“Sit.” Cooper pointed at one of the bar stools that weren’t quite blue or green. Despite how the place appeared to be caught in some weird-assed time warp, Riley liked it, liked the open spaces, huge windows, and funky furniture. He especially liked the awesome view. Really awesome view. It beat the alleyway view of the dump he’d lived in until he’d found it padlocked this morning with an eviction notice on the door.
“Does Julie know you’re here?” Cooper placed two bowls on the counter and filled them with thick, savory stew. Riley’s stomach growled louder as he inhaled the incredible smell.
Riley licked his lips and shrugged as his stomach continued rumbling like a thunderstorm on the horizon. Cooper almost smiled. He pushed one bowl and a spoon across to Riley, who was pretty much drooling by now. After cutting up some thick bread and pouring Riley a glass of milk, Cooper opened a bottle of beer and sat next to him.
Riley dug into the meaty stew and was in pure heaven. He’d never tasted anything so good in his life. He didn’t come up for air until the bowl was practically licked clean.
“Help yourself. There’s plenty.” Cooper pointed with his chin.
Riley wasn’t used to plenty of anything in his life unless it involved bad things. He didn’t wait for a second invitation but served himself another large bowl. He forced himself to eat slower this time, pride overcoming hunger. He didn’t want his uncle to see how pathetic his life was, well, at least not any more than he already had.
Finally Cooper pushed his bowl away and studied him. “When I was your age, there wasn’t enough food in the house to keep me satisfied,” Cooper chuckled.
Riley didn’t smile. Cooper wasn’t his friend, and he needed to remember that. He bet Cooper never had to dig in dumpsters or beg for scraps from the back doors of restaurants just to get his next meal.
Cooper took a pull on his beer and sat back, watching Riley but keeping quiet until Riley finished. Riley knew what was coming, and his mind raced ahead as he tried to figure out how much to tell his uncle. Riley didn’t have to wait long.
“Where’s your mom, Riley?”
Riley swallowed as a lump formed in his throat and chose to tell the truth. “I don’t know.”
Cooper’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know?”
Riley shook his head, unable to speak, and held his stomach, as if that would stop it from pitching and rolling like the deck of a ship in a storm—not that he’d ever been on a ship but he’d seen movies.
“Would you care to elaborate?” Cooper leaned forward, his gaze dark and disapproving.
“Not really.”
“We need to call your mom, let her know you’re here.”
“You can’t call her.”
“Why not?” His uncle sounded exasperated at Riley’s short answers, but Riley learned years ago never to give more information than absolutely necessary.
“I told you. I don’t know where she is.” Riley choked out the last few words and ducked his head in shame. He hated showing weakness, especially to a tough guy like Cooper Black, a guy who’d never cared enough about his sister to check on her. It sucked that desperation drove him to seek out Cooper now, but he’d swallowed his pride like he’d done too many times to count and soldiered onward.
“You don’t know where she is?” Cooper’s voice was low and measured, simmering with disgust.
Riley shook his head, feeling hot tears fill his eyes. The cat, who’d ignored him so far, stood and stretched. He leapt onto Riley’s lap, purring, turned a few circles, and made himself at home. Riley loved animals. Though he’d never had a pet before, he’d often shared his meager meals with stray dogs or cats in the alleys near their many dumpy apartments. He stroked the cat’s soft fur, feeling a little bit better.
“That’s Joker. He owns the place, just lets me live here and pay the bills.”
Riley frowned, not understanding.
Cooper almost laughed. “You’ve never had a cat before, have you?”
Riley shook his head.
“How long has your mom been gone?” Cooper got back to the subject.
“Two weeks.”
“Two weeks?” The alarm in Cooper’s voice caught Riley by surprise. “You’ve been on your own for two weeks?”
“Yes, sir.”
Cooper blew out a breath and ran his hands through his messy hair. “Damn. How did you get to Seattle?”
“We moved here a few months ago from Portland. She thought there’d be better opportunities, a new start, and Mom knew you were here.”
“She never tried to contact me—” Cooper’s face paled, as if something came to him. “Crap,” he whispered under his breath.
“I didn’t know where else to go. I need help finding her. I’m scared something has happened.” His mother might not be the world’s best mother, but she was his mom. His stomach clenched at the thought of losing her.
“How the hell did you find me?” Cooper studied him, and Riley squirmed.
“My mom left your address sitting on the bed.”
“Your mother had my current address? I just moved here a month ago.”
Riley nodded, hating to admit that his mom kept tabs on her family, even though they didn’t give a shit about her. “She stays in touch with her aunt. I guess she got it from her.” He recalled a conversation between the aunt he’d never met and his mother almost three weeks ago.
“Yeah, I know Aunt Nancy keeps my mom up to date,” Cooper admitted.
“I thought maybe Mom put your address there on purpose, knew she wouldn’t be back. There was twenty dollars there, too.”
“No note? Nothing like that?”
He shook his head. “She’s not much for notes.”
Anger laced with irritation flashed across his uncle’s face, but he didn’t say whatever he was thinking and changed the subject. “I’m guessing it wasn’t difficult to get past the gate either?”
“Not really,” Riley shrugged, suddenly tired, and yawned.
“Let me show you the guest room. You can take a shower and get some sleep. We’ll figure out what to do next in the morning. In the meantime, I’ll make some calls, get some balls rolling. Do you have a current picture of your mother?”
Riley pulled out a pay-as-you-go phone and found a selfie of him and his mother. They’d taken it over a month ago from the Space Needle. Cooper glanced at it, his jaw tightening. He nodded tensely, as if he’d swallowed some crappy medicine.