“I thought I had done that.” Emily smirked. “I need help finding your son while protecting your grandson from Ceasar Faison.”
“I need to know more than that. I need to know everything.” Luke replied.
“I don’t know what else to tell you.” Emily’s voice betrayed her fatigue. Coming home had taken a lot out of her. She went into hiding as soon as she received the first letter from Faison, but as his threats continued to find them she decided it was time to find help. She hadn’t really rested in months. She wasn’t ready for an interrogation.
Sensing Emily’s hesitation Luke decided to pick a safer subject. “Tell me about him.” He said nodding to the boy.
The boy stared at Luke. “I am not deaf and dumb, you know? You can talk to me.”
Luke laughed, he couldn’t decide if the child reminded him more of Lucky or himself. “Yes I can. What is your name?”
The boy looked up at the ceiling for a moment. He wasn’t sure of what to say. In the last few months he and his mother had changed names almost as often as they changed their socks. He knew the name he was supposed to use that day, however, the man had called his mother by her real name, maybe he should give him his real name as well.
Emily sensed the reason for her son’s confusion. “It is okay, he is our friend, you can tell him the truth.”
“Our friend? You told him a minute ago that I am his grandson. Is that true?” The boy questioned his mother. He wasn’t about to trust anybody unless he was sure that it was okay.
Luke intervened. “That is true. I am your grandfather.” Saying the word brought it home to him for the first time. He swallowed hard to clear the emotion from his voice. For years, memories were the only thing he had to remind him of Lucky. Now, at the very least, he had the boy. Luke still wouldn’t allow himself to believe that he would see his son again. He couldn’t handle the pain of losing him again. If he didn’t believe it wouldn’t hurt so much if they didn’t find him.
The boy was unmoved by Luke’s emotion. “How do I know?” He asked. He wanted Luke to come up with something good. He wanted to believe him. But he couldn’t allow his mom to trust this man if he wasn’t legit.
Luke laughed. The boy was so much like them. He may have never known his father, but he certainly was a Spencer. Luke took the picture of Lucky that always sat on his desk and handed it to they young boy. “That was your dad when he was little.”
The boy studied the photograph. His eyes ran back and forth reading the image, trying to find features of himself in the child whose picture he was holding. He tried not to betray any emotion as he scanned the image. The eyes, the hair, and the smile they all were what he saw when he looked in the mirror. It reminded him of the computer game he played with Emily sometimes, where you take one set of eyes and put them on top of a different nose. It was like this man had taken part of him and combined it with part of the kid in the photograph.
Emily held her son tightly as he looked at the photograph. He had always reminded her of Lucky but she had forgotten how striking the resemblance really was. She wanted to tell her son that it was okay to trust Luke. However, the child was stubborn, and he only ever really accepted anything when he was ready.
“How do I know the picture didn’t come with the frame?” The kid asked skeptically.
Luke laughed. “Why do you think that it did?”
The boy looked at him. “I asked you first.” He said stubbornly.
“Why would I lie to you?” Luke asked trying to figure out what he could do to convince his grandson that this wasn’t a plot.
“Why would anybody try to hurt us? Why is that man following us? Why did we have to leave our home?” He asked trying hard not to show how afraid he really was.
Luke came around his desk and knelt so he could look into the child’s eyes. “I don’t know. But I promise that I will help you find out.”
He really wanted to believe the man. “If I try to trust you now do I have to trust you always?”
Luke smiled. “Nope, if I do anything to betray your trust you don’t ever have to trust me again.”
“Okay.” He offered his hand out for the older man to shake. “But if you hurt my mommy I will never ever speak to you again.”
“Fair deal. Now that we are friends, think you can tell me your name?” Luke asked curiously. In the entire course of the conversation, Emily had never even given a hint about what the child’s name was.
“Yes I can.” The boy answered smugly.
Luke laughed. His grandson wasn’t about to make anything easy on him. “Will you tell me what your name is?” He tried again.
“What’s in it for me?” The kid asked with a cocky grin.