“His eldest daughter is a senior in high school. She was arrested for possession of a Class I controlled substance and convicted of intent to distribute. She’s on probation as a first offender. Her mother died of an overdose.” Joceline was shocked.
“You didn’t hear that from me,” he added. “We don’t discuss cases brought by other agencies. In this case, San Antonio P.D.”
“Yes, sir.”
He cocked his head. “She was placed on drugs in grammar school for ADD.”
“That would have been my next question until you said you wouldn’t discuss it,” she said demurely. She sighed. “They wanted me to get my doctor to put Markie on those drugs.” She looked up quickly and grimaced. “That was uncalled for. I’m very sorry, sir. Personal matters should remain personal, especially on the job.”
His black eyes were steady and quiet. “Are you going to do it?”
She moved uncomfortably. She didn’t answer.
He moved closer. So close, in fact, that she could feel the heat of his powerful body and smell the spicy cologne he wore. She looked up at him and felt her heart jump.
“Are you going to do it?” he repeated, in a softer tone.
She swallowed. “I told them I’d talk to my family physician about giving Markie drugs for behavioral modification and that, if my family physician agreed, I’d get another family physician,” she murmured dryly. “I didn’t really mean it. I want to do what’s best for Markie.”
A chuckle escaped him. “I imagine that’s not all you said.”
Her blue eyes twinkled. “Well, Markie’s teacher made a remark that hit me on the raw but I kept my cool. I can’t help that everything I think appears on my face, though …”
He shook his head. “Ms. Perry, you are an anachronism.”
“Sir?”
“It would take longer than I’ve got to explain,” he replied, checking his watch. “I’m overdue for a meeting in the SAC’s office.”
“And I have work to do.”
He pursed his lips. “Some people would consider making coffee ‘work.’”
She smiled what he’d come to think of as her trademark expression. “Some people would consider a tomato a fruit.”
“A tomato is a fruit.”
She made a face and went back to her desk.
MARKIE wanted to play his video game. He grimaced when his mother started talking about his acting out in class and his inability to sit still.
“Nobody likes me,” he muttered.
“Yes, they do. But when you won’t stay at your desk, you make a lot of problems for your teacher. You aren’t the only student she has.”
He sighed. “It’s so boring in there,” he told her. “I already know all that stuff. But I’m younger than the other kids, and they make fun of me when I can’t run like they can, on account of my lungs.”
She felt that pain all the way to her shoes, but she knew from long and hard experience that bullies were a fact of life at any age. Unless the bullying was taking a dangerous toll, she found it best to let Markie handle those problems himself. Which he did. Once, when an older child tried to force him to give up his pocket money, he yelled “Thief!” at the top of his lungs until the owner came. He was reprimanded, but the bully got in trouble, too. He never tried to extort money again. For a sickly little boy, Joceline thought proudly, Markie had a stout and brave spirit. He wasn’t afraid of anything.
“Why are you smiling?” he asked.
“I’m very proud of you,” she said. “Your father would be proud of you, too, for the way you handle yourself when people try to pick on you.”
“My dad was brave, wasn’t he?”
“Very brave,” she replied.
“Don’t we have any pictures of him?” he asked.
This question was disturbing. She knew it would only get more difficult as time went by. “No, I don’t,” she said honestly. “I’m really sorry, Markie.”
“Did he look like me?”
She studied him with a sad smile. “Only a little,” she said, and hid her relief.
“Most of the other kids have daddies to take them places. I wish I knew him,” he told her.
She picked him up and hugged him close. “I wish you did, too.”
“You like your boss, don’t you?” he asked when she put him down.
She felt flushed. “He’s very nice.”
“He plays video games just like us,” he said.
“His brother plays them, too.”
“You don’t play much,” he accused.
She bent and kissed his forehead. “I have housework to do. Mothers are busy people. But I play with you on the weekends, don’t I?”
“Yeah. You do.” He grinned at her. “And I beat you.”
“Every time,” she agreed with a laugh.
“I might let you win next time,” he said thoughtfully.
“You might?”
He started to answer her playful reply when the phone rang.
Joceline picked up the receiver, still laughing from Markie’s teasing. “Hello?”
There was a pause. It was cold and unnerving.
“Hello?” she asked again.
“Your boss is first,” a gruff voice said. “Then you.”
