Little ficlet piece I wrote. If people like it, I may make it a proper fic
tw// mentions of domestic abuse to children
Technically, he was off the clock.
But Raymond Holt was not one for being idle. He had spent the day at painting, then fencing, and was heading to his favourite quiet cafe for a simple lunch.
It was on that journey that he heard a clattering in the alleyway. It was New York, there was always some movement. After all, it was the city that never slept.
But he checked anyway. Better to be safe than sorry.
So he slowly changed course, mentally altering his route to the cafe to accommodate this change.
That’s when he saw two kids. One was Latina, dark eyes, curly hair. The boy was smaller. Pale skin, brown mop of hair.
They didn’t look homeless. Their clothes were too clean for that. But something felt wrong. His suspicions were confirmed because, as he approached, the girl brandished a broken wine bottle at him.
“Stay back, pig! I won’t let you take my brother!”
He blinked and calmly raised his hands. “I will not touch either of you. Could you tell me why you think I would take him?” He evidently wasn’t her biological brother. But Raymond knew that family and connections were complicated to those not privy to the inner workings of them.
“It happens every time. They call the pigs, we get dragged back to our home and then we get hurt again. But I promised Jake I won’t let it happen again. I won’t let any cop take him back to his parents.”
Abuse. Raymond silently filed away this information. The best course of action was to not further upset the children. They probably weren’t older than seven.
“Your…brother’s name is Jake? What about you?”
“Nuh uh. I know all your tricks. Not telling you nothin’!”
The boy, who’d only been silent before, mumbled, “Rosa, don’t make him mad.”
So her name was Rosa. And his is Jake. No doubt a nickname for Jacob.
“I promise I have no intention of harming either of you or returning you to abusive homes. I was going to get some lunch. Would you like to accompany me? We can talk about what would be better for you.”
This was not protocol whatsoever.
But Detective Holt was off the clock.
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