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“You’re a cop,” Elijah said.
“No, I’m an FBI agent. I work specifically with enhanced like your brother. All my team have people exactly like me.” Talon eyed the pair. “You do know that’s what the scar on Asa’s face is, right? It isn’t a burn.”
Elijah nodded. “He came to me first this morning before we went to see Mother Reynolds, but Grace was fussing. But she said it didn’t matter and just covered it up.”
“Grace?” Wasn’t the baby called Zuri?
“Mother Reynolds renamed her.” Talon didn’t comment on what he knew was a huge red flag. Marjorie Reynolds was the foster mom, but Mother Reynolds seemed an odd way of addressing her.
“Mother Reynolds? That’s what you call her?”
“That’s what we have to call her,” Elijah said and shrugged like it didn’t matter.
Just then there was a knock at the door and Richard put his head around. “All sorted out here. I grabbed some juice and managed to get some cookies.”
Henry immediately looked up. Talon put his hand out to Elijah. “Give me the weapon and I’ll ask my partner to bring Asa in so he gets some as well.” Elijah stared at him while both Talon and Richard waited patiently, not hurrying things along.
Elijah reached into his pocket and pulled out a teaspoon fastened with sticky tape to a stick. “I don’t have a knife. That drawer’s always locked in the kitchen, and Father Reynolds always searches us before we’re allowed in the house after school.”
There weren’t many things that could still surprise Talon, but Elijah had managed to. And the more he heard about the foster parents the less he was impressed, but so far he had heard only one side of the story, and the social worker had given a good home report. He took the spoon from Elijah and gave it to Richard, who stood back and let Finn and Asa come in. Asa yanked his hand from Finn’s and rushed over to his brothers. Elijah caught him with a wince, which brought Asa up short. “Sorry,” he murmured.
Talon immediately picked up on the reaction and he knew Finn had as well.
“You sore, buddy?” Talon asked lightly.
Elijah shook his head vehemently. Talon knew they couldn’t let it go, but right this second wasn’t the time for an interrogation.
Finn smiled. “I told you my name’s Finn, and this is my partner Talon. I’d like to help get this straightened out, so we can all get out of here.”
Asa nodded at Finn, who had clearly already worked his magic with him, and he walked over with the tray of juice and cookies Richard had brought in and set it down on a desk near them. “Who wants a drink?” He looked at Elijah. “There’s nothing in your medical records to say you can’t have this, but if you might be sick do you want me to rustle up some water and fruit? An apple? Is there anything you can’t eat?”
Talon glanced at Elijah consideringly as Finn helped the other two. Henry practically inhaled his cookies. They were all skinny, but that could be their natural body shape. And kids inhaling cookies was normal. It didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t being fed.
Elijah shook his head, glanced at the rapidly disappearing cookies, but made no attempt to take them for himself. Asa looked at his brother then back at Finn. “He won’t eat until we do.”
“That’s very kind,” Finn said mildly. “But we won’t run out. We can get more.”
Asa and his brother looked at each other and he knew by Finn’s expression that alarm bells were pinging in his head.
“Elijah didn’t have a weapon,” Talon told Finn. “So, he’s not in any trouble for that.”
Finn grinned, helped himself to a cookie, and sat down. Elijah seemed to relax a little and sat on one of the chairs. “Asa told me this was the first foster home they’ve all been in together.”
And Talon knew the kids would want to keep it that way. “When we get hold of the Reynolds we’ll explain everything. Mrs. Reynolds wasn’t worried about Asa’s scar this morning, so maybe it’s not as big a deal as you’re expecting.” Even if it was downright weird. There wasn’t an adult alive, especially in Tampa, that didn’t recognize an enhanced scar. Something occurred to him. “Do you think she’s worried you might have to leave now that you have this?”
Asa shook his head around a mouthful of cookie. Elijah still hadn’t taken one. There was another knock at the door and Richard appeared again. “We got hold of the Reynolds. They’re on their way.”
Asa stopped eating and shot a look at Elijah, but it was hard to read. Richard met Talon’s gaze.
“I was telling Asa about the team, and where we work.Maybe,” Finn said, excitement in his voice, “we could meet them there? Then these guys could get the chance to look around an FBI headquarters?”
Yep, Talon thought. Especially Doc Natalie and their medical facility.
Asa gazed at Elijah, a pleading look in his eyes, so all the kids stood, Elijah a little slowly. They were guided out by the team, past all the cops, and into Finn’s new minivan. The fact that Finn had just traded in his beloved sports car for a family bus hadn’t escaped Talon. He’d used the excuse of wanting to take all the boys places, meaning Liam, Luis and Kai, but Talon knew there were other reasons. He was grateful for it today, though. Richard followed them driving Talon’s truck, and they got to headquarters with little fuss. Finn made a great show of getting all three kids their own ID badges and then took them through the IT department and introduced them to the various personnel that worked there. He called a halt after a while because while the younger two seemed excited, Elijah looked strained. They went up to their own floor, as they termed it. Talon made a quiet call to Charles.
And he didn’t mean a phone call.
Charles understood his concerns and promised he and the Doc would see them in the conference room in a little while. Florida rules on consenting to medical examinations for minors were problematic. Charles had told him they were looking into everything and seeing if the mom still had legal consent, or the state did.
