Always for You:Jack(3)

This time the kid stood his ground even when he knew he'd been spotted.  He probably figured he could outrun Jack. Considering the ache in his  knee right now, he was right. Instead of making any sudden moves, Jack  slowly walked toward his truck with his hands full of tools.

"Are you wanting something, kid?" Jack looked at him over the bed of the  truck. "Or do you think watching me patch a roof and caulk a few  windows is a spectator sport?"

The boy sidled a little closer. "You look like you could use some help.  Maybe picking up scraps of roofing, handing you tools, stuff like that.  Cash only, though."

God, did that bring back memories. "I was going to take my lunch break  right now, and I don't like talking business when I'm hungry. Thought  I'd walk down to that park and sit on one of the benches there. You're  welcome to join me if you want to. My mom always packs more than I can  eat. We can talk after lunch."

There. He'd made the offer. It was up to the kid if he wanted to accept.  Jack would bet trust came hard for him, though. He picked up his cooler  and headed for the park, doing his best not to limp. In the end, the  kid made it to the park ahead of him and had a bench already staked out  for the two of them. Jack sat on the opposite end and set the cooler  between them.

"Help yourself to a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water."  Then he shot the kid a narrow-eyed look. "Stay out of my cookies,  though. I won't share those with anyone that I'm not at least on a  first-name basis with."                       
       
           



       

Then, to get the conversation started, he added, "My name's Jack McShane."

The boy was already digging into the thick ham sandwich. He washed the bite down with a swig of water. "Ricky."

Jack tried again, although he wasn't surprised the boy didn't share his last name. "Ricky what?"

The boy's eyes shifted away from Jack. "Just Ricky."

"Okay, Just Ricky. I guess you maybe can have one or two of the cookies."

They lapsed into silence as Ricky continued to wolf down his food. When  he finished off his sandwich, Jack dug out a second one for each of  them. While they ate, he mulled over what to do about the kid. He might  not know much about Ricky specifically, but he definitely recognized the  type. He should; he'd been just like him at that age right down to the  ragged clothes and fading bruises.

It was always possible that some other kid had beat the crap out of  Ricky, but Jack's gut said someone much closer to the boy was  responsible. Like maybe his father or possibly a stepfather. Either way,  it made Jack see red.

Between the two of them, they'd gone through every scrap of food like a  flock of locusts. The only thing left in the cooler was a bag of  Marlene's best chocolate chip cookies. Ricky hadn't tried to help  himself, but he was definitely keeping his eye on them. Jack decided to  show him some mercy and tossed him the whole bag.

"You can have them. I've already had some this morning."

Okay, that was a lie, but he couldn't bear to think of the kid going  hungry just because Jack had a sweet tooth. Besides, watching to see  what Ricky did with the cookies would reveal a lot about the boy's  current situation. Jack would bet the boy was living on the streets at  least part of the time.

Sure enough, the cookies disappeared into the boy's ratty backpack along  with half of his second sandwich. Damn, Jack had really been hoping he  was wrong. He also needed to figure out how much he could do to help  without scaring the kid off for good.

"So here's what I can offer you, Ricky. You hang around and help me this  afternoon, and I'll spring for dinner and pay you, say, twenty bucks.  Do a good job, and we can do the same thing tomorrow."

He liked that Ricky didn't immediately accept. A kid his age and living  on his own shouldn't trust too easily. Too many predators prowled the  streets looking for their next victim. Worse yet, if the authorities  picked him up, Ricky could get sent right back into the very place he'd  be in the most danger.

"It's a deal."

"Okay, let's get to work. The job won't finish itself."

Another one of Joe's sayings. Only this time Jack was the adult saying  it to a kid who was stuck in the same hell that Jack had been trapped in  at the same age. Thanks to Joe and Marlene, he'd been rescued and given  a chance at a better life. As insane as it seemed, especially after  such a brief acquaintance, he wanted to do the same for Ricky.

The two of them went back to work. Jack kept an eye on the kid to make  sure he wasn't using the opportunity to case the clients' house for a  later visit to make off with anything of value. As far as he could tell,  though, Ricky spent his time picking up the old shingles Jack tossed to  the ground and anything else he was asked to do.

Thanks to his help, Jack finished up everything he'd planned to do that  day earlier than expected. He checked his watch. It was a bit early for  dinner, but he'd promised to feed the kid. The real problem was where he  could take him when he looked and smelled as if he hadn't bathed  recently. Jack finally settled on a fish-and-chips place that had  outside seating.

"Toss that last bag of trash in the back end, and we can head for that  dinner I promised you. I hope you like fish-and-chips, because I've had a  hankering for some all day long."

Ricky eyed the truck, maybe debating if he wanted to get into the cab with a man he didn't really know. "Where is this place?"

"Down by the water. I understand if you don't want to ride with me, but I  promise I just want to get dinner. From there, you can catch a bus  wherever you need to go."

Finally, Ricky got in, but he hugged the door and kept a firm grip on  the handle in case he decided to make a quick exit. Meanwhile, Jack  pulled out his cell and called home. "Hey, Mom, there's been a change of  plans. Instead of me cooking tonight, what do you say to some  fish-and-chips? I'm going to eat mine down by the water, because it's so  nice out. I'd be glad to bring you some when I'm done."

He listened while she talked to Mikhail before accepting his offer.  "Okay, and to be clear, your dinner is on me, Mom. Baby brother can pay  for his own."                       
       
           



       

He laughed at Mikhail's response when Marlene relayed Jack's message to him. "See you both soon."

They were both going to miss the youngest of the brothers when he left  to rejoin his unit in a couple of days. Good to his word, Mikhail had  kept up the yard and even completed an impressive number of jobs around  the house that Marlene had wanted done. Mikhail had been staying in the  main house with her, but when Jack got back in town, she'd told him that  she'd rather he stayed in the annex, the converted garage on the other  side of the driveway. Marlene quietly insisted that she needed to get  used to living alone eventually, and that would start as soon as Mikhail  left.

The annex was the closest thing to a permanent home that Jack could lay  claim to these days. Back when the brothers had started turning sixteen,  Joe had enlisted their help in turning the three-car garage into their  own apartment. The main floor was a combination of living room, gym,  bathroom, and kitchen. The upstairs had been divided into three small  bedrooms and another full bath.

They'd finished the project a year later. Jack had moved in on his  seventeenth birthday, with the other two following suit as they reached  that age, too. Even now, it was where they stayed whenever they came  home on leave, allowing them to be close to Joe and Marlene but still  have some privacy. It was serving the same purpose now.

He realized that Ricky was staring at him with an odd look on his face.  When he didn't say anything, Jack stated the obvious. "That was my mom  and younger brother. It's my turn to do dinner."

"Seriously, man, you're still living at home at your age?"

Jack shrugged. "I just moved back. I've spent the last ten years in the  army and recently got out. My father passed away unexpectedly a couple  of weeks ago, so I've come home to stay with my mom until we get things  settled. My younger brothers both took emergency leave to help out, but  one has already had to report back for duty. The other one is leaving in  a couple of days to rejoin his unit. The construction business belonged  to our father, and I'm finishing up the contracts he'd started."

The kid's smirk faded into curiosity. "So your brothers are in the military?"

"Yeah. One is a cop in the army. The other one is a recon marine. Our old man spent twenty years in the army, too."

"What about you?"

Jack signaled for a lane change before answering. "I was in Special  Forces until a few months ago. I got out because of my knee."