Chapter 23
Oliver glanced over to see the hard set of Leo’s jaw. His brother always had such a serious countenance, even when they were kids. He was suddenly flooded with memories of the times Leo stood up for him and watched over him. He readily acknowledged he had a great brother but had often focused on the way he’d sometimes felt as though he didn’t quite measure up. Which of them could run faster? Which one could bench-press more weight? Which one had the toughest career in the military?
The reality was that those were stupid comparisons, not worth wasting time on. And Leo had never made him feel that way— just typical second son bullshit. All that really mattered was that Leo was there whenever he needed him. If Oliver had been hungry, with no place to sleep, Leo would’ve given anything to ensure Oliver’s basic needs were taken care of.
And looking at the video feed of the expression between Kofi and Ramzi, he recognized the same devotion in them that he and Leo shared.
Looking back at his brother, he now discovered Leo’s gaze was pinned on him. He didn’t have to wonder what Leo was thinking. The bond between brothers was strong, and they were witnessing in the younger boys what he and Leo shared.
Shooting his gaze around the table, he noted the rapt attention of each of the Keepers as they watched and listened to what Kofi was saying.
“What did they demand you do?” Charity prompted.
“At first, they taught us how to steal. We’d go hang out at the food trucks where vacationers were ordering food for kids. They’d juggle their money and the food, be all distracted, and make it easy to swipe their wallets. We would also learn how to recognize and lift designer bags. They taught us to work in pairs so that one is always on the lookout. Once we’d proven ourselves, then they taught us new shit to do.”
He rubbed his forehead, then continued. “When we were sleeping at the park, we saw kids who were selling themselves, selling drugs, hell… everything. The people we were staying with weren’t into that kind of shit.” He swallowed deeply, then continued. “I guess I convinced myself what we were doing wasn’t really too bad. I knew it was, but it didn’t seem like it was that wrong. When you’re hungry, stealing from someone who has a lot makes it easy to convince yourself that it’s okay.”
“And the people you stay with?” Oliver asked. “How did they treat you?”
Kofi hesitated, looking over at Ramzi. “It didn’t take long to learn that everything had a price. They would give us a percentage of what we brought in. At first, just having some money in our pockets was way more than anything we’ve had.”
Oliver noticed that Ramzi grinned for the first time since they had to come into Charity’s office. “Remember when we ate at that restaurant? We ate so much, we both got sick!”
Kofi smiled indulgently toward Ramzi and nodded. “Yeah, and that was the first time I really thought about the money. We ate at a restaurant and spent most of the money that we’d gotten from the couple. But I knew that was no way to live. If we were ever going to have our own place and be our own bosses, then we needed to save money. None of the other kids in the house did, but I was determined that’s what we needed to do. I couldn’t open a bank account, but I started hiding the money we got so that if Eliza ever went looking, she wouldn’t find it. They always encouraged everyone to spend and buy. I think that’s how they kept all of us in line.”
“You just mentioned a name—Eliza,” Oliver said.
Kofi’s eyes jerked open wide. “Shit, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Kofi.” Charity gained his attention. “I know that you asked for Oliver and the others to listen as you talked. That tells me that you don’t want any more secrets, but maybe I’m wrong. Tell me what you want from Oliver.”
Shoulders slumping, Kofi nodded. “I brought us here to stay. And I know that’s the first step to getting safe. But I can’t right the wrong I’ve done if I don’t do something to try to stop them.”
“I’m scared,” Ramzi confessed, his face scrunched as he stared up at his brother.
“I know,” Kofi said. “But you don’t just have me watching out for you anymore. We’ve now got this home and Charity. And if Oliver agrees, we have him, too.”
“What else did they have you do?” Charity asked.
“Once we proved to be useful and resourceful and got to a place where they trusted us, they taught us how to put skimmers on ATM machines. I don’t understand how all of it works, but once we do that, they can take the information from someone’s bank card and start making withdrawals. We were told that these were people who could afford to go to the bank and get more money, so it didn’t seem like it was bad.”
Oliver turned his wide-eyed gaze over to Carson, whose brows had lifted. This was exactly what Landon had mentioned an FBI agent was working on.
“What kind of threat do they hold over you?” Oliver asked.
“If kids didn’t meet their quota or didn’t bring in enough merchandise, they’d put them in the cell.”
Oliver was startled, and as his chin jerked back, he watched as Charity reacted the same way. “The cell?”
“They built wooden cells in the basement and would lock kids in with no food or light for a couple of days. Then they let them back out; believe me, they want to do anything after that. I managed to stay out…” His voice drifted off.
“Not me,” Ramzi admitted, his chin quivering.
Oliver felt fury moving through his veins like molten lava.
“I was standing across the street and watched an old couple go to the ATM. You could tell they didn’t have a lot of money, and I wanted to run across the street and beg them not to put their card into the machine. I later overheard Eliza complaining, saying she didn’t get much money from a couple of old geezers” accounts. But she decided to wipe them out. That was right after I met you. And I knew I couldn’t keep doing this and live with myself. And I couldn’t teach my brother that this was the right thing to do. So here we are.”
The Keepers were silent, and so were the brothers. Finally, it was Charity who leaned forward and asked, “Who are these people? I need to know who they are and what they look like so I can warn my staff to be on the lookout. I want to keep you safe, but I also want to keep everyone else here safe.”
Without hesitation, Kofi sat up straight and looked first at Charity and then shifted his gaze to the camera. “Cory and Eliza Halston.” He rattled off their address, a grimace etched on his face.
Carson gave him a nod, and Oliver said, “Kofi, I want you and Ramzi to get settled in tonight. Do everything that Charity tells you. Make sure you follow her rules and don’t make any decisions alone. That might jeopardize your safety. You’ve made the right first step. Now, the group I work for is going to find out how to take down the Halstons. But don’t worry about what we’re doing. We will see you tomorrow.”
“Is Oliver gonna come back here?”
“Absolutely. Once I settle things here, I’ll be there.”
“Oliver!” Kofi called out quickly.
“Yeah, right here.”
“I… it doesn’t matter what happens to me ’cause I’m the one who was doing wrong, but I don’t want Ramzi to get in trouble?—”
“No!” Ramzi called out, grabbing his brother’s arm.
“Hold on,” Oliver ordered. “Right now, don’t worry about anything other than staying safe and letting Charity take care of you. Get a good night’s sleep, and I’ll be there in the morning.”
Charity said, “Don’t worry, Oliver, I’ll take care of everything here.”
“I’m driving to your place tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that?—”
“I’ll be there tonight,” he reiterated. Gaining her assurance that they would stay locked up until he got there, they disconnected.
Jeb was already calling out, “Cory Halston. Forty-four years old. Born in the outskirts of LA to a mom with a coke habit. Looks like between her trips to rehab, he lived with his grandparents. At fourteen, he was in juvie. Small shit. Since then, no rap sheet. Eliza Richards Halston. Forty-six years old. Parents worked for several families in LA. Mom was a maid, and Dad was a gardener.”
“Probably where she got a taste for the finer things in life,” Natalie quipped.
“They met ten years ago,” Jeb continued. “Well, guess where? Both were working at a bank in San Fransisco. She was a teller, and he was working on installing ATM equipment, a trade he learned in electrical school.”
At that, Tricia’s brows lifted. “Damn, I guess if he knew how to install them, he knew how to manipulate them.”
“She was fired after it was noted that she slipped a few hundreds into her purse. The bank didn’t press charges, which makes no sense, but she was fired nonetheless.”
“What about the location of their house?”
“Not a great neighborhood,” Abbie said, looking at her computer screen. “In an area that probably wouldn’t think twice about a bunch of kids coming and going. It’s got old houses, and some look to be pretty crappy.”
Oliver looked over at Carson. “This goes a lot deeper than just kids stealing from some tourists. Do you think this is the case Landon mentioned?”
Carson replied, “We need to get Landon back on this. Even if this isn’t related to the case specifically mentioned, bank thefts are federal crimes.”
Oliver’s heart twitched in his chest. “What about the boys? Can they get offered a deal?”
“That’ll be up to the FBI, but we’ll find out first what we need to do from Landon.”
While Carson put in the call, Oliver waited, both desperate to get law enforcement to take down the Halstons and terrified that the boys would be swept up in the attempt. His skin felt too tight until Carson finally got off the line with Landon.
“Landon is excited. He wants to talk to the boys tomorrow?—”
“Not without me present,” Oliver bit back.
Carson didn’t hesitate, nodding instead. “He’ll have no problem with that. Since the boys are unaccompanied minors, Charity needs to be a witness to their conversations anyway, and with you there, the boys” interests are protected.”
Once he’d gathered the other Keepers” intel, Oliver headed to Leo’s place to pack. As he turned into the driveway, he sat for a moment and looked at the house Leo and Natalie lived in. It was modest but had everything they wanted—the perfect home to welcome their baby and raise a family.
And he thought of what kind of home he wanted to buy. For once, he no longer thought of square feet, upgrades, or a view. Instead, he thought of simply a place to come to at the end of the day. A place filled with smiles and laughter. A place to sleep peacefully. A place to fix good meals. A place to host friends and family. And he thought of Charity… and wanted a home to be a place she would also like to be.
A knock on the window had him jerk his head around to see Leo standing next to his SUV.
“You okay, bro?”
He climbed down and stood next to his vehicle, nodding.
“I know you want to do right by those boys,” Leo said.
Oliver swallowed deeply, then turned to hold the gaze that so often mirrored his own. “They’re nothing like us as far as their background goes, yet I see us in them.”
“The way they can talk to each other without having to say a word,” Leo said, smiling.
Oliver chuckled. “The way Kofi looks out for Ramzi the way you used to.”
“Hell, we were only eighteen months apart… I didn’t have to do much looking out for you.”
“You were always a tough act to follow.” He snorted. “And I was a little shit of a younger brother.”
Leo rolled his eyes. “What the hell makes you say that?”
“I don’t know, bro. I guess I was always trying to keep up with you and one-up you. Just stupid shit.”
“You didn’t have to try to one-up me, Oliver. Hell, you are always smarter than me.”
“You’re full of it.”
“No, I’m serious. I would always go slow and weigh the pros and cons before making a decision. It’s one of the things that held me back sometimes as a Delta. But you’d rush balls to the wall to get something done. Not that you were rash, but you were willing to take more risks. I admired that… I still do.”
Oliver snorted. “Yeah, jumping in without looking sometimes got me in trouble.”
“I spent a lot of years in love with Natalie before I finally admitted it. I don’t regret our friendship years, but I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we’d given in to our feelings earlier. I’m glad you’ve met Charity and aren’t holding back going after what you want.”
“Well, we’re hardly ready to slap a label on what we are, but I spent a lot of years chasing a good time with women who were only looking for the same thing. Finding someone who makes me want to be a better man is nice.”
“Then go for it. Ride it out as long as it lasts, and if I know you, you’ll make it last.”
Natalie walked outside and stood on the front porch. Her words held mirth, but her eyes were full of worry. “So did you two get your dose of brotherly love?”
“Smart-ass,” Oliver and Leo said at the same time.
They laughed, and then Natalie grinned. “I’ve known both of you for almost twelve years. The best of brothers can fight, argue, and push each other to compete. But you also know what is really important… family. As I watched Kofi and Ramzi today, I was struck by how they were like you in that regard.”
Leo walked to her and kissed her. “And that is why I’m in love with this woman.”
As he walked into the house to pack for the night, it struck Oliver that he could see Charity with his brother and sister-in-law. He also couldn’t wait for her to meet their parents. He just hoped he wasn’t moving too fast for her because he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he wanted her in his life.