Page 2 of Lost Little Boy (Pride Camp 2025 #5)

My roommate Nora was allergic to cats and dogs, so I couldn’t take them home with me.

Mr. Burger was kind enough to get a box and some food for them overnight, but we had to call Animal Control the next morning to take them to a shelter, and it broke my heart.

I couldn’t go through that again, but I couldn’t leave a helpless animal out there by itself, could I?

“Here kitty, kitty.”

I started to reach for the side of the dumpster to move it out when I remembered seeing all those damn rats out there. A shiver went down my spine at the thought of them biting the cat—or me.

Suddenly, there was a coughing fit and movement. “Hello?” I pulled my jacket over my hand to protect myself from getting bitten and began patting the papers until I felt something much bigger than a rat or a cat.

I moved the dumpster more and grabbed my phone, turning on the flashlight app. There, under a bunch of newspapers and garbage, was a human. I slid my backpack off my shoulders and nudged my way behind the dumpster to find a man in a pool of blood.

Should I move him? How would I know if he had a spinal cord injury? You weren’t supposed to move people suspected of having such a severe injury, right?

“Help me.” The man’s voice was soft, pained .

I grasped my phone between my teeth with the flashlight facing down, picked up his legs, and pulled him from behind the dumpster. “Ha— oh,” I mumbled around the phone.

Once I moved him from behind the dumpster, I took the phone from my mouth and held the light where I could see how badly he was injured. His face was scrunched up in pain, but I could see he was quite handsome. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see much else because it was dark.

“I’m Perry. I’m going to get you some help. Stay with me, please.”

My phone chose that moment to go dark. I glanced down to see the battery was dead, so I moved my backpack to put it under his head, hoping I wasn’t doing more harm than help.

I took off my jacket and draped it over his chest. “I’ll be right back. It’s going to be okay, I promise. Don’t move.” I rolled my eyes at myself because obviously, the guy wasn’t going anywhere.

I took the stairs by the loading dock to the back door and rang the bell. I needed help now that my phone was dead. I kept my finger on the button until Mr. Burger opened the back door with his gun drawn .

“Oh, Perry. Son, I almost shot you. What’s wrong?” He stepped out the door and wedged a brick between the door and the jam.

“Over here, Mr. Burger. There’s a man. He’s hurt.” I tugged on his jacket and was grateful when he followed me.

We rushed back to the alley, and Mr. Burger pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He gasped when he saw the man and immediately called 9-1-1.

I stood back and let Mr. Burger take over. “We’re at 2200 Clarendon Boulevard. The Liberty Building. Mr. Grassley the third is in the alley behind the building, and it looks like he’s been attacked. Send police and an ambulance. There’s a lot of blood.”

I kept my eyes on the man, wondering what the hell had happened to him. I noticed his shoes were gone and he wasn’t wearing a suitcoat. It was late April, but the nights were too chilly to go around without shoes or a jacket.

“Is he okay, Mr. Burger?”

I didn’t know any of the Grassley family.

I’d seen their names on doors and a signature at the bottom of an all-employee memo on occasion, touting some success they’d had.

I knew Wexler Grassley, Jr., was the man in charge, and I’d seen him the previous Christmas at a reception hosted for the employees .

At the party, I’d been too intimidated by all the company professionals to do more than fix a plate, grab a drink, and hurry to the supply closet to eat at my desk. I wasn’t much of a social butterfly.

I knew a few of the assistants from answering their requests, and everyone was nice enough, but I was one of five janitors working for Grassley Industries.

We were just overhead, “no added value,” the head of building services had told all the janitorial staff when we’d requested raises last December.

Sirens blared, cutting through the night air. “Run to the head of the alley and signal them to come this way,” Mr. Burger said as he pointed toward the main street.

I took off as fast as I could to get to the entrance, just as the ambulance turned down the alley, the headlights providing a way for the paramedics to see Mr. Burger and the man on the ground. The police followed, parking up and exiting their car.

“What happened?” The first officer on the scene asked as they approached, both hands on their sidearms. It was enough to scare the hell out of me.

“I-I w-work here.” I pointed to the Liberty Building, freaked out of my mind. I’d never had issues with the police since arriving in Virginia, and I wasn’t looking to have them again .

The other officer removed his hand from the butt of his gun and stepped closer. “It’s okay. Calm down. I’m Officer Kit Lange. This is my partner, Officer Katie Green. We get teased about being Kit and Katie, trust me.”

The policeman had a friendly smile, which put me at ease.

“I’m Perry Castle. I work as a janitor on the first and second floors.

I was on my way home, and when I came out to dump the trash, I heard something behind the dumpster.

When I moved it, well, I thought it was a cat, but I felt down there and figured out it’s a man.

I couldn’t see anything, really, because the bulb’s broken.

I pointed to the light over the loading dock.

Officer Katie nodded. “Okay, then what?” She had a pad out and was taking notes.

“I tried to turn on my phone flashlight, but it died. I ran to the loading dock and rang the bell for Mr. Burger. He’s the night security guard. He came out to help and then called y’all.”

Officer Katie nodded. “Okay, Mr. Castle. Can you stick around for a bit? Officer Kit will get your information in case we have more questions but let me see what the paramedics have found.”

I nodded, following her at a distance back to the ambulance. Mr. Burger was talking to Officer Katie as I watched the paramedics work on the injured man. He was tall, his sock-covered feet hanging off the gurney they put him on.

I heard Mr. Burger say, “I believe it’s Wexler Grassley the third. He lives in New York, but he comes to the Arlington office on occasion. Mr. Grassley, Jr., is planning his retirement next year, and it’s been said that Mr. Grassley the third is taking over as president of the company.”

“Can I get your information, Perry?” I turned to see Officer Kit standing behind me. He’d been taking a lot of pictures on his phone, but now, he was speaking to me.

I gave him my address and phone number, and after they took Mr. Grassley away, Officer Katie looked through my bag and checked my coat before she returned them to me. She said it was a precaution, but I was sure they suspected I could be involved in whatever happened to the man.

Before I left, Officer Kit winked at me. “Be careful getting home. Don’t worry. We know you had nothing to do with this.” That was a relief.