Will and Mick spent the rest of the day panhandling. While they were, Will did some serious thinking. He knew there was a chance whoever had attacked Kevin might try again. He also knew Mick was right. Somehow he wanted to be—no, had to be—in Kevin's life, now that he knew he had a son. The problem was, how could he accomplish that, and would Mira even agree to it? In all the time he'd been in the hospital room with her, she had given no indication of how she felt about him now. Not that he was terribly surprised, since her attention was focused on Kevin.
As well it should have been
By the end of the day, Will had come to a decision, at least about keeping Kevin safe. Now all he had to do was convince everyone else to go along with it, starting with Mick.
As they walked back to the deserted building they called home, Will stopped in front of a bank, nodded to himself, and stepped inside, much to Mick's obvious surprise. When Will headed toward a door to one side with a sign saying 'Bank Manager—Jennifer Scott' on it, Mick grabbed his arm.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mick whispered. "You go in there, she'll call security."
Will chuckled. "No, she won't," he said confidently.
He was correct. When he stepped into the room, with Mick right behind him, a well-dressed, older woman looked up from what she was doing. For a moment she seemed puzzled then she smiled.
"It's been a long time, Mr. Reynolds. You look"—she studied him momentarily—"a bit cleaner than the last time I saw you."
Will grinned. "And you look a bit more authoritarian, Jennifer. I take it you like having moved up in the world."
"Very much so, Will. Have a seat and tell me what I can do for you."
Will sat, with Mick hovering behind him until Jennifer told him he could sit as well. He did, perching on the edge of the chair.
"I need to make a withdrawal," Will told her, "but without any ID handy… well, you get the picture."
"Indeed." She opened a desk drawer, taking out a withdrawal slip, which she handed to him. He filled it out, signed in the proper place, and returned it. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes," she said.
As soon as she'd left, Mick asked, "You have an account here? You've made that much money just begging?"
"No. It's from…before. Although obviously I've made a few withdrawals since then." He chuckled. "Jennifer was the assistant manager when I first came here to open the account and transfer some money into it. She was, shall we say, a bit disbelieving at first, but when the transfer went through, she warmed up somewhat. We've become friends of a sort since then."
"If you have money, why do you…? Never mind, I know prying won't get me anything but frustrated."
Jennifer returned at that point, handing Will an envelope. He opened it, counted the money, and thanked her for her help.
"Any time, Will. You know that. And someday you're going to break down and tell me why you live the way you do when you don't have to."
"No, he won't," Mick said, before Will could reply. "Trust me. He's very closed-mouthed."
She smiled at him and nodded. "I'm well aware of that, but I had to say it anyway."
"You and me both," Mick told her with a grin, getting up to follow Will out of the office.
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