I pushed open the front door of Charlie's diner and entered a battle royal. Okay, not really, but from the looks on the faces of the two young men, there would be one soon if someone didn't step in to defuse the situation. Jamie stood, hands clenched at his sides, in the short hall by the entrance to the kitchen. Facing him was a burly punk, the sort you see cruising the streets after dark with the rest of his gang of under-aged thugs. Charlie was approaching them quickly. I joined him, getting there just in time to hear the jerk say, "You belong to me. We're leaving. Now!"

I gotta give Jamie points for guts. Unfortunately guts and smarts don't always go hand in hand. He looked at the dude, shook his head, and turned away. The tough guy grabbed his upper arm, swinging him around then landing a hard punch to his gut that made him double over, gasping in pain. He would have fallen if the punk wasn't still holding on to him.

Charlie was instantly on the guy, wrapping his huge arms around him then slamming him hard against the wall while swearing a blue streak. At the same time I caught Jamie in a less aggressive hold to keep him from landing on the floor.

Charlie glared at the punk, telling him not to even think of moving and turned to look at Jamie. "What did he mean, you belong to him? Are you and he ...?"

Jamie shook his head violently, gasping out, "No!"

The punk disagreed. "I own him. He's my bitch and he knows it."

"No one owns anyone," I growled out, one arm still around Jamie. "I would suggest you haul your ass out of here, and out of his life. Or would you rather we call the cops and let them deal with you?"

"No police, please," Jamie whispered so softly even I could barely hear him.

I nodded as I turned my attention to Charlie. "Why don't you dispose of the trash? Maybe get a name and address while you're at it if he carries ID. I'm sure your 'friends' would love to show him what being a 'bitch' means if he ever decides to bother Jamie again."

Charlie smiled slowly, wrapping one large hand around the back of the punk's neck. "Turk would enjoy teaching him a few things about obedience."

When he walked the punk to the back door, I felt Jamie begin to relax with a small sigh of relief.

"Want to talk?" I asked.

Jamie turned to look at me defiantly even though his aqua eyes glimmered with unshed tears. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Don't even try to pull that with me." I pointed to the door to Charlie's office.

He hesitated, his face and body tight with resistance, until I put my hand on the small of his back to give him a light push. Then he seemed to crumple as he opened the door and walked in. He stood in the middle of the room, looking uncertainly at me as if afraid of what would come next.

I smiled, indicating he should sit. Hesitantly he did. I took the other chair. "How's the stomach?"

He shrugged. "Feels like hell but ..."

"You'll survive." He nodded. "Like you did every time he'd hit you?"

"It wasn't that often," he immediately protested. "And that was a long time ago."

I looked at him and shook my head.

He was probably five-ten at most, not feminine but delicate both in his build and his features, with short sun-streaked brown hair. All in all I'd have guessed he was maybe twenty-one or twenty-two. "Unless you met him in high school, I doubt it was that long ago."

He actually smiled then, briefly. "I'm older than you think. And it was a long time ago, five years," he added, sobering again. "I was nineteen when I met him, twenty when I finally got up the guts to get out of the situation and run."

"Is this the first time you've seen him since then?"

"No. He's been around, on and off, for the last six months but I've managed to keep him from finding me. Well, until yesterday." He dropped his eyes, sighing. "I was on my way here, had just turned a corner and was heading to the door and there he was. He came after me when I took off. I thought I'd lost him but ... I guess I didn't."

"Which could explain why he caught you here today."

Jamie nodded. "I tried to be careful getting here. I was going to give Charlie my notice and leave. I guess I wasn't careful enough."

"Are you still thinking of doing that?" When he nodded, I shook my head. "Don't. You won't find a safer place to work, which I think you just found out. Charlie's going to make certain he doesn't bother you again."

"Here, maybe, but what about everywhere else?" he muttered.

"Knowing Charlie, he's put the fear of God into the punk. Well," I chuckled, "maybe not of God but for damned sure fear of his friends."

"Definitely of my friends." We both looked up as Charlie came in to join us. He gently patted Jamie's shoulder. "Chances are you won't be seeing that bastard around any more, but just in case ..." He cocked an eyebrow as he looked at me.

"I'm not cheap."

His eyebrow rose even higher.

"On the other hand, what are friends for if not to help out when needed?"

"Exactly."

Jamie looked between us, obviously puzzled.

"He's a PI," Charlie explained, "and a damned good one from what I've heard. He's been known to do protection work if it's warranted."

Several emotions flashed across Jamie's face -- fear, hope, and something I couldn't quite put a finger on. "I don't ... I can't afford ... I mean ..."

"He's going to do it because he knows it's the right thing to do, and it won't cost you one red cent, Jamie. Right, Sly?"