Key West Gone into the Night Elizabeth Hilleren (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

“Hi.”

“Tyler is missing his mom and needs a place to stay until we can figure out who she is.”

“How long since you last saw your mom?”

“Days….  I don’t know, a long time.”

“And where did you stay?”

“With a lady, Consula.”

“Consuela?”

“Yeah, that’s it. They let me off to meet up with my mother…they said she was just around the corner. She wasn’t there but Billy came by and I went with him…He saved my life. He’s my friend.”

“And Fritz, how did you find them?”

“A known molester tried to get Tyler, and Billy stopped him and called me.”

“Okay. I’ll take my friend Tyler with me.  I think I know who might know where his mother is.”

“All right,” Billy said, high-fiving with Tyler.

“Our friend Detective Sharkey will be very happy.”

“Well, if you boys have had enough, Miss Nancy will take Tyler to Detective Sharkey, and Billy and I will head for home.”

“Tyler,” said Billy, “Detective Sharkey is a real cool dude.”

“Okay.” Tyler took Nancy’s hand and they left.

“I’m going to take you to my friend’s place, and you can shower and get some sleep.” Fitz had called his friend Nate Windsor who agreed to keep Billy at his place.

“Okay. Thanks. It’s nice to have you as a friend,” Billy said.

“Same here.”

*    *    *

Sharkey got a call from dispatch. Nancy Duckworth wanted to meet him at the police station.  Sharkey called her back.

“Sharkey, I’ve got the boy you were looking for.”

“Tyler Abbott?”

“One and the same. He has quite a story to tell. I have him in my car and he’s fast asleep.

“Okay, I’m at a crime scene right now.  Listen, he has family.  Why don’t you bring him to the hospital?  His grandfather is there.”

“I’m on my way.”

Sharkey called Harris’ number.

“Harris, it’s Sharkey. I have good news.  Fritz found Tyler. He needs family and some good sleep. He knows nothing about his mother or father.”

“Got it. That’s fantastic.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.  Nancy Duckworth will be bringing him by the hospital.  He’s fast asleep, so maybe you can take him to your place.”

“How about Mateo?”

“I still have him here at the house. I’m here for a couple of hours tying things up. Quite a night.”

Amy saw the look on Harris’ face and hurried to his side.

Harris hung up and hugged Amy. “They found Tyler and Mateo.”

“Oh, thank God.”

“Nancy is on her way over here with Tyler who’s asleep in her car.  She wants us to take him home.  He doesn’t know anything about his mom or dad.”

“Okay, we’ll just put him to bed and let him sleep.” She hugged his arm. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Yeah. This is great. Let’s go meet her.”

Nancy pulled into the circular drive in front of the hospital and Harris and Amy came out to meet her.

“Burt, this is your grandson. He’s a heavy sleeper. I’m so happy for you.”

Harris opened the door and carefully lifted Tyler out of the car.

“My Lord, he’s so much like his mother,” he said softly, his voice filled with emotion.

Amy pulled the car up.  “You sit with him and I’ll drive.”

Once at home, Harris tucked Tyler into bed and left the light on.

“He’ll be fine. I’ll call you when he wakes up.  You will want to be there for Javier.”

“Thanks, Love.” Amy kissed him and returned to the bedroom to watch Tyler sleep.

*    *    *

Sharkey walked into the bedroom where Jenny was sitting with Consuela. Jenny introduced Sharkey to her.  Sharkey knelt and smiled at Consuela. She looked away from the baby for a moment.

“He’s mine.  I’m his mother. I can’t give him to anyone except Ricardo. He adopted him for me.”

“Consuela, I need you to come with me. Ricardo is in the hospital.”

“What? Is he all right?” Her face suddenly looked afraid.

“I need you to be there,” Sharkey said.

“All right. I’ll get Mateo and we will come with you.”

“Let Jenny here hold Mateo.  She will take good care of him. They won’t let babies in where we have to go.”

Jenny smiled. “It’s all right. You know I won’t hurt you or the baby.”

Consuela nodded. “Okay, I must see Ricardo. He was supposed to be here.”

“Let’s go.”

“All right. Here, Jenny. He needs to be changed. I have a bag in the living room with diapers.”

“I’ll take care of that.” Jenny took the baby, changed him, and wrapped him up.

“I’ll drive. Jenny and the baby, you go with Officer Sue here, and we’ll meet at the hospital.”

“All right.”

Sharkey entered the hospital and the nurses took care of Consuela and Mateo.

“Jenny, I want you to keep Consuela under surveillance until I can talk to Vasquez here.”

“Roger that,” Jenny said and followed the nurse who was escorting Consuela down the hall.

The nurse caught up to Sharkey. “You need to know that Ricardo Vasquez is dead. He had another heart attack on the way in. He evidently had a heart condition that was not evident.  He’s gone.”

“I was hoping to talk to him, so that’s too bad.” He smiled at Cynthia. “I appreciate you telling me that.”

“No problem, Handsome.”

“You’re the best,” Sharkey said, suddenly feeling the strain of the last few hours.

*    *    *

Harris found himself pacing the floor of the waiting room while waiting for word on Javier’s condition.  Cynthia stepped in and smiled at him.

“He’s young, strong, and he’s got some issues to deal with, but Javier is going to do well.”

“Thank God.” Harris gave her a hug.  “Sharkey is bringing his baby boy in any minute now.”

Cynthia smiled, “That sounds like just what you and his daddy need.”

“We’re going to check the baby over, and