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Five photos stood out on a battered dresser. One showed Tayra and Jason, but the other four were of Jason and Bethany, all at different places, and both grinning into the camera. Slade made up his mind right then—she was important to Jason and he to her, and they needed his help whether Bethany liked it or not.
He glanced at the small boy on the bed, cleared his throat, and said, “Lunch is ready.”
“Not hungry,” Jason muttered.
Slade slapped a hand across his butt. Jason bolted upright, glaring at Slade. “Couple of new rules,” Slade said. “Number one, you don’t miss a meal; not unless you’re too sick to eat. Number two, you never lie. Number three, you got some itch under your skin, you tell me about it or you tell Bethany. Now is she the problem here?”
Jason shook his head. He kept glaring up at Slade. “I wish you were dead instead of my mom.” The words burst out. Jason’s eyes widened.
Sitting down on the bed next to Jason, Slade put his palms on his knees. “I wish that, too, buddy. I’d have traded places with her, if I could. But that wasn’t a call I got to make. You don’t get to either. You miss her?”
Head low, Jason muttered something.
Slade knocked Jason’s shoulder with his own. “Speak up. You mumble like that, folks will think you can’t talk.”
Jason looked up. “Did you know my mom?”
Slade nodded. “I did. Your mom and I…well, I knew her a long time ago. Before you were born.”
Jason thought about that for a minute. He scrubbed at his face with his hand “Why didn’t you ever come to see her?”
“I don’t think she wanted to share you with me. I think your mom was scared about a lot of things. I think one of them was maybe losing you. She probably figured I’d meet you, like you, and want to hang on to you.”
Jason’s face screwed up. His room, Slade noticed, smelled like dirty socks and bubble gum. Glancing at Slade, Jason said, “Mom didn’t like to be scared. She didn’t even like to watch any kind of action films. She didn’t want me to watch ’em, either.”
“But you did?” Slade could already guess the answer.
Jason dug one tennis shoe under the rug beside his bed. He glanced at the door and lowered his voice. “Don’t tell Bethany, but Mike—he gets homeschooled like me—his folks let him watch war movies. They say it’s like learning history.”
“Jason, did your mom ever tell you anything about your daddy?”
Jason shrugged. “She said he was nice. That he couldn’t be with us because what he did was too dangerous.”
Slade nodded. His job could be dangerous at times. He’d been shot at more than once, but luck had kept him safe.
Jason banged the back of his heels against the bed. “Slade, how come you never came to see my mom when she was sick?”
“I didn’t know that she was sick until a few days ago. Your Aunt Bethany called me, but I was in a place called Jawhara making sure some very important people were safe. Now, how about that lunch? And don’t tell me you aren’t hungry because I can hear your stomach growling like a tiger.” Slade reached over and poked Jason’s stomach.
Jason gave a laugh, but he got up and headed for the kitchen. He wolfed down his sandwich, asking if he could have juice. Bethany started to tell him they didn’t have any, but Slade got up and produced a grape juice box. “Why don’t you go out and shoot a few hoops,” Slade said.
Face scrunched up again, Jason shook his head. “I’m not very good at it.”
“Go on.” Slade put a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “I’ll be out in a few minutes to give you a few tips.”
Feet dragging, Jason headed out. Slade turned to Bethany. “I want you and Jason to come to San Diego with me for a few weeks. I’ve set it up so that we can leave tomorrow.”
11
Bethany stared at him. “Are you insane? I can’t just pull up and go.”
“Why not? You said it yourself: your work goes with you. Jason is homeschooled. What’s stopping you?”
She blinked. What was stopping her? Eyes narrowing, she said, “I think the biggest stop is that I just met you. I know next to nothing about you, and—”
“Okay, hold it right there. You’re telling me that you don’t know anything about me?”
Bethany bit her lip. “Well, okay, so that isn’t exactly true, but I’m still questioning your motives. There’s no way they’re completely altruistic.”
