Silent Night: A Spenser Holiday Novel Read Free

“My name is Joachim Lorenzo Alvarez.”
    “You obviously know mine.”
    “I do,” Jackie said.
    “So you know my name and what I do,” I said.
    “And you only know my name?” Jackie said.
    “Exactly,” I said.
    “How much has Slide told you?”
    “Not much.”
    “I run an organization called Street Business,” Jackie said. “I give kids a place to live. I get jobs for them.”
    I waited.
    “Street Business gives a home and work and structure to kids who need them,” Jackie said. “We provide an opportunity for runaways, those abandoned by their families or who are alone because of circumstances over which they have no control.”
    “Excuse me, Jackie,” I said. “But you sound like you’re reading from a brochure. You help kids. I get that. Where do you find the kids you help?”
    Jackie seemed to relax a bit. He took a deep breath and gave a slight wave of his left hand. “Mostly, the kids find me. Word-of-mouth referrals. One kid tells another, that kind of thing. Sometimes they just turn up on my doorstep, who knows from where? Especially when it’s cold out.” He smiled at me. “My brother Juan has a large estate in Weston, and he sometimes sends me the children of the Mexican immigrants who work for him. They need to earn pocket money and learn English. Others are referred to me by those who are aware of my services. Kids just out of juvenile detention. Nowhere to go. That sort of thing. Their parents have kicked them out.”
    “Are you licensed?’
    He looked down at his hands. “No,” he said. “Not at this time.”
    I leaned back in my chair and contemplated what I was hearing. An unlicensed home for wayward kids. I considered the types of work a place like that would have kids do, and didn’t like any of them. And how would he avoid getting caught by the cops, running an unlicensed business? Probably not a client I’d be highlighting on my website. If I had a website.
    “Where does your financing come from?” I said.
    “We’ll take any help we can get. I take a percentage of what the kids make to help run the place, but it isn’t enough by a long shot. My older brother Juan is our main support.”
    “Your brother has that kind of money?”
    Jackie flashed a brief smile. “Please don’t let my stylish clothing fool you, Mr. Spenser. I am not a wealthy man, but my brother is. He is a successful businessman with many interests.”
    “He’s in Boston?”
    Jackie brightened. “Yes. His office is here in town, in the Financial District.”
    “And why do you and your brother do this?”
    “I started Street Business to help others avoid the mistakes I have made. My family came over from Puerto Rico and settled in Lawrence, where there’s a big immigrant community. Our mother still lives there. I am not proud of this, but I fell in with gangs early. Juan never did. He left Lawrence as soon as he graduated from high school, traveled to Mexico and South America, came back a businessman. He is generous with his wealth, in the community and with his family. He got me out of the gang life and gave me a job. And when I told him I wanted to start Street Business, he bought me the house we use and gave me enough funds to get started.”
    “And when you run low, he helps you out?” I said.
    “Yes.”
    “And what do you do about the law? Does your brother help you out with the being-unlicensed part, too?”
    “Yes,” Jackie said. “Juan has many friends in high places.”
    “What kinds of jobs do the kids do?” I said.
    “A couple of Juan’s guys live with us, and they help find them jobs. Bike messengers. Some are busboys. They can do the kinds of things in restaurants that aren’t unionized. In the summer they mow lawns, do yard work, that kind of thing. You’d be surprised. We have some good mechanics and apprentice carpenters. People don’t ask too many questions, if a sixteen-year-old kid is a good worker.”
    “And some are messengers, like Slide,” I said.
    Jackie