5. Saint
Rio’s face was normally very impassive, except for the rare times when he smiled or laughed. When I ordered him out I was shocked to see surprise and maybe a hint of hurt flash across his olive-skinned features for the barest second before he frowned, nodded sharply, and left my office. He closed the door very carefully, but it made me flinch nonetheless.
How dare he suggest I leave the shelter and the kids, though? Did he know how many of them had been left, over and over again, by people who promised to care for them and protect them? I wouldn’t do it to them, too. This place was my calling, and I wouldn’t run away. I certainly wouldn’t let a shitty parent chase me away. How would that look to Clay?
I shook my head, my face pinched in a frown. I sat down behind my desk again, deliberately put a pile of work in front of me, and tried to concentrate on it. After ten minutes, though, I had to admit it was hopeless. I tossed it back into its place and reached into the bottom drawer of my desk for my sketch pad and pencils. I would draw for a while, clear my head for twenty minutes, and then I would be able to work.
***
I left my office an hour later and saw Clay, who wore a concerned frown. “Saint,” he said, approaching me. “What happened this morning?”
I frowned. “What do you mean?” Had Rio dragged him into this? He would be on the next flight back to Colorado if he had. That was unacceptable.
“You’re never late,” he said, arms crossed. “And you’re… off. Something happened this morning that shook you up. Mr. Torrez is upset too. He’s your security, which tells me something happened.”
Dammit, this kid was astute.“It’s nothing,” I assured him. I didn’t want him to feel guilty. “There is a little bit of a problem with my sister. She has some issues.” That was true. “Nothing you need to worry about. How is schoolwork?”
Clay eyed me. He knew what I was doing, but he didn’t protest the subject change. “It’s going good. I finished my essay on Phoenicia, Assyria, and Persia. Finally.”
I laughed. “Good. I liked history myself. I used to draw some of the Roman battle scenes.”
“You drew?” Clay asked, voice suddenly alight with interest, and I realized that I hadn’t told him that. I assumed the others might have mentioned it, but it seemed they had not.
“Still do,” I said with a little smile. I gestured to a piece of art on the wall. It was a pencil-drawn and shaded picture of a group of kids, none of whom had their faces filled in. They leaned on one another casually, and comfortably, and I stood behind them with a slight smile on my face, while some of the other staff rounded out the edges. It was meant to represent all the kids who had stayed here, which is why they bore no faces. The kids were meant to see themselves in the picture.
“You did that??” Clay asked, eyes wide. “I love that picture.”
“I did,” I said with a smile. “I”ve been drawing since I was a teenager. Do you draw? You”ve never said.”
Clay shook his head. “I can”t but I like to look at art a lot. I like reading about art history too.”
“You should put in a request for the library,” I said. “You can get books from other libraries, too. Minnie picks up books twice a week.”
Clay nodded slowly. “I”ll ask her…” I could see his gears turning. “Mr. Torrez was talking to Elena and me.”
“Oh?” I asked casually. I hadn’t expected him to speak to the kids very much, and now I found out that he was talking to the two kids who were, in some ways, the cause of what had happened in the last few days. What had he said?
“He noticed Elena had a rosary. He was saying that it can be hard to be Mexican and gay. I didn’t know that, but I guess it’s true.” Clay shrugged. “Part of it is religion and everything–” Clay rolled his eyes, and I was tempted to join him. “--and he said that he still has a rosary too. He told us that sometimes it might be tempting to hide, but a person can’t become someone they aren’t, and trying to will ‘wither’ them, or at least that’s how he said it.” He glanced toward the common room. “Elena knows her dad is looking for her and she’s afraid that he’s going to come here.”
“Even if he did, he wouldn’t get in and he wouldn’t be able to take her,” I said, and I meant it. Even knowing who he was, I wouldn’t allow him to take her. “And your dad can’t either. You are safe here, no matter what. I won’t sacrifice you.”
Clay smiled, but it was sad. “I believe you,” he said. “But if it’s better for the other kids for me to go, I will. I won’t sacrifice them either.”
My jaw dropped for a second before I could school my features. Between Clay’s assumption that his father would do something that the other kids would need to be protected from, and his willingness to lead that away from the others like some sort of small animal leading the predator from its den, I was looking at Clay with new respect.
Clay shrugged again, dropping his eyes to the floor. “I should go back. I’m working on some math, I just wanted to check in.”
“Clay, I’m proud of you for your willingness to put the others first,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I won’t let you do that, but I am proud of you for being willing.”
Clay ducked his head, flushing. “Thank you, Sir,” he murmured, then escaped to finish his schoolwork.
I sighed and went on with my day, catching sight of Rio at the front desk on security though I didn’t go speak to him. I appreciated what he had said to Clay and Elena, but I wasn’t ready to tell him that. Then I thought about what Clay had offered, and I wondered if Rio had said something to him about it. After all, that was what Rio had told me to do.
If Rio hadn’t put him up to it, and Clay merely reached the conclusion on his own, did that mean that I should to be doing that?
Surely no one would come here and try to hurt the children in search of me. Greene and Fernandez wouldn’t risk their children getting caught in the crossfire – real or figurative – and while I didn’t think Ginny would spare the kids, she wouldn’t be able to get in. She was wanted and if she came here, Cas would be here to lock her up.
I sighed. I would need to talk to Rio more about this tonight. I decided that we would get a nice dinner, because everything looked better on a full stomach, and then we could sit down and discuss it calmly and rationally.
By the time it was time to leave, Rio was outside, and he met me outside the door. “Sir,” he said, standing at parade rest. “Your apartment? Or am I to fly home?”
I sighed and scrubbed my forehead with my hand. “Dinner, then the apartment. Look, I’m sorry, okay? I was angry. I reacted badly and I said something I shouldn’t have.”
Rio dipped his chin in acknowledgment. “Thank you, Sir.”
So that”s how it was now. I deserved that, I supposed. I assumed I would be watching Sherlock Holmes solo tonight.
We went to an Indian place, and I had intended to get it to go, but as we were looking at the big menu board Cas walked in. He spotted us first and came over, whacking me on the shoulder in greeting.
“Great minds, man,” he said to us, then looked at Rio. “Have you had the food here yet?”
“No, Sir,” Rio said, glancing at Cas when he spoke to him, then turning his attention back to the board.
“I recommend the Dal makhani,” Cas said. “But I don’t know if you’re eating in or taking it to go. Dal makhani is best eaten in.”
I glanced at Rio, who looked impassively back. He was obviously unwilling to express his opinion right now, so I shrugged and nodded. “Are you eating in?”
Cas hummed. “Yup. I’m off duty and after this morning I need some comfort food. Christ, I hate spiders.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I said, and I was. I knew that he was there in the course of his job, but Cas was my friend too and I didn’t like that he had faced one of his biggest fears in my apartment that morning.
“Nah, it’s fine. They didn’t tell us we’d be bringing down spiders at the academy, but they did say to expect the unexpected. At least he didn’t have a gun,” Cas added jokingly. “You two wanna join me?” Cas tapped Rio’s arm lightly and grinned at him, then at me.
Rio eyed Cas, then me, then cracked a tiny smile. “Sure, if it’s okay with you,” he said, his eyes on me.
“Fine by me. Get that soup. He made me try it too, and it was awesome. My favorite is Biryani though, especially with the goat. Not everybody’s cup of tea but–” I lifted a shoulder. “Whether you’re eating in or to-go, you order here and wait and then find a seat,” I added.
Cas, Rio, and I ordered and then found a table in the corner. It wasn’t packed, but the place was more than half full, and having a wall to my back – and Rio’s – seemed best. We were in a booth, with Rio and I side by side and Cas across from us. He took a bite of his soup and hummed, then dipped his naan and took a bite of that too.
Rio sniffed his food lightly, and the expression on his face told us that he approved. He took a small bite and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and smiled at Cas. “Thanks for the recommendation,” he said.
“No problem. Anything else happen today?” Cas took a general bite of food and looked at me expectantly.
I shook my head. “Rio kept an eye on the front door of the shelter, I did paperwork in my office, then helped the kids with dinner. We were going to get food and talk about what I should do now, after what happened this morning.” I glanced at Rio. “He thinks I should go to ground for a while. I didn’t like the idea, but now that I’ve thought about it, I can see where he was coming from. I don’t plan to do it, but I can see where he was coming from.”
Rio ducked his head to eat his soup. He caught what I was saying, admitting that I was wrong not only to him but to someone else, and I hoped he appreciated it.
“He’s not wrong,” Cas said. “I would absolutely look into getting out of town if I were you, but I know you, and I know just how likely that is.” He rolled his eyes. “I would also look at tighter security at the shelter. I doubt there will be any poisonous spiders getting released there, but don’t discount a potential infiltration.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. “I was thinking about that today,” I admitted. “Levi and Mark do fairly well but they’re not trained. I was going to ask you if you had any recommendations.” I looked at Rio.
“I don’t know anyone but John Alden’s company. I don’t know what your budget is, but I could ask him if he has connections to agencies here,” Rio said slowly. I could tell he was hesitant to bring up the money aspect, but he had a point.
“I’d appreciate it. At least someone for nights since you and I are there during the day.”
Rio nodded. “Would you like me to do it now?” he asked, making to get up. There was a definite hum of chatter in the place so I assumed he would go outside to call where he could hear better.
I shook my head. “Eat your soup while it’s hot. We can do all of that when we get back to my apartment.” I took another bite of my food.
“Sí, Sir,” Rio said, and fell back to eating.
We talked a bit more about other security methods, I mentioned having ordered the cameras, and Rio lifted his head and pulled in a breath. “Does the shelter have cameras?”
“Common areas only. Kitchen, sitting room, library. Entry.”
“You should have one outside each exit,” Rio said. “More than one, if you can swing it. The windows, they all lock?”
I nodded. “They do, and they are.”
“Good.” We had checked windows and doors before we left the apartment that morning, although it had been locked when the spider was delivered and that seemed to have made no difference. Still, no sense in making it easier for our opposition.
“I’ll order cameras to be installed as soon as possible,” I said, pulling out my phone and placing the order immediately. I paid a premium price for rush delivery, but it would be worth it. Cas had made a good point. If whoever was watching the front could see who was approaching, then maybe if it was someone who shouldn’t get in wouldn’t in the first place, not to mention if there was a break-in attempt, it would be on tape to take to the authorities.
We wound down dinner, and Cas insisted on paying for Rio’s, punching him playfully. “To surviving a funnel web spider together,” he said, and Rio’s lips turned up at the edges just a bit.
We stepped out of the restaurant and looked around, the heat of the day almost welcome after the steamy but delicious scented air we were leaving inside the restaurant.
We had parked two blocks away, and Cas walked with us. He didn’t live terribly far from here, if I remembered correctly. I had never been to his place, but we had run into one another eating here a few times. We had walked a block, and Cas was pointing out another little place to Rio when Rio’s head came up and he looked towards the street. “Down!” he shouted, pulling me to the ground while Cas dropped down next to us. I felt Rio’s bulk partly over top of me, and if it hadn’t been such a shock I might have enjoyed the weight.
The next second that thought was wiped from my mind as I heard ricochets next to me. Oh, that’s what he heard bounced through my mind as I realized we were under fire. I heard Rio growl a curse in Spanish above me as bullets rained around us. Next to us, Cas let out a choked cry of pain and Rio cursed again, and then finally, finally, the bullets stopped and I heard squealing tires.
“Stay down,” Rio snarled in my ear and my body obeyed before my mind could even process what he had said. I watched him scrabble to Cas and put his hands over Cas’s left calf. Cas screamed and then pressed his forehead into his forearm, shaking.
I dragged my phone out, still on my belly on the sidewalk, and called 911. “We were just in a drive-by shooting, there’s police officer shot.” I shouted into the phone when the operator answered. I told her where we were, then offered the phone to Rio who shook his head.
“I got it,” he said, his accent deeper as he focused, keeping pressure on the wound that was producing a decent-sized pool of blood under his knees and Cas’s legs. I turned the phone to speaker then, and he shouted over that he had been in the army and had some field medicine training, and he was applying pressure to a gunshot wound to the patient”s calf and he was pretty sure there was an underlying compound fracture.
My stomach twisted at that. I knew what a compound fracture was, and the pain he must be causing Cas to keep pressure on it made me feel sick, but better than bleeding to death in the street. I scooted to Cas’s head and took his hands, dropping down low, my phone forgotten on the sidewalk next to Rio. “Cas, it’ll be okay, they’re sending someone.”
Casimir’s grip was painful and I could feel him shaking, but he only nodded. It seemed like it took forever for the sirens to become audible, and just as the ambulance was screeching to a stop at the curb by us, I felt Cas’s grip slacken.
“Cas??” I said, my heart thudding in my ears, but he didn’t respond.