the secret, right?" Danny asked gently.

"Everybody knows who DJ's dad is," Corey said.

"So maybe, deep down," Danny said, "You picked DJ to share your secret with because you wanted the police to come and help you, and you figured that telling him was the best way to make that happen. Because you knew he'd tell his dad."

Corey took a deep shuddering breath. "Maybe," he admitted. "But I don't want my dad to go to jail. I shouldn't have told anybody."

Danny took the boy's hand. "You did the right thing. You have your sisters to look out for. And this way we can help your dad before things get any worse."

Just then, the children's grandmother burst through the front door and all three of them ran to her for tearful hugs.

After a few minutes Steve came into the room.

"Is my daddy ok?" Corey asked immediately.

"He's fine. I promise," Steve said. "He's going to the police station and we're going to have a talk. When we're done, you'll be able to see him. It probably won't be until tomorrow though."

He knelt down to Corey's eye level and addressed the boy directly. "I don't think your dad is a bad guy. He just got in over his head. I'm gonna do everything I can to help him."

Corey burst into tears, threw his arms around Steve's neck and said, "DJ always says his dad can fix anything."

"I'll do my best," Steve promised.

THE END

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