My Brother's Keeper
Chapter 21
"There's no
answer." Kim said as she hung up the phone. She hoped that
would be the end of it. Ray was a little eccentric and awkward
with the children, almost strained even, but she thought that
deep down he genuinely cared. He seemed to know things about all
of their familiar, and when there was a problem with Kevin and
Patrick Dunne, he knew exactly who to call. Besides, Roper had
seemed to trust him and he was the one who had allowed him to
remain with the team even before she'd arrived.
"Did he have an
answering machine?" Jerry asked.
"No." She
stared back at him, wondering what he would want to try next.
"Great."
Some of the steam went out of him and he slumped against the
counter
Kim frowned.
Something inside of her softened as she realized that Jerry was
truly worried. "You really think something could happen
don't you?" She'd initially figured that he was simply
jealous at the way Ray had come on to her. But this seemed a long
way to go over jealousy, and she just couldn't see that sort of
extreme behavior as a part of Jerry's personality.
Jerry nodded, and
sighed. "Do you think Steve will come to the next game if we
ask him?"
Kim felt herself
beginning to worry. "Yeah, if he's not working. Maybe even
if he is." She took a step closer to him, looking into his
eyes. "But there is more to this than just a feeling, isn't
there? Tell me why you're so sure that there's something going
on."
Jerry twined his
fingers through hers, and seemed to relax a little at the
contact. "It started at that first game I went to. There was
this guy - he was really fishy looking, you know. Like he was up
to no good. I saw him come to the park after the game. Ray saw
him and just stopped everything he was doing and went over to
talk to him. He got this look on his face; a hard look."
"Like he didn't
like him?" Kim cut in. "Maybe he owed the guy some
money or something." She stopped when she realized what that
sounded like. Who came to collect their debts at a kids soccer
game?
Jerry shrugged.
"I don't know. But they did pass something between the two
of them when the met up in the parking lot. Then the guy pointed
at me and said something. It was too far away for me to even
think about figuring out what he said, but it didn't look good.
But then Ray said something and waved his hand like I wasn't
important or something. Then they turned away."
"Maybe they
thought you were being nosey," she offered, playing devil's
advocate.
Jerry chuckled a
little at that. "Maybe. I'll give you that I didn't exactly
connect with the guy right off. But then I saw that friend of his
a couple more times. It just seemed strange for him to be hanging
around so much."
"Why didn't you
say anything before?" Kim asked.
"I did,"
Jerry gave her a pointed look. "But someone accused me of
being paranoid and over protective." He softened the words
with a gentle squeeze of his hands and a smile.
Kim felt herself
smiling in return. She loved it when he smiled at her that way.
"The jury is still out on over protective," she told
him. "But, I remember the day in question. It was at
Menagerie's, right? He went to meet some guy in a black SUV with
a lot of fancy stuff on it."
"I take it
that's girl talk for customized," Jerry teased. "But
yes. That was the day. The guy didn't seem too happy to see that
I noticed him that time either."
"Well, I didn't
see the guy," Kim admitted. "I just remember the truck
cause of that funky grill thing it had in the front -- funky
grill thing being the technical term for whatever the real name
is. But either way, we're kind of at a dead end. So what do you
want to do now? Ask Steven to come to the game to be on the safe
side?"
"Could this
mean that Miss Skeptical has decided that she believes me?"
"Maybe Miss
Skeptical has decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. As
much as Steven makes me crazy as a big brother, I do trust your
judgement. You've never once let me down, and you've always been
there even when it was only on my terms." She smiled slyly
at him. "I guess that has to count for something."
Jerry tightened his
grip on her fingers and drew her closer. He was wearing that
smile that always turned her mind to mush. His arms moved up and
around her, gradually enclosing her in his embrace. "It's
good to know that I've won you over," he whispered, his
smile becoming wicked.
"What do you .
. . ?" Kim started to object, but Jerry unhurriedly leaned
downward, closing the distance between them. Her voice trailed
away, and the feigned objection was lost in the anticipation of
his lips touching hers. She helped him along by leaning in and
curling her arms up around his shoulders. For the next few
minutes, Ray Santucci was forgotten.