Finders Keepers

Chapter 16

Sloan left his colleagues at the elevator as they all dispersed in different directions to their offices. He entered his and did two things. One was a habit of checking his computer for any emails, notices, or directives from his director or FBI headquarters in DC. And the second was a curious and odd newly acquired action: randomly rotating a weirdly shaped rock on his desk, next to the computer. It was the rock Olivia had picked up and he had dropped into his vest pocket the first time he’d taken her hiking. For several weeks Sloan had forgotten its presence and, in truth, when he’d finally discovered it, his inclination had been to toss it back to nature. But he hadn’t.

He reasoned that Olivia must have had a reason to collect and keep this particular rock, and he felt he couldn’t let it go. Even though she’d not mentioned her find since that hike. When Sloan first absently began to turn it over, flip it around, put it on various angles, the rock never seemed to be much more than a stone with a kind of triangular shape from any angle. It was the afternoon of her car having been stolen that, as he sat debating surprising Olivia with a visit and take away dinner, that his absently studying his lodestone that it appeared, very obviously now, to have the appearance of a heart. That’s when Sloan realized that no matter which side the rock rested on, it was still heart shaped.

He was not about to start dealing in premonitions but realized that Olivia had probably noticed this startling feature right away and had saved the stone. For him. Sloan experienced that it was a gift, maybe of profound meaning, but at the very least that Olivia had been thinking of him, with love, almost from the beginning.

Now, when he entered his office, Sloan’s first move was to change the position of the rock to see what side presented itself and what he could see on its face. He’d never spoken to Olivia about his discovery, or the unexpected feeling of magic it gave him, that made her even more special, important to him. Sloan reflected for a long moment, doing a mental inventory of women in his life in the recent past. One inexplicable marriage, too many short-term affairs…or one-night stands. A comfortable relationship for easy dates with little effort, emotional or otherwise. And, finally, Olivia.

Sloan had reached a point where he was beginning to push the boundaries of the relationship with Olivia. What might be next? Where were they headed? He might think there was a slam-dunk ending, but he was pretty sure Olivia would hesitate. He had no doubts that she loved him. Heaven knew it was mutual. But she had a history Sloan knew made her cautious and self-protective. He had to respect that. But he also wanted to overcome that. But how?

Sloan sat forward, checked the time. School had ended an hour ago. He called her.

“Hello?”

“You sound breathless. What’s going on?” He was always comforted by the sound of her voice. Pure and straightforward. Never a pretense or even caution.

“I…just bought…another car.”

“Really? I didn’t know you’d made the decision.”

“I was driving myself crazy thinking about it. And my insurance company informed me what they’d give me. I had to get one, you know, but…”

“Scared?”

“Do I sound silly?”

“You sound like someone who’s recently had a bad experience and is gun-shy. Could it happen again that it gets stolen? Should I have bought a used car? A bicycle?”

She laughed. “You’re funny.”

“I don’t believe you’re afraid of much, Olivia, but you’re still getting over a bad experience. It’s left a bad taste. Stop beating yourself up. The theft of the first car wasn’t your fault.”

“I haven’t heard anything from the police.”

Sloan sighed quietly, giving himself time to come up with a reason that wouldn’t seem hopeless. “Remember that hundreds of cars get stolen every day.”

“Mine is not that special.”

“Yours is not that special,” he repeated, confirming her realization.

“It probably won’t be found in one piece.”

“It probably won’t be found in one piece. I don’t mean to be cavalier.”

“You’re being honest.”

“So what did you get?”

Another BMW. Sloan listened to Olivia briefly describe the experience, but he could tell she’d kept overzealous salespeople in check, threatened to take her business elsewhere if they dared try to oversell her…and she got what she wanted.

“Want to take me for a spin tonight?”

“Sorry. Jackson asked first. I’m picking him up from the hospital. It’s Tuesday…”

Sloan grinned to himself. “You’re taking him for tacos.”

“He’s taking me for tacos.”

“Have you told your brother about me?”

“Of course. Almost as soon as we met. Because…I thought…”

“I know. Me, too. Did he give you any advice…or threaten my life?”

She chuckled. “I gave Jackson no reason to think he’d have to resort to violence on my behalf. He’s working on not being over protective. He told me to have fun. And be careful.”

“I like him already,” Sloan murmured.

“You’ll meet him. Soon.”

“I’ll let you go. Congrats on the new wheels.”

“Thanks. Are we still on for Sunday?”

“If you’re up for it.”

“You did promise.”

“Then we’re on. Speak with you soon.”

Olivia was taking slow, deep breaths, trying not to pant. That’s what Sloan had taught her. Find a rhythm, match it to your footsteps. Count slowly in increments of ten. Start over. And he’d said, if you have to stop a moment to rest, do it.

Olivia stopped and took the advice. She used the moment to look behind her, at how far she’d climbed. By her count she’d managed about seventy-five of the irregular stone steps. That left just over a hundred more to go. Some were not a step at all but sometimes required a ninety-degree leg lift to push herself up. Sloan had also instructed her to take a few sips of water every ten minutes. As her breathing got back to normal, Olivia glanced upward. She couldn’t see the top of the steps where they ultimately ended at the overlook, and she certainly couldn’t see Sloan. And she still had a very long way to go. She took a deep breath and started again toward the top.

When they’d reached the park, she’d asked if he could start up without her. She wanted to make the climb alone and meet him at the top. Sloan had not liked the idea at all, and they’d had a lengthy and slightly heated discussion about the wisdom of someone with little experience in climbing hikes doing the killer stairs on her own. She’d insisted. Sloan had finally given in, although it was clear he wasn’t happy about leaving her. Olivia had bribed him.

“If you let me go up by myself, I will do whatever you want for the rest of the day. It’s not about not wanting you to be with me. It’s about me proving to myself I can do this on my own.”

“Okay. Okay…” Sloan very reluctantly gave in. “You have your phone? I expect you to use it if you can’t make it, all right? If you need me.”

Olivia had been so buoyed, so thrilled by his demand. But she had no intentions of doing as he’d asked. She’d waved him off as he started the climb.

“See you at the top…”

She kept her attention on the steps, careful not to trip as she particularly monitored the ones that were higher than average. She paid no attention to the folks moving faster, some with the aid of walking sticks, or young teens and kids who didn’t know the meaning of the word “exhausted.” She ignored the markers that would have kept her informed of how much progress she was making on the climb up. And Olivia ignored the trickle of sweat that rolled down her spine and down her chest, between her breasts, from her exertion. She hadn’t counted on that discomfort. She kept going. And she lost track of time.

Sloan paced, maintaining a calm concern each time he approached the top landing of the stairs and gazed down into the crowd of climbers. He was looking for his navy-blue baseball cap he’d given Olivia to wear with the FBI letters large and yellow above the bill. No one would take it as authentic, but it would certainly stand out. He’d taken the bright-orange scarf she’d started with, wound around her hair like a headband, and tied it around his neck. He told her she could focus on looking for it, and him, as she neared the top. Sloan hoped that Olivia had remembered to be sparing and careful with her water consumption.

By normal considerations the climb could take forty-five minutes. He had managed in thirty, but his incentive was different. It was not to be the first or to win. It was to make sure he was in place when Olivia got to the overlook.

As he paced, Sloan eventually became aware of the level of his worry. He’d never gone through the emotions he was experiencing just then. He’d never worried over anyone this way, certainly not for climbing a hard but doable hill. But then again, there had never been anyone like Olivia in his life before. And it was scary to know, so fully, that she was his equal in all the ways he wanted it to matter. Sloan was a little beside himself to think of anything happening to her.

He loved her that much. He didn’t want to lose her.

And it was only a hike up 282 stone steps.

Sloan spotted the large yellow letters first. Olivia was walking on the extreme right side of the ascending stairs. If she happened to glance up, he would wave his arm as her target. She didn’t look up. But she was moving steadily, if slowly, and was within about a hundred feet of her destination. Sloan took a deep breath and slowly released it, relieved. He stood with his hands braced on his hips, gaze riveted to her progress. And only when she was within about a dozen steps from the top did she look up. She found him immediately…and smiled.

The last thing Olivia would want just then was to be fussed over. The last thing Sloan wanted to do was fuss over her. She’d made her point and he was going to respect that. Olivia reached the top step, stood for a few seconds to get her balance, steady her legs, then she walked right over to him. She looked up at him…triumphant.

Sloan didn’t touch her but couldn’t prevent a crooked grin from shaping his lips. He silently humphed in his chest and shook his head in amusement.

“Champion of the world,” he uttered.

She raised her hands straight up, overhead à la Rocky. He grinned.

Sloan had reached security and was about to swipe through the exit turnstile at the field office when a guard got his attention.

“Agent Kendrick? Before you leave, several teens arrived about a half hour ago looking for you. They didn’t have an appointment, but I tried to put a call into your office…let you know they were down here.”

Sloan listened but hadn’t a clue why teenagers had come specifically looking for him.

“Any names?” he asked the guard.

“No, sir. But they said you knew them.”

Sloan frowned. Nothing came to mind. “Okay. Where are they now?”

“Right outside,” the guard said, pointing out the door and signaling to the left.

“Have them come in, let me have a look, see if I recognize anyone.”

Sloan stood back from the security desk, to the side of the X-ray scanner. He would be able to see the teens right away, before they saw him, giving him a moment to assess them. In just a minute, the guard returned with four teens trailing behind him. He let them walk ahead through the revolving door, pointing to where they should wait.

As soon as the kids came into view, Sloan knew exactly who they were. Black teens from Olivia’s charter school. He knew two of their names, from the Teen Academy they’d attended at the field office shortly after the school year had begun—the tall, skinny teen with glasses, that was Colby. And the only girl in the group was Taryn. The young mother of baby Gaye. And baby Gaye was also in attendance, carried in Taryn’s arms, peering around at all the bigger people around her. Sloan stepped forward. Colby saw him first. He waved shyly.

“Hey, Agent Kendrick. Remember us?”

“Sure. Colby. Taryn. And…”

The other two students identified themselves. Sloan remembered them as well from the class but had not recalled their names.

“What’s up? You wanted to see me?”

They looked uncertain. Uncomfortable. One of the two Sloan was not as familiar with was eyeing his sidearm, a gaze of fascination and unease having him shift from one foot to the next. Sloan knew them to be bright and alert kids, and realized that the official setting where they stood, without benefit of a teacher as chaperone, had intimidated the four of them into nervous silence. Sloan looked to Taryn. He remembered thinking of her as fearless.

“Taryn?” he opened.

“We need to talk to you about something important.” She glanced in the direction of the security guard who was openly listening to the conversation. “In private,” she said bluntly.

Sloan nodded. “Okay.” He spoke to the guard. “Let them pass through the scan. When they’re cleared, I’ll take them into the main floor reception center.”

Then Sloan did something totally unexpected. He reached out and lifted Taryn’s daughter into his arms. The child did not act surprised, confused, or frightened. She stared for a moment into Sloan’s face and then broke into a babbling sound of joy.

He held Gaye intuitively, exactly as he had that first meeting when she was thrust into his care by Olivia.

While the teens were being processed, Sloan took a visitor’s pass for each of them from a rack next to the guard’s desk to be worn around their neck as they were cleared by the guard. He then silently led them to a large, glassed-in room down a corridor from the entrance. There was no one inside, and Sloan held the door as the kids entered and took seats around a rectangular table. He stood by the door, once again studying the four. He came to the head of the table to give each a long hard look, to see what they revealed, if anything. He remained standing.

“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Sloan asked bluntly.

“No,” they all answered over one another.

“Not really,” Colby clarified. “I mean, not us. I don’t think.”

As he tried to listen carefully, Sloan was also trying to manage Gaye’s baby movements. She wasn’t fussing so much as still trying to communicate without the skills or language yet to do so.

“I’ll take her,” Taryn said, reaching to take the baby back.

“I got her,” Sloan said smoothly. He glanced around the group. “One of you can explain. I’ll listen and ask questions, okay?”

“Yes, sir” was their respectful answer.

Sloan waited for one of them to take the lead.

“Does this visit have to do with school? Something going on there?” Sloan began, trying to cut to the chase and find a way into the reason for their visit.

Olivia came instantly to mind.

The students exchanged looks but averted their gaze from meeting his.

“No,” one of the boys muttered.

“Kind of,” Colby responded, looking thoughtful…and scared.

“It’s about Ms. Cameron,” Taryn finally clarified.

Sloan’s jaw tightened. But he didn’t otherwise move or show expression.

“Is Ms. Cameron okay?”

“Yeah. Sure,” the fourth boy affirmed.

Sloan remembered he was the one with a little bit of a comic streak.

“Okay. Then…what?”

They exchanged furtive glances again. Suddenly Taryn glared at the three boys and sucked her teeth, a show of impatience. “Come on! Just say it!” she exclaimed.

Colby blinked behind his glasses, pushed them back up his nose with a finger. “We know what happened to Ms. Cameron’s car. Not the new one. The first new one,” he said to clarify.

Sloan stared at Colby. Then his gaze swept over the other three, looking for confirmation. They were looking at him for reaction. “I take it none of you has spoken with Ms. Cameron about what you know.”

They mutely shook their heads. “We wanted to. We like Ms. Cameron. But if we did that, then…it will cause a lot of trouble,” one of the teens said.

Sloan sighed. They were protecting someone. “It’s already caused a lot of trouble. How do you think Ms. Cameron feels, having her car stolen?”

“We know, but…if we tell her what we know, then someone might go to jail. Maybe sent away to prison,” Taryn reasoned.

“That’s possible,” Sloan agreed, thinking. “But maybe not. Depends on the circumstances of the theft. What happened to the car? Is there any chance of getting it back? Was Ms. Cameron targeted for a reason? Who knew where she lived in the first place to take the car from her home driveway? Understand what I’m saying?”

They nodded, all looking ambivalent at all the possibilities. Sloan knew he was onto something and the details were probably not all that complicated. He slowly walked to the other side of the table and sat down across from the kids. He settled Gaye on his lap, and she comfortably lay against him. He spotted a large Sharpie on the table. Making sure the cap was on tightly, Sloan was about to give it to Gaye to play with, keep her distracted, but Taryn quickly reached into a compartment of her knapsack and pulled out a small stuffed animal in the shape of an elephant. She silently held it out to her daughter. Gaye grabbed the toy, examined it for a moment, and promptly shook and waved it about.

Sloan looked at each of them, getting another impression and making a decision. He leaned a little forward.

“Who wants to tell me exactly what happened? What you know and how you know it.” He looked from one to the other and, finally, back to Taryn, the unofficial group leader. He waited.

She sighed, squinting at him. “We’ll tell you everything. That’s why we came. We need you to help us. But you have to make a promise.”

Sloan raised his brows, pursed his mouth. “Depends on the promise.”

“You can’t tell Ms. Cameron what we tell you. We know you can figure out what to do. We don’t want anyone to go to jail. But what happened with Ms. Cameron…well…it’s not fair. She’s real nice. She’s a great teacher.”

“And she taught us how to meditate,” the chubby teen said, somewhat in awe and knowing that was a special skill.

“First of all, Ms. Cameron was very upset when her car was taken, not knowing how or why. Of course her insurance will cover most of the cost of replacing it, but that’s not the point. I think you all know that.”

“Yeah, we know,” was the group response.

“Question. What made you decide to come to me, to trust me with what you know? Why not confess everything to Ms. Cameron?”

Again, the silent exchange of glances.

“We know you like her,” Colby said confidently. “And we didn’t want to get in trouble either, so…we figure, you’re not a cop. You said so. We weren’t afraid that you’d arrest one of us or the person who stole the car. But maybe you could, you know, help Ms. Cameron.”

“That’s right,” said Taryn. “And maybe there’s a way of helping the person who did this and they won’t have to get in trouble either.”

Her simple logic made her excited, as if she’d figured out how to make it a win-win situation. She seemed very set on the culprit not being put behind bars. That, in particular, caught Sloan’s attention.

Sloan sat back more comfortably, Gaye resting against him. It was not as bad as he’d imagined, but bad enough. “Let’s go back to the beginning, to when it all happened. Obviously one or all of you, A, know the person responsible and, B, don’t particularly want anything to happen to that person. You’ll have to explain to me why that matters so much. I want you to tell me everything that you know. Everything. Then I’ll see what I can do. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir” was the contrite and relieved answer.

“Colby.” The teen started when his name was called. “Why don’t we start with you? What do you know?”

Colby slid down in his chair, his spine curved, his skinny legs splayed open from the knees. One knee began to bounce under the edge of the table.

Sloan didn’t have to say any more as Colby began to unravel the story that involved, more than any of them, his brother, Curtis. Yes, it was known that Curtis made it a habit of sometimes getting into the school when he wasn’t allowed on the premises, but it was not to steal anything. It was to try to see Taryn. And his daughter.

Sloan, again, was very careful not to let any expression show. He remained still and curious as the details unfolded.

Taryn didn’t want anyone to know that the father of her baby was also the brother of one of her best friends in school. That the father was a dropout and petty thief. She didn’t go into details about how she hooked up with Curtis or why; now she wanted to help him. Sloan reasoned that now was not the time, but eventually, all would be revealed. Colby swore that no one knew who Gaye’s father was, but Sloan wasn’t sure of that. Kids, teens, were not known for being discreet or capable of keeping important secrets. Sooner or later, it all came out.

“All right.” Sloan nodded at the revelation. “I take it the order to stay away from the school had no effect on him.”

“Yeah,” Taryn said, exasperated. “I kept telling him don’t come to the school. I didn’t want anyone in school to know all my business. But he kept showing up anyway.”

“Why couldn’t he come to your house to see you?” Sloan asked.

Taryn looked down. “I didn’t want my mom to know about me and Curtis…and that he’s Gaye’s father. She thinks he’s a loser and has no future.”

Colby, uncharacteristic of him, chortled. “My brother thinks he’s smarter than anybody. You can’t tell him anything.”

“But he does help out with Gaye. I can’t let my mom know, but…”

“I think you’re underestimating your mom. I bet she wouldn’t want anything to happen to the father of her grandchild.”

“Yeah, he’s real good about buying diapers and things. He got her three stuffed animals,” one of the other two teens offered.

As if that gave Curtis extra points.

“And he did buy a bigger stroller…” Colby trailed off.

“You don’t know how or where he got the money,” Sloan asked.

“No,” Colby muttered with a shake of his head.

Sloan nodded. “Okay, so Curtis is at the center of this whole thing, right?”

No one responded.

“Let’s get to the car. How did that come about?”

Sloan had known from the beginning that the theft of Olivia’s car was simple and straightforward—knowledge met with opportunity, and the time to pull it off. The full details of Curtis’s plan were to steal the car and sell it to a middleman who would dispose of it. Colby didn’t know where or how. His brother’s plan was to give some of the money to Taryn. And spend the rest on himself.

And it was at that point that Taryn realized she couldn’t remain silent. Colby had put everything together and suspected his own brother of the theft. But…what to do about it?

It was nice that Curtis was trying to help out financially with his daughter, but Taryn didn’t want him to steal in order to do that. She and Colby didn’t want Ms. Cameron to be the person he stole from. Was there a way for Curtis to confess to what he did…but not have to go to jail?

Sloan wasn’t sure that was possible. But he very much liked that these four students, maybe among Olivia’s best and brightest, were plotting how to make it all come out right and help Ms. Cameron. He listened for almost an hour as the kids traded ideas about how to fix things. He was impressed that they were using critical thinking, and their affection for Olivia, to save the day.

“What do you want from me? How do you think I can help you?”

The students sat quietly, thinking, trying to reason a solution.

“Maybe you can bring Curtis to the police and make him tell everything.”

“I can’t make him do anything. And I can’t just drag him to the police. On what grounds? What you’ve told me isn’t enough. It’s hearsay, not proof. But let’s say he’s arrested and arraigned, a case presented to the DA’s office…”

“That’s complicated,” Colby murmured, shaking his head.

“And you don’t want Oli—Ms. Cameron to know any of this? She’ll have to, you know. Once the facts come out about her car.”

“Yeah. I guess,” Taryn said, her brows furrowed as she tried to sort out what could be done. She looked at Sloan. “Maybe you could talk to her?”

“About what exactly?”

Colby shrugged. “Don’t know. But we do know you’ll figure out something. You’ll help make it right.”