Chapter 69

“There was a man in the restroom,” I said, “and he’d been stabbed.”

His eyes got wide at that, and he said. “Was he dead?”

Oh God, I thought. I hope this doesn’t cause him to have flashbacks about his mother’s death.

“No, but he was bleeding badly. Philip and I used our handkerchiefs to try to stop the bleeding.”

“Wow.”

“Robbie, why don’t you go over there and sit with Mike and Charles while I talk to this policeman?”

“Yes, Sir,” he said, and returned to the table.

“My partner and I adopted him last year,” I said to the cop. “He’d just witnessed his mother being beaten to death by his father. A week or so later, the father was shot while resisting arrest. I’m afraid all of this may bring back some of his old nightmares.”

“Damn,” Sam said, “that’s a lot for a little kid to go through. How old was he then?”

“He was a couple of months shy of six when his mother died,” I said, “and he’s been through a ton of counseling since then.”