Chapter Two

Jaron's apron had hamburger and fry grease on the front of it. He probably smelled like what he cooked, but his senses had gotten used to it over the six years he worked there. He took off his apron and hung it up on the hook by the small opening that separated the kitchen from the rest of the diner.

He searched for Connie through the opening, finding her talking to some regulars. The diner had slowed down until patrons took up two booths. One booth held a couple of emergency responders. They had on blue uniforms with a radio strapped to one shoulder.

He yelled out to her. "Taking my break. I'm using the phone in your office."

Connie waved a hand, letting him know she heard.

He made his way to the door of the office, which was just off the kitchen on the left. Jaron left the door open and made his way over to the phone, dialed his home number, and waited. And waited. The longer he stood there listening to the ringing, the more his stomach ached, and a certain kind of familiar dread took over his body.

After so much ringing, he hung up.

He took off his hair net, threw it in the trash can on his way through the kitchen, and headed out into the main diner.

Connie stood behind the counter, pouring a cup of coffee to someone Jaron had never seen before.

He walked over to her. "I gotta go home."

Connie nodded. "I'll call Eddie if I need him."

"I'll come back if everything is fine."

Connie met his gaze, holding the half-full pot of coffee suspended in her hand. "Yeah, we both know it's not gonna be. Just make sure that sweet boy of yours is okay. Bring him to work with you tomorrow if you gotta."

Jaron smiled. "Thanks, Con. Just gonna call Andrew real quick, and then head out of the back door."

"Go. Go."

Jaron turned back into the kitchen, and then to Connie's office. He dialed Andrew's cell number and waited. It took him less than two rings to answer and when he did, Jaron didn't waste time getting right down to the problem. "Tracy didn't answer when I called."

"I'm on my way."

"Thanks."

Neither wasted any more time on conversation, which Jaron appreciated. He wanted to get to Bobby as soon as possible.

The poor kid didn't need to be alone. Hell, he didn't need to have a drug addict for a mother, but Tracy hadn't ever been anything else.

He headed out of the back door, stepping onto the sidewalk just as Andrew pulled up. Jaron got in, pulling the seatbelt around. The click it made as the belt hit home was the only sound either of them made.

Andrew pulled out onto the road again, flowing with the rest of the traffic.

Jaron wiped his palms down his jean-covered thighs and thought about what to do if he found Tracy high again. "Maybe she took him to the park or something."

"Maybe." Even though Andrew agreed, Jaron knew it wasn't likely.

"If she's…I'm done. I can't do this again." He whispered the words more to himself than Andrew. "I have to think about Bobby. I've let him see too much already."

"The city is filled with drugs. For an addict, it's hard to get away from it." Andrew turned down a side street that would avoid most of the traffic. "I see it every day. Hell, the only thing our narc detectives do is help contain the problem. At the end of the day, getting the addicts sober and arresting the dealers is too much. We're spread too thin."

Jaron watched Andrew, studying him. They'd been friends almost since the first day Jaron started working at the diner, and Jaron hadn't seen him quite so stressed before. "Is everything okay?"

Andrew nodded. "Working on a hard case. Seems like one right after the other."

"Maybe you need a break."

Andrew darted his gaze to Jaron before turning it back to the road again. "Maybe you do too."

Jaron shrugged. "Maybe." He'd been thinking that very same thing more and more. The longer Tracy's addiction affected Bobby and the older he got, the more Jaron thought that raising his son in the city would prove detrimental to Bobby's development. "I just want to do what's best for Bobby." The more he thought about it, and the more time that passed with Tracy fighting addiction and losing, the more Jaron realized that what was best for Bobby probably wasn't further exposure to her illness. "She's sick."

"Yes."

"I can't afford rehab." And she needed that type of help.

"It's not all on you."

"We're all each other has."

"Oh, really." Andrew gave him a look. "I'm chopped liver now. And Mami would be upset to hear you say that, cabrón."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm all she has." Jaron patted Andrew's arm.

Andrew nodded and turned down another street. The closer they got to Bobby the more a feeling of dread settled into the pit of his stomach.

Jaron and Tracy had shared an apartment since the day he agreed to father her unborn child. They had wanted to create as normal an environment for their son as possible. Both had grown up with single parents. For them, normal meant two parents living in the same household. It was what they had seen on television growing up.

He learned quickly that normal was overrated and meant different things for everyone.

Their apartment had been a big house at one point, but someone had renovated it and made four apartments inside. The shell of its past held up on the outside, though. The tenants accessed their apartments from the front, even the ones on the floor above. Thankfully, Jaron didn't have to climb stairs to get to his apartment. The downstairs apartment had seemed like a good idea when they'd moved in but seeing their door halfway open made him rethink that decision.

Jaron's stomach twisted in knots as he reached for the door handle. Andrew grabbed his arm. When Jaron met his gaze, he shook his head and reached for the communication device all cops seemed to have. "Ten sixty-two. Requesting backup." He rattled off Jaron's address before reaching under his sports jacket and pulled out a gun.

Jaron's hands shook as he opened the door. Andrew held on to him tighter but he pulled his arm free. "Bobby."

Andrew sighed, but he let Jaron go. "Stay behind me."

He wouldn't make any promises, but he waited for Andrew to make his way to the open front door before following him.

The door opened into the living room. An old couch Jaron had picked up at the thrift store sat on the left side of the room against the wall. The coffee table didn't match anything else in the room, including the couch, but it served its purpose well. A scale and small baggies were scattered across the table. Some lay on the floor, barely visible as they blended into the carpet. A gallon-sized bag filled with white powdery crystals sat next to the scale.

Jaron would have gotten instantly pissed except for the big man sitting on the couch with his eyes like a fish. A red stain covered his upper chest on the left side.

Tracy lay face down. He only saw the upper half of her body. She faced the wall and had a gun in her right hand. The carpet near her chest area was darkened and looked wet with blood.

Andrew said something to him, getting in his face, but he couldn't hear anything past his own intake of air. Andrew cupped the back of his neck and forced Jaron to meet his gaze. Jaron exhaled.

Time slowed down.

"Bobby." Jaron's heart beat loud as he breathed out that word. He stepped away from Andrew when his chest hurt, and the panic set it. "Bobby!"

Jaron turned and ran down the hallway, screaming Bobby's name.

He heard sirens in the distance and Bobby calling for him from his bedroom. Jaron noted the blanket-covered lump in the center of his bed. He ran over and threw back the covers, revealing Bobby's healthy little body.

Jaron couldn't keep the tears at bay when he picked Bobby up and held him. Bobby wrapped himself around Jaron. His little face tucked into Jaron's neck. "The mean man hurt Mommy."

Jaron carried Bobby out of the room but then stopped in the middle of the hallway, meeting Andrew's gaze when he came around the corner.

"Is he all right?"

"I think so." Jaron ran a hand down Bobby's back. "Did anyone hurt you, snuggle bear?"

"The mean man tried, but Mommy wouldn't let him." Bobby never lifted his head from Jaron's shoulder.

Andrew gave Jaron a look. "You'll need to take him outside. Stay there until I come back out."

Jaron nodded. "Shut your eyes and don't open them until I tell you. Can you do that?"

"Cause Mommy's hurt?"

Jaron let the tears flow again. He thought about lying, but Bobby saw the whole thing. Lying would do more harm, not less because it would confuse him. His voice shook when he answered. "Yeah, snuggle bear."

Jaron did what Andrew told him. He kept a hand over Bobby's head as he carried him through the living room.