His mother would never accept the fact he was grown. To her, he would always be five years old and in need of her to watch out for him. Still, he loved his mother.
"Yeah, okay. If I don't have to work, I'll stop by."
"Good boy." She reached into her purse and pulled out two twenties, then handed them to Ash. "You can pay for the red beans and rice with that, and if you have another beer, you better take a cab home too. Got me?"
"Will do, Mrs. Gautier," Ash said as he took the money. "Thanks."
She smiled, then kissed Nick on the cheek and squeezed Ash's forearm. "You boys behave and try to stay out of trouble."
Nick nodded. "We will."
Once she was gone, Nick turned back to Ash. "Man, I'm sorry about that. Thanks for being so cool with her."
"Nick, never apologize for your mother. Just be damned grateful you have her." Ash handed him the forty dollars.
"Believe me, I am," Nick said as he pocketed it. He smiled at his mother's loving nature. She'd always had this insane need to mother the world, but then, she'd been thrown out of her father's house at age fifteen when they had learned she was pregnant with him. So, she tended to have an affinity for anyone she thought was another abandoned or neglected youth.
The bartender returned with Ash's red beans and rice.
Ash took one look at it and slid it over to Nick. "I hope you're hungry."
Nick was, but two orders was more than even he could handle. Suddenly, it dawned on him that he had never once seen Ash eat food. "Do you ever eat?"
"Yeah, but what I need isn't on the menu."
Not wanting to pursue that one, Nick frowned. "Now that I think about it, why are we meeting in daylight? How can you be out in the sun and not go up in flames?"
"I'm special."
"Ahhh, so we're back to the visibly challenged thing, huh?"
Ash shook his head.
As Ash reached for his beer, he noticed the TV out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he felt his body go numb in disbelief as he saw Zarek's picture on the early news.
A waiter turned the sound up.
"... believed to be the same man who murdered a woman in the Warehouse District earlier last night..."
Nick cursed. "Is that who I think it is?"
Ash could only nod as he watched the webcam pictures that had captured Zarek's fight with the Daimons and the arrival of the police.
"... the police department is offering a reward for any information on the suspect."
Nick and Ash cursed in unison as they showed a perfect sketch of Zarek's face.
"We're screwed," Nick breathed.
"Screwed blue and tattooed," Ash snarled. He pulled his cell phone from his coat and left the bar to call Zarek. The last thing he needed was for anyone to overhear this particular conversation.
Nick followed him outside. "What are we going to do?"
Ash hit the cancel button. "His phone is off. He must still be asleep."
"Are you ignoring my question or did you not hear it?"
"I heard you, Nick. I don't know. We have to keep him hidden. With those pictures, he's as good as convicted."