Page 93 of The Saint

Rising from his knees, Lev touched the spot on his jaw where I’d punched him in the park. He tapped the chocolate against his palm again. “This Mrs. T. She home right now?”

The kid’s face scrunched up and he shook his head. “Nah, she got lost last night, and Tyler had to have a sleepover at my house so his momma could find her.”

“Who’s all looking for Mrs. T?”

He shrugged. “Just Ms. Penny and Rolly.” The minute he said Rolly’s name, the kid’s eyes widened and he froze. Then he whispered, “I wasn’t ‘posed to say that.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to worry, we won’t tell anyone. We’re actually looking for Rolly. We want to help him find Mrs. T. Do you know where he went?”

The kid’s shoulders rose to his ears as his eyes darted around the hallway. But they kept coming back to the chocolate. Lev’s hand inched forward, and the kid licked his lips. “He said he had to go to the park.”

“Central Park?” When the kid nodded, Lev reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “You’ve been a big help, you know that? And I’ve got something here for you. You like chocolate?”

The kid’s head bobbed as he looked between the candy and Lev’s wallet. I wanted to reach into my pocket and take out my own wallet, to hand this kid everything I had, so he and his baby sister wouldn’t go hungry.

“Here. Why don’t you take this? Give this big one here to your momma so she can get you more of that special mac ‘n’ cheese you like, and you keep this little one and buy yourself some chocolate sometime.”

The boy took the two bills, his lips flattening as he shoved the money into his pocket. “Thank you, sir.”

“No, thank you.” He patted the kid on the shoulder, then shoved his wallet back into his pants. Lev turned to me, then spun back to the kid. “I almost forgot. You can have this too.”

The kid’s face lit up as he reached for the chocolate bar. “Are you for real?”

Lev chuckled, and a smile tugged at my lips. “Yeah, I’m for real. Take care, kid.”

Once he was out of sight, Lev looked over at me. “Dementia.”

My lips pressed into a thin line, and I shook my head. “It was freezing outside last night.”

“Still is.” He rubbed his jaw, then quirked an eyebrow at me. “She’s going to need all the help she can get.”

* * *

“What do you mean, missing?”

“That’s what the kid said,” I told Tyrone as he tucked the basketball under his arm and walked my way, the rest of the guys following after. “Tyler told him she got lost last night and Ms. Penny and Rolly went looking for her.”

“Shit.” Tyrone ran a palm across his mouth as he turned his face to the sky.

“She walk away from home again?” Jamal asked as he stopped at Tyrone’s side.

“Again?”

The guys nodded. “Happens all the time, and it keeps getting worse. Last time she came to the park not wearing any pants. But she’s never gotten out at night before.”

“But Rolly always finds her, right?” Reggie asked. “She’ll be okay, won’t she?”

“Depends on a lot of things,” Lev told them. “When she left, what she was wearing, where she spent the night.”

Jamal’s head whipped toward Tyrone. “I didn’t see Penny at Rolly’s show last night, did you?”

Tyrone’s face pinched, his palm running across his mouth once more. “Tyler was so excited to see it. But I didn’t see either of them there.”

“What can we do?” Dion asked us, and for the first time since we left Rolly’s apartment, I felt hope blossom in my chest.

“We’re going to need some information from you, for starters. Then, you can join the search.”

* * *