Page 22 of Under Fire

“A little more than twelve years ago. I had barely been out of the academy for a few months.” She paused and then said, “And speaking of names, how did you come about with yours? I know of no other guy with that name.”

“No mystery there. My mom’s best friend was named Lockett. She promised to name me after her if I were a girl or something close to it if I was a boy. I was born a boy, so I became Locke.”

“Any siblings?”

“No, I was Mom’s one and only. She got pregnant with me at sixteen, but she finished school. We were doing great together.”

“What about your dad?”

“I never knew him. The only thing Mom told me about him was that I looked like him. She met him while visiting her grandmother one summer in Maryland. When she found out she was pregnant, she wrote and told him. He wrote back that he wasn’t interested in her condition and it was her problem and not his.”

He paused a moment and then said, “While I was growing up, Mom and I lived with my grandparents. I was ten before we moved out and got our own place. She and I were a team. She worked hard, and I didn’t want her to ever regret not giving me up for adoption or ending her pregnancy. She was a good mom, though she often said she never succeeded at anything.

“I wanted to be her success story. Then, a couple of weeks after I graduated from high school and was headed to college, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“That’s when you were arrested?”

Obviously, she knew his history, which wasn’t surprising. After Sheppard Granger’s exoneration, the time Shep spent in prison and the good he had done while there became big news. Several popular magazines had interviewed some of his surrogate sons, so most people knew the Defenders’ story.

“Yes, that’s when I got arrested and spent five years at Glenworth.”

“Is your mother still alive?”

“Yes. She still lives in Atlanta. A few years ago she married this nice guy. She’s happy, and I am happy for her.”

The car got quiet again, and when Hollis made a turn off the highway onto a two-lane road, Locke glanced out the window at his surroundings. “What river is that?”

“That’s the Little Manatee River that flows into Tampa Bay. Melon Creek flows into that river. At least a small part of it.’

Dusk had set, and several cars were leaving the fish camp. Locke figured the occupants had spent a day out on the water. The camp wasn’t what he had expected. It was a huge place. In addition to the bait-and-tackle shop and numerous boat ramps, there was also a seafood restaurant. The latter seemed popular, with numerous cars parked in front of it.

“In which of these buildings do you expect we’ll find Lenny?” he asked Hollis.

“If we walked into the restaurant, we’d stick out like a sore thumb. We look way too official for such a casual place.”

Locke grinned. “I agree. Let’s get rid of our jackets and try the bait-and-tackle shop first.”

The moment they entered, a big, burly guy with a beard let his gaze roam over their clothes, then stared them down and asked, “May I help you?”

As they strolled up to the counter, Locke figured that even without the jackets, their attire screamed undercover cops. “We’re looking for Lenny.”

The man didn’t blink when he asked, “And who might you be?”

“Locke Dangerfield and Hollis Calloway. We’re friends of Nyla Roker.”

The man didn’t say anything, staring at them with slate-blue eyes. Then he pressed a button near the cash register ─ an intercom, Locke figured ─ and said, “You can close the shop now, Jim.”

The reply to the man was, “Ten-four.”

He then looked back at Locke and Hollis and said, “I’m Lenny. Please follow me.”

***

Lenny led them to a back room that resembled an office. From there, they went through double doors to a huge foyer that opened into a larger room that looked like a home’s living room, with a beautiful view of the river. Apparently, the man’s house was connected to his business.

“Nyla, you have company,” Lenny called out.

A woman who had been pacing the floor looked their way. The television was on, but the volume was down. It was as if she didn’t want to hear what was being said.