Page 10 of Devoted

Silvana finishes filling the refrigerator and folds up the paper bag. I offer him some chips. He reaches inside the bag for a handful and leans on the counter next to me. Maddox is still on the phone. The glass door is shut, but Silvana still lowers hisvoice.

"You know, Ten, growing up wasn't a breeze for me. My parents were wonderful. Supportive, kind, the bestreally."

"That's why you turned out to be so genuinelylikable."

"Thanks." There's a slight blush on his face from the compliment. "I was, to put it mildly, very pudgy and not the least bit sporty. Let's just say, I encountered more than my share of bullies. Some of them even grew right up to be adult bullies. I think that's why I became a cop. I'm always hoping I'll come face to face with one of them and get my final revenge. But one thing I found was that when I learned more about those bullies, my demons, as I like to call them, I could almost forgive them and even accept their meanness. I discovered a few of them had miserable lives. After all, I went home every night to a mom who wrote me little sticky notes in the bathroom to tell me how handsome I looked on my way to school that day. My dad was constantly taking me to cool places like the aerospace museum and the world's creepiest cemetery. One kid in particular, Joey Melborne, was a total and complete ass. He had a thick neck in first grade, and it only got thicker, along with the rest of him. I'd walk in different hallways just to avoid him. But he always managed to track me down and add a little misery to my day. Then one afternoon in junior high, I got a bee sting. My elbow swelled up like a tennis ball. I was sitting in the nurse's office waiting for my mom to pick me up. Joey had been brought in by the lunch proctor for throwing food. The principal called his dad to pick him up. This big man with a monstrous scowl barged into the office, making even the principal's secretary jump. I could hear him inside the principal's office yelling at Joey. Then he dragged him out by his arm. His dad was holding him so tight, I could see white outlines around his fingertips. They walked past the window on the nurse station. His dad smacked Joey so hard on the back of the head, Joey fell forward to his knees. Joey knew I saw the whole thing too, which probably made the pain that much worse. My mom walked into the office a few minutes later, her face pale with worry. She'd cried all the way to the school. She hugged me. I didn't care who saw me get kissed and hugged by my mom because I wasn't Joey and I was glad as hell about that. After that, I sort of just took Joey's mean taunts instride."

"You're a great guy, Silvana. And you deserved a kissy, huggymom."

He glances once more toward Maddox. We are still alone. "Believe it or not, there is a point to my long story. Sometimes, if you understand the demons you can't control, it's much easier to face your ownfeelings."

I roll up the bag of chips. "I'm not sure I'mfollowing."

"Clark has me and a few other people researching this guy, Freestone. It turns out Freestone is an alias. He's had more than one. It seems he spent some time in the foster system. Maybe you should do a little digging just to find out more about him. It might help you understand, youknow—"

"My owndemons?"

"No, I didn't mean that," he says quickly. "Shit"—he scratches the back of his neck—"I'm saying this allwrong."

"Actually, you're not, Sil. I get it. And you know what? As soon as I can work up the courage, I might do just that. Freestone is a complicated man. It would be interesting to find out his history. I might need a little insider information though, so when you get it—I won't tellClark."

"Phew, good. OrMaddox."

I widen my eyes. "Really? Do you think it'll upsethim?"

He peers out the door again. "It's just that Clark told him he can't be involved in the research. He says he's too close to the whole thing. Maddox was hopping mad. Don't know when I've ever seen him like that. He wants to get Freestone real bad." He lowers his voice again. "From the first day you went missing, 'on leave' as Clark put it, Maddox was going out of his mind with finding you. There could have been a massive drug war happening right in the center of the city and that guy standing out there on the sand wouldn't have even noticed. Clark finally let him go undercover because Maddox hounded him. I almost thought the captain was going to give him an involuntary leave of absence just to get him off his back. The only reason he didn't is because Maddox assured him he'd find you with or without theprecinct."

The sliding glass door opens. The small house fills with the scent of theocean.

"And that's why there is nothing better than shoving barbecue potato chips into a bologna sandwich," Silvana states confidently. "Well, partner, are we hitting the road to catch bad guys orwhat?"

It seems perfectly logical that Silvana and I might be deep in a conversation about stuffing chips into sandwiches so Maddox doesn't seem to think twice aboutit.

His green eyes land on me as he pushes his phone into his pocket. That gaze of his still causes my knees to liquefy. Windswept is an exceptionally good look on the man, but then he's pretty magnificent in a downpour too. "Are you going to be all right alone? Clark's coming by to check on you in a fewhours."

"I'll be fine. I'm going to take a shower, eat something—with reasonable food value—" I add. "Then I'll probably nap again. But one question. Does this place haveinternet?"

"Yeah, there's a big outdated computer in the bedroom. But I think Nate hooked it up with wifi and everything. I'll get hispassword."

"And my laptop?" I ask with a polite grin. "If you happen to be in the neighborhood of my apartment and then happen to be heading this way, if you could bring it, that might keep me from going stircrazy."

Maddox nods. "Yep, I'll bring it with me when I come back heretonight."

"Oh, are you coming back tonight?" Iask.

He looks hurt. I have no idea how I managed that with a simple question. He's definitely touchier thanusual.

"I'm not leaving you out here alone, Ten. That asshole could be anywhere. I'll sleep on the couch," he adds, even though sleeping arrangements were notmentioned.

"I don't want to put you out." Again, his face shows that I've said entirely the wrong thing. "I mean, yes, come. That will be nice. I've spent a lot of time alone in the past few months. I'm glad you're coming tostay."

He's not buying my sugary mess. "Right. Well, let's go, Silvana. A package delivery warehouse has discovered a large carton of cocaine shipping into the country. We need to get over there." He turns to me. "Eat something other than cupcakes. Clark will knock once and then three short times. And lock thedeadbolt."

I quickly hug Silvana. "Thanks for all the yummies and thanks for the talk. I neededit."

7

Angie

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