When We Met (Fool's Gold #13)(61)

He walked into the building and found Raoul sitting alone in an open space. There were plenty of desks but no private offices. He could see a glassed-in conference area in the back.

Raoul rose from his desk and walked toward Angel. The other man was tall, with dark hair and eyes. He had the easy walk of a man comfortable with himself. Raoul was in decent shape and could probably handle himself on the streets, but in a real fight, he’d go down like the civilian he was.

“Thanks for coming,” Raoul said.

“You made it sound important.”

“It is.”

The two men shook hands. Raoul led the way to the conference room and motioned for Angel to take a seat. Raoul did the same and turned on a small laptop. A permanent screen was on the opposite wall.

Raoul leaned toward him, his forearms resting on the desk. “You know about my program? End Zone for Kids?”

Angel nodded. “Inner-city kids come here for a couple of weeks in the summer. They get to be away from the stress at home and live in nature. Kids from Fool’s Gold go to a day camp. They get to know each other, see life from others’ perspectives. They all sing ‘Kumbaya’ at the end.”

Raoul grinned. “Something like that. Without the singing. This is our fourth year. We’re expanding the program all the time. I had the idea that eventually we’d turn it into a year-round school. Maybe offer science classes or something. That plan was derailed when one of the local elementary schools burned down.”

Angel thought about his encounters with Mayor Marsha. “Let me guess. They took over the facility until the new school was rebuilt.”

“Yeah. So we focused on the summer camp. Now there’s a new school and I have my camp back. I’m still not sure what to do with it in the winter months. Kids today face a lot of problems we never did.”

Angel nodded. “Sure. When we went home, we could escape. With social media, that’s not possible. There’s constant contact. Nothing gets forgotten.”

“Bullying doesn’t end at three.” Raoul studied him. “That’s what I want to focus on first. An antibullying campaign. There are a lot of studies that talk about why kids become bullies. If we could break the cycle, even at one school, it would be a start.”

“Interesting idea.” Not that Angel knew what it had to do with him.

“I thought so.” Raoul leaned back. “I have a trained psychologist on my staff. Dakota has been studying this for nearly two years. She has some theories I want to put to the test. If we find a method that works, we can come up with a program. After we test that, we can take it out to schools around the country.”

“Ambitious.”

Raoul shrugged. “I’ve been blessed. I had a successful career that left me a wealthy man. Someone close to me taught me the importance of giving back. This is how I’ve chosen to do it.”

Angel knew that most people would think the summer camp itself was enough.

“I want you to sign on as one of my volunteers,” Raoul told him.

Angel wasn’t used to being surprised. “Why me?”

Raoul grinned. “I’ve heard good things.”

“The guys at Score speak football. I don’t.”

“They’re good men and I thought about them, but I think you have the skill set I’m looking for.” He chuckled. “For one thing, you’re going to scare the crap out of the average teenage boy. That means he’ll be listening.”

Angel lightly touched the scar on his neck. He knew he looked intimidating. Or at least he had. Between his time in Fool’s Gold and the way his Acorns swarmed around him, he was able to forget from time to time.

“It’s not a big-time commitment,” Raoul told him. “Two or three hours a week. We’ll be figuring it out as we go. Once we have some idea of what’s working and what isn’t, we’ll bring in other volunteers and expand the program.”

Angel thought about how he’d first planned on working with teenage boys. Because of Marcus. He hadn’t been there for his son—he hadn’t been able to keep him safe. Maybe giving back would lessen the gnawing sense of having failed at the one thing that mattered—protecting those he loved.

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll do it.”

“Great.” Raoul stood. “Let’s go.”

Angel rose. “Go where?”

“The high school. Several of the boys have a study period in about fifteen minutes. We can pull them out and talk to them.” He flashed another smile. “I cleared it with their counselor a couple of days ago.”

“You were that sure of me?”

“I asked around. You seemed like the type to agree.”

Angel didn’t bother asking what type that was—mostly because he didn’t want to know.

Just about fifteen minutes later he and Raoul were walking into Fool’s Gold High School. They signed in at the front desk and were then shown to an empty classroom. They’d barely walked inside when five guys joined them.

The students were younger than Angel had expected. They were still small and skinny. Awkward in their bodies, with too-long legs and arms. Later they would fill out, but right now they were trapped between childhood and manhood. Sophomores, he thought, taking in their curious expressions.

He would guess they were about the same age Marcus had been. Marcus, who had loved baseball and comic books and “Halo 2.” Who’d been good at math, loved to read but hated writing essays in English. Marcus, who had been bugging his parents to get him a dog and who’d helped his mom make breakfast every Sunday morning.