"Whose fault is that?" Mira retorted. "You ran away, disappeared. Last I heard—I did try to find out where you went—you were drowning your… your sorrows in a bottle and had fallen off the face of the earth."
"I did, for a while," Will admitted. "And I found out I liked it 'off the edge of the earth', although I didn't like being so drunk I didn't even know what day it was. So I quit that and just—" he shrugged one shoulder, "—just lived—and learned that there's something to be said for not existing in the normal world. But that's neither here nor there at the moment. I want to keep Kevin safe."
"How?"
"Okay, the story we gave out for being at the apartment building is that Mick and I are father and son, new in town. I'm looking for a job; he's studying for his GED so he can go to college here."
"Is that true?"
"About him, yes." Will smiled slightly. "He's going to get it and get off the streets, come hell or high water."
"He thinks you were a teacher once, doesn't he?"
Will nodded. "He came up with that because I've been making him study, and I didn't say anything to refute it."
"Figures," she said sarcastically. "Still, how are you going to explain to Kev that the 'old family friend', who looked like a bum, is now a respectable man with a son living in the same building?"
"I'll tell him a version of the truth. That I was a cop, working undercover, and now I'm doing it again as a favor to you, with my captain's permission."
Mira frowned. "You want me to back you up on that?"
"It would make things simpler all around."
By then they were at the store. They got coffee, plus one for Kevin, and started back to the apartment building.
"If I go along with this, you promise to keep him safe and find out who did that to him?"
"I'll do my damnedest to." Will paused, smiling ruefully. "He is my son, even though he doesn't know it, and I want him safe as much as you do."
She put one hand on his arm to get his full attention.
"You have to tell him. I mean… damn it, Will, what's past is past, at least, as far as I'm concerned." When he shook his head disbelievingly, she nodded. "It is. I've had a long time to come to terms with what happened. Despite how I acted yesterday when I first saw you, I understand you did the best you could to try to save my brother. If… if he hadn't died, you and I would be married and Kevin would be our son, not just my son."
"I think it's too late, Mira. Let's let him go on thinking I knew you back when and am willing to help him now. It's better that way."
"I don't agree, but for the moment… yes, I'll play along." She smiled slightly. "Is Mick an undercover cop too, in your scenario?"
"Now that's a good question." Will looked thoughtful. "He could be a trainee, from the police academy. We'll say he was already working with me because he fit the image of a street kid, which I needed to have around. So I brought him in on this assignment too, since he's Kevin's age."
Mira cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't he a bit young to be a police trainee?"
"Good point. He's really twenty, umm, two, but looks young for his age."
"Okay, that works." Mira realized she was getting into this, strangely enough. For Kevin's sake, yes, but also because she liked plotting things out with Will. He had a sharp, devious mind when it came to that, which was one of the reasons she'd fallen in love with him. Oh the plans we came up with. And they worked, for both him and Danny. Until… She forced that thought away. "Do you want me to introduce you tonight? I have to leave tomorrow. I do have a job and they like me being there."
"He's still awake? Oh, duh, yeah he must be if he wanted coffee."
She laughed. "He's studying to make up for what he missed."
"All right. Then let's get this over with now. The sooner he knows we're here and why, the better."
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