Gridlock: A Ryan Lock Novel by Sean Black Page B

‘Actually, I live across the street from you. Hal Bradley. You might have seen my kids coming to visit on the weekends.’
    Next to him, Raven relaxed a notch, but Lock kept his guard up.
    Hal said, ‘Sorry, is this your boyfriend or something?’
    ‘No,’ Raven told him. ‘Just a friend.’
    Hal’s face hardened. ‘Great. Well, perhaps we could get together some time. Have dinner, maybe.’
    Raven cleared her throat. ‘I have a lot going on right now.’
    Hal made a face. ‘So, I’m not good enough for you, is that it? I didn’t think women like you were that selective. I could make it worth your while financially.’
    Lock took Raven’s elbow as she started to protest. ‘Go get those steaks.’
    She shook him off. ‘I can fight my own battles.’
    ‘I don’t doubt it,’ Lock said softly. ‘But I’m on the clock, which means I deal with this.’
    Raven shot Hal an angry look but walked away, leaving the two men together. Hal seemed oblivious to the fact that Lock was glaring at him. There were times for Lock when dealing with a situation was purely professional. There were others when it became personal. This was one of the others.
    If you wanted to make judgements about other people based on what they did for a living that was fine. This was America. People were entitled to their opinions. But when you shared those judgements, you had better be prepared for the person you’re talking to, in this case Lock, to reply.
    ‘She’s just a hooker, right?’ Hal protested, as Lock’s right hand moved slowly from his side and formed into a fist.
    Raven was paying for the groceries at the checkout when Lock caught up with her. Behind him, a couple of store employees were gazing at him with open mouths, having just witnessed the one-sided altercation he’d had with Hal. He’d been careful to make sure that the other guy threw the first punch but it was all one-way traffic after that.
    ‘You okay?’ he asked Raven.
    She nodded as the packer loaded the final bag into their cart.
    ‘You have a clean-up in aisle three,’ he said to the cashier, as she handed Raven her receipt. Then he took the trolley and escorted Raven out of the store.

15
     
    The glow from a neon store sign traced across Raven’s face as they pulled out of the parking lot. She turned away from Lock and he knew she had started to cry. He drove in silence for a while, keeping an eye on the traffic. If she wanted to talk, she would. It wasn’t his job to force the issue.
    After a few moments she grabbed her purse and fished out a packet of tissues, dabbed at her eyes, then blew her nose. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said finally.
    Lock’s eyes flicked between the rear-view and the road ahead. ‘You’re allowed to be upset.’
    ‘It’s just a lot to deal with sometimes. If I had only myself to worry about I could probably get by, but with Kevin as well… There’s a lot of pressure.’
    ‘A lot of people would have left him when he was younger,’ he said.
    She cleared her throat and her eyes darkened. ‘They already had. That’s why I couldn’t.’
    He reached down and grabbed a bottle of water from a cup holder and handed it to her.
    ‘Thanks.’ She took a sip. ‘I don’t often tell people about what happened. But if you want to hear it?’
    Now Lock felt she needed to talk. He gestured to the wall of red brake-lights ahead. ‘It’s not like we don’t have time.’
    ‘We grew up in northern California, right up past San Francisco. Dad split right after Kevin was born when he found out he was different. Just walked out on us without an explanation and never got back in touch. So that was one person who bailed on Kevin. Our mom did her best but she got involved with one deadbeat after another and most of them didn’t want kids around, never mind one with Kevin’s problem. So I guess all we had was each other and I ended up taking care of him a lot.’ She stopped. ‘Are you sure you want to hear this?’
    He nodded.
    ‘Mom