“All right, let’s start at the beginning,” he said. “Where are you from?”

“Los Angeles. South Central.”

Jack had lived in L.A. for years, and parts of South Central L.A. were not to be messed with. “Tell me about your mom.”

Percy looked startled by the question. “Why?”

“Humor me.”

“Okay. She got pregnant in high school. Her boyfriend ran off and her family kicked her out. I don’t remember much about when I was little. We lived in a shelter mostly, but we got by.” Percy’s mouth tightened, as if he were holding in emotion. “She was real good to me. Always looking out for me and telling me not to get into trouble. When I was seven, we moved in with my grandma and things got better. Mom got a steady job and we stopped moving around so much. When my grandma died, we couldn’t afford her nice apartment anymore. That’s when we moved again and it was harder. My mom worked a lot and that meant I was on my own.”

Percy stared at his empty cereal bowl. “I got jobs in the neighborhood, to help out, you know? But she made me promise to stay away from the gangs and if you’re not tight with them, it’s hard to find work. Then she was killed and I got into the system. I was bounced around every couple of months. Then I ended up here.”

Percy looked at Jack. “She was a good person and she tried real hard. I didn’t want to let her down.”

“Sounds like you didn’t,” Jack said, thinking that the difference between making it and not was so narrow. How many other kids had suffered Percy’s fate and made the easy choice to join a gang? He knew from a few of his former teammates that not only did they provide a sense of security, there was also belonging. A social structure. Of course, it came with a heavy price.

“You have ID? A social security card, stuff like that?”

“I have a social security card and a copy of my birth certificate,” Percy said slowly. “Why?”

“You’re going to need them in life. So tell me what you want, Percy. A good job? A college education?”

Percy frowned. “I don’t understand, man. What are you asking?”

“That lady you met last night? Larissa? Well, think of that meeting as winning the lottery. Larissa is going to take care of you. So what do you want? Any dreams? Becoming a navy SEAL? Learning how to work on cars? Going to college and studying to be a doctor?”

Percy scowled. “If you want me to leave, just say so.”

“Why would I want you to leave?”

“You’re messing with me.”

“I’m not. I’m saying you have an opportunity. You’ve spent your whole life making your mother proud of you. You resisted the easy road. Because joining a gang would have been easy, right?”

Percy nodded, even as he crossed his arms over his chest. “So?”

“So there aren’t any gangs in Fool’s Gold. Hell, I don’t think there’s any crime. You made a good choice coming here. Larissa likes to help people in need. Right now that’s you. Let’s start easy. How about a few classes at community college and a part-time job?”

Percy stared at him. “For real?”

“Yeah, for real.”

The teen seemed to shrink in his seat. For one horrifying second, Jack thought he might cry. Then Percy swallowed and shook his head.

“I can’t.”

“Go to college?”

The teen stared at him. “I’m not a charity case. Anyway, I never graduated from high school.” He darted a glance at Jack. “I’m not good with studying and stuff.”

The last couple of words were barely audible and spoken in a tone that implied both humiliation and shame.

Jack finished his coffee and wished it were later in the day because getting drunk seemed like a fine idea right about now.

He drew in a deep breath. “Can you read?” he asked flatly.

Percy pressed his lips together. “Sort of.”

For a second he thought longingly of the fighting dogs that Larissa had left in his house. Because with them, he’d been able to escape to a hotel.

“You have any other luggage stashed somewhere?” he asked.

Percy shook his head. “I have everything with me. I like to travel light. You know, in case I have to take off or something.”

Of course he did. “Percy’s an unusual name. Any reason your mom picked that?”

“Yeah.” The teen gave a shadow of a smile. “It was the name of her favorite teacher in high school. The one who was helping her apply to college when she got pregnant. She said naming me Percy reminded her that there were possibilities. She wanted that for me. That’s why she made me promise about the gangs.”

Jack nodded. “Give me a second.” He pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts. Seconds later, he was connected with Taryn.

“Hey,” he said. “I need your help.”

Taryn swore. “I knew it! When I saw Larissa a few minutes ago, she practically ran in the other direction. What has she done now?”

Jack looked at Percy, who was watching him. “I have a guest for a few days. Maybe longer. His name is Percy. He’s eighteen and needs some new clothes. Is there a store in Fool’s Gold where we can go?”

Sacramento was an option but not today. He had to get Percy settled and in the afternoon he had his first committee meeting at Cal U Fool’s Gold to help with the coaching search.

Taryn laughed. “Really? Haven’t you ever seen that giant Target on Forest Highway, by the college?”

Jack probably had, but why would he remember? It wasn’t as if he shopped regularly. “Great. I’ll take him there and then bring him to work.”

She stopped laughing. “No way. You’re not dumping him on me.”

For the first time that morning, Jack smiled. “Would I do that?”

She was still calling him names when he hung up.

Jack looked at the kid. “All right. We’re going to Target and then to my office. We’ll put you to work until we can figure out the next step.” One of which was going to have to be assessing Percy’s reading ability. Because until that was up to speed, he couldn’t possibly get a GED.

Percy looked both hopeful and suspicious. “You’re gonna help me?”

“Apparently.”

“Because of Larissa?”

“Mostly.”

“Okay, but I’ll pay you back. My word is bond.” He took his bowl to the sink. “You’re not going to tell her I can’t read, are you?”

Jack sighed. “No.”

“Good. Because I don’t want her thinking bad about me.”

“Trust me,” Jack said as he led the way to the front door. “That could never happen.”

* * *

TWO HOURS AND a few hundred dollars later, Jack drove Percy to the Score offices. The teen now owned a couple of pairs of jeans, several shirts and sweaters, shoes, toiletries, a cell phone and basic school supplies. Jack figured that wherever they were starting on Percy’s education, he would need paper, a couple of notebooks and pens and pencils.

“So where do you work?” Percy asked, as he ran his hands up and down his new jeans.

“At a company called Score. It’s a PR and marketing firm.”

“What’s that?”

“We promote companies. Get them publicity and advertising. We design campaigns, help get them sponsorships at different kinds of events.”

“Do you like it?”

“Mostly. I work with my friend Kenny on getting new clients. There are four partners in the company. Sam, Taryn, Kenny and me.”

Percy seemed to be digesting that information. “What about Larissa?”

“She’s my assistant.”

They pulled into the parking lot. Jack drove into one of the free spaces, then shut off the engine and turned to Percy. “You can leave your stuff in the car,” he said. “We’ll take it home after work. You’ll fill out some paperwork to get on the books as an employee. The job will be part-time while we figure out how to get going on your GED.”

Percy studied him. “Why are you doing this, man? You don’t know me.”

“Maybe not now, but I will eventually. Look, Percy. You have to take a leap of faith on this one. No one’s going to hurt you.”

“Foster parents are usually nice. At first.”

Jack would guess that was true. “You’re saying you expect this to change?”

Percy nodded.

“Fair enough. If it gets bad, you don’t have to stay. Until then, let’s see where this all goes.”

The teen nodded and got out of the car.

They walked in the main entrance of the building. Jack started down the hall. Halfway to Taryn’s office, he realized he was alone and turned around.

Percy stood in the middle of the foyer, head back, staring up at the larger-than-life pictures of Jack, Kenny and Sam in uniform during various games. Each of them had an action shot, along with several posed pictures. There was also a photo of the four partners together, with Taryn looking totally in charge.

Percy slowly lowered his head. “That’s you,” he said, his voice disbelieving.

“That’s me.”

“You played football.”

“Uh-huh. For the L.A. Stallions. I was the quarterback.”

Percy looked between him and the pictures. “It’s cool, I guess. I’m more into basketball.”

Jack bit back a laugh. “Of course you are. Come on. I’ll introduce you to the dragon lady. Don’t let the high heels fool you. She could take both of us without even breaking a sweat.”

* * *

JACK’S WORK WITH coaches had always come as a player. There were coaches he’d liked and those he’d hated, but he’d never had anything to do with hiring one before. He hadn’t even been sure of the exact process. He knew there were interviews and that after a winning or losing season, coaches often moved on, but he’d never given it any thought beyond how it had affected him as a player.

Hiring a coach would be different. He would need to look at the process from the university’s point of view. Do what was best for the organization. The switch in sides was going to take some doing, he thought as he drove out to the Cal U Fool’s Gold campus.

The university sat on nearly a hundred acres just northeast of downtown. The buildings were a mix of old and new, as if the campus had grown over the years. It was still a few weeks before classes started, so there weren’t any students around. Jack found parking in the visitors’ lot and made his way to the main administration building.

The stadium and practice field were closer to the mountains. By late August the team should have already started their preseason games. If there was a team playing football. Something he was going to discuss with Mayor Marsha when next he saw her. Or perhaps not. He was tough on the field, but not known for his ability to take down old ladies.

The research he’d done on the athletic programs at Cal U Fool’s Gold had told him that the university had an excellent baseball team, a surprising number of successful programs for women’s sports, including golf, but that they’d ended their football team nearly a decade before. So why start now? Something he was going to find out.

He walked into the conference room and greeted the other people there. The president of the college was easy to spot. She was a woman in her late forties, well dressed and confident. The athletic director, who had the unfortunate first name of Tad, was about Jack’s age, and way too cheerful. Introductions were made. A few more people came into the room, then they all took their seats around the large table.

“Thank you all for coming,” Kristan Newham, the college president said. “We’re here to discuss the feasibility of restarting the football program here at Cal U Fool’s Gold. The students are interested, the regents are open to providing us with some of the funding, although we’d have to get the rest of it from alumni and outside donations. The questions I want us to explore are should we and what would it take?”

Tad shrugged. “There’s no point in discussing what it would take if we’re not interested in bothering in the first place.”

Jack bristled. “And you’re not interested?”

“It’s going to be a lot of work. We’ll have trouble getting players. Good ones, I mean. Sure, there’s student interest, but students are fickle. Tomorrow there will be some rock band blowing through town and no one will show up for the game. It’s expensive and time consuming and it also distracts from the other sports.”

Jack studied Tad’s lean build as he processed the heresy of not wanting a football team. “You didn’t play team sports in college, did you?” he asked easily. “Let me guess. Golf?”

Tad flushed. “Tennis and it’s a team sport.”

“Competing individually. Or at best, in pairs.”

“I played singles.”

“Of course.” Jack leaned back in his chair. “Sorry to interrupt.”

Tad glared at him. “I don’t think football is worth the trouble. We have a regional championship baseball team. Our basketball team is better every year. Two of our graduating seniors in women’s volleyball have a shot at making the Olympic team. That’s enough.”

“It’s good that the scientists working with antibiotics didn’t have your ‘it’s enough’ attitude when they discovered penicillin,” Jack murmured.

President Newham glanced between the men before her gaze settled on Jack. “You want to make a case for a football team?” she asked.