Loyal [boyxboy]

Fuck Nostalgia

Lucas leaned outside the back door of the restaurant, watching the mouth of the alley. The girl came around the corner, shuffling up to him with her hands in the pockets of her hoody. Her hair was chopped short, giving her a more boyish look than anything else.

They stepped back just inside the kitchen, and Lucas counted out the money she gave him. He pooled some of it aside and gave it back to her with a brown paper bag containing a grilled cheese and a to-go container of tomato soup. "Come see me Monday," he told her. "I'll have more for you then."

She nodded and ducked back out of the restaurant. Lucas wove through the kitchen and into Tom's office. Tom only grunted in acknowledgement, with his head buried in some paperwork about the restaurant. Lucas knelt behind his desk to the safe and put the rest of the cash in there. "I'll leave work a bit early tonight so I can run this all to Fred," Lucas explained, closing and locking the safe once more.

"Sounds good," Tom muttered. "How's Nick doing as the greeter?"

"He's doing pretty well. He's really good with the customers," Lucas said, rocking back on his heels. "He could use some lessons in the kitchen, though. He can't even cook for himself."

That earned a laugh out of Tom and the two of them switched spots at the computer so Lucas could look over the payroll and receipts. At the later part of the night Lucas got the money from the safe and headed for the garage. He hustled the few blocks from the restaurant to Fred's garage and dropped off the money. He told Fred how much he'd paid each runner so he could keep that in the books properly. "I'll be back for some more before Monday," Lucas said.

Fred nodded and put all of the cash into his counting machine. Lucas left the garage with less tension in his shoulders. It only took about a block for him to catch a glimpse of something over his shoulder and felt his gut twisting nervously.

He bit the inside of his cheek and took another look, clearly seeing someone that was following him. Lucas swore and took off into a run without a second thought.

"Stop! Police!" They hollered after him.

That was just what he needed. He dodged through a few alleys and cut it close in crossing some streets as he got into more crowded areas of the city. He stopped at a stop walk to see if they were still on him and could see them catching up in the distance. He had a few seconds before the light would turn, so he ran in front of the cars stopped at the crosswalk.

One of them was a cop car, to his luck. He was almost down the next block when he heard the sirens start up and the car swerved up in front of him, cutting off his way down the sidewalk. He slowed to a stop and tried to find a way out of it, but someone caught up from behind and put him up against the car. "Hands up on the car," they barked.

They patted him down and pulled his switchblade from his waist, but found nothing else. He was just grateful he hadn't picked up anything from Fred. They pulled his arms down into handcuffs and helped him into the car. He kept his lips tight, especially after they had read off his rights.

They hadn't even said much of what they had been following him for, but it wasn't hard to guess. He could at least play the innocent card he hoped. He had a legitimate job working the restaurant and could have only been running an errand.

They took him to a station and sat him down in one of their interrogation rooms, but only after they had fingerprinted him. Someone came in then, holding some files against her chest. "My name is Ana," she said briefly. "I'm with the organized crime division."

Lucas shrugged and settled back in his seat. "Don't I get a lawyer?"

"Depends," she mused. "Do you think you need a lawyer? Or would someone from Child Protective Services be better?"