Nicole launched into the story about her nursing career and how she came to be Mrs. Jin Peng. “Jin can be very charming and charismatic when he chooses. I often wonder if it wasn’t his goal all along to take Clifton and leave me behind. The first few years of our marriage, we didn’t spend a lot of time together. If I wasn’t traveling with the agency, he was in China. Then when Cliff started school and I was home more, I started noticing things. Small things at first.”
Paul nodded. “What types of things? Every detail you give me will help.”
“He had very expensive tastes. Tastes my salary didn’t cover. I knew I wasn’t making enough money to support the household, but I hadn’t realized how extravagant Jin had become. He bought things I could never afford and spent money like no one I had ever known.
“He always had to have the best of everything for himself and for Clifton. He enrolled Cliff in an expensive school, telling me it was a gift from his father. The school taught classes in Chinese, and Jin began speaking Chinese to Cliff all the time.
“At first I was convinced it was a good thing, that he was helping Clifton with his classes, but now I wonder if there wasn’t more to it than that.” Nicole smiled bitterly as she took a small drink of her water.
She told Paul how Jin never worked, or only took part-time jobs, but always seemed to have money. “It made sense while I was working and away so much. Having him home and available for Clifton allowed me to continue the job I loved.”
“You say loved, past tense. You no longer enjoy it?” Paul signaled to the waitress asking for boxes to take the uneaten food.
“I do, but after what happened, I may never leave Clifton again once I get him home. I can’t take the chance of losing him again.” Nicole felt the tears begin to well up.
“I don’t want to make things any worse, but have you thought about what will happen if we can’t get him back? We’re going to do everything we can, but, we don’t know how hard Jin and his family are willing to fight, anything can happen.
“I have my contacts checking into Jin and his family, checking for any weakness we can use against them, but, depending on how high up his father is in the hierarchy, they may have plenty of weapons they can use against us. I don’t want you to lose hope, but you have to be prepared for reality.”
“I can’t think about that now. He’s just a little boy who needs his mother and I want him home.”
Paul could tell Nicole was about to lose it, so he changed the subject. When he noticed the number of boxes the waitress had stacked up, he laughed. “I guess I went a little overboard. I don’t suppose you would like to take any of this home?”
Nicole shook her head no. Paul shrugged and stood to leave.
“Wait. You’re not taking any of it?” Nicole stared at all the waste.
Paul shook his head no. “I really didn’t plan this out very well. There’s no way to keep it fresh in the hotel room, and it wouldn’t last very long.”
“I have an idea,” Nicole said and started grabbing all the boxes.
They loaded all the boxes into Paul’s truck, and Nicole directed him to downtown Tampa. They stopped next to a tall building.
“Follow me.” Nicole led him around the building to an alley. Just inside the alley was a door leading to a large room. There sat a few men, women and children.
“This is a shelter for homeless families. One of my friends told me about this place. I’ve been coming here on the weekends to help out... Bryan,” she called to one of the boys. “This is my friend Paul. We have something for all of you.”
“Yes Ma’am.” He came running with several of the other children following.
Paul reached to take the young boy’s hand. “Call me Brain. It’s my nickname.”
They led the children out to Paul’s truck and started handing out the food boxes.
“What a great idea!” Paul said, smiling.
They followed the children back to the room carrying what boxes were left. The people couldn’t have been more appreciative.
As they got back in the car Nicole glanced at Paul. “So, tell me how you got the nickname Brain.”
Paul was silent a minute before he answered. “I’m really smart. Like off the charts smart. Mensa and all that crap.”
“Oh. So, what made you want to do this type of work? I’m sure you could have done anything,” Nicole asked watching his face.
“Family tradition. My grandfather, uncles, dad, all the males in my family were either in the service or in law enforcement of one type or another. When you grow up with a family of LEOs, you realize how important they are to society.”
“LEOs?” Nicole asked.
“Law enforcement officers. A broad term for police, sheriff, feds, wildlife and game enforcement, et cetera. Those types of careers.” He slowly pulled back into the Trident compound, nodding at the same guard he’d spoken with before.