Cautiously, Rojas rose up from behind the counter and took stock of the scene in front of him.
Officer Kymani Graves was approaching the two strange policemen, his own weapon drawn. There was a terse exchange of words. Rojas watched, tense, and decided to set the kali stick down on the counter in plain sight and easy reach. He’d let Graves handle things, but be ready to react again if things escalated. He didn’t relax even once the men holstered their weapons. After a few minutes, they left looking murderous.
Rojas stooped to pick up Souze’s leash and returned to the door, letting Officer Graves in.
“Excellent timing, Ky.” Rojas shook the other man’s hand. Rojas had some decent height at six foot, give or take. But Kymani Graves stood several inches taller.
The lean man smiled, brilliant white teeth showing in cheerful contrast to his dark skin. “I see you’ve battened down the hatches, Rojas. Tell me where you’ve hidden all of our children.”
In answer, Rojas kept his eyes on the parking lot beyond Ky but called out over his shoulder. “Game’s over, everyone line up on the mat! Miss Elisa gets to tell us who the winner is.”
The kids poured out of the back changing room, babbling and full of questions. Gary and Greg arrived at a run, and Rojas gave Ky the quick version of what had happened.
Ky’s eyebrows rose, then rose higher as Rojas added in some context with Elisa’s situation.
“Good timing is right, then. If you’d had to resort to any additional action to keep them out, there could’ve been some major complications and possibly some charges for assaulting an officer.” Ky sighed. “As it was, they were outside their jurisdiction.”
Rojas jerked his chin up and down once. “They didn’t actually say where they were from, just stated their names.”
Ky pressed his lips together in a grim smile. “We’ll have to look into exactly who they were and where their district headquarters are. But in the meantime, thank you for keeping my child safe.”
Rojas shook his head. “I’m sorry we couldn’t avoid it altogether.”
Gary and Greg joined them. “Kids all seem okay. Some of them heard what was going on but Elisa kept them straight with the idea that you were having a discussion with strangers and because no one knew if they were police, they were not allowed in.”
Ky’s daughter Grace came running up. Because Souze had turned first to face the oncoming child, Rojas was warned that she was coming and he didn’t jump.
Grace looked way up at her dad. “I didn’t win the discipline contest, so I can’t choose teams first next parents’ night, but can Boom still sleep over tonight like we planned?”
Rojas winced then blanked his expression. This incident had probably left Ky with mixed feelings, and Rojas didn’t want the other man to feel obligated to still look after his daughter for the evening.
Ky only smiled his generous smile, though, and placed his hand on his daughter’s head. “Of course. Are you both ready to leave?”
Grace held up two fingers. “Two minutes! We’ll say good-bye and get our shoes on.”
Then she was running off.
Rojas caught Ky’s gaze. “I understand if you’d prefer not to.”
Ky’s smile sobered a fraction. “I was sincere when I thanked you for my daughter’s safety, Rojas. And I know something of what it cost you to keep things calm here. Not every man could do that. I’m honored that you’d trust me with your daughter after such an interesting evening.”
Rojas didn’t know what to say, so he put his hand out. Ky took it and shook it firmly. “When your Elisa feels comfortable, bring her in to see me at the station and we can see if there’s enough evidence of stalking to have a restraining order put in place. We’ll do our best to help her.”
“She’d appreciate it.” Rojas smiled then, genuine and sincere. “Thank you.”
The other man nodded.
“Speaking of your Elisa”—Greg edged past Rojas—“I’m going to take her on upstairs. She looks like she’s about to lose it.”
Rojas quickly scanned the room for Elisa and saw her standing near Boom, holding Boom’s backpack. Her smile was trembling, and her already pale skin had a faint gray tinge to it. “Yeah. I’ll—”
“Finish up parents’ night.” Gary clapped Rojas on the shoulder. “We’ll take her to unwind while you tie up loose ends here and straighten out the kids’ stories so we know what kind of damage control we’ll have when their parents ask about it.”
Fantastic.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sorry.” Elisa sat on the edge of the small bed as Gary hovered near her. “Sorry.”