was to make rent there. With only a high school education, and working jobs that paid little more than minimum wage, no way could Robert support himself on his own or even scrape together enough to get himself somewhere else.
“We’ll talk about this some more tomorrow,” she told him. “For tonight, why don’t you go up to the lounge upstairs and sleep on the couch? You can use the shower in the little bathroom up there in the morning, and I’ll bring you down some breakfast around nine o’clock. And then we can figure out what to do.”
She paused, dreading the next question but knowing she needed to ask it. “And Robert, about seeing Tera Aguilar the other night . . . tell me, what were you really doing out on the streets that late?”
“I was, you know, heading back here,” he said, clutching his sleeping bag more tightly to him. “Sometimes my cousin lets me crash at his place, but he wasn’t home, so I thought I’d stay in the courtyard here. I figured it was, you know, safer than the park.”
“That was all? Do you promise you’re not the one going around the neighborhood stealing scrap metal to sell for cash?” she asked, though knowing his circumstances as she did now, she’d be hard-pressed to judge him too harshly.
Robert, however, gave his head a vigorous shake.
“No way, I don’t steal. Besides, Alex . . . Mr. Putin . . . is pretty mad about whoever’s doing that. I don’t want to get on his bad side.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she replied, relieved to realize that she believed him. Though, of course, one final question remained. “And you don’t know anything about who killed Mr. Benedetto, either?”
He shook his head again, though this time he was stifling a yawn, as well. “No clue. I just hope they catch him soon. It’s kind of, you know, creepy being out there at night thinking some psycho dude might be running around.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that tonight,” Darla assured him. “Like I said, you can stay upstairs. Now, get moving, so we can both get some rest.”
“Sure. And, uh, thanks for not being, you know, mad.”
He slid off the stool and started for the stairs, looking so young and vulnerable that she wanted to run after him and give him a motherly hug. She suppressed the impulse, however, and merely watched to make sure he made it up the stairs safely. Hamlet, meanwhile, rose and looked from her to the departing teen.
“Go on ahead,” she softly told the cat. “I think he could use a little company.”
Seemingly agreeing with her assessment, Hamlet slipped down off the counter again and padded his way up the steps. Darla gave them a moment to get settled in; then she let herself out the side door again and headed up to her apartment. Once there, she sent a quick text message to Jake—All OK ignore voice mail I’ll explain tomorrow—and then took a quick look at her computer screen. All stations were quiet once more. Leaving the program open, just in case, she flipped out the lights and then headed off to her bedroom.
One potential suspect in Curt’s death had been ruled out, at least to her satisfaction, she decided as she shed her sweats for an oversized T-shirt and settled beneath her comforter. The teen’s explanation regarding his involvement—or rather, the lack thereof—with the scrap metal thieves had the ring of truth. As for the actual murder, so far as she knew, Robert wasn’t anywhere on Reese’s radar. James would be equally glad to learn that Robert had nothing to do with either the Curt situation or the scrap metal thefts. But the older man would likely be as distressed as she to know of the teen’s homeless plight.
Once again, Darla’s redheaded temper simmered at the thought of Robert’s father callously throwing out the boy to live on the streets. If not for her changing the cameras and thereby catching him, how long might Robert have spent sleeping in the bookshop’s courtyard? And what would have happened once winter truly hit, when the temperatures dropped well below freezing and snow filled the walled-in terrace? Hopefully James could help her figure out a solution to Robert’s situation.
But even with Robert now accounted for, that still left Curt dead and Tera missing.
Darla groaned and pulled the covers over her head. She’d try again tomorrow with Robert’s and James’s help to puzzle out an