Page 41 of Delivering David

CHAPTER 29

Later Monday night

“So,this is how the cellphone works,” T.J. said. “You can play games on it an everything. I even downloaded some I’ll bet you haven’t seen.”

“That’s cool!” Excitement lit David’s face. “Are you sure your parents won’t mind you giving it to me?”

“Foster parents,” T.J. corrected. Butparentshad a nice sound to it. And the Johnsons had taken him shopping, keeping him away from David for most of the day. Buying him all new clothes–“you’ve already outgrown the ones we got you when you first got here,” Mrs. Johnson had teased–and shoes, new cellphone, and even a new skateboard. Some of the money T.J. knew came from the state. But the skateboard and phone–that was from the Johnsons.

Only now it was too dark to search outside for a hidden webcam or anything like that. They’d been lucky no one had figured out they were in the oversize den on the lower level of David’s house and T.J. wasn’t going too risk turning on the lights this late in the game. He’d start looking tomorrow after he was sure the Johnsons were at work. He’d waited until they’d finished dinner before he crept over here.

“Nah,” T.J. finally told him. “I’ll just tell them I gave my old one to a friend who couldn’t afford to buy one. They’ll understand.”Man, am I getting good at telling lies or what?

“They must be really nice,” David said, carefully wiping the phone’s surface with the cloth T.J. gave him. “Maybe they’ll adopt you and we can stay neighbors.”

“That would be nice,” T.J. said. At least that wasn’t a lie. He’d grown fond of the younger boy and keeping everyone–cops included–from knowing David was here was beginning to make T.J. feel guilty. Even more guilty than lying to the Johnsons about losing the cell phone. Maybe it was time to tell someone. Like Suzanne Bennett or that Army Dude who’d been a cop. Or both.

“T.J. does it hurt to get a tattoo?” David put the phone on the arm of the sofa.

“Whatcha talking about, little dude? I don’t have a tattoo. Do you want to get one?”

“No,” David said. “But I think the guy I saw in the woods had one.”

Steady now. Don’t spook the kid.“Give that to me again,” T.J. said. “Real slow.”

“Remember how I told you I ran from the house after Mom died and hid in the big tree?” David’s lower lip trembled. He’d described this for T.J. the first night they were back here, but T.J. had been too nervous about how to keep the kid safe and occupied while he decided what to do about him to really pay that much attention.

“I remember,” T.J. said. “Did the guy have a tattoo?”

“Yeah, on his head.”

“His head?” T.J. repeated. “How’d you know that?”

“I saw it when he took off his hat,” David explained. “It looked like some kind of big red bird with large wings. Only he put his hat back on kinda fast, so I didn’t get a good look at it. But it was big and red. And that’s how I knew he was a white guy. All that red on white looked kind of freaky. Would it hurt to have a tattoo on your head?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe, little dude. Are you sure? If you were up in the big tree, could you see–”

“Positive,” David insisted. “He was tall and white and had a tattoo on his head. Don’t you believe me?”

“Yeah, yeah, I do.” T.J. took a quick sip of soda from his glass and considered his options. “David, listen. I think it might be time for me to take you back to the Johnson’s with me tomorrow morning. After all this time, I don’t think anyone bad is still looking for you. The Johnsons are ER nurses and smart, so they’ll know what to do first.”

“Do you think they can find my grandparents?” David asked. “I still can’t remember where they went in Europe, ‘cept it had a funny name.

“OK, we’ll work on that,” T.J. promised. “Let’s play Minecraft on our phones for a while. Then I’ll heat up that chili I brought over.”

But as David settled back, a sense of unease crept over T.J. Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. And in all the movies, that’s the time when the bad guys pulled out the big guns and made their move. T.J. hoped that this guy with a tattooed head didn’t have a gun.

Yeah. He needed to take David to the Johnsons. Just as soon as he talked to them tomorrow. He didn’t want them to freak out.

CHAPTER 30

Early New Year’sEve Day.

BP Safehouse.

“Where doyou think Bailey has gone?” Suzanne asked from across the chess board. “He didn’t come in last night.”

“I think he wanted to be sure that the Sofia and Alex Langley were safe,” Kristopher’s hand hovered over his knight. “I know she told us they could stay with her sister, but between Balaur and The Cadre, the threat level has probably gone up. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hiding on the Langley’s property, doing his very own special surveillance.”

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