Captain Newsome gazed at them in surprise when Will and Mick arrived at his office the next morning.
"You are definitely not the two men I watched walk out of here last night."
Mick looked somewhat uncomfortable, being unused to clothes that really fit. After all he had spent the last four years wearing whatever he could find in a dumpster or get from the drop-in places in the city.
Will also was uncomfortable. But for him it was the return to what he had been, at least in appearance, which bothered him. The only thing that remained the same was his hair. Despite making Mick get his cut, Will refused to do the same, although he had shaved off his beard. As far as he was concerned, once this was over and Kevin was safe, he planned on returning to the life he'd been living for the past almost nineteen years.
As soon as he and Mick were seated, Will asked, "Is it set up?"
Captain Newsome nodded. "We got lucky, actually. One of the tenants living on the same floor as Mr. Parker decided to break his lease rather than stay in what he called 'an unsafe building'."
"How large is the apartment?"
"A small two bedroom, so there should be no problems with your passing as father and son. All you have to do is come up with a story to fit that and to explain why you're sharing the apartment."
"We've got that covered," Mick told him. "Our house burned down, killing my mother. Neither of us wanted to stay in the town where that happened and since I'm thinking of going to school here, if I can get accepted, we decided to come out here together. I have to get my GED first, so I'll be working on that while he job hunts."
Newsome nodded slowly. "Not a bad story and it gives you both a reason to be around the building during the day, in case someone wonders."
"It also explains why we needed a furnished place and came with just a couple of suitcases each," Will added.
"Good point." Newsome tore a sheet of paper from the pad in front of him, handing it to Will. "The address and the manager's name and number. Do you have a phone?"
"Yes. We picked up a pair on the way over here, at Mick's suggestion." Taking the captain's pad and a pen from the holder on the desk, Will wrote down the two numbers for him. "Anything else you need from us?"
"Nope, but just in case, I have something for you." The captain took a small gun and holster from one of the desk drawers. "Hopefully you won't be needing this, but better safe than sorry."
Mick's eyes widened when Will took the gun, glancing at him in apparent admiration and no small amount of surprise.
Will smiled slightly. "You're presuming I know how to use one."
It seemed the captain caught on immediately because he replied, "You aim, and if necessary, pull the trigger. Usually, unless it's a pro, showing that you have a gun will stop someone in their tracks."
Will knew that wasn't true. He hoped Mick didn't. He put it and the holster in his jacket pocket then stood. "I'll call you as soon as we're settled in. Do you know when Kevin's being released from the hospital?"
"Last I heard, not until this afternoon at the earliest but let me find out for certain." He placed a call to the hospital and a few moments later said, "Late this afternoon. That gives you time to move in and get the lay of the land."
"Good. Ready, Mick?"
"No, I thought I'd sit here and pick Captain Newsome's brain on what it takes to be a cop," Mick replied with a grin.
The two older men both chuckled. Then, after picking up their suitcases and Mick's new backpack from beside the door where they'd left them, Will and Mick took off for their new, if very temporary, home.
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