Page 7 of Protect My Heart

“Okay Mami, for you I’ll run right out and sleep with the next man I see just so I can give you a grandbaby.”

“You know what I mean,” Rosa laughed. “So I take it you haven’t found a nice young man while you’ve been home.”

She’d only been home a week. Heck, she didn’t know if she was staying. It’s not like she was hitting the gym hoping to pick up a guy.

“Can’t say I was looking.” But the image of a tall, handsome, and cranky cop came to mind. Liz shook off the thought. Thinking of him, she checked the time. They chatted for a few more minutes then Liz sighed. “Mami, I have to go. I have a meeting in a little while.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” The line went quiet for a moment before her mother’s soft voice touched her ears. “Cuidate, mija.”

A sweet smile crossed her lips at her mother’s parting words. “I’m always careful, Mami. Love you.”

The time flashed across her screen. If she wanted to look human when she met Jim in a couple hours, she needed to shower. Not that she cared what he thought of her looks.

Yeah right. She was vain enough to care, and to spend some extra time on her makeup. She saved eyeliner for when she needed a confidence boost. For date nights, business meetings, and job interviews. This was definitely the time for a boost. But a boost of what?

Jim looked at his watch then back to the mouse of a boy peeking out from his grandmother’s skirt. Doc was late.

He smiled at the boy. Luis faded further behind his paisley protective shield. Jim looked to Isabella, the mother. She didn’t shrink from his smile, just the opposite. He adjusted his collar and cleared his throat. “I’m sure Doctor Garcia will be here any minute.”

She’d better be. CJ had stayed back to work on a backlogged case, which was not a problem. Jim and the Doc could handle one young boy. The kid liked Doc anyway. Now if she would just show up.

He tapped his phone screen to bring it to life. 1:15 p.m. He arrived at the Lopez’s apartment twenty minutes ago. It didn’t matter how many cookies his mother bribed him with, Luis wasn’t talking. Jim’s computer sat open on the table with a dozen vehicle photos filling the screen and Luis said nothing.

Hell, Jim would take a nod, point, or a full-on charades move, but nope. The kid was ice.

The doorbell rang and Jim shot up first then relaxed his shoulders. Dang, why was he jumpy? “That would be her.”

Isabella scooted around him to answer the door.

“Sorry I’m late. An accident slowed the freeway to a crawl. Living down south, I forgot I need to adjust my drive time when it snows. I would have called but I don’t have a hands-free unit in my car yet.” Her dark hair flowed around her shoulders and her eyes sent a blow to his chest.

Jim blinked. Damn, he had noticed her beauty last night but Doc really was a knockout. Too bad she was out of his league. He had learned his place with Kari. Women with that social upbringing may go slumming with a blue-collar boy, but they never stuck around. It didn’t matter if they were pregnant or not.

Shoving her gloves in her pockets and slipping the long cashmere coat off with grace, Doc gently laid the garment over the back of the wooden chair and elegantly descended to the seat. With a radiant smile she asked, “Shall we get started?”

Her question snapped Jim from his thought. Oh yeah, he’d like to start something alright, but not with her. Okay, yes with her... but he wouldn’t.

Clearing his throat, Jim turned to the Lopez family and smiled again. “As I was saying, if Luis would look at these photos, we may be able to apprehend the shooter and make the streets safe again.”

Oh my God, that sounded corny even to his own ears. But he wasn’t going to say to a scared little kid, I’ll put away this piece of ass-crack flashing shit and the next one will step up to take his place. Yeah, that would go over well.

“Detective Swenson is right. If you help us find the bad man, he can stop him from hurting anyone else.” Doc leaned over, eye-to-eye with Luis. “Shall we start with the car pictures?”

The boy gave a faint nod, moved around the table to her, and fixed his dark gaze on the computer screen.

What? Was she the kid whisperer? Jim had been trying to connect with this kid for twenty minutes, and she’s in the apartment less than five minutes and the kid was on her lap. Not that he could blame the boy, but it still burned him. Usually he was good with kids. Heck, he had five nieces and nephews. They all loved him.

After a couple of minutes, Luis pointed to the five-year-old Toyota Camry. “You sure, Buddy?

He gave Jim a nod. After saving the photo and noting any other details he received from the boy, he switched from car photos to mug shots.

Doc flipped through the photos as Luis scrunched up his face and shook his head. None of the pictures triggered a response. The last screen of mug shots appeared. Luis’s eyes went wide and his hands started to tremble.

“Sweetie, do you see the man who shot Noah?” Doc squeezed his thin shoulder before rubbing his arm. The comforting worked. Luis nodded and pointed to a low-level gang banger who had a couple minors that landed him in the system.

“Are you sure, Buddy?” Jim made note of the suspect, Jerome Wilson, but didn’t go into detail about the young man’s convictions to the Lopez family. Jim asked Isabella, “Could you bring Luis in to identify the suspect in a lineup? He would be behind a two-way mirror, so it’s completely safe. No-one would be able to see him.”

Doc bristled, but Isabella agreed and they finished a few more questions before Jim and Doc stood to leave.