Page 105 of Road Trip
“I’m so sorry, doll.I didn’t want this to be awkward, but—”
“We knew this might happen at some point, our jobs intersecting. I’ll help if I can, but I have to warn you. Sergio’s had some bad experiences with cops and he might not be really happy with this. Will you let me talk to him first? I can assure him he can trust you.”
He let out a relieved breath. “That would be great. Thank you. I’m sorry for how this all happened. Kara sprung this visit on me, and I didn’t have a chance to call you.” He was standing so close to me, his scent was driving me insane, but at the same time, I was really rubbed wrong by this whole situation. I could see things going south with a quickness.
I left him in my office to make his call, feeling an uncomfortable space between us. I turned and whispered, “I love you” as I stepped away from him toward the door and saw his cheeks go that mottled red color. But he didn’t say it back. In fact, he looked incredibly uncomfortable.
I heard the women talking in the conference room, so I took a minute to call home on my cell. Katie answered and she assured me everything was good. She’d even gotten Mom to go for a walk outside with her this afternoon, just down the street, and Gran was able to get out of the wheelchair on her own with just a spotter for help. She still had about four to six weeks of the heavy cast, so knowing Katie was there reassured me things would be so much better. I thanked her and she told me to shut up and hang up. I loved her little snarky attitude. She was a lot of fun to get to know, and I thought she and I might just end up good friends.
Kelly stepped out and his cheeks were back to their normal pink coloring. “Thank you,” he said just as the conference room phone rang.
I heard Geri answer it, then call me.
“Abra? The boys are out front. Why don’t you go tell them what’s what and bring them back here? I’m going to excuse myself as I was supposed to be at a meeting at the district ten minutes ago. You’ve got this?” she asked me, and I nodded.
I followed her out to the main office while Kelly rejoined his partner. Geri grabbed my arm as soon as we were out of their earshot.
“I’m sorry I can’t stay.” She grabbed her stuff and said hello to the boys, giving them big hugs on her way out the door. She turned to give me one and spoke in a quiet voice near my ear.
“Are you okay with this? With Kelly here?”
I took a deep breath. “I guess we’re about to find out.”
Then it was my turn.
“What’s up?” I asked as I grabbed them both up in big hugs. ”It’s so good to see you.” My smile fell when I saw fading bruises on Sergio’s face.
Sergio was no stranger to violence, but it usually occurred with his peers. Based on what I’d heard, this time it had happened at home.
“It looks like you’ve had some troubles, yeah?”
He nodded. I gestured for them to follow me into Geri’s office, which was right inside the front. I closed the door once they were both inside.
“Sergio, there are two officers here from the Hayward P.D. Child Safety Unit. They need to talk to you.”
His face grew taut with anger. “Excuse me, Ms. Mora, but I don’t want to talk to no fucking cops. They can’t make me, right?”
I braced myself for more anger. “I’m not sure, but probably. And honestly, Serg, this is about Alicia. I know you don’t want to talk to them, but I know you want her to be safe.”
His fury eased a little at that.
“I told her what happened, Serg,” Julian said.
Sergio nodded, looking down at his feet.
“You know what I have to tell and what stays between us, yeah? That is still the case. I just want to help you and your family be safe.”
Sergio had seen me for counseling before and had entrusted me with stories that were some of the worst I’d heard in my career. I had a feeling it was about to get worse.
“It was pretty awful when she told us,” he finally spoke. “My mom cried a lot. Unfortunately I don’t know if she’d make him stay away. She’s not sure how she’s going to make it without him paying the bills, you know? I want to kill him, Ms. Mora. I swear. If he comes back…”
“Do you know where he is?”
He shook his head. “His homies are protecting him good, you know, because of what went down. He’s wanted for attempted murder of a cop and shit.”
My chest filled with dread. “What do you mean? What happened?”
“The CHP came around asking questions and they arrested one of his homies for trying to set fire to a cop, man. My stepdad was there, man. And that shit ain’t right. I don’t like fucking cops either, man, but you don’t set someone on fire.”
