1



The Devil’s Liar





The darkness was the worst, but the smell came in a close second. The place standing before them looked like somewhere a person who did all of the cruel things this guy was accused of doing would live. The paint chipping from the outside, broken furniture sitting on the porch which had a few holes in it and the sounds of mosquitoes buzzing around some dirty dishes left outside as if the guy was in a hurry to leave.



Kevin slowly walked up the stairs, careful not to creak. They were so close to catching this guy, the last thing he wanted was for him to be tipped off by heavy feet. He looked over at Howie and nodded.



This was always the scariest part of the job, entering the devil’s lair as they liked to call it in FBI talk. When suddenly the demon you have been doing nothing but studying for months on end, staring at pictures of his victims, letting mothers of dead children cry on your shoulder as you begin to get a mental image of what a monster could possibly look like in your head, becomes real.



Kevin took a deep breath as he reached the top of the stairs, the smell coming from the moldy food almost unbearable now, as well as the constant buzz of the insects surrounding it. Maggots were crawling around the piece of bologna and Kevin had to quickly turn his head to avoid gagging.



Once again he took a deep breath as the rest of his unit moved forward surrounding the house and joining him on the front porch. Howie nodded and winked at his friend before knocking on the door.



No matter how many times he did this, it never got easier. The butterflies collecting in his stomach as he waited for the door to open, or even worse for nothing to happen at all. After waiting a few more minutes, Howie knocked again, this time more forcefully. “FBI! Open the door or we’ll break it down.”



Kevin looked at Howie and smiled knowing that he was just as scared. That made him feel better. His voice never quivered though.



Kevin bit at his bottom lip taking one final breath and saying one final prayer, he hated when they didn’t come to the door. He gave the nod and right then Howie kicked the door open and everyone went running in.



There was a lot of running around and Kevin made sure to never let Howie out of his sight. No matter what, he felt responsible that his friend was in this field. He had all but nagged him to death to join the academy. If anything happened to Howie he’d be devastated.



He quickly joined his friend as they continued side stepping the walls and aiming their guns when they came across an open space. It appeared that no one was in the house. The worst case scenario had happened but yet Kevin found himself letting out a sigh of relief.



Maria walked over to where Kevin and Howie were standing and gave an all clear sign which had them both bow their heads in disappointment.



“It appears as if we’re too late. It looks like he left in a hurry.” She said pointing to the kettle that was whistling on the stove.



“He might not have gotten too far, tell them to go sweep the perimeter. Maybe he’s in the neighborhood somewhere; I mean the pot isn’t black yet which means the water hasn’t dissolved.”



“Will do.” She said picking up her walkie talkie and barking out the orders she just got from the team leader.



Kevin took a closer look at his surroundings as his team started collecting evidence and taking pictures. Without a doubt this was the place, he was there and they missed him. He shook his head, not looking forward to telling the victims parents about this.



“Kev, we’ll catch him.”



Kevin looked over at Howie and nodded, “I know, let’s see what we find here.”



The whole place smelled like rotten fruit. It had a sweet yet pungent scent, like years of odor were being masked behind a few sprays of air freshener. Dusty pictures of saints were on the wall held in place by colored thumb tacks. Broken figurines were scattered in the fire place that had never been used.



Kevin walked over to the fire place and bent down and grabbed one of the figurines, “A Precious Moments angel… my mother collects these.” He said taking it and carefully placing it in a bag.



“Looks like the guy had a bad temper, maybe something didn’t go as planned and he took it out on the figurines.”



Kevin nodded, “Looks like it.”



“Detective Richardson, you might want to come and see this.” He followed Tom another one of his team members into the kitchen where along with some more rotten food on the table, there was a dead puppy.



“Looks like he didn’t only take it out on the figurines.” Howie said quickly looking away as Kevin approached the small Labrador. Its neck broken, “Sorry little guy,” He said before covering it up with a cloth and moving to the blood stains on the floor.



“We need to get a sample, see if it matches any of our victims.” He said ready to leave, his head pounding and his fingers tingling with anger. Sometimes he didn’t understand why he wanted this job; probably because of his father. Seemed like the thing to do, go into the same field that had claimed his father’s life.



“Has anyone checked the basement yet?”



“Yes we have a few people down there now.”



“Anything?” Once again Maria went to her walkie talkie and asked the same question Kevin had just asked.



“They think you should head down there.” Just what he didn’t want to hear. He nodded and walked down the rickety steps to the basement where once again a whole new smell filled his nostrils.



This time there was no mistaking that smell, it was death and it clung to the air as if he had walked into hell. There was only one small light hanging from the ceiling so when the cameras flashed, his eyes had a hard time adjusting, but still he could make out the silhouette he was walking towards, a body, and a small one at that.



“Jesus not another one.” Howie said catching up to his friend as he walked closer to the crime scene.



The blood was everywhere, all over the walls and the floor as well as smattered on the hot water heater. The other detectives were busy dusting for fingerprints and clues as Kevin squatted down next to the body.



“The puppy is probably how he lured the kid in the house you think?”



Kevin nodded staring at the young girl on the floor; she had to be just a little older then his brother Nick.



“Kids are too trusting nowadays.” Kevin ignored the statement and looked at the beautiful child whose life was taken too early.



“Do we have a name?”



“No, but I’m sure she was probably reported missing.”



“Make sure you get a name as soon as possible. We have to let her parents know so they can…you know.”



“Of course, we’ll be on that right away Kevin.”



“Thanks.”



Kevin took one last look at the little girl and placed his hand on her forehead, “I’m sorry we didn’t get here in time sweetheart but we’ll catch him for you and your parents. I promise.” Then he stood up and walked away carefully surveying the rest of the basement as he walked. His eyes were now adjusting to the darkness a little better and he was able to see a crumpled piece of paper which was lying on the floor. He picked it up and read it, it was nothing too big or revealing just a receipt from CVS for ironically enough, some cleaning supplies.



He placed it in his evidence bag and decided to make his way back up the stairs and out of the house. He needed fresh air, to be away from all the sadness.



As they got in the car to leave after spending a little too much time in the devil’s lair, Howie placed his hand on Kevin’s shoulder, “It’s not your fault you know.”



“D, if I had been a little quicker just a few seconds more she might have been alive.”



“Or she could have been dead for awhile.”



“He was supposed to be there, I mean I really thought we’d catch him today.”



“I know…but we’re closer now then we have been in months and it’s because of you.”



“Well I’ll be sure to tell that to that girl’s parents. I’m sure they will really care about that.”



“Kevin you can’t be so hard on yourself.” Howie dropped it knowing that whatever he said would be no use. He knew his best friend almost as well as he knew himself.



“You want to go out and get a drink or something? I’m buying.”



“No, that’s okay. I think I need to go home and wash this day off of me. Maybe some other time.”



“Okay…if you need me just call man.”



“Will do Howie. See ya tomorrow.”



Once Howie dropped him off, Kevin slowly walked into his apartment and threw his coat over the couch, ready to fall asleep on his feet. Raids made him mentally and physically exhausted, especially when they ended like this one did.



He didn’t expect to hear someone walking towards him; he was ready to pull his gun out of its holster when the female voice made him relax.



“What are you doing here Lisa?”



“Sorry…didn’t mean to startle you sweetie, I let myself in because I forgot my earrings last night.”



“Oh.”



She walked up to him and wrapped him in a hug, “Did you have a busy day today? You look exhausted.”



“Yeah, I’m ready for bed.”



“At 6 o’clock?”



“Yeah, I know pathetic right?”



He sat on the edge of the couch as she started massaging his neck, “I wish I could stay but I have to go. Your mom called by the way.”



Kevin with eyes closed smiled, “Did she leave a message?”



“No actually I answered the phone.”



“I bet she asked you a thousand questions right?”



“Pretty much… She thought she had the wrong number.”



Kevin laughed, when he had a day like this he wanted nothing more than to be with his family. It was the only thing that made him feel better, like chicken soup when you’re sick.



“She wants you to call her back right away and she also asked me to tell you to invite me over to the house sometime.”



He stood up and met his girlfriend face to face, she was beautiful but yet they hadn’t known each other all that long. The love factor wasn’t quite there yet, just the sex factor.



“I’ll have to do that sometime.”



“Yes she sounds like a trip.”



“She is… she’ll keep you on your toes that’s for sure.”



He kissed her, it was a slow, soft kiss but it didn’t last that long. “Call me later.” She whispered into his ear before nibbling on it.



“I will.” He watched her walk out the door and sighed.



Picking up the phone he stared at the portrait of his family taken a long time ago one Christmas. His mother sitting on a chair with his father right behind her, hand on shoulder proudly wearing his uniform. Next came the spiral down from Kevin to AJ, there was no Nick at this time. A school picture of Nick from Kindergarten sat next to the portrait. With an I love you Kevin written in crayon next to it. His named spelled horribly wrong.



“Hello?”



“Hey Brian what’s up.”



“Oh hey Kev…not much, was doing homework. You saved me from grammar God bless you!”



“Mom around?”



“Yeah she’s cooking hang on...MOM!!!”



“Jesus Brian why don’t you yell a little louder only half the neighborhood heard you.”



Brian snickered which made Kevin smile, sometimes he was so homesick yet he only lived about thirty minutes away.



“KEV’S ON THE PHONE...she’s on her way.”



“Thanks man…looks like its back to grammar hell for you.”



“Thanks for reminding me. Here she is.”



Kevin smiled at the thought of his mom cooking, maybe he’d invite himself over for dinner. On second thought he was too tired. Maybe a peanut butter sandwich and some milk.



“Kevin?”



“Hi Mom.”



“Hey sweetheart! Who was that girl who answered your phone?” Oh here we go, he thought as he shifted his position on the couch now lying down and kicking off his shoes.



“She’s a friend.”



“Who just kind of hangs in your place when you’re not home? Does Howie do that too? He’s your friend.”



“No Mom I don’t give Howie a key, I’m too afraid he’ll steal my towels.” She laughed.



“Well I’d very much love to meet your friend someday.”



“Yeah I bet you would.”



“Nick stop that…get your hands out of that cookie jar or I’m biting them off.”



Kevin laughed, “Honey I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tomorrow night.”



“Yeah okay…that would be nice.”



“It’s not entirely for pleasure.”



“Uh oh, what happened?”



“AJ…” Kevin sighed hearing his brother’s name.



“What did he do now?”



“He got caught smoking in the boy’s bathroom at school.”



“Smoking?”



“Yes, I’m so mad at him Kevin, I don’t know what to do. I have grounded him for life but I still think you should talk to him…you know your father used to handle these kinds of things.”



“I know mom, I’ll talk to him.”



“Thank you sweetie, you’re the best and you can bring your laundry over if you want.”



“Thanks mom, I love you.”



“I love you too baby. See you tomorrow and tell your friend I said goodbye.”



“She left mom.”



“Right sure she did.” Kevin laughed again.



“Bye”



Kevin sat up and walked into his kitchen, debating on if he wanted that sandwich after all and decided that after what he saw today he might never want to eat again. Instead he opted for a shower and bed.



As he closed his eyes visions of dead puppies and dead children popped into his head, making him toss and turn all night long.

This is a new kind of story for me so I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know what you think and i'll be back to update it soon.

2



Comfort Food







Kevin sat at his desk, staring at the faces of the victims that haunted his dreams. There were four of them, well five now with the new little girl they found yesterday. Each one found bloodier than the next. He clicked from picture to picture just staring at before and after shots, before when they had their lives and futures ahead of them and after when they were nothing but a bloody mess.



“Hey what are you doing?” He looked up to find Howie sitting on his desk and offering him a cup of coffee.



“Just looking at the pictures.”



“Again? Kev, it’s not going to bring them back.”



“I know that but maybe there’s something I missed.”



“You have been over them a thousand times Kev, there’s nothing there, by the way you look like total crap!” He said taking a sip of his coffee.



“Gee thanks, I didn’t get much sleep last night. You?”



“Hardly any…when does it get easier?”



“It doesn’t.”



“Well that’s reassuring thanks Kevin”



“Oh, they think they are getting closer to IDing the little girl.”



“Yeah?”



“Yes, after going into the missing children’s data base we think we found her, we can’t make a complete match yet but forensics is working on it.”



“Good, I hope they figure it out soon, her parents must be distraught.”



“Another thing, I went to the CVS that you got that receipt from, brought a picture of our guy but no one said he looked familiar.”



“I have to go interview some of the neighbors later on, I’m just finishing up my report first.” Kevin looked back at the screen and shut the window displaying the morbid pictures and opened back up to his report. “Oh another thing, we need to pull all of this guys phone records and anything else we can.”



“I’m on it.”



“You rock Howie!”



“Yeah I do.”



“By the way, guess who got caught smoking in the boy’s room yesterday?”



“Uh oh the little rebel is at it again huh?”



Kevin nodded, “My mom is mad, I’m going over there tonight to ‘talk’ to him. Like he’ll listen to me.”



“Just arrest him.”



“Good idea.”



“Tell your mom I said hello and I want to come over for another plate of her lasagna!”



“Will do.”



“Okay I have to get back to work; I’ll talk to you later.”



“Bye D.”



“And Kevin… please stop looking at those pictures. It really won’t do you any good.”



“See ya later.” His friend knew him a little too well sometimes.



One thing Kevin enjoyed as being the detective in charge of the case was that after a huge raid, the next day he had to stay in the office and write reports. He loved being in the field but every once in a while, especially after the day he had yesterday, he didn’t mind the grunt work. It would be nice not going home exhausted and he had a feeling he’d need all of his energy for when he got to his mom’s house.



By the end of the day, he had a name to go with the image stuck in his head. Her name was Mandy Collins, 12 years old and missing for three weeks. The parents had been on the local news begging people for any information they had on her. They were hoping she had just run away since she had a fight with her older brother earlier that day.



“That poor kid is going to feel guilty for the rest of his life.” He said out loud as he sat in the car in his old driveway.



He looked at the picture of Mandy that her parents had used in hopes she would be found, her hair in pig tails with her blue eyes sparkling and newly fitted braces on her teeth. She looked nothing like the dead girl he found in the basement.



“You gonna sit in the car forever?” He looked away from the picture and jumped when his brother knocked on the window of the car. Kevin laid the pictures on the passenger seat and opened the door.



“You were sitting out there for like ever man.”



“Oh stop, I wasn’t out here for too long.”



“Yeah you were… I timed you.” Kevin walked to his trunk, opened it and brought out his laundry basket.



“I can’t believe you are still having mom do your laundry.”



“She offered, now grab this and bring it inside would you?” He said motioning for his brother to take the grocery bag that was on top of the basket.



“I hope you brought something good! Nick ate the last of the cookies mom made.”



“It’s bread Brian…fresh Italian bread.”



“Cool!”



As they entered, the smells of peppers and onions wafted through the entire house which made Kevin smile. She was making his favorite dish, sausage and peppers. “Did mom tell you about Jay?”



“Why do you think I’m here?”



“For free food.”



“Well besides that.”



“She’s pissed at him.”



“I’m sure.”



“I thought I heard you come in…hi sweetie” His mom walked over, wearing her Number One Mom apron given to her by Kevin when he was only 7, and grabbed his cheeks in her hands and kissed him on the lips. “How’s my baby?”



“Good, I brought you Italian bread from Benny’s.”



“Excellent, you read my mind. Brian would you bring those clothes downstairs please?”



“I can’t believe you are going to do his laundry.”



“I do yours too you know.”



“Fine…” She pat him on the butt as he walked by then turned her attention back to her eldest son.



“I don’t know what I’m going to do about your brother Kevin; seriously he has gotten way out of hand.”



“Mom that’s what 16 year olds do. They experiment, I’m sure that will be the first and last time.” He said knowing most likely he was lying.



She walked back into the kitchen as she talked, old pictures that all of the boys had made for her over the years still covered the walls as if they were all still 5 years old. His father’s picture sat on the fireplace along with his badge and a few old pictures of him with the family.



“I have about had it with AJ, I swear all I do is yell and scream at that boy and it goes in one ear and out the other.”



“Mom, everything will be okay.”



“Do you know he got a tattoo? Oh I didn’t tell you that did I? Yes he got a tattoo on his arm! He thought I wouldn’t notice! What does he think I’m blind?”



“He got a tattoo?”



“Yes a skull and crossbones. I think he might be in a gang.”



Kevin laughed, “He’s not in a gang mom.”



“God rest his soul, if your father was alive to see this, it would have killed him.”



“I’ll go talk to him now if you want.”



“No after dinner, yell up and tell him to come down though okay?”



“Sure.”



“And grab Nicky too.”



“Where is he?”



“Where is he ever?” Kevin nodded, knowing that he would find his little brother in front of the TV playing his video games.



Kevin walked up the steps and once again soaked in all that was home to him. Their school pictures were displayed along the walls as you walked up the steps, Kevin’s being the one when he graduated from the academy; all the others had their most recent school picture framed. Every year, his mom would change them out for the most recent one.



She always kidded, but not really, that Kevin’s wouldn’t change until he had his wedding picture up there.



As he reached the top of the stairs he came across the table with all of his mother’s Precious Moments figurines sitting on top of it. That sent chills up his spine. Nick’s door was open as he was lying on the floor engulfed in a video game. He hardly noticed his brother enter the room.



“Hey buddy.” Nick glanced over and looked pleasantly surprised to see his big brother standing there.



“Hi Kevin I didn’t know you were coming over.”



“Yup, I’m here for dinner, which is ready by the way.”



“Okay…thanks.”



Kevin walked over and sat on the bed, and patting it he said, “Hey Nicky come here for a second.” Nick paused his game and walked over and sat down.



“Can I ask you a question?”



“Yeah.”



“Okay let’s say you didn’t know me okay?”



“Uh huh.”



“And I was walking a very cute little puppy.”



“Oh my God!! Is mom getting me a puppy?” His eyes lit up which made Kevin wince.



“No…sorry, I didn’t mean to get you all excited.”



“That was mean.” He said pouting.



“I know, but let’s get back to my question…let’s say I had this puppy and you didn’t know me and I asked you to help me by walking it…would you?”

Nick put his hand on his chin in a contemplative way which made Kevin smile, “Yeah I think I probably would because you wouldn’t ask if you didn’t need the help.”



“Even if you didn’t know me?”



“Well, yeah because we’re supposed to help everyone right? Even if we don’t know them.”



Kevin sighed, “No… wrong answer! If anyone ever approaches you and asks you to follow him you run away do you understand me?”



Nick looked confused by his brother’s sudden serious tone. “Okay but we’re supposed to help; I mean what if he is limping or something?”



“Nicky, there are a lot of bad people out there who try to hurt kids like you.”



“I’m not that small Kevin, I can defend myself.” Kevin wished he never brought up this conversation, knowing it would bother him and keep him up all night now.



“Nick, you have to promise me buddy, that if anyone EVER asks you to help them and you have never seen or talked to that person before, you will run away. Promise me!”



Nick looked at his brother, and nodded, “Okay I promise.” Kevin smiled and hugged the 8 year old. “Okay good, now go get ready for dinner.”



“Kay.” He stood up and walked into the bathroom.



Kevin placed his hand on his temples and rubbed, once again images of Mandy Collins coming to his head. He wondered if that’s how he did it. Maybe he limped and asked for help.



He stood up and headed over to AJ’s room, not surprised when he heard music blaring from the speakers.



He knocked which made the music turn off, “Jay dinner!”



“Crap? Kevin?”



“Yeah it’s me!”



“Great.” He heard the teen mumble under his breath figuring out exactly why Kevin was there.



By the time he got down to the kitchen, the table was filled with food and Brian was already dishing himself a huge plate of potatoes. “Wait for everyone else.”



“I’m hungry mom.”



“If you wait a few more minutes it won’t kill you.”



Nicky came jumping down the steps and hopped into the kitchen plopping himself on the chair next to Brian.



“Hey squirt!”



“I’m not a squirt.”



“Yeah you are.”



“You are both squirts now enough arguing and eat.” Their mom said as she took a seat at the head of the table and opened her napkin on her lap.



“Aren’t we waiting for AJ?”



“No, just eat; he’ll be down in a little bit.”



“I still can’t believe you brought your laundry over, hey mom when I’m thirty will you still do my laundry for me?”



“Hey I’m not thirty… I’m twenty nine!”



“That’s pretty close Kevin.”



“When you’re thirty you’ll still be living at home probably Brian.” AJ said as he walked in and plopped next to Kevin.



“Shut up AJ, at least I won’t be in jail.”



“AJ’s going to jail?”



“No Nicky now eat your vegetables, not just the bread and sausage.”



“Okay mom.”



“Nice of you to grace us with your presence.”



“Bringing in Kevin wasn’t necessary mom.”



“He’s here for dinner sweetheart.”



“Mom, do I have to eat the peppers? I don’t like them.”



“Eat them honey they are yummy.”



“Are you going to buy me a puppy?”



“What? Where on earth did that come from?” Kevin grimaced once again.

Nick pouted and looked over at Kevin who tilted his head and gave a sympathetic smile.



“I want a puppy.”



“Well, I want a car, life is rough squirt.” Nick stuck his tongue out at Brian who did the same to him. Nick giggled his infectious giggle that had the whole table laughing.



As they talked about everything from football to religion, Kevin couldn’t help but think of his family as the perfect comfort food for his soul. He missed being around them all the time. Even AJ who was trying to pull off badass was talking and joking with the same woman who had punished him for life. The relationship they had was perfect.



After dinner while Brian was helping with the dishes, Kevin pulled AJ aside. The 16 year old knew it was coming and wasn’t the least but surprised.



“Smoking AJ?”



“Kevin it’s not a big deal.”



“You got caught and it upset mom that’s enough to make it a big deal isn’t it?”



“We didn’t think we’d get caught.”



“So that makes it okay?”



“Well…no but still, you mean to tell me when you were my age you never tried anything like that?”



“No, I did but not at school.”



“Well I know that was dumb but I told her I was sorry.”



“And a tattoo?”



“Yeah, I wanted one.”



“What’s going on with you?”



“Nothing...we all can’t be perfect like you and Brian.”



“Stop it, just talk to me AJ.”



“There’s nothing to say.”



“Well then stop being an ass and listen to your mother.”



“Well if you want me to listen to her I better get back into my room then, so thanks for the lecture. It’s been a blast.”



“AJ…I mean it, if you need to talk to me about something please call me okay?”



“Yeah whatever Kev…see ya later!” He watched his brother trudge up the steps as he got pounced on by the little one.



“Hey you!” He said squatting down to Nick, “I’m sorry about the dog thing Nicky.”



“Will you buy me a puppy?”



“If I do mom will kill me.”



“Ah well, it was worth a try.” He grabbed onto his big brother’s neck, “Kev will you give me a piggy back up to my room.”



“Sure thing little man…and what do you say if a stranger asks you for anything?”



“I run away.”



“Good boy.”



“And steal his puppy.”



“Okay that deserves a visit from the tickle monster!”



“No!” Nick said running away with Kevin following close behind.



That night as he hugged his mom and walked out of the house with his clean and folded clothes he thanked God for giving him such a great family. It was nice to have something sane and right to go home to after dealing with what he did everyday.


Thanks for the reviews so far on this one! I'll have chapter three up by the end of the week posibly sooner depending on the demand. Have a great week!

3





Guilt





The next day at work, Kevin felt refreshed. Funny what a little visit to his house would do. “I thought they were supposed to teach kids not to talk to strangers.” Howie said sitting across from his friend as he looked at some neighbor testimonies from yesterday.



“Yeah they do, but at the same time they also encourage kids to be as helpful as possible it’s a double standard really.”



“You think he’d actually walk away with a stranger?”



“I don’t know, I would hope he had more common sense then that but, if the offer was appealing enough for him I think he might.”



“That’s a little disturbing.”



“Yeah tell me about it.”



“I know I have kidded with Nick and told him I was taking him home with me, my mom would love that. She thinks Nicky is the cutest thing ever.”



“I know,” Kevin said smiling, “well I told him that no matter what he should run away if that ever happened.”



“Which it won’t Kev…don’t worry.”



“I know.” He said once again looking down at the before picture of Mandy Collins. Her parents and brother were on their way to the office and he was not looking forward to speaking to them. They had to ID the body among other things. Looked like another hard day for him.



“Did the neighbors have anything insightful to say?”



“Just that they never thought he would do something like that but at the same time they complained to him about the way he kept his house. They said it brought down the value of their block.”



“So they couldn’t offer any eye witness accounts or anything?”



“No, but one old lady said that she has seen him come and go with a lot of women.”



“He doesn’t look like a ladies man.”



“Maybe he offered them something more.” Kevin nodded at his friend as he saw a distraught family enter the office and ask the receptionist something.



“I think that’s the Collins family.” Kevin said getting up and taking a deep breath. This was the third time he had to do this. He was lucky and didn’t have to deal with the first victim because at that point someone else was in charge of the case. All the others though, he had been through this many times.



He watched as the receptionist walked them over towards his desk, where both he and Howie were quick to close the pictures that were lying around.



“This is detective Richardson; he is in charge of your daughter’s case.” Ariana said smiling and handing the family over to him.



“Nice to meet you.” Kevin said softly and shook each of their hands, “I wish it was under better circumstances.”



“Can we just please get this over with?” The mom said her voice monotone and soft. The son was staring at the ground.



“Certainly…follow me.” He said starting the slow walk towards the morgue.



People all looked at the family, and then quickly looked away as they passed by the agents. Kevin hated when they did it, but it’s not like he could say anything. More than once, especially working on a case or reading about a case, he found himself doing the same thing as the people walked by going to the morgue. Putting faces with names.



When they reached the door, Kevin stopped and looked at the son, “This is agent Dorough, and he’s going to stay out here and keep you company for a little while.” The kid didn’t even act like he heard the words, but Howie still pat his shoulder and led him to the chairs.



Once seated, Kevin opened the big metal doors and led the mother and father inside. There was a medical examiner in there doing paperwork and when he saw Kevin he stood up and walked over to one of the many file cabinets that housed the bodies.



He opened it up and Kevin led the mother and father closer. She was already crying, holding her hand to her face and holding her husband tight. It felt like he let a small eternity go by before nodding at the coroner and allowing him to unzip the body bag.



The little girl’s battered face exposed, made the woman fall to her knees and the man openly start to sob.



He hated the fact that even though it was obvious, he still had to ask. He looked over at the coroner who gave him a sympathetic glance in reply. “Is that her?”



The mom couldn’t find her words so she nodded.



“My baby.” She said walking over and taking the little girl’s hand in hers. “My baby.” The dad was now close to hysterics himself so Kevin decided to give them some alone time. “I’ll be waiting out in the hall, come out when you’re ready. I still have a few questions for you.”



He thought he had temporarily gotten away from grief until he saw the brother sitting there with Howie. Both quiet and staring at the walls. Howie glanced over at Kevin in anticipation so Kevin nodded his head, which had Howie get a look of disappointment on his face.



“It’s her isn’t it?” the boy said after a few moments of Kevin just standing there not knowing what to do or say.



“If it wasn’t her they would have come right back out. It’s my sister isn’t it?” Now he looked up face to face with Kevin.



“Yes it’s her…I’m sorry.” The boy looked away and wiped a tear from his eye.



“It’s my fault; I yelled at her and made her run away. It’s my fault.”



Kevin moved next to the boy and placed his arm around the kid. “What’s your name?”



“Jeff.”



“Jeff, it’s not your fault.”



“Sure it is. She would have never left if I hadn’t made her mad.”



“She might not have run away. She might have been kidnapped. You don’t know that for sure.”



“The last thing I said to her was I hate you.” He took a deep breath and sighed, more tears falling down his cheek now.



“She knew you loved her Jeff.”



“How could she? She was just a kid.”



“You know…” Kevin looked over at the wall, “The last thing I said to my father was I wish you would leave and never come back.”



“And?”



“And that’s what happened. He left and never came back. He was killed that day.”



“He was?”



“Yes…I felt so guilty for years because of that. I thought for the longest time that it was my fault you know? That just because I told him that, that’s what he did.”



“Yeah, that’s how I feel too.”



“But you know what? That’s not the truth. It was horrible timing, and I loved him and he knew I loved him. He didn’t die because of me; he died because of some random guy who decided to shoot at a cop trying to help him. Just like your sister Jeff, she didn’t die because of you. She died because of the monster who took her life away from her.”



“I wish I could believe you.”



Kevin wrapped his arm around the boy, treating him like one of his brothers. “I know, but you will someday. Just don’t blame yourself; Mandy wouldn’t want you to do that.”



“Actually she probably would.” The boy said smiling through his tears, “She loved doing the whole crying to mom thing just to get me in trouble.”



“Well I guess that made her a great little sister then huh?”



“Yeah.” He said as his parents walked out into the hall. Jeff stood up and ran over to them all hugging and crying.



“Would you guys mind following me back up to my office? I just need a few more moments of your time.”



They followed Kevin once again past the gawkers and into his office. They sat down across from him as Howie offered them each some coffee which they refused.



“So are you close to catching this…monster?” The father said spitting out the words as if they were poison.



“We have some leads but I need to know if you have ever seen this man before?” Kevin passed the picture of the monster over to the Collins family as they looked it over carefully.



“Is this him?”



“Quite possibly, but he also could have changed his appearance.”



“I’ve never seen him before.”



“We are doing everything we can to catch him.”



“Make sure you do! I want him to pay for what he did to my angel.” The father once again began to get choked up.



“I will.”



They answered a few more questions and finished up some paperwork before finally leaving. Kevin sat at his desk with his hands over his eyes, rubbing them. Another stress induced headache on its way.



“We have to find this guy Howie, before my head explodes.”



“We’ll get him Kev.”



“We have to. I owe it to that boy if no one else.”



“What you said to him was great; you never told me that story.”



“It’s not something I enjoy talking about actually.”



“I know, but still…”



“I’ll be back; I need to go to the bathroom.” Kevin said standing up and making his way into the bathroom, locking the door and splashing water on his face as thoughts of his father came pouring back to him. How hurtful he had been, how resentful he always felt.



It was no secret that he and his father didn’t get along that well. They never saw eye to eye on anything. In fact, they spent most of their time arguing with each other. Kevin was very much the way AJ was now. He rebelled against every little rule Kevin senior instated. He was a hard man to please, not the nicest man in the world either but it wasn’t until he was dead and gone that Kevin began to appreciate how good he had it.



He looked in the mirror and saw that scene from his childhood play out in front of him as if he was watching a movie screen. There stood a defiant 21 year old college senior, unsure of his career path after graduation, arguing with his father about of all things the field that would end up killing him. Kevin senior was all for Kevin jr. following in the footsteps of his father. Going to the academy becoming an FBI agent, working side by side. A great pair, a dynamic duo is what he always said. The idea used to make Kevin claustrophobic. He complained about it to his mom while she handed off a newborn Nick to him.



“Honey you’re father is stubborn but whatever you choose he will be happy with.”



Kevin placing Nick on his shoulder, patting his bottom gently as he cried for his mother’s touch just rolled his eyes, “I don’t know mom, I think he won’t be happy unless I do what he does.”



“Then let him be unhappy. You need to do what your heart tells you to do honey.”



Just then Nick gurgled and laughed, “See? Your little brother agrees don’t you honey bunny?” She said tickling Nick until he smiled exposing his gums; he looked up at his big brother who kissed the top of his head as he gently passed the baby back to his mother.



“I just want to do something that will make me happy? I mean it’s my life right?”



“Right.”



That night he was ready to confront his dad, tell him about the decision he made, he was going to become a lawyer, it would take a lot of schooling but it was something he had always been interested in. He had the brains and the grades to get into any law school he wanted, and it wasn’t totally out of the field.



Unfortunately that night his dad came home in a bad mood and would hear none of it so they screamed at each other, so loud in fact that the baby cried and the younger boys ran to their mother. The end of the fight had Kevin saying those words, the last ones he would ever say to his father alive. Not exactly what he had told the Jeff earlier in the day. No, the words he chose were more raw and harsh.



“Drop dead!”



His father turned towards him, disbelief on his face, “What did you just say to me?”



“Nothing.”



“Oh no, I heard you. How ungrateful can one child be! After all I have done for you? You tell me to drop dead?”



His mother had come down the stairs at that point to break up the argument, before the police were called. Her arms were crossed; she looked uncomfortable by the sudden silence.



Kevin senior turned towards his wife, “I’m going out to the store, I can’t be near him right now or I may say something I’ll regret.” He never looked Kevin in the face again. The last view he had of his father was watching him walk out the door.



“That was uncalled for Kevin.” She said sternly, probably the most stern she had ever been with him his whole life.



What was worse is he realized that. He didn’t need to be told and he planned on waiting for his father to come home so he could apologize. Unfortunately that never happened. While at the store he witnessed a robbery, a man had been mugged. Kevin’s father went to go help the victim but in his outrage, not realizing the mugger had left, the victim pulled a gun out and when he turned around to make a 911 call, Kevin Richardson senior was shot in the back.



It was a senseless killing, something that never should have happened. But it changed Kevin’s life forever. The day after the funeral he signed up for the academy. His heart was never in it, but he felt obliged to do what his father had always dreamed.



He went through the ranks rather quickly, his grades were always given the credit but deep down inside he figured it had something to do with the last name. In the process he dragged his best friend Howie along for the ride.



He splashed more water on his face before heading back out the door to finish out his day, guilt still settling in his bones. Just like swallowed gum, there to stay forever.


Just so you know I made a tiny change since the first chapter of this story and that is now Nick is 8 instead of 10. So don't let that confuse you although I doubt it would. I'll be back on Sunday with chapter 4. Enjoy!

4



The Monster Catcher





Kevin and a few of his team members found themselves back at the perp’s house the next day. Yellow tape lined the perimeter with huge Crime Scene Do Not Enter signs blocking all the doors and windows. The smell had luckily dulled since the windows had been left cracked open to air the place out. The old moldy food, the dead puppy and most of the obvious evidence were all also missing.



The second visit to the crime scene always proved the most effective in Kevin’s short experience with the FBI. He managed to crack his very first case on a second visit to a crime scene when he was only 26 years old. He was a member of a team just like this one, the runt of the litter they used to call him. They tended to come up with cute little colorful nicknames for their rookies. That was his, until he managed to crack a case that the seniors ahead of him failed to do, leading to an arrest of a serial rapist.



After that his nickname changed to the monster catcher. The nickname of that rapist was the monster because he used to wear a stupid creature mask when he assaulted his victims. They looked at Kevin differently from that point on; they trusted his keen eye for detail and brought him along on cases that he wasn’t even involved in. He developed quite a reputation as the young, eager detective, the young Jody Foster of the force. He particularly didn’t enjoy that nickname at all, stupid Silence of the Lambs.



He walked over towards the fireplace once more, still a few remnants of figurines lying around the yet to be burnt logs. “You think there’s something we missed in there?” He turned to Howie, still squatting down and then quickly turned his attention back towards the fireplace.



“Not sure.”



“I’m going to go check upstairs, take a look through his closet.”



“Good idea, I’ll be down here.” Howie walked up the steps with Maria as Kevin placed a pair of rubber gloves on his hands. He picked up the small ceramic pieces and moved them out of the way, focusing his attention on the bottom under the wood. He thought he saw something shiny underneath so he took his flashlight and shined it that way.



“There’s something here.” He said to the empty room, which made the sound of footsteps walk his way. He lay on the cold and dirty carpet to get a better look, “Well I’ll be damned, get me a screw driver!” There staring at him looked to be a silver plate, under the grate that held the wood. While he was waiting for that screw driver he began to move the heavy wood from the grates.



“That’s why he never used the fireplace; he was keeping the wood here to hide something.”



“Here’s a screw driver.” He nodded and took the tool and started to unscrew the metal grates, his heart pounding in his chest as he did it.



Trying to solve crimes was almost like getting to the highest levels of a video game. You got the same rush of adrenaline, like you never thought you were going to find the hidden level and then BAM, there it was, staring at you in the face the entire time.



That’s how he felt when he was brought in on this case. One child dead, no evidence at all found at the crime scene which was a dumpster behind an Italian restaurant. Her clothes were still on, no evidence of sexual activity, her head smashed in. It was the first time he had ever come face to face with a dead child. The image stayed with him for days. He was told this was the second child found, the first one up the road behind a gas station. Nothing found near either body, both girl’s heads bashed in but no sign of struggle or anything. Not even a single scream heard.



The third victim was found about three days later, lying under a tree in a park, same exact description, no leads, and no signs of struggle but this time Kevin noticed something. He noticed stuck in the little girl’s hair, the smallest fragment of a fingernail. Now they had something to run through tests. He felt exhilarated at the time.



Finally getting somewhere, he decided after that to revisit the other crime scenes, to see if he maybe missed something. That’s when he found a black glove, lying behind the dumpster outside the restaurant. Unfortunately there were no prints on or inside of it. He must have worn rubber gloves underneath. Maybe even a cold blooded killer got cold every once in a while.



The most important clue, the one which led him to figure out the guy’s identity after finding little girl number four, was a contact lens. The fourth girl was found about a mile from where Kevin was now, lying beside a fireplace ready to crack a case wide open. She was a little different from the rest, first difference being were she was found, behind someone’s house. Kevin was positive that for whatever reason, the perp was trying to make it seem like whoever owned that house was to blame.



She was a little more messy, her head same as the others but she was also strangled and bloody. This one had actually fought back maybe throwing the guy off. Long after the forensics team had left and the yellow tape had been placed around the house, Kevin noticed the contact shining on the grass. That’s all they needed to make a match. The guy’s fingerprints were all over it.



They had their guy, Scott Wilson 45, never married, no children but also no police record to speak of. He did however issue several complaints against a man named Simon Hofstadter, the place where they found little girl number four. It all clicked together, he had found the hidden level and was ready to move in.



Kevin had contacted the place where Scott worked and asked them to tell him not to come into work, this way he was guaranteed to be home, that backfired however when they finally entered his house and found Mandy, victim number five.



Once Kevin removed the grate he was able to see the hole which that silver plate covered up. He carefully removed the plate to find little trinkets. A few hair ties, some jewelry, a couple of toys and a baby doll’s head. He carefully took each item out and looked at them, knowing that for each child lying under a tombstone, there was a souvenir of her lying here in the fireplace.



“Let’s get some prints off of these,” He said carefully placing each thing in a bag and handing it off to his crew.



He stood up and was ready to walk away when he stopped in his tracks and looked around again,



“Did you see any other type of figurines as you were searching the house?”



“None at all, why?” Howie asked, after making his way back downstairs empty handed.



“Precious Moments.”



“What about them?”



“I bet you those aren’t his, I bet you those are from the families.” He turned towards Maria, “make sure you tell the guys in the lab that I want an analysis of the Precious Moments figurines.”



“Okay.”



“Also, when you get done with that, I want you to get a hold of the families and ask them if they collected them and if any are missing from their collection.”



“You think he stole them from the families?”



“I think maybe.”



“Which means that he may have been in their houses?”



“Yes.”



By the end of the day, they had a huge pile of evidence mounting against Mr. Scott Wilson including evidence finally linking him to each of those murders, five counts in all.



“You did great work Kev…I wish I was able to pick up things the way you do.”



“Howie, you are excellent at your job.”



“I may be good, but I’m no Jody Foster!”



“Shut the hell up.” Howie laughed as he turned into Kevin’s apartment complex.



“So, I’m not going to walk in and find a naked Lisa am I? Not that that’s a bad thing mind you, but after last time…”



“No Howie, she’s actually out of town for a few days. No naked Lisa and it bothers me that you saw naked Lisa.”



“How could you NOT see naked Lisa? I mean she was waltzing around your place with no clothes on….is that AJ on your front steps?” Kevin turned to see AJ sitting there on the steps smoking a cigarette. When he saw his brother’s eyes on him he quickly threw it down on the ground and stepped on it.



“Did he actually think I missed that?”



“I can’t believe he was smoking right under your nose… that kid cracks me up.”



Kevin sighed as he made his way out of the car. AJ stood up slowly and bit his bottom lip, “What are you doing here Jay?”



“Just thought I’d drop by…hey Howie.”



“Hi AJ.”



“So you thought you’d drop by and smoke on my steps while you waited for me?”



“Damn, you saw that huh?”



“No, I’m only an FBI agent AJ, I miss things like that.”



“No reason to be a sarcastic ass.”



“Does mom know you’re here or am I going to get a frantic call in a few hours?”



“She knows. I told her you invited me over for dinner which pissed Brian off.”



They walked in and AJ jumped on the couch and put his feet on the coffee table, once again highly amusing Howie.



“Make yourself comfortable AJ, my place is yours apparently.”



“Thanks, I will…am I here for dinner on guy’s night out?”



“Yeah actually, Howie was going to hang and order a pizza with me.”



“Cool! Got any beer?” Kevin glared at AJ.



“Relax….jeez, I’m only kidding. Take a chill pill.”



Howie laughed as Kevin walked into the small kitchen, “Don’t laugh you’ll only encourage him.”



“Is he this serious all the time Howie?”



“Yeah…pretty much.”



“Too bad for you.” Once again Howie laughed.



He walked out with two beers and a Coke, handing the latter to his little brother who pouted and rolled his eyes.



“So, what are you doing here AJ? I mean besides wanting to hang out with me?”



AJ shrugged and popped open his can, “I was bored so I thought I’d drop by. You had to see Brian’s face when I told him you invited me over. He looked so distraught, what a namby pamby.”



“What a what?”



“Never mind…oh and Nick wanted me to give this to you,” He rolled a little to his side and pulled out a piece of paper.



“What is it?”



“A thesis on why Marxism is a bad thing…what the heck do you think it is?”



Howie almost spit out his beer on that one.



Kevin opened up the paper and smiled; it was a picture of a badge and on the inside it said number 1 cop and be careful please written in graffiti lettering.



“I’m impressed you actually gave it to me.”



“Yeah so am I, but he made it seem so important, you know how the kid is…give this to Kevin or I’ll die,” He said imitating his little brother’s voice.



“He wanted to come with me and I almost brought him but decided not to.”



“You almost brought him?” Kevin said sounding impressed.



“Well I’d do anything to further piss of Brian.”



“Did you guys have a fight or something?”



“Yeah I guess you can call it that.”



“What about?”



“Smoking, like I don’t get it enough from mom I need him on my ass too?”



“AJ, he’s just concerned we all are.”



“Smoking is no big deal.”



“Yeah, I know but smoking when you’re a minor plus getting a tattoo it’s a big deal. You’re too young for a tattoo.”



“It’s not real.” He said it so softly it almost sounded like he said snot rag.



“What?”



“It’s not real,” He said pulling up his sleeve and showing Kevin the tattoo. It looked real enough but after close observation he realized it was in ink.



“Well I’ll be damned, now why on earth would you let mom think it was real?”



AJ shrugged, “It’s not like I purposely did it, just that as she was yelling at me for something, I don’t even remember what it was, she saw the tattoo. I was mad so didn’t deny it.”



Kevin laughed, “You are too much kiddo.”



“I look good with a tat though don’t I?”



“You’ll look even better with one when you’re 18.”



“It’s just a tattoo, no big deal. I wish she would stop ragging on me about everything.”



“She loves you AJ, she rags on everyone.”



“Never Brian.”



“Because Brian is an angel.”



“No because Brian is sneaky.”



“Yeah that too.”



Just as AJ rolled his sleeve back down the phone rang, Kevin walked over and answered as Howie flipped on the TV and started up a conversation with his little brother.



“Kevin?”



“Hi mom.”



“Is AJ over there?” Kevin gave AJ an evil look.



“Yeah he’s here.”



“Okay good, just checking. He said he was going over there for dinner but I wanted to make sure.”



“Mom, the tattoo isn’t real,” He said walking into the kitchen away from the sounds of the TV.



“It’s not?”



“No, he was just being…well…AJ.”



“Thank God!” Kevin laughed.



“Please tell me their candy cigarettes too.”



“Sorry, those are real but we’re going to have a talk about it after dinner okay mom?”



“Okay honey…thanks and I love you. Tell AJ I love him too even though I want to wring his neck for lying to me.”



“I will.”



He hung up and walked over to the guys and sat down, they were watching a baseball game.



“Mom says she loves you.”



“Okay cool.”



“I told her about the tattoo.”



“You’re no fun Kev.”



“Sorry.”



They ordered a pizza and hung out, talking about guy things and the dangers of lung cancer to which AJ spent most of his time rolling his eyes.

I'll be back on Friday with another update on this one. Thanks for reading

5



You Missed One…





As Kevin drove his brother home he peered over to see him biting on his fingernails. It was a nasty habit that all the Richardson’s possessed, biting on their nails when they were in deep thought, or worried about something.



“Something troubling you?”



AJ stopped biting and looked over at Kevin, “No, why do you ask?”



“Because you’re biting your nails.”



“I always bite my nails.”



“Are you sure everything is okay?”



“Kevin I know you do the whole detective thing for a living but there’s nothing to investigate here.”



“Okay if you insist.”



“Speaking of investigating, why did you have women’s underwear on your bathroom floor?”



Kevin felt his face blush, which caused AJ great enjoyment.



“I have a girlfriend.”



“Are you sure you’re not cross dressing because that would seem more likely.”



“I should make you walk home.”



“Kevin you are so overprotective I doubt you would do that.”



“You’re right but I could make you jog in front of my car.”



“Shut up.”



They pulled into the driveway and Kevin put his hand on his brother’s shoulder, “You sure there’s nothing wrong?”



“I’m sure.”



“Okay.”



“Where are you going?”



“I’m coming inside to say hello.”



AJ rolled his eyes at his brother, “What? I am here why wouldn’t I say anything?”



“Just don’t let Brian know I invited myself over.”



“Your secret is safe with me fake tattoo boy.”



AJ gave Kevin the finger as they entered the house. Brian was sitting Indian style on the couch doing his homework and watching TV, and mom was on the recliner with her feet up knitting.



“We’re home!” AJ yelled which caused both to look up.



“Yippee.” Brian said sarcastically returning to his work.



“Kevin, hey sweetie, I made brownies...want a brownie?”



“Thanks mom.”



“Help yourself their on the kitchen table.”



Kevin walked in and grabbed a brownie and poured himself a glass of milk. He missed this, he felt bad for missing it, after all he was soon to be thirty but that didn’t matter. Maybe you were never too old to miss home.



“How come you didn’t ask me if I wanted a brownie?” He heard AJ ask upon his arrival back into the living room.



“Because you can eat them whenever you like…come here.” AJ stood up and walked over to his mom. She pulled him down on her lap at the amusement of Brian who snickered.



“Mom…”



“That tattoo is a fake?”



“Yes.”



“How come you let me think it was real?”



“Sorry.”



He placed his head on her shoulder as she continued to knit, “You are going to make me gray AJ!” Then she grabbed his head and kissed it. “But I love you.”



“I love you too mom.”



They all watched TV together for an hour before Kevin finally forced himself to get up to leave, “Hey you think Nick is asleep?”



“I hope so but I doubt it.”



“I’m going to go up and peek in on him really quickly.”



“Okay…” She said to Kevin then turned to AJ, “and you better have your homework done for tomorrow.”



AJ shook his head, “Mom it’s done. I did it before Kevin invited me over for dinner.” He made sure he looked over at Brian when he said that just to dig at him. Kevin ignored it and made his way upstairs.



Nicky’s door was opened a crack and the nightlight was on. It looked like he was sleeping; his covers off of him as he lay twisted in the bed. Kevin walked in, grabbed the covers from the floor and gently placed them on the little boy, kissing the top of his head as he turned to leave the room.



“Daddy?” That made Kevin stop and turn around.



“What did you say Nicky?”



Nick sat up and rubbed his eyes, “Kevin?”



Kevin sat on the bed, “Howdy, I’m sorry I woke you up, I didn’t mean too.”



“That’s okay is everything all right?”



“Yup.” He smiled and tousled Nick’s hair.



“Why are you here?”



“I wanted to say thanks for the badge.”



“Wow AJ remembered?”



“Yup he did and I loved it. I have it hanging on my fridge.”



Nick smiled, “Good, I just want you to be safe okay?”



“I will be.”



He noticed something lying by Nick’s pillow and saw it was a flannel shirt.



“What’s that partner?” Nick tried to hide it when Kevin went to grab it. He placed it in his hand; the scent brought him back eight years.



“Where did you get this Nicky?”



“Mom gave it to me. It was dads.”



“I know… he used to wear it all the time.” Kevin said picturing his father sitting at the kitchen table on a Sunday morning in this flannel shirt reading his morning paper while sipping coffee.



“I miss him.” The child confessed as he lay back down and hugged the stuffed teddy bear next to him.



“You didn’t even know him,” Kevin said giving the shirt back to his baby brother who quickly laid it under his pillow.



“I know but I still miss him.”



Once again the guilt came at him full force. He was the reason this child never knew his father. He was the only reason.



“I do too baby…now go back to sleep.” Kevin said, once again kissing the top of Nick’s head and standing up.



“Kevin?”



“Yeah?”



“Please be careful.”



“I always am,” He said winking before closing the door partway and walking back down the steps.



As he left, the drive home felt so lonely. The words I miss him clung to his mind and wouldn’t let go. He often didn’t think about Nick missing their father. He was barely two months old when he died. Sometimes he worried about his own mortality. How easily it would be for him to be killed in the line of duty. He had been lucky actually, in all the years he had been a part of law enforcement, he had only been shot at once. He never told his family about it, knowing that if his mother knew, she would have demanded he quit and become a soda jerk at some ice cream shop.



When he heard the gun go off at first, his heart stopped. It sounded more like a crack then a shot. He had already learned that from the police academy but still it all became different when you were the one being shot at.



Luckily, no one got hurt, but still it made him stop and think about death, even going so far as writing up a will. Another thing he would never tell his mother. At the end of the day, he had a very dangerous job and most of them ignored it, but apparently not the baby of the family. He was more aware than anyone gave him credit for.



By the time he walked back into his apartment and turned on his light it was almost eleven pm. His answering machine was glowing red. “Lisa.” He said smiling as he walked over once again blushing at what AJ had said. Next time he’d have to remember to take a minute and clean up any spare underwear left on the floor.



When he played back the message however, it was a man, the call was static filled and the message very short. “You missed one detective,” Was all he said before he hung up.



Quickly Kevin took the tape out of his machine and placed it in a bag, fear running through him, as he grabbed his keys and headed out the door for his office. Once he was there the night shift was very surprised to see him. He handed off the tape and explained what was on it. They quickly took it for analysis.



“I’ll be back first thing in the morning; by the time I get here I want to know who that is.”



“We’ll do our best Kevin,” The night lab technician said grabbing the tape and all but running down the hall to have it examined.



Bright and early the next morning, Kevin arrived barely getting any sleep and holding a giant cup of coffee. He was hoping more than anything that there would be a report waiting for him on his desk.



“How come you didn’t wait for me to come pick you up this morning?” Howie said coming in about thirty minutes after Kevin.



“I got a call last night D. He said I missed one.”



“Who did?”



“If I was a betting man, I’d say it was Scott Wilson.”



“He called you at home?”



Kevin nodded, “Left me a message.”



“That’s not good Kev.”



A few minutes later the same lab technician he handed the tape to last night, walked over to him, looking very tired and ready to go home.



“We analyzed it but the voice didn’t match any we have in our data bank.”



“Do we have Scott Wilson on tape anywhere?”



“No, I don’t believe we do.”



“I’m almost positive this is him.”



“What do you think he meant by you missed one?”



“No idea. Did we get the things we recovered from the house sent out yet?”



“Yup we have been working on them all night. So far we have positive matches for three of the girls.”



“That’s great.”



“What about the figurines?”



“We haven’t gotten that far yet.”



“Okay thanks…good work.”



The man nodded and then went home. Howie looked over at Kevin with a worried expression on his face, “What?”



“He called you at home Kev.”



“I can’t worry about that right now, I need to know what we are missing.”



“It also might have been a prank call.”



“He called me detective, how would he know that if it was a prank?”



“How would he know it was you working on this case?”



Kevin shook his head as he opened his desk drawer and took out the picture of the man they were talking about. He looked normal enough, but his eyes had an added layer of evil to them. You could almost sense the madness behind those eyes. Something wasn’t right.



“Maybe he has been watching us this whole time, you know as we entered his house and went through his things.”



“Should we send someone to the neighborhood?”



“Yes, let’s get a car over to the neighborhood, scout out the area, and maybe look for fingerprints on any payphones around there.”



“I’ll go do that.”



“Thanks Howie.”



He looked over at his friend and smiled, “And D, please be careful.”



“I will.”



“I’m going to call some of these parents to see if they have any Precious Moments figurines missing from their houses.”



“Good idea, I’ll check back with you later.”



Once Howie left the room, Kevin turned his attention back to the picture of Scott Wilson, the man behind so many deaths. “We’re going to get you…just a matter of time.”


Be back on Friday with another chapter!

6



House Call





Kevin spent most of his day on the phone back and forth to the lab, trying to get them to move a little faster with their analysis of the objects he found under that plate in the perp’s house. They were able to make a positive ID on at least three of those items and when he actually talked to those parents they were able to say with certainty that some of those things belonged to their kids.



All of them said the same thing however which left a bad taste in the detective’s mouth and that was that those items were not with the children when they disappeared. The mother of the second victim, the one who belonged to the baby doll’s head which was found, remembered specifically throwing that doll across the room in frustration on the second day of her daughter’s disappearance. She had broken that head herself. It flew off when it hit the wall which made the mother go into such a frenzy that she had to be subdued for the rest of that night.



The mother of the fourth victim said that some of those hair ties belonged to her daughter, but just like victim number two, the girl had not left home wearing them. Kevin felt a chill go up his spine, knowing that after this guy took the children, he would go into their houses and retrieve things as souvenirs. Or maybe to make the girls feel better? What if they weren’t killed right away? What if after kidnapping them, the monster kept them alive and hidden for a few days, naturally they’d be so upset they’d be crying, more likely carrying on. So maybe he went into those houses and got things to make them feel better. Stop the crying and at the same time make them think that maybe they’d eventually make their way home.



The other girl who he managed to get a positive ID for was the latest victim Mandy. It turned out that the small toys that were found were hers. It was Jeff who told Kevin that when he called. Both of his parents were on sedatives and sleeping. The kid sounded like he was about 20 years old. Forever transformed into an adult.



Once again, he remembered how it felt when the same thing happened to him. St. John’s Wart, an herbal version of Prozac is what his mother was put on. She slept for hours on end after her husband died. Like life no longer held any meaning. That day even though he was already considered an adult, he became a full fledged man. Taking on all the responsibilities that his father had, just like that.



He was almost certain that Jeff was going to undergo the same transformation, now that his sister was dead. No longer was he going to be able to act like a carefree child. No, not only did Scott Wilson take away his sister, but he also took away Jeff’s childhood.



Kevin sighed and looked away from his computer screen for a second. Why was he letting this case get to him so badly? It’s not like this was the first serial killer case he worked on or anything. He had seen things even more gruesome than this, but for some reason this one hurt. Probably because they were just children, babies with their whole lives ahead of them.



“I missed one.” He said out loud rubbing at his temples as he tried to figure out what the guy had meant.



“What did I miss?”



Once again he picked up the phone and called down to the lab, he knew that once they answered they would most likely roll their eyes and mouth this guy again? He didn’t care; he had to get to the bottom of this.



“Trey.”



“Hi Trey it’s Kevin again.”



“Oh hi Kevin.”



“Anything yet?”



“Actually yes, we were able to link victim number one to the little bear that you found.”



“Excellent.”



“Yes, another thing…there was no match to the pair of earrings you found. It doesn’t match up with any of the girls.”



“None?”



“No.”



“Okay thanks Trey.”



“Sure.”



“What about those figurines?”



“Haven’t gotten to them yet.”



“Okay.”



“We’re kind of bogged down right now.”



“I understand thanks again.” Kevin hung up and once again picked up the picture of Scott Wilson. Those eyes made Kevin wince and for the first time, he allowed himself to think about this guy calling his house.



That’s when Howie walked in; he looked exhausted, one of the side effects of working for the FBI.



“Hey D, any leads or anything?”



“Not sure, I lifted a bunch of fingerprints from three local payphones, so if they match we’ll get an idea where he called from. Also I confiscated some video security film from outside where one of those phones was.”



“Well, it’s a start.”



“Kev, have you thought about not staying at your place?”



Even though he did, he didn’t want to admit that, so he just shrugged it off.



“Howie, it’s no big deal. I mean I’m not going to run away scared from this guy.”



“He’s a cold blooded killer Kevin. I’d feel much better if you stayed somewhere else. I mean you can stay with me if you want.”



“No really, it’s okay.”



Howie nodded, knowing he was going to lose this battle. Kevin Richardson was the most stubborn person he knew. Sometimes it was comical to picture the two as best friends. They were so polar opposite.



“All of the parents collected those Precious Moments Figurines.”



“They did?” Kevin nodded. That was something else enlightening he found out today as he talked to each family. They thought it was an odd question but when the answer was yes, it was followed by a “and one is missing.”



“So he was in their houses?”



“Yes, he also took those things after the kids were taken. He managed to get into those places which means he was staking them out way beforehand.”



“This means he knows how to get into and out of a place unnoticed which is another reason why you should consider staying somewhere else.”



“Howie…”



“I know, but Kevin…think about it.”



Kevin wasn’t thinking about it at the moment though, his thought went to something else. He turned towards his friend and jumped out of his chair, startling Howie to almost fall down.



“What if the thing we missed is a person still alive in his house?”



“What?”



“Trey said the earrings didn’t match any of our victims…what if it’s because there’s another one we missed?”



“We searched that place up and down Kevin; if there was someone in there we would have found her.”



“It’s worth a try.”



Howie nodded as they both headed out the door.



They got to the Devil’s lair about twenty minutes later with a full team to help comb through it, for the third time. Kevin knew the chances of finding someone alive in there were slim but he had to try. They moved into the house and split up, three people took the main floor, two the second floor, three the attic and two the basement.



Kevin decided to go back to the basement, the place where they found Mandy. He walked slowly down the stairs where the smell of blood still lingered in the air. Compared to the others, Mandy’s death was the most gruesome. He seemed to kill her in a rage. Not caring how much blood there was all over the place.



He stepped over to the water heater where her blood still stained the wall and floor. It was painful to look at, even dried; to someone else it would have almost passed for paint. He wished he could be so naïve to think that way. He walked towards the wall in hopes that he might find a hidden hole or maybe a fake panel in the floor or wall, but unfortunately everything was as is.



There was no place a child could hide. Not one that was alive anyway. Suddenly all hope was lost for Kevin as he climbed back up the stairs. “I think we’re looking in the wrong place.” He said to Howie as they met in the living room.



“Why?”



“Because besides Mandy, none of the others were found here. If there is another victim, she is somewhere else.”



“I found something!” One of the agents yelled from the attic which sparked Kevin and Howie to go bounding up the steps. Once there, they stopped short to see the agent holding a manila envelop which said Detective Richardson ONLY!



“How the hell did that get in here?”



“That means he was here after we closed the place.”



“Maybe he was hiding in here the entire time...” Were all things being echoed in the room around Kevin but all he could concentrate on was that damn envelope with HIS name on it.



“Search this entire place for new fingerprints, anything you can get your hands on!” He said walking away from the agents and tearing open the envelope. Howie followed right on his heels while everyone else moved away.



“I don’t like that he addressed that to you.”



“Yeah, I’m not too pleased either Howie.”



Kevin looked down and pulled the evidence out of the envelope. Looking at it horrified before once again setting things in motion, “Okay people he has another victim! We need to find this guy before he kills this child!”



Howie gave his friend a questioning glance, so in return he placed the picture in his hand. It was a little girl who was holding a stuffed turtle, wearing a similar pair of earrings that they had found under the fireplace.



The date in the bottom corner of the picture read today which meant she was still alive. He was toying with them. Giving them some live bait. Maybe he was growing bored with them not finding him. Maybe that’s what he wanted. To be found.



“Someone needs to run this to the office and see if we can get a name on this child. We need to talk to her parents and find out all we can.”



“Kevin for someone who was kidnapped, she doesn’t look the least bit scared does she?” Howie said handing the picture back over to Kevin for examination. The little girl, around 11 years old, was smiling from ear to ear, hugging the toy, not a trace of sadness in her eyes.



“He knows her, that’s probably how he gets in and out of people’s houses unnoticed. He probably gets invited in.”



“But the parents all say they have never seen that guy before.”



Kevin looked up at Howie, “I’m not talking about the parents.”

“So you think maybe the kid invites him in and he takes things while he’s there? But the families said that a lot of that stuff is gone AFTER the kids disappear.”



“I know…that’s the part I’m trying to make sense out of, but all I know is we have to find this guy. Let’s head back to the office and see how the search for the parents is going.”



By the time they got back to headquarters, the girl had a name to go with the face, Sheila Tamry, eleven years old, just like Kevin had predicted and missing for three days. The parents were already at the station to be questioned. Kevin was hoping that they would be able to make a positive idea on their suspect. He looked over at the clock, time was running out.



“Kevin…Scott Wilson’s fingerprints are nowhere to be found on any of those figurine fragments.” Trey said walking into Kevin’s office startling him from his thoughts.



“What?”



“None…they don’t match his. Although all of the victims had their prints all over them.”



Kevin grabbed the report and looked at it, shaking his head in disappointment and disgust.



“Okay...thanks Trey.”



“No problem,” He said walking out the door for the weekend.



The parents of Sheila Tamry walked out of the office where they were being questioned by a few agents. Kevin stood to meet them, thankful for once that this wasn’t a morgue visit.



“We will do all we can to find your daughter, I promise.” The woman who looked as if she hadn’t slept in days nodded and tried her best to smile.



“At least she looks happy.”



“Yes, did you recognize that picture?” Both parents shook their heads.



“Has anything of Sheila’s gone missing since she’s been gone? A favorite toy or anything like that?”



“Just that turtle…she loved that turtle.”



“So she had it with her the last time you saw her?”



“No, she was at gymnastics the last time I saw her…I only left for a minute. I went to go get us some bread for dinner…only a minute.” She started to cry and was pulled close by her husband.



“We’ll find her Mrs. Tamry…” Howie reassured as he handed her a tissue.



“Thanks.” She said once again smiling.



Once they left, Kevin was just about to run down to see if anything came up of the video footage when another envelope showed up. It looked identical to the first and said for Detective Richardson ONLY, on it.



Kevin held it in his hands unbelieving that the guy would send it to the FBI. “Call down to the main entrance and have them send up footage for anyone coming and going in the building, send them a scan of Wilson’s picture,” He barked as he tore open the envelope, not sure what he would find.



There was Sheila Tamry, smile gone from her face as she lay in a pool of her own blood. Her eyes still open and glazed over, a scarf around her neck, where she had been strangled.



“Son of a bitch.” He whispered, barely able to contain the anger or sadness in his voice. “That son of a bitch.” He repeated once again.



The time on the corner of the camera was ten minutes after the first picture had been taken. Howie realizing it was bad news walked slowly over to Kevin and grabbed the picture from his friend, who now placed his hands on his face and shook his head in disbelief.



“What kind of game is he playing?”



“I don’t know…maybe he wanted us to bring the parents in and get their hopes up.” Kevin said monotone and ready to quit the force altogether.



“Maybe.” Howie echoed sounding just as distraught.



About three hours later, long after his shift ended, Kevin made his way back to his apartment. It was a Friday night, the weekend here to do with what he pleased, but what was there to do? ‘Just think about some dead kids and how he failed to help them,’ He thought to himself as he picked up the lamp sitting on the table by the front door and flung it across the room.



“Damn it!!” He screamed knocking over a chair and throwing some magazines that were lying around. He went to punch the wall and stopped himself, instead choosing to slide down it with his hands on his head and began to sob.



When he calmed himself down enough to breath normally, he picked up the phone and called the one person who could make him feel better.



She answered on the third ring, he was glad he didn’t hang up.



“Mom?”



“Honey? What’s wrong?” He felt bad for making her alarmed.



“Nothing…I just had a really rough day.”



“I’m sorry to hear that. You weren’t hurt were you?”



“No, nothing like that.” He held the phone tight to his ear, instantly calming himself down.



“Okay good…so what happened?”



“I can’t really go into detail mom; just it was a bad day,” He sighed.



“Well you know honey if there’s anything I can do to make it better.” He heard the voice of Brian and another boy walk past as his mother shushed them.



“What’s going on over there?”



“Brian decided to invite some kids over to watch a movie. How nice of him to consult me first.” Kevin smiled and wiped a tear away.



“They better not eat me out of house and home either!” She shouted into the living room. He heard Brian yell, “Relax mommy we ordered a pizza!”



“You are eating pizza at this hour of night? Oh Kevin you need to rescue me from this madness.”



“Actually mom, I was wondering if I could maybe stay with you guys for a few days?” He looked around his house to find a good excuse, “The landlord wants to fumigate the apartments.”



“Goodness, do you have bugs?”



“No, but I guess it’s a just in case thing.” He felt bad for lying but the truth would have been much worse.



“You are always welcome and I can tell you there is a certain little blonde who will be thrilled. He misses you so much Kevin. He misses you and worries about you.”



Kevin’s heart filled with love at the thought of Nicky.



“I’m actually going to pack a bag and come over tonight, is that all right?”



“Sure honey, I’m excited. Maybe we can play cards.”



“Sounds good mom.”



“I love you baby.”



“I love you too. See you soon.”



He hung up the phone already feeling better. He needed to get away from the sadness, out of this place where the killer contacted him and home for a few days. He packed his bag and headed out the door, not noticing that his answering machine light was blinking.


Thanks for the comments on this one so far. I appreciate it! I'll be back on Wednesday with another update on this story!

7



The Big Brother Oath







Kevin got to his mom’s house at around 11:30. The boys, all except Nicky were awake and in the living room watching Austin Powers. Eating popcorn and pizza and laughing as they recited word for word all of the things that Mike Meyers said. When he walked in everyone stopped briefly and stared which made him say, “What?”



“You are not getting your room back Kevin so don’t even think about it. I have worked long and hard to make that room mine and get your stink out of it.”



“My stink?” Kevin said dropping his bag at the bottom of the steps and sitting down on the couch next to Matt, one of Brian’s friends.



“Yeah that awful cologne or whatever the heck it is you wore all the time. Damn I can smell you from here.”



“It’s Dolce and Gabana, now shut up, jeez that’s a nice way to welcome me home.”



“It’s not like you live in Tahiti or anything Kevin, you live what? Ten minutes away?”



“Shut up Brian!”



“I’m just sayin’ that’s all.”



Kevin reached over Matt and bopped Brian on the head which made his friends and AJ crack up. “Where’s mom?”



“I think she’s upstairs with Nick. He had a stomachache.”



“Okay thanks, I guess I’ll bring my bag up to my room now anyway.”



“My room Kevin! I swear don’t make me wrestle you for it.”



“Like you would win Brian? I don’t think so…well not unless you were to bite at my ankles.”



“Shut up, you’re such an ass!”



“Dude, he’s like an FBI guy he can totally arrest you for saying that.” Harold his other friend said in his Keanu Reeves drawl which made Kevin crack up.



“Saying the word ass is not a federal offense Harold, but being an ass might be so he better watch it.”



Brian rolled his eyes at his older brother then once again turned his attention to the movie. Kevin grabbed his bag and walked up the stairs, the day’s tension already beginning to dissolve with each footfall. As he reached the top of the stairs he heard his mother talking in a soothing voice to Nick. He stood outside the door making sure he wasn’t seen as he spied on his mom and brother.



“Feel better now baby?”



“Yeah a little, but my tummy is still sour. I think I might throw up again mom.”



“I told you not to eat all that candy.”



“It’s not the candy mommy; it’s just an icky belly.”



“Do you want me to rub your belly?”



“No way, I’m not a baby anymore.” That made Kevin smile.



“Okay well...if you need me you call me okay sweetheart? I’ll be downstairs making sure those boys don’t mess up our house.”



“Can’t I go downstairs too?”



“No you need to go to sleep my Booboola.”



Nick giggled as his mom kissed the top of his head. “And guess who is staying with us this weekend?”



“Who?”



“Kevin!” Upon hearing his name he felt guilty for eavesdropping and almost walked into the room but stopped when he heard what Nick had to say.



“I wish he was still living with us. I hate that he is so far away.”



“Aww he’s not too far away.”



“I don’t like that he works at the FBI either. What if he dies like dad did?”



“Nicky, don’t say that! He will be very safe, besides he has daddy watching him from above.”



“It makes my stomach hurt when I know he’s at that place mom.” Kevin placed his hand on his heart, feeling an overwhelming sense of love for his baby brother and then walked into the room.



“Hey there were your ears ringing or something? We were just talking about you,” Momma Richardson said as she stood up and hugged her eldest son while the youngest son looked on. Kevin acted like he hadn’t heard.



“No, I just got here. Why are you up little man?”



“My stomach hurts.”



Kevin walked over to the bed and sat down, “Sorry to hear that.” He placed his hand on Nick’s forehead which felt cool to the touch.



“I’ll live,” He said in a squeaky feel sorry for me voice which made Kevin want to smile more than anything else but instead he nodded.



“I’m sure you will.”



“Kevin once the boys are all cleared out I’ll make the couch up for you.”



“Its okay mom, I can do it.”



“Nonsense, I plan on kicking those kids out of the house soon anyway.”



“They wouldn’t let me hang out with them Kevin!” Nick said now sitting up in his bed.



“You know what? They are really boring. You’re not missing anything,” Kevin said winking at his little brother.



“Kevin you can stay in my room if you want. I’ll sleep on the floor and you can have the bed.”



“Aren’t you the sweetest little boy in the world?” The mom said walking over and kissing her son on the cheek.



“You have to stay this sweet forever promise me. No tattoos, no smoking, and no being all mom get away from me,” She said sitting next to him and pulling him close as he giggled.



“I promise… now mom get away from me!” She started tickling him under his chin making him full out belly laugh. When she stopped she motioned for him to lie back down and she covered him with his blankets.



“Go to sleep Nickolas.”



“Okay mom, I love you.”



She winked at him, “I’ll leave you two alone for a few minutes,” She said walking past Kevin and smiling at him.



Once mom was out of the room, Kevin turned to his little brother again, “So how does your stomach feel? Any better?”



“A little... Don’t tell mom, but I ate too much candy.” Kevin smiled.



“You did?”



“Uh huh, we had a Tootsie Roll eating contest at lunch today, I ate about 30 of them.”



“30? My goodness! Did you win?” Nick smiled and nodded, which once again had Kevin laughing.



“Kev, why are you here?” He asked suddenly more serious. Sometimes he felt like his brother was able to see right through him, even at 8 years old.



“I just missed you and wanted to come visit, why? Do you want me to leave?”



“No, I want you to live with us again.”



“Aw buddy, I’m a little too old to move back home.”



“I miss having you here all the time, where I can keep an eye on you.” Kevin reached down and ruffled Nick’s hair.



“You’re keeping an eye on me huh?”



“Yup, I want you to be safe. I worry about you Kevin. I don’t want you to die on me.”



He laid down next to his brother then, placing his arm on his head to hold it up, “Don’t think about things like that little guy. I’m safe.”



“But still…I worry.” Kevin didn’t know what to say to that because truthfully it made him feel good.



“Well, I better let you get some sleep kiddo, rest and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”



“Kevin I meant what I said about my room, you can sleep in here.”



“That’s okay; I’ll take the couch tonight.”



“Kevin?”



“Yeah?”



“Can I come down there and sleep with you?” Kevin paused and stared at Nick as he lay there serious and tired.



“I tell you what, why don’t I sleep in here with you. I’ll sleep on the floor. I want you to stay on the bed though okay?” Nick smiled; Kevin knew that’s what the kid wanted to hear.



“Okay.”



“Let me just go down and say goodnight to everyone okay?”



“Thanks Kevin.”



“Aw thank you for offering.” Nick smiled.



“I’ll be back.”



“Kay.”



Kevin walked out the door and smiled once more as he made his way down the steps. Brian’s friends had gone and he and AJ were cleaning up in the living room as mom was doing the dishes.



“Have fun?” He asked his brothers as they picked up kernels of popcorn off the carpet.



“Yeah, that movie always cracks me up.”



“So you got ants or something Kev?”



“No AJ, but they are fumigating.”



“How come you’re not staying with miss thong?”



“Miss thong?” Brian said eyebrow raised and smiling.



“Lisa…is her name by the way, and she’s out of town. She’s an airline stewardess, so she’s gone most of the time.”



“Rok, you had to see here underwear all over the place.”



“Yeah Brian, AJ saw it when he invited himself to my house for dinner.”



Brian turned towards AJ and pointed an accusatory finger at him, “I KNEW he didn’t invite you over! God AJ you are such a liar!”



“Hey! You weren’t supposed to say anything.”



“Hrmm...Funny maybe miss thong made me lose my memory.”



“You suck Kev.”



“Now if you’ll excuse me I’m saying goodnight to our mother and going to spend some time with my nice brother.”



“You mean the one who wets the bed?”



“Stop AJ its only funny if he’s here when you make fun of him.” Brian said shaking his head at his younger sibling.



“Yeah I guess you’re right.”



“He wets the bed?” That made both brothers crack up.



“He had an accident about two months ago. He had a dream he was on a boat and peed himself. AJ hasn’t let him live it down since.”



“Eh, being a big brother is a tough job but I took an oath.” AJ said nonchalantly



“Remind me of that the next time you do something stupid. About that big brother oath.”



“Well I’m sure if you stand here for another couple of minutes that will happen,” Brian said which was quickly answered with a couch cushion flung at his head.



“What AJ? I was only adhering to MY big brother oath.”



“Gee thanks!”



Kevin walked into the kitchen and kissed his mother goodnight, “I’m sleeping in Nick’s room.”



“I knew you would honey, I have the blankets and pillows laid out for you right there.” She said pointing to the pile of linen sitting on a chair.



“Night.”



She smiled then turned back to her dishes. When he walked past the living room he saw Brian and AJ on the floor wrestling. “Goodnight guys.”



“Hey want to join me Kevin? I’m trying to fulfill some more of my big brother duties.”



“By sitting on AJ?”



“Yup isn’t that on line 23 of the oath? Thou must sit on obnoxious brother’s head until he says uncle?”



“Thou? Is this an oath or the Bible?”



“HA! Good one Kevin.”



“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side.”



“Sorry Bri I took an oath too.”



“Night fellas.”



“Night.” Kevin walked back up the stairs to find Nick sound asleep on the bed. He thought briefly about turning around and heading back down the stairs and taking the couch after all or better yet, stealing either AJ or Brian’s bed, but just staring down at Nick and remembering what he said had him lie down on the hard floor and wrap the blankets around himself.



“I guess this is part of the big brother oath as well,” He whispered to himself as he shut off the light and closed his eyes to sleep.



About ten minutes later he felt a little body sink next to him on the floor. He smiled as Nick got close and cradled his head on Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin took his blankets and wrapped them around both of them and within minutes both were fast asleep.

I am updating this a day early because Lenni asked me too and since Lenni rocks my world with steady reviews I had to oblige lol Have a very happy Easter everyone! I will be back on Monday with another chapter.

8



Sanity Break





Kevin awoke the next morning to find himself sleeping on Nicky’s bed. He sat up and stretched, not remembering how he managed to get off the floor and onto the bed but the crick in his neck gave him a little clue.



“I guess I’m getting too old for sleeping on a floor.” He said standing up and making his way to the bathroom. The house was already active for the morning so Kevin looked at his watch. He was surprised to see it was almost 10 am. When he was at his own place he seldom slept past 8 and if he slept past 9 it was considered a luxury. Funny how that could all change in Mom’s house.



As he got downstairs he heard Brian and Nick laughing, this was a nice change to hearing his next door neighbors screaming at each other in Spanish.



“Well look who decided to grace us with his appearance this morning.” Momma Richardson said walking over and placing two pancakes down on Brian’s plate.



“Good morning, I didn’t realize it was this late already.”



“I’m glad, that means you got a good rest. It looked like you needed that sweetheart.”



“When did I end up in the bed Nick?” He asked his little brother who was eating a Strawberry pop tart fresh out of the box. His mom was quick to slap at his hand and take the box and place it out of his reach.



“You keep eating all of those sweets Nickolas you won’t have a tooth left in your head.”



“Sorry mommy.”



“Here are your pancakes just the way you like them baby doll.” She said placing the pancakes down on his plate shaped in the letter N. Nick looked at the pancakes and then picked one up and placed as much of it into his mouth as he could. No syrup or anything, just shoveled it in making Brian laugh.



“That child is not right in the head,” He exclaimed placing a pat of butter on his before cutting it and placing some in his mouth.



“You…said wereunfeofe”



“What?”



“Don’t talk with your mouth full Nick you’re going to choke!” Brian said rolling his eyes.



“Sowffy” He said grabbing his milk and gulping to help the pancake go down faster. Kevin was trying not to laugh. Once the food was down he tried again.



“You said you weren’t comfortable on the floor so you got up and slept on the bed.”



“Oh, sorry about that. I really wanted you to take the bed.”



“I did, I slept up there with you, you were my huge pillow… but you snore!”



“I do not snore.”



“Yes you do, really loud and you sound like an elephant with a cold!” He cracked himself up and took a smaller bite out of his pancake this time.



“You really think you’re funny don’t you?” Brian asked his little brother winking at him.



“Yuf.”



“Swallow; Nick do you have to go back to Kindergarten to learn how to eat?” Brian asked him, lightly bopping him on the head.



“AJ is still sleeping I take it?” Kevin said looking around for the little rebel.



“Yup we won’t see him until around lunchtime.”



“Hey Brian I’m going to go jogging, you want to come with me?”



“Jog? Wow I haven’t jogged anywhere in a really long time.”



“I just figured it would be something to do.”



“I’ll go!” Nick said hopefully.



“Not this time buddy, you won’t be able to keep up, but I promise when I get back I’ll play some basketball with you or baseball okay?” Nick looked disappointed and hurt, but he nodded.



“Yeah okay.”



“So you want to jog or not Bri?”



“Yeah why not! Let’s do it.”



“Finish your breakfast first boys!”



“Yes ma’am” Brian saluted his mother who in turn took her dish towel and whapped him on the behind.



“Child abuse…did you see that detective?”



Kevin rolled his eyes and dug into his own batch of pancakes, just enjoying listening to his family talk about silly things.



After breakfast Brian and Kevin headed out onto the block. The air was cold but it was good jogging weather.



“You ready?” Brian nodded and they were off.



Once they got a block away from home Kevin turned to his brother who surprisingly was keeping up quite well, “So Bri…have any idea what the future holds for you?”



“You mean college?”



“Yeah, do you have any idea where you plan on going?”



“I applied to a few local places, nothing far away though.”



“You don’t want to live on campus?”



“I don’t know…to be honest I don’t think Nick would be able to handle it if I left.”



“Do you know what you want to major in?”



“Not sure…I was actually thinking law enforcement like you.”



“No Brian absolutely not!” Brian stopped and placed his hands on his knees.



“And why not?”



‘”Because it’s too dangerous.”



“Did something happen at work Kevin? I mean you usually don’t make it a habit of spending the weekend with us, especially when you have a girlfriend.”



“I told you they are fumigating.”



“And have I told you that you are a lousy liar? Seriously man fess up, maybe mom and AJ bought it but not me. What’s going on?”



“I’m just working on a really hard case Bri, that’s all. But that doesn’t have anything to do with why you shouldn’t go into this field. Really Brian it’s dangerous. Try something else.”



“Well last time I checked Kev, I was 18 and able to make my own decisions, I mean isn’t that what dad did to you? Told you what career to go into?”



“That was different.”



“How so? Just because it was you doesn’t make the situation any different.”



Kevin nodded over to the playground they were in the midst of passing; they ran past the slide, monkey bars and merry go round before taking a seat on the bench.



“I appreciate that you worry about me Kevin, but I am interested in law, I always have been. I’m not saying I’m definitely going into it but it’s still something I care about. It makes me feel linked to dad in a way.”



Kevin nodded, he couldn’t fault his brother for the very same thing he had done. He just didn’t enjoy thinking about Brian in the same position he was in now. Always feeling unsafe, going to sleep with visions of victims in his head.



“Okay, I won’t keep nagging you about it.” Kevin said looking over at his brother and smiling.



“I miss these little talks we used to have, before you moved out.”



“I do too Brian.”



Kevin was so much older than all three of his siblings, in a lot of ways he grew up as an only child. Brian didn’t come into the picture until Kevin was 11, so they never really had much of an opportunity to bond like normal brothers would. When Brian was born and then AJ shortly after, Kevin had actually resented them. He hated how wherever he went Brian would follow him. It wasn’t until he was in high school that he gained an appreciation for the younger kids. At that point he looked to them like his sanity break from the real world. No matter what was going on for him, exams or cheating girlfriends, when he was with AJ and Brian he was able to act like a kid.



“I am scared actually, of the case I’m working on. It scares me.” He was always able to open up to Brian about things, he was glad he was doing that now.



“I can’t really tell you specifics but it’s gruesome and makes me feel like there’s no hope in the world.”



Brian placed his hand on Kevin’s shoulder, “I’m sorry Kev…everything will work out though.”

Just then two little girls ran past Kevin and Brian and giggled as they walked away. As long as that guy was out here, none of these kids were safe.



He felt like he should warn everyone, just yell and scream at the parents who weren’t even watching their kids as they talked, exchanging recipes or talking about good TV night. All it would take is a second for Scott Wilson to come out of the shadows and grab one of these girls. That’s all it would take and then he’d be making another morgue visit.



“Kev?”



“Yeah?”



“You were zoning out on me, I was telling you you’re beeping man.” Kevin looked at Brian and then looked down at his pocket where his beeper was going off.



“Guess we better head back, I need to call into the office.”



They stood up and sprinted back to the house where Nick and a little girl were sitting on the front porch holding hands. AJ was on the rocking chair watching them and smiling. When he saw his brothers approaching however he immediately made a disgusted look and eye rolled at the two children as they sat and played.



Nick however stood up all excited, walking the girl towards his older brothers and smiling.



“Well what do we have here?” Kevin asked Brian as they got closer.



“That is Nick’s little girlfriend, those two are adorable, just wait…Hi Patty.” Brian said extending his hand to the cute little brunette in overalls and pigtails.



“Hi Brian.” She answered back giggling.



“Kevin I want you to meet my girlfriend Patty.”



Kevin squat down and shook her hand, “Well hello Patty, I’m Kevin it’s very nice to meet you.”



“Same here.” She said once again grabbing onto Nick’s hand. His own little brother was wearing almost an identical pair of overalls to match what his girlfriend was wearing.



“We’re going to go play at Patty’s so I’m going to have to take a rain check on the basketball Kev…I’m sorry.” Nick looked so sad to disappoint Kevin that all Kevin wanted to do was grab his brother and squeeze him.



“That’s okay buddy, maybe later.”



“Kay, see ya later!”



“Hey wait a minute, where are you guys going? Is it far?”



“No, Patty lives about two blocks away.”



“Still…maybe AJ wouldn’t mind walking you guys back to Patty’s house?” AJ who was still in a sleepy stupor looked up like he had just been attacked.



“He makes that walk alone all the time Kevin. He’s 8 not 2.”



“But still…I’d feel better if someone was escorting the couple.”



“They’ll be fine….Christ relax.”



“You know what? I’ll walk them.” Brian said almost being able to pick up on Kevin’s concern. Even though he didn’t know what this case was about he knew that was probably the reason Kevin was pressing to have an escort for the children.



Brian winked at both kids, “You ready?”



“Hey can you give us a piggy back?”



“Both of you? Uh…no, don’t think so little guy.”



Patty grabbed Brian’s right hand and Nick grabbed Brian’s left, “Hey let’s skip!” She said.



AJ and Kevin just watched in amusement as all three went skipping down the street Brian looking back with the funniest expression on his face before turning the corner and disappearing.



Once out of sight Kevin just shook his head at his brother.



“What?”



“You could have done what I asked you to do it wouldn’t have killed you.”



“Kevin I seriously used to make that walk when I was five! It’s totally safe.”



“Nowhere is totally safe.” Kevin mumbled as he walked in to make his call.



“You are too tense man.” AJ said following Kevin into the house.



“I think you’re just jealous that your 8 year old brother has a girlfriend and you don’t.”



“Hell yeah! But that’s besides the point!” Kevin laughed despite being pissed.



“How long has that love affair been going on?”



“For a while now. She has a crush on Brian, but don’t tell Nicky.”



“Well they are adorable together. I mean they were matching how cute is that?”



“Yeah, I keep telling her to introduce me to her big sister but she won’t.”



“Sorry buddy, maybe one day!” Kevin said patting AJ on the head.



He turned toward the phone and dialed Howie, who paged him in the first place.



“Hey D, what’s going on?”



“Kevin! Thank goodness. I was worried when you didn’t answer your page right away or your phone.”



“I took your advice and decided to stay at my moms this weekend.”



“Oh that’s good…hey Kev, listen…the office called me when they couldn’t find you. They wanted you to know that the little girl’s parents are going to be informed today about her death. They wanted to know if you wanted to be there.”



Kevin looked back over to where AJ and his mom were joking together as they sat at the table. More than anything he wanted to say no, let someone else deal with it, but he felt responsible. This was his case.



“Yes, tell them to wait for me. When are they expected?”



“In about an hour.”



“Okay that’s enough time for me to take a quick shower and head over.”



“See ya then. Sorry to interrupt your weekend.”



“That’s okay Howie.”



“Howie? Is that Howie? Tell him to come over for dinner tonight.” Kevin’s mom said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.



“Did you hear that D?”



“Yes and of course I’ll be over!”



“Cool I’ll tell her. See ya soon.”



“You have to go into work on your day off baby?”



“Yes mom but it won’t be for too long and Howie said he’ll be over for dinner.”



“Excellent.” She walked over and kissed her son on the cheek, “Be careful and hurry home!”



He nodded and sighed, how he wished he could turn this case off for at least a few days he thought to himself as he hurried up the stairs for a quick shower.


Hope everyone had a great Easter! I'll be back with an update on this one by Friday :)

9



Silent Observers







Kevin got to the office at the same time as the little girl’s parents. He saw them entering the metal detector as he walked into the elevator. He was hoping to have a little more time to mentally prepare for the task of letting them know about the death. The trip to the morgue was a grueling task but it paled in comparison to letting a parent know that their child was dead but yet, there was no more information than that. No body, no location, no closure.



The questions will come out of them like a fountain and all Kevin will be able to say is ‘as of now that’s all we know.’ If it were up to him he wouldn’t even inform them about this until they had more information but then again was that fair? If he had a child missing wouldn’t he want to know as soon as possible?



He walked out of the elevator to be greeted by Howie, “They aren’t here yet,” He said handing Kevin the file about Sheila Tamry’s death. They included the picture of the girl dead, which the parents would have to look at in his presence.



“They’re on their way up. I saw them walk into the building.”



“Oh.”



“Are you ready?”



“No, I’m never ready for things like this.”



Just then both parents walked out of the elevator smiling and anxious to hear good news about their daughter. “They think we found her” Howie said as he watched them approach.



“I hate this part.” Kevin nodded at them as they walked into his office.



The girl’s parents left in a very different state than when they came, looks of despair on their faces, practically holding each other up as they moved down the hallway towards the elevator. At first they thought Kevin was joking when he told them the news. He grabbed her hand into his and looked her in the eyes.



She had actually laughed, in fact both parents had. But Kevin’s look never wavered letting them know how real the situation was. They just stared at each other for what seemed like forever, and then Kevin placed the picture in Mr. Tamry’s hands. He had glanced at it still just staring, hopelessly trying to come to terms with what was crashing into his world; a world where he would no longer be anyone’s father.

Kevin admired how well Mr.Tamry handled the news, he handed the picture back to Howie refusing to let his wife look at it. Mrs. Tamry however wasn’t quite so calm and understandably so. She walked up to Kevin and slapped him in the face.



“You told me she would be okay!” She yelled as the tears started flowing down her face.



Kevin’s face was turned away from the woman, he didn’t know what to do or say.



“Honey, it’s not his fault,” The father had told his wife as she glared at the detectives in the room. If she had a gun she’d probably shoot the lot of them before turning the gun on herself.



One of the many reasons the building was outfitted with metal detectors.



They sat in the room as silent observers as the husband tried to console his wife. Howie occasionally stealing glances at Kevin as the couple whispered to each other. Kevin couldn’t look at her, not after the slap. He felt horrible, like it was his fault. Even though the rational him knew it wasn’t.



“You don’t have any idea where this monster is… do you?” She finally spit out once again directing her rage at Kevin.



“No, but we’re working on it Mrs. Tamry and I promise we will…”



“Don’t promise me anything!” She said pointing a finger at Kevin who stopped and nodded.



“I’m sorry.”



“She was a really friendly kid, she’d talk to everyone she met,” The father said looking up at Kevin apologetically.



“Would she walk away with a stranger?” Howie asked opening his note pad to take some notes.



“Do you think my daughter was an idiot detective? You think we didn’t teach her NOT to talk to strangers?”



“I’m sorry I wasn’t implying that ma’am I was just asking.”



“Maris honey, they are just trying to do their jobs.”



“Well if they had done their jobs Sheila would be alive! It’s all your fault!” She said once again directing her gaze at Kevin.



“I’m sorry.” Was all he could say. He sounded like a kid being caught stealing candy out of a candy jar.



“Detective, our Sheila was a smart girl, old enough to know the whole don’t talk to stranger’s thing but still she was very friendly and would probably go home with anyone.”



“How can you say that about her?” The mom was furious now and started banging on her husband’s chest outraged as she cried.



When they left distraught, Kevin sat at his desk with his head down. He was ready to quit, he couldn’t handle anything like that anymore. Not again, and he did feel guilty. He really thought they’d find this one alive.



“So this one is another one who would feel free to talk to any stranger.”



“Yeah,” Kevin said muffled from talking behind his arms.



“I’m the one you know…I’m the one that said we’d find her. She should have blamed me not you Kev.”



Kevin put his head up and looked at his friend, “It’s my fault D, it’s my case…it’s my fault.”



“It’s no one’s fault but Scott Wilson and we will catch him Kevin.”



Kevin nodded in reply but didn’t say anything more until they got down to his car. Howie took a seat in the passenger side, “I’m glad I’m coming over, it’ll be nice seeing your family. They always make me feel so welcome.”



“They love you Howie. I know Nicky will be thrilled, maybe he will introduce you to his chick.”



“Does he have a duck or something?”



“Or something.” Kevin laughed but stopped abruptly when he went to start the car and it wouldn’t budge. He turned the key in the ignition over and over again and nothing happened.



“Are you freaking kidding me?”



“I don’t even have my car here Kev; otherwise we could just take mine.”



“Great just great!” He said banging his hands on the steering wheel. “Well I guess I can call home. Maybe Brian can come get us.”



Just then Matt, one of the guys who worked in the lab walked by, seeing the two have car trouble he stopped and peered his head in the window.



“What’s going on?”



“The car is dead.”



“You need a ride?”



“That would be great if you could, I’m going to call a tow when I get home, I just don’t want to deal with being here for another minute.”



“Hard day?”



“Yeah.”



“That Baby killer case right?” Kevin nodded, grimacing at the name his case was given.



They piled into Matt’s car and made their way back to Kevin’s safe haven, his mom’s house. As they were turning up the block he noticed Nick sitting all by himself on the front porch. That’s when he got this brilliant idea; he turned to Matt and had him stop a few houses down.



“Matt, I know this is going to sound very odd…but see that little kid over there?”



“Uh huh.”



“Well that’s my little brother.”



“Okay…and?”



“And this is the weird part…I was wondering if you’d do me a favor and go talk to him and see if… well… see if he’ll walk away with you.”



“What?”



“You know? Like training? Try to get him to go with you.”



“Kevin!” Kevin turned towards Howie.



“I know it sounds odd D, but after hearing what those people said today, knowing what’s out there! I need to be sure you know what I mean?”



“You sure?” Kevin nodded at Matt.



“Okie dokie.” He said walking out of the car and towards Nick as he sat drawing on the porch.



“What if your mother comes out while Matt’s doing his thing?”



“Then I’ll run out and explain.”



Kevin and Howie both got out of the car and managed to sneak to the side of the house so they could hear the conversation between the two.



“Hey there,” Matt said looking down at Nick as he drew.



“Hello” Nick said not even looking up from his coloring book.



“What are you doing?”



“Coloring a picture for my brother AJ.”



“That’s a nice picture.”



“Thanks.”



Kevin turned to Howie, “Why is he talking to Matt? He doesn’t even know him. He should have gone inside by now.”



“I was wondering if you would do me a favor…I live right around the block over there and I need some help, I have a box of puppies and need someone to watch them for me.”



“Good he’s doing the puppy thing.”



“Shhh.” Howie said rolling his eyes at his friend.



“I’m sorry I can’t. I don’t know you and I’m not allowed to go with strangers.”



That made Kevin smile from ear to ear, “Good boy Nicky…good boy!”



Matt moved in closer to Nick, “Well my name’s Matt. What’s yours?”



“Nick.”



“Hi Nick,” He said sticking out his hand for a shake which made Nick giggle.



“Uh oh.” Howie said while Kevin’s smile quickly turned into a frown.



“I guess this means we’re not strangers anymore right Nick?” Nick shrugged still not looking very sure of what to do.



“So what do you say? How about you come with me to see those puppies?”



“Can I tell my brother AJ first?” Kevin felt butterflies in his stomach, the protector in him ready to run out and rescue his little brother even though there was no need for rescuing.



“We’ll be really fast Nick, what do you say?”



Nick looked back at the door and then nodded at Matt, “Okay just for a quick second though.”



Matt sighed, “Okay here take my hand and let’s go.” Nick took Matt’s hand and they started walking toward the side of the house were a very unhappy Kevin was waiting for them. This was the part of the BOP training Matt hated but he did it anyway, he grabbed the child forcefully all of the sudden to let him know that maybe this wasn’t a game.



“I can’t believe he went with Matt,” Kevin said knowing what was going to happen next and ready to jump out quickly and calm his brother down.



When Matt grabbed Nick’s hand and began to tug, he screamed “AJ!” So loudly and panic stricken that the older brother came running out of the house and almost fell down the porch steps in time to see some stranger pulling Nick around the corner of the house. Not even thinking he jumped on Matt’s back just as Kevin popped out from behind the house to calm both his brothers down.



Nick was crying and AJ hanging onto Matt when they both saw Kevin. “Calm down.” He said to both of them which had Matt quickly let go of Nick’s arm. The child went running towards Kevin and hugged him tight, almost in full blown hysterics now. Confused AJ still was piggy backing Matt but not fighting. It looked comical actually, even though it wasn’t meant to.



“Thanks Matt,” Kevin said very calmly as he pat his little brother’s back as he cried.



“No problem, I’m sorry he followed me Kev.”



“Yeah me too.”



“What the hell is going on?” AJ said finally finding his voice.



“AJ, this is Matt, he works with me and I asked him to do that.”



“What?” AJ let go of Matt, allowing himself to jump back to the ground where Howie stood, feeling like he was intruding on what was soon to be a huge family blow out.



“Matt, thanks a lot and I’m sorry about all of this.”



“It’s okay,” He said then squatted down towards Nick who was still clinging on to Kevin’s leg, “I hope you learned a lesson Nick, when someone asks you to go with them you should always so no.” He pat Nick’s head then stood up.



“Good luck with your car.” He winked at Kevin who smiled in return.



“You had some guy purposely try to kidnap OUR brother? What is wrong with you?” AJ said furiously.



“Let’s talk about it inside.” Kevin picked Nick up, walked past AJ and into the house where Howie and then AJ followed.



“Seriously Kevin you have some major issues.”



“Where’s mom?” Kevin asked placing Nick on the ground. The child stood there silent and crying.



“She’s at the store.”



“So you were supposed to be watching him then?”



“Yes.”



“Then where the hell WERE you?”



“I was right in here watching TV.”



“Well while you were watching TV some strange guy was talking to Nick for almost 7 minutes.”



“He was on the front porch.”



“Did that stop what could have potentially happened?”



“I didn’t think there would be a problem. He plays on the porch all the time.”



“7 minutes AJ! Of which Nick looked back at that door at least three times not knowing what to do!” Now Kevin had lost it screaming at AJ.



“But he plays on the porch all the time.”



“Do you have any idea how many abductions happen similar to the one that was just simulated?”



“I didn’t think he…”



“And I can’t believe you actually left with him Nicky, after our talk the other day! How could you just get up and follow some stranger?” Kevin said now directing his wrath at his littlest brother who was still crying.



“I hate you Kevin! You’re mean!” Nick said running up the stairs and slamming his door.



“How could you do that to him Kev?” AJ asked trying to calm himself down. You could tell he was feeling horribly guilty after what happened.



“I mean how could you test him like that?”



“Let me ask you this AJ…do you think he’ll ever do it again?” AJ shook his head.



“Then it was worth it don’t you think?”



“This is about those little girls who I have seen on TV isn’t it? Are you working on that case Kevin?”



Howie looked over at Kevin sympathetically, knowing all of the things that were going through his best friend’s mind. This case was so hard for him.



“I can’t really say AJ, but you have to keep a better eye on him. He walked away with a complete stranger and I don’t know about you but that scares the crap out of me. I’m sorry I put you through that, but I had to.”



“I will watch him more carefully; Kevin is there something I should know?”



“No kiddo, Nicky is safe but…you never know.”



“Yeah, well since I about crapped my pants, I think I need to go calm myself down a bit.”



“Jay, one more thing, jumping on a guy who may potentially be armed was not the smartest thing in the world either.”



“I had to do something.”



Kevin walked over and grabbed his brother into a hug, “I know…I know.”



“I better go up and see if he’s okay.” AJ said pulling away first, “I doubt he’s going to want to see you anytime soon.”



“I know but I’d rather him be mad at me than see him do what he did again.” AJ nodded and then glanced at Howie.



“Oh hi by the way.”



Howie smiled, “Hi.”

When AJ walked up the steps, Howie turned to his friend, “You okay Kev?”



Kevin nodded, but he was far from okay.


I'll be back on Sunday with another chapter ;)

10



String Bean!









Kevin stayed downstairs for a long while, giving AJ time to calm Nicky down before he tried to talk to the kid. He felt horrible for putting his baby brother through that, but it had to be done. He took a deep breath still not believing how easily it had been to lure Nick away from the front porch without even yelling in to AJ. What if Matt were the real deal? He would have been gone before AJ had time to react. Then if AJ had jumped on a real kidnapper’s back he could have been taken as well or just left for dead. Kevin sighed again, seems like he would have to make two speeches today.



“I guess I should go up and smooth things over before my mom gets home and kicks my ass.”



“Are you gonna tell her about what happened?”



“I don’t want to, she’ll only worry about Nicky but she needs to know how easy it was to get him to walk away.” He felt himself getting mad at Nick all over again.



“Kevin, I’ll talk to him if you want. Sometimes it’s easier when it comes from someone else.”



“You are more than welcome to join us, but I think I should be the one to talk to him.”



Howie nodded, Kevin could still tell that he whole heartedly disagreed with what he had done.



They made their way upstairs, trying to be quiet as they reached the top. Nick’s door was a hair opened where he was sitting on AJ’s lap on the bed. His back was turned away from the door but when AJ heard them he looked over and smiled.



Kevin took in the sight of his little brothers. AJ always tried so hard to act like a bad ass, but seeing him now the way he was gently rubbing Nick’s back as the child cried brought him down to the sweet gentle hearted and kind AJ he remembered living with. Then there was Nicky who looked so tiny sitting there rubbing at his eyes while he wept silently. He was sad to see how hard his brother was taking this. He hoped he didn’t permanently scar the kid for life.



“Hi Kevin.” AJ whispered which had the little one turn around.



“Hey guys,” Kevin said slowly walking into the room with Howie following.



“Go away! You’re mean and I don’t like you anymore!” Nick huffed getting down off AJ’s lap and walking over to the corner of the room and sitting down facing his bookshelf.



“Nicky…come on buddy you don’t mean that,” Kevin said walking towards Nick who refused to look at him. In frustration Kevin turned back towards AJ and sat down next to him on the bed.



“Kev…Nicky seems to think that the reason you asked Matt to do that was because you don’t want him here anymore. He thought you were trying to give him away,” AJ whispered to his brother while Howie walked over and sat down on the floor next to Nick.



“What? How could he think that?”



“Gee…I don’t know maybe because a friend of yours tried to abduct him with your permission.”



“Nicky…hey!”



“I’m done with you!” Nick said in a serious tone sticking his hand up in a stop gesture, but because of the words coming out of such a small mouth, it came out sounding very funny which had both Howie and AJ laugh.



Kevin didn’t find it funny at all though, “Nick…I would never want anyone to take you. I love you, you know that right?” Nick got on his knees from a sitting position and grabbed a book off the shelf.



“Right?” Kevin said now allowing himself to drop to the floor and scoot over towards his baby brother.



Finally Nick glanced at all of the older people in the room before making eye contact with Kevin who looked lost.



“Why did you want him to take me away?”



“I didn’t want him to take you away. I was hoping you’d run into the house or yell for help or something. We talked about not going with strangers just the other day Nick…don’t you remember?”



“But he wasn’t a stranger, he said his name was Matt and he was my friend.”



“Nicky he wasn’t your friend. You didn’t know him and he tried to steal you!” Kevin raised his voice.



“Don’t yell at me! I don’t like when you do that,” Nick said turning back towards the shelf.



“Okay…sorry,” He instantly lowered his voice.



“Damn, I have to try that sometime.”



“AJ not now!” Kevin said turning towards his brother and glaring.



“So because I went with Matt you hate me right?” Nick said, a new batch of tears coming to his eyes.



“No, Nicky do you think I would ever hate you?” By now Kevin had successfully scooted over to his brother and pulled him onto his lap.



“I don’t know…”



“The answer is no. I love you and that’s why I did that. What if Matt was a bad man and he took you? You’d never see me or AJ or Brian or mom again.”



“He only wanted to show me puppies,” Nick sounded confused. Kevin wasn’t sure how much of this was sinking into the second grader’s brain. Nick tended to get his feelings hurt very easily. The type of kid who would cry if the teacher started screaming at the class thinking it was all directed at him. The fact that he was focusing more on Kevin wanting Matt to take him wasn’t sitting right with the FBI agent.



“Did he show you puppies Nicky?” Now it was Howie trying to come to the rescue. Nick looked over at Howie and shook his head.



“Just because someone says they have something for you to see or just because someone introduces themselves to you doesn’t make them a friend.”



“But he was nice.”



“Nick there are a lot of nice people out there who look at someone like you, this beautiful blue eyed blonde kid and say I want me one of those and they say anything they can to get you to follow them.” Kevin nodded at AJ as he sunk to the floor as well.



“AJ is right Nick…if someone wants something badly enough they’ll do anything to get it. Including you baby,” Kevin said pulling Nick into a hug.



“But he made it seem like he wanted my help and that he was a nice guy.”



“Hey you know what Nick…from now one let’s say we have a password just that we know and we’ll tell mom and Brian about it too and when you meet someone you don’t know before going with them you have to ask them for the password but if they don’t know it you can’t go with them.” Both Kevin and Howie looked shocked when it was AJ that said that.



“What? Don’t be so shocked I have a brain too you know. And it’s a much better plan then let’s say… abducting the kid! Jerk!” Kevin ignored AJ’s last statement and turned back to Nick.



“I think that’s a great idea AJ, so what should our word be Nicky? You can pick it.”



Nick put his hand on his chin and looked up towards the ceiling trying to think of a good word to use. Finally he smiled and said, “How about string bean!”



“String bean?” Kevin asked laughing.



“Yes, I always thought that word was funny.”



“Would you remember that word and remember to ask someone you didn’t know what the word was before you trusted them?” Nick nodded, so Kevin looked over at AJ.



“What about you? Think you can remember that?”



“Kev…does he really need to ask me what the password is? Now that’s a bit anal don’t you think?”



“Anal…I like that word too.” Howie and AJ both laughed.



“No way Nicky, string bean it is,” Kevin said glaring back at both of the guys.



Nick pressed his head into Kevin’s chest looking up at his older brother, which melted Kevin’s heart. “So you aren’t mad at me anymore?” Kevin asked glaring lovingly back down at the blue eyes staring him in the face.



“No, I guess not…but I don’t like when you yell at me and do mean things like that so please don’t do that anymore.”



“I promise as long as you promise that if a stranger ever talks to you that you don’t go with them! In fact I think you need to promise all of us that.”



“Even Howie?”



“Yes, even Howie. He loves you too and would hate if anything happened to you.”



“You love me D?” Nick said looking over at Howie and smiling at him.



“Of course I do Nicky and so does my mom. She wants me to squeeze you for her, so come here so I can do that please.” Nick stood up giggling and walked over to Howie who grabbed him into his arms and squeezed him tickling him under the neck as he did.



“Hey since when did the little munchkin’s room become the hot hang out in this house?” Brian said walking into the room and laughing at everyone all over the floor.



“Hey Brian…come join the party!” Nick said as Howie tickled his stomach.



“Actually I hate to break the bonding session going on here but Nick… mom wants you to help her put away groceries and AJ she told me to remind you to take out the garbage.”



“Way to come in and blow all the fun Rok! Why do I have to take out the garbage?”



“Because it’s your turn and I just went shopping with mom.”



“Whatever man.” It was weird to see the sudden transformation back to bad ass once Brian walked into the room.



“Okay let’s go squirt!” AJ said walking over to Nick and helping him off the floor.



“Kay…” Nick walked over to Kevin and gave him a kiss on the cheek.



Kevin lovingly pat Nicky’s shoulder as he passed by, “I still haven’t heard you say that you promise us.”



“I promise,” Nick said holding up the Boy Scout symbol even though he wasn’t a boy scout. Kevin nodded at him and Howie winked.



“AJ what does anal mean?” Nick asked as they walked out of the room together, which had Howie crack up.



Brian smiled too at that, “Should I even ask?”



“Long story...actually I need to talk to you for a sec take a seat on the floor here.”



“I’ll take a seat at the desk if you don’t mind,” He said scrunching down into the mini sized chair that was next to the mini sized desk. Once again Howie cracked up.



“Glad to see my family provides you with so much comic relief D.” Kevin shook his head at his best friend.



“Did something go down while we were gone?” Brian asked as he did his best to make himself comfortable in the teeny chair.



“Man I can’t believe I used to sit at this thing all the time when I was little. It’s elf small!”



“Brian focus please!”



Brian rolled his eyes at his big brother, “Sorry, so I’m taking it that something happened while we were gone?”



“Kind of yes.”



“Is everything okay now?”



“It will be as long as we keep an eye on Nick. He walked away with a complete stranger today!”



Suddenly all of the color flew out of Brian’s face; he gasped, mouth opened in horror. “AJ was supposed to be watching him!”



“I know and he was, I asked someone I work with to try to lure Nick off the porch and it took all of about 7 minutes for him to do that.”



“7 minutes? And you asked someone to lure him off the porch?” Brian said shock still evident on his face.



“Yes, so we came up with a password for Nick to use before he trusts people. He chose string bean.”



“Okay…yeah string bean, I’ll remember that. 7 minutes huh?”



Kevin nodded, “Oh and don’t yell at AJ, he already feels bad enough about it. I think he learned his lesson as well.”



“Mom’s going to blow a casket when she finds out.”



“I know, but maybe that’s what Nick needs, for mom to yell at him.”



“I wasn’t talking about him…I was talking about you!”



Kevin stood up and helped Brian off of the tiny chair before going down stairs where they saw Nick standing on a stool placing the boxes of cereal his mom was handing to him onto the shelves.



When she turned around and saw Howie she raced over and pulled him into a hug.



“Howie I’m so glad you said yes to my invitation!”



“I wouldn’t miss your cooking for the world Mama R.” She smiled and kissed the top of his head.



“I’m going to start cooking in a little while, why don’t you boys go put in a movie or something.”



“Actually mom I have to talk to you for a sec,” Kevin said hesitantly as if he was about to tell his mom he had gotten in trouble at school.



Howie and Brian walked into the living room and joined AJ who had already flipped a random movie on.



“Okay thanks for being such a good helper sweetheart.” She said turning towards her youngest son and helping him down off the stool.



“Love you mommy.” She picked him up and grabbed him into a huge bear hug.



“I love you more,” She said rubbing noses together.



Nick giggled, “Eskimo kisses.”



“Yes for my little polar bear, now go keep an eye on those kids in there Nick. Let me know if they get out of hand.”



She softly tapped his butt as he ran into the living room, and then she turned her attention back to Kevin. “What’s wrong baby?”



Kevin walked closer to his mom; he loved the way she smelled. She always wore this lilac body spray from her favorite store and even when he was still a child, when he took in her scent he always thought about spring, no matter what the season or weather outside.



As he told his mother what had happened earlier with Nick, her facial expression turned from shock to anger. She peeled the potatoes ferociously as he went on about how Matt was able to lure Nick off the porch and then she stopped and starred out the window when Kevin mentioned the password.



“Mom?”



She looked over at Kevin, “I don’t know who I’m madder at. You or Nick.”



“Me? Why would you be mad at me?”



“Because you decided to use my son as some kind of work experiment.”



“That’s not true mom, you know that.”



“You put him through that experience without even consulting with me Kevin.”



“He’s fine now mom…sorry. It was a spur of the moment thing.”



She didn’t say much more until Kevin kissed her gently on the cheek. “I love you mom,” He said.



“I love you more sweetheart…” She smiled at him but he could tell she was deep in thought about what had happened.



“Mom, he’s okay…now he knows better.”



“Thanks baby,” she said placing her hand on top of his.



“It’s just that…well if your dad were alive…” She couldn’t finish the sentence so all Kevin did was nod in understanding.



They had a great dinner of stuffed pork chops and scalloped potatoes. Nick’s escapade wasn’t brought up at all, instead talk of movies, Brian’s college plans, AJ’s smoking which he loved by the way, and Kevin and Howie’s high school antics were the main topic of discussion.



Afterwards the boys all went outside to shoot some hoops, Howie and Kevin against AJ and Brian.



“What about me?” Nick asked when he came running outside with Mama R putting his jacket on him.



“How about you come on our team?” Brian said throwing Nick the ball as he let it roll between his legs.



“Yeah that seems fair since Howie and Nick have about the same amount of skills,” AJ whispered into Brian’s ear but loud enough where the Latino could hear.



They played for quite awhile, Brian constantly lifting Nick up to get the ball into the basket, they of course won by a landslide.



Just as they were about to call it a night, Kevin squatted down to Nicky, “Okay little man how about you shoot one more basket and then we go inside for the night?”



“I can’t go with you unless you say the password.”



Kevin smiled and then looked over at AJ with pride, not really trusting the evil grin he saw appearing on his brother’s face.



“String bean!” Kevin said winking at Nick and ready to take his hand.



“Nope, that’s not all!”



“Not all? Nick I thought we decided on string bean. You can’t change it already!”



“I didn’t change it I added onto it!”



“You did?”



“Yup, now you have to say anal string bean!” All of the boys lost it as they high fived Nick.



“I’ll anal string bean you! Come here kiddo,” Kevin said jokingly chasing after his baby brother as the others joined in, all of them unaware that they were being watched from a distance.


I'll be back on Friday with another chapter! Have a great week evedryone!

11





Back to Reality





The rest of the weekend was very relaxing for Kevin. He tried his hardest not to think about the case he had been working on and despite having to sleep on the floor and the couch; he had the best night’s sleep he had in weeks. Sunday morning as the boys were getting ready to go to church, something they all had to do as long as they stayed under his mother’s roof; Jackie Richardson took her youngest son aside and talked to him in length about what had happened the day before.



She was sweet, yet stern as she warned Nick of the dangers of talking to people he didn’t know and reminded him again of his father’s death and how it resulted purely because he had talked to a stranger. Kevin of course had to bite his tongue during that lecture, wanting to interject that their father’s death had nothing to do with strangers, but it seemed to make an impact on the baby of the family so in the end, even though it was a lie, it worked.



By the afternoon, things were back to normal, Nick running around acting like his goofy self; Brian and AJ fighting over the stupidest things, while mom sat rolling her eyes as she knitted her never ending scarf and Kevin ready to venture back to his own apartment.



“Here bring these back to your place with you,” His mom said hugging him and handing him leftovers from dinner the night before.



“Thanks mom.”



“No problem honey and if you have an insect problem just come back.” She grabbed his cheeks and kissed him on the lips the way she always did when he was leaving.



“I love you baby.”



“Love you too!”



Brian had to bring Kevin home since his car was now being fixed in the shop. Of course his little brother loved this, having to be the chaperone.



“Okay Kev, whenever you’re ready man…let’s go I’ve got things to do…” Kevin rolled his eyes at Brian who couldn’t help but snicker.



“Can I come too?” Nicky asked Brian as he put on his jacket. “I promise I’ll be really good.”



“Not this time squirt, you need to go get ready for bed!” Brian said lovingly patting Nicky’s bottom.



“Mommy, can I go with Brian and Kevin?” He said totally ignoring what his older brother just told him.



“You heard Brian no, now come here I need my Nicky time.”



“Kay but I’m going to go wave to them though.”



“Okay then come here.”



As they drove away Kevin saw Nick jumping up and down on the porch waving at them and he couldn’t help but smile. He loved his family, he was lucky because a lot of families hated each other. Most of the time the people he dealt with, especially in this job were people who if given the opportunity would kill each other, siblings never talking to one another unless something terrible happened, estranged fathers and mothers, seeing their kids for the first time in years in a morgue.



He was lucky he got along so well with his family.



Once they got to the apartment complex Kevin turned to Brian and smiled.



“Thanks for the ride Brian.”



“No problem, I mean how many times did you get stuck carting my ass all over town?”



“Too many…want to come in?”



Brian thought about it for a minute… “Is your girlfriend in town?”



“Nope she’s still away.”



“Then I’ll pass.” Kevin grabbed his brother in a head lock as Brian laughed.



“Fine…have a safe drive and I’ll talk to you guys soon!”



“Later gater!” Brian said as he drove away leaving Kevin at his doorstep.



He opened the door and tried clicking on the light, quickly throwing his bag down. That’s when he remembered throwing the lamp across the room. He never bothered to clean it up.



“No time like the present I guess,” He said making his way into the kitchen to get his dust pan and broom and put his leftovers in the freezer.



That’s when he noticed he had a few messages waiting for him on his answering machine. He rolled his eyes at himself for forgetting to check before he left for his mom’s.



He walked over and pressed the button for the machine as he began to clean his mess.



The electronic voice which he nicknamed Gerty told him he had four messages.



Message number one Friday 9:14 pm...



Hello Kevin…did you get my package? I knew you’d find it. I’m sure you’d like to know where to look next.



Kevin stopped dead in his tracks, letting the debris from the lamp fall back to the floor as he ran over to the answering machine and replayed the message. After listening to it a second time there was no doubt in his mind it was the same voice. The same one that told him he missed one. He felt goose bumps form on his arms as he took a deep breath and sat in silence just staring at the machine as if it would suddenly spring to life and attack him.



He decided to let the rest of the messages play, just in case.



Message number two Friday 11:35 pm…



Hey sweetie where are you? I’m lying here naked thinking about you and…



Kevin fast forwarded Lisa to move to message number three.



Message number three Saturday 11:37 am…



Now is not the time to screen calls…I have something to tell you…



Once more it was that voice, the same one before. He sounded angry. He didn’t say anything more than that and waited patiently for Kevin to pick up the phone. When it never happened he just hung up.



“He called me twice.” Kevin said to the empty room, unbelieving anything like this would ever happen.



Message number four Saturday 10:02 pm…



I don’t like being ignored…So I left you a present…



Quickly Kevin’s eyes darted around the room, trying to find something that the guy had left for him. His eyes widened when he saw someone sitting on the couch in the darkness. He leapt up from where he was sitting and put on a light. On the couch was a white sheet stained with what looked like blood. Under that sheet, the silhouette of a person.



Kevin’s hands were shaking as he stood up and walked into the kitchen, his gun hidden under the sink.



He moved into the living room and aimed the gun at the figure sitting on his couch, “Take that sheet off and put your hands in the air!” He shouted, just in case it happened to be Scott Wilson hiding under that sheet.



Just as he thought, there was no movement. He suddenly heard a crash in his bathroom and once again his pulse raced. “If you’re in the bathroom come out with your hands up NOW!” He shouted fiercely walking towards the front door to get a better view of both the bathroom and the couch.



Still there was nothing. He decided to approach the bathroom first, his breathing heavy and shallow as if he climbed a mountain to get there. The door was cracked open so he mentally counted to three before kicking it all the way opened and aiming the gun into the room.



He was greeted with silence. His window open and the steady breeze must have knocked his can of shaving cream off the bathroom sink. He took a deep breath as he once again knew he had something to contend with in the living room.



One thing that always scared Kevin more than anything as a child was ghost stories where the thing was sitting in front of you the entire time. Or something covered under a sheet or in a box, ready to pop out at you any second.



He tried to brace himself for what he knew he was going to find under there, the body of Sheila Tamry. As he edged closer to the sheet, it was unmistakable that the outline was of a small person.



“This is your last warning. Take the sheet off your head and put your hands up!” He said just as he was standing right in front of it now.



Still no answer so Kevin mentally prepared himself for what he was about to see and pulled the sheet off, all the while aiming the gun.



~*~*~*~*~*~*



Thirty minutes later, police were swarming the complex, neighbors coming out of their doors looking around trying to figure out what was going on. Kevin sat on a chair in his kitchen, visibly shaken as he told Howie what happened while his own team took pictures and collected evidence in his apartment.



“I can’t believe I was in the apartment for that long without realizing there could have been someone in here.”



“Kevin don’t be so hard on yourself, I mean that’s normal.”



“Yeah, but I just should have realized it you know?”



“Are you okay?” Howie asked placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder as he watched the few detectives who were gathered around the inflatable blow up doll that was on his couch.



Kevin was relieved when he pulled back the sheet only to see that there was no body under there but the doll with a note sticking out of its mouth. He called the office and told them to get down there ASAP before putting on a pair of rubber gloves and taking the note out to examine what it said.



Kevin,



Fooled ya!

Next time you leave me waiting; there will be a real body!



It was no longer addressed to Detective Richardson but now to Kevin as if they were close personal friends. At the end of the note there was a map from his apartment to a starred location.



It ending with … you’ll find what you’re looking for there!



“No, I’m not okay D…this guy is making this personal and I don’t know why. Good Lord Brian almost came inside with me.” Kevin said once again taking in a deep breath.



“Do you think he knows you?” Tyler another head detective asked, sitting next to Kevin as he continued to survey the place.



“I don’t know…I mean I have stared at this guy for hours… trying to get into his head. I would think if I knew him, he would look familiar.”



“There is no evidence of forced entry Kevin…”



“I know, if there was I would have noticed coming in.”



“I wonder why he chose now to do this.”



“My guess is he got pissed because I didn’t respond to his calls and decided to act out.”



“We are going to take the tape to be analyzed.” Kevin nodded at Tyler as he grabbed the answering machine and placed the entire thing in an evidence bag.



“We’re hoping his fingerprints will show up all over your place.”



“We think he got in through the bedroom window…” One of the team investigators said as they led everyone including Kevin into the bedroom.



“Was your screen always out?” Kevin shook his head.



“Then this is how he did it. He came in this way and from the back no one would have noticed him carrying the doll.”



“None of the neighbors claimed to have seen or heard anything.” Kevin said sounding suddenly as if he aged thirty years.



“Kevin, considering all that just happened, Rob thinks I should take over this case.” Tyler said matter of factly as he scribbled something down on his note pad.



“That’s bullshit!”



“Look buddy, I don’t particularly want this case, but I thought I’d just give you a heads up.”



“I worked too damn hard on this and now I’m not going to run away scared!”



Tyler placed his hand on Kevin’s back, “I know what you mean, but this guy seems to have it out for you.”



“Even more of a reason that I should stay don’t you think?” Tyler shrugged and walked away to continue investigating.



“Kevin…maybe Rob is right…maybe you shouldn’t be a part of this anymore.”



“Don’t you start with me too D! I’m not in the mood!”



“What are you going to do now? You can’t stay here anymore.”



“I don’t know Howie…maybe I’ll stay with you tonight.”



“Good idea…Kevin this is scary.”



“You don’t have to tell me that.”



Kevin watched what was going on around him, in one corner in the bedroom there were two detectives dusting for fingerprints around the window ledge. In the living room there were about five people going over every inch of his place looking for evidence and traces of Scott Wilson. Two other people were moving his couch out of the apartment and bringing it back to the lab to be examined.



“Kevin…” Tyler said walking towards the front door.



“Yeah?”



“The place that was starred on the map…there was a body.”



“Great…” Kevin said pulling on his jacket and following Tyler out the door.



They drove about three miles away from the apartment; up a hill towards a secluded field where in the middle was a sheet, almost identical to the one on Kevin’s couch. There were already five agents at the scene putting yellow tape up and taking pictures.



“It’s Sheila Tamry isn’t it?” He asked the first agent he saw.



Maria nodded, “I’m not one hundred percent sure but it looks a lot like her.”



Kevin, Howie and Tyler made their way down to the field as police sirens were heard in the distance. Kevin felt like he was watching a movie, it all felt that surreal to him. A serial killer was in his apartment, an apartment that he almost invited his little brother into. He wrapped his arms around his shoulders and wondered when this nightmare would end.

Thanks for reading! I'll be back on Sunday with chapter 12 :)

12



Terminal Three





The next morning Kevin was back to his usual stressed out self, getting less than four hours of sleep the entire night. Thoughts about how easy it was for a maniac to get into his house flooded his mind. He even had a nightmare in the brief time he managed to sleep, of him and Brian walking into the house only to find Scott Wilson waiting for them sitting at the kitchen table playing solitaire.



Scott said exactly the same thing to Kevin as he did on the answering machine, the only difference being now he was right in front of them. Brian looked horrified; he kept glancing back at Kevin with a questioning look on his face.



“How could you put me in this situation?” He kept saying over and over as Scott laughed in the background.



On the couch lied a bloody sheet with a human form underneath. This time when Kevin pulled the sheet away it was neither a rubber doll nor Sheila Tamry but his own father. That was when Kevin woke up with a start, the clock in Howie’s living room reading 4:45 am. He wasn’t able to fall back to sleep at that point.



So when he walked into his office and saw Rob sitting there waiting for him, he felt ready and energized to fight for the right to stay on the case.



Rob was the head of Kevin’s FBI office and one of his father’s best friends. He was a hard man to please and wanted everything done to the letter. Many times he and Kevin butted heads on the way things were done, much the same way he and his father would have butt heads, Kevin would frequently find himself thinking as he would storm out of Rob’s office after an argument.



“Hi Kevin.”



“Hey Rob.”



“Kevin…look I’ll get right to the point.”



“I don’t want to be taken off this case!” Kevin said placing his coffee on the desk before Rob was even able to say what he wanted to say.



“I am aware of that.”



“Well, good because I have worked long and hard on this.”



“I know that Kevin, but now things have changed. This guy feels like he knows you.”



“Even more of a reason to stay on don’t you think?”



“What would you do if let’s say a serial killer let himself into Howie’s apartment? Would you let him stay on the case?”



Kevin took in a deep breath, “If I felt like he was making progress yes.”



“And have you made progress?”



“What? Yes we have made progress. We have found Sheila’s body; we have managed to put our suspect’s prints on things belonging to most of the victims. You know damn well we have made progress!”



“Relax Kevin…I just think that maybe we should let Tyler handle things from now on.”



“Tyler doesn’t know this case like I do.”



“You can fill him in.”



“You wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t my father’s kid.” Kevin said disgusted as he walked away from the desk and stared out the small window separating his office from the rest of the world. He could see Howie talking to Maria and Ariana both occasionally peering towards the door, probably all curious to see who would win this round.



Rob ignored that last statement, “Matt told me about what you had him do.”



Kevin turned back towards his boss who motioned for him to have a seat.



“You are afraid this guy is going to go after Nick aren’t you?”



“Of course not.”



“Really?”



“Yes, I just…after seeing the Tamrys I had to make sure Nicky wouldn’t do the same thing.”



“Kevin…you are a smart guy. You know this guy is making things personal and here you have a little brother around the same age as the girls being taken. You are afraid because you KNOW this guy is making things personal and you think he knows about Nicky…don’t deny that.”



Kevin looked down at his desk, “Yeah I’m a little scared.” He then looked up to face his boss, “I mean, it’s not out of the question he would do something like that.”



“Which means you are scared…that he already knows.”



“Of course I am.”



“All the more reason to take you off this one.”



“I think its all the more reason to keep me on.”



“Sorry Kevin…you’re not winning this one you chose to step over the line when you had Matt do that to your brother. You’re not thinking clearly anymore. It’s gotten out of hand with this guy, today you are just going to brief Tyler on what’s been going on. Go over the case from start to finish with him, make sure he understands everything.”



“This is bullshit!” Kevin sneered as he placed his hands on his head in disgust.



“And Kevin…you are right about something, you are your father’s son and Kevin…your dad would want me looking out for you.”



Kevin looked up at Rob and shook his head, “You’ll never catch him now.”



“You underestimate Tyler.”



Rob stood up, “Meet with Tyler, and I’ll give you your new case tomorrow. For now stay away from your apartment. We are going to be monitoring it very carefully.”



He opened the door as Howie was standing right outside,



“Good morning Howie.”



“Morning Rob.”



“Oh and Kevin, I’m sorry.”



“No you’re not,” Kevin said as if he was in high school fighting with his dad all over again.



Howie closed the door behind Rob, “So I take it that didn’t go well huh?”



Kevin smacked his lips, “Well you can say that Scott Wilson is officially not our problem anymore.”



“He took you off the case?”



Kevin nodded in disgust, taking another sip of his already cold coffee.



Howie sat down and sighed, “Would it be horrible of me to say I’m not all together unhappy about that?”



Kevin shook his head, “Nope, it was a hard case and now it’s not my problem anymore so you know what? Fuck em’ I’m done with baby killers for now.”



Howie laughed knowing that even though those words just came out of his best friend’s mouth he would be obsessing about the lose of this case for days. Suddenly a look of horror crept up on Kevin’s face making it appear that there was a man with a machine gun behind Howie.



“What?” The Latino asked alarmed quickly standing up and twirling around just in case.



“Lisa called me last night and I never called her back.”



“Good Lord you just aged me about 20 years because you forgot to call your girlfriend?”



“No, you don’t understand D…she called saying she was lying naked while talking to me, I didn’t even finish listening to the message. I was preoccupied.”



“Understandably so…ooh ouch so the tech guys heard it by now huh?” Kevin ignored that even though he would be made fun of incessantly for days because of that phone call.



Kevin nodded, “Man she is going to hate me.”



“Better call and make things right.”



Kevin picked up his cell phone and dialed Lisa’s number, knowing she wasn’t home yet and kind of glad about that too.



He waited until her machine picked up and swallowed before he spoke, “Uh…hey baby…listen…I got in late last night and wasn’t able to give you a call. I’m not at my place I’m staying at Howie’s…long story…anyway…I miss you so give me a call when you get this.”



Tyler walked into Kevin’s office just as he was hanging up the phone, a quiet uneasiness suddenly swirled into the air making Howie stand up and head towards the door, “Well I have paper work to do…I’ll catch up with you later Kev.”



“Hey Tyler, have a seat.”



“Kevin I’m really sorry about this.”



“I know…it’s not your fault…so what do you want to know?”



“Well for starters…did you get any sense there was another victim?”



“No, why?”



“Because the lab analyzed that sheet and it was real blood but it didn’t match any of the victims. I have a feeling there’s another dead girl out there.”



Kevin sat back in his chair, for the first time a little relieved that this wasn’t going to be his problem anymore. He watched Tyler straighten up in his chair staring at the papers Rob had sent him concerning the case.



“His prints didn’t match at any of the phone booths that Howie checked either huh?” Kevin shook his head.



Tyler sighed and sat back in his chair, “I don’t want this case Kevin…it’s going to be a bitch and a half.”



“It’s a tough one Tyler, but I’m sure you can handle it…what were you working on anyway? So I know what I’m in for.”



“Bank robber case, it’s kind of boring actually, but I guess after dealing with this one, boring might be a good thing.”



“Maybe.” Kevin said smiling but behind that smile was disappointment. His father used to gloat that in the thirty or so years he was on the force he never once got taken off a case. Here Kevin was barely wet behind the ears and he already had a huge case taken away from him because his safety was feared and he had crossed over some damned line.



“I just hope this guy doesn’t take a liking to me like he did to you.” Kevin looked back over to Tyler as he continued to write down notes.



“I hope so too Ty.”



Tyler stood up after a few more seconds and shook Kevin’s hand, “Well I’m going to try to figure out what my next move will be, talk to you soon.” Kevin nodded and watched as the guy who stole his case walked out of his office.



Once gone, Kevin closed and locked his door. He didn’t want to be interrupted. He was angry because he deserved to stay on this case. Without him finding the clues no one else did they’d still be at square one. Then there was Scott Wilson himself, who for whatever reason, actually was contacting him. There had to be underlying reasons there.



During his time at the academy, he enjoyed his profiling class. At first he thought that was what would suit him best, being a profiler and trying to figure out why the bad guys did the things they did. It fascinated him, the articles and interviews he saw of people who actually were able to crack cases solely by putting themselves in the killer’s shoes. No doubt his teacher would say that maybe part of the reason Scott Wilson was trying to contact Kevin was because subconsciously he wanted to get caught. People like that always make mistakes in hopes of getting caught.



He closed his eyes and rubbed at them with the heel of his hands, “Why am I caring? It’s not even my damn case anymore!” He said a little more loudly then he wanted to.



Of course if he had to put himself in the killer’s shoes he would also have to stop a second and put his own shoes on. Maybe he had purposely sabotaged his chances of being on this case by bringing his little brother into it.



Thoughts of what he did to Nick crossed his mind. Had he crossed the line by doing that? It was true; he was terrified that his little brother was going to be taken. It was a fear he had every since his first morgue visit.



Nick out of all the Richardson children was the most naïve. Even Brian and AJ as kids would never have let some random guy walk away with them. Nick was different, more innocent than the other two. Maybe a lack of a father made him that way? Or maybe the way his older brothers watched him like a hawk and kept him sheltered made him feel safe enough to trust a total stranger, whatever the case the second he heard about this child killer he pictured his baby brother.



Perhaps Kevin sabotaged himself to keep his brother safe?



His cell phone chimed making him jump. He picked it up and slowed down his breathing a bit.



“Hello?”



“Kevin.” It was Lisa her tone firm and distant, not a very good sign in Kevin land.



“Hey Lee, look I’m really sorry I…”



“Kevin, look…I don’t think this is going to work out. We are too different you and I.”



“That’s not true baby.”



“Yes it is… we’re in two different places in our lives right now. You are too into your work and I am never home. That doesn’t add up.”



“But my case just lightened, now I’ll have more time. The case I was on was horrible Lisa.”



“I need to go…I have some stuff over your place…”



“Wait…can’t we just maybe have dinner to talk about this?”



“Kevin…”



“Please?” There was a long pause. He could picture her biting on her bottom lip as she thought about what to do next. He didn’t want to give her the chance to dump him so he continued.



“Please Lee! For me, I know I’ve been a real butt head but I promise you I’ll make it up to you. Let me take you out to dinner when you get back. Just you and I, a bottle of wine…maybe a walk before a shower and finally bed. If you hate me after that than I promise you’ll never have to see me again.”



He heard her breathing slow which was a good sign. Slow breathing meant calm and calm meant no longer angry.



“Okay fine…” She finally said. He heard the smile on her face as she twirled the phone cord in her hand.



“Excellent…so when are you coming home?”



“Tomorrow”



“Then how about tomorrow night? I’ll pick you up after work?”



“Sounds good. You know where to find me…”



“Terminal three?” He said laughing. The place they would always meet followed by a night of intense love making.



“Terminal three.” She giggled.



He clicked off the phone and smiled. Yes maybe he did sabotage himself; he thought as he grabbed some of his random notes on Scott Wilson and happily tossed them aside, never thinking he’d ever need them again.

I'll be back on Friday with another chapter of this. Thanks to those of you who have been reviewing. Reviews are always greatly appreciated :D

13



The Cop and a half







The next morning when Kevin was handed his new case, he felt refreshed, for the first time in a while not dreading a start to a new work day. He also got a pretty good night’s sleep. He and Howie stayed up for quite a while chatting while watching television, just like they used to when they were kids.



When they were younger Howie slept over the Richardson house so often he had his very own bed there in Kevin’s room. Jackie used to refer to him as her adopted son, feeding him his meals, sometimes bringing him to school and picking him up after school.



It’s not like Howie had a horrible home life or anything, the two were just that close.



So it felt good spending some time with D at his place, ordering Chinese and watching stupid movies that were only reserved for really late at night.



They talked about life, love and family. All the things that were most important to the both of them. Howie currently lacking in the girlfriend department, had no sympathy for Kevin’s situation with his flight attendant but both couldn’t help but make fun of AJ and the crush he had on Nick’s girlfriend’s sister. Poor AJ, it was just so easy to pick on that kid.



Howie being an only child, claimed Kevin’s brothers as his own most times and he did tend to get along best with the relative badass of the family.



“Good maybe you can talk some sense into him one of these days.” Kevin said as he had made his way to his office.



“But half the fun is watching the two of you fight. What a boring world it would be if AJ suddenly started making sense and doing the right thing.”



“Yeah tell that to my mother. He’s driving her nuts.”



Howie laughed, “I’m going to grab a coffee want one?”



“Cream, one sugar.”



“Gotcha, I’ll be right back.” Kevin nodded and made his way into his office throwing his jacket on the chair and sitting down.



This new case was going to be so much easier than the baby killer case. Now he found himself able to say that without shuddering. This one was a series of high tech bank robberies. Millions of dollars stole but not one casualty. There would be no morgue visits for this one. He let out a deep breath and looked at his calendar once again smiling when he saw the words terminal three 5 o’clock.



He wasn’t exactly sure how he would explain his current living situation to Lisa, maybe he would tell her the truth. It’s not like he would share that info with his family but with Lee it was different. Howie walked in with the coffee and two donuts, “I grabbed these from Tom’s desk, think he’ll notice?”



Kevin laughed, “Oh yeah he’ll notice.”



Just then his phone rang; he picked it up only to hear his mom on the other end.



“Mom?”



“Hey baby.”



“Is everything all right?” He looked at the time on his overhead clock to see it was nearing ten, very uncharacteristic to hear from his mother this early.



“Actually I’m in a bit if a bind and I was hoping you could help.”



“What is it mom?”



“I was called in today baby because we are so short staffed. I was supposed to pick Nicky up at noon from school but now I can’t. They had an early dismissal today. ”



“But I’m at work too.”



“I know…Mrs. Nicosia…Patty’s mom said she could pick Nick up but the only thing is she has to be somewhere at 3 so I was wondering if you could maybe pick him up at 2?”



“I suppose I could bring him back to my office for a little while. I’m not working on anything too intense and just plan on doing paper work today anyway.”



“Thank you SO much sweetheart you have NO idea how much I appreciate this.”



“You will be done before 5 though right? Because I have plans for 5.”



“Plans?”



“Yeah mom…plans.”



“Do these plans involve that lady?”



“Mom not now…just answer my question please.”



“I will try to get out of here by 5.”



“More than try okay? But I guess even if you aren’t home I could drop him with Brian or AJ?”



“Brian has basketball practice and then play practice so does AJ so they both won’t be home until 7 or so. I’ll be home by 5 honey okay?”



“Okay mom…oh I need the address to Patty’s.”



He jotted down the address and hung up with his mother. Howie was watching the conversation amused, “So I am thinking we are going to have company this afternoon?”



“Yeah, Nicky is coming.”



“Fun…wow I’m glad we aren’t working on that case anymore.”



“I know right? He wouldn’t be coming here if that was the case.”



“Is that going to be okay with Rob? Having Nicky here?”



“It’s going to have to be, she got called in.”



Jackie Richardson used to be a nurse in the emergency room at the local hospital. She was a damn good nurse as well. Her hours used to be long and hard, between her job and his father’s job, Kevin rarely saw either one of them when he was Nick’s age. He used to have a babysitter; her name from what he could remember was Jolly as in Jolly old St. Nicholas. He had a huge crush on Jolly.



As he got older he longed less for Jolly and more for his mom, who was constantly working double shifts since she had become head nurse. His parents fought often over that.



When Brian was born she decided to cut her hours down a bit and then by AJ she had gone part time.



Kevin was sometimes jealous of that, the fact that he grew up so different from his younger brothers.



The night his father died, his mother decided that nursing wasn’t for her any longer. She retired to be a stay at home mom, now with a new baby and two smallish children, her life needed to be different and luckily with her husband’s insurance and pension she was able to stay at home and be fine financially.



Once Nick started school, Jackie began helping out again as a nurse but this time at a private practice. She worked three days a week, making sure she was able to take Nick to school and bring him home.



Kevin knew that deep down inside she missed that old life and wouldn’t be surprised if once Nick was old enough to take care of himself she went back to work full tilt.



After doing a fair share of work and already finding a ton of missed leads in his new case, Kevin went to Rob who luckily had no problem with Nick coming and spending time as a deputy. He even gave Kevin a little badge to let his brother wear.



“Wow he’s going to love this.” Howie said placing the badge on his own jacket making Kevin roll his eyes.



“How come we don’t get these things?”



“Maybe some day D…maybe someday. I’m off to grab him, want to come?”



“Yeah unless there’s something you need me to do here?”



“Not yet, so come along for the ride.”



They arrived at Patty’s house at a little before 2; both kids were playing on the porch unattended which once again made Kevin grimace. He knew that after what his brother went through earlier though, he would never walk away with a stranger again.



“So that’s Patty huh?”



Kevin nodded and smiled.



Howie squinted and laughed, “Are they kissing?”



“No!” Kevin said turning towards his brother who was kissing his girlfriend on the cheek.



“Wow Kev, your brother is going to be a play boy when he gets older.”



“What a little stud muffin!”



When Nick saw his brother sitting in the car he got all excited and ran into the house to get Patty’s mom. He came out holding her hand and walking towards the car. Kevin got out and shook hands with the woman.



“Your little brother is very excited to be spending the day with you.” She said smiling down at Nick.



“Hey little man…you just about ready?”

“Yes just a second.” He said running back towards the house.



“Thanks for taking him today.”



“Not a problem, we love having Nicky here. I don’t know what my daughter would do without him.”



“I’m Kevin by the way…this is my partner Howie.”



“Partner through work not partner for life.” D was quick to add which made Kevin laugh. Howie was always so afraid of being considered gay. He needed a girlfriend.



“Your mother has told me so much about you Kevin…she is so proud of you. My name is Anita by the way. I’m sorry my husband is out of town. I know he would have loved to meet you.”



“Maybe some other time.”



“Yes I was telling your mother that you should all come to dinner someday. Since I have a feeling we will be in-laws eventually.”



Just as Anita said that, Nick and Patty hand in hand went running towards Kevin and Howie giggling and smiling as Patty helped Nick put his backpack on.



“Okay well I have to get back to work buddy so give Patty a hug so we can get on the road.”



Nick grabbed Patty in a hug, “I love you.” He said which made all the adults awe.



“Love you too.” Patty said kissing Nick’s cheek.



“Okay that’s enough the two of you.” Anita said grabbing onto her daughter who laughed as she hugged her mother.



“I’m going to be an FBI guy now Patty, see ya tomorrow.”



“Have fun and be careful my Nicky pooh bear.”



Both little kids giggled which had Howie doing the same.



“Make sure you put your seatbelt on,” Kevin said as he waved to the Nicosias.



“And look what I have here for you Nicky,” Howie said making sure Nick was strapped in and then handing him the badge.



“Whoa!” Nick was in awe grabbing the badge and putting it in his pocket.

“It’s cool isn’t it?”



“Yes!”



“Did you have a good day today lil man?” Kevin asked looking at Nick through his rear view mirror.



“I had an awesome day! I found sticky tack!”



“So that makes it a good day huh?”



“Yup... I love that stuff.”



“You don’t eat it do you Nicky?”



“Duh Howie! Why would I eat sticky tack? What a silly question.”



Kevin laughed, “Yeah duh Howie! Seriously…”



They got back to the office where Nick was the instant entertainment for everyone on staff. They all swarmed around him, gave him candy and told Kevin repeatedly how adorable his little brother was. Of course Nick hammed it up by standing on Maria’s desk and singing for all of them a brand new song he learned about a marshmallow.



“Kevin can I take him home with me?” Ariana whispered as she laughed at the little dance he was doing.



“Wow he’s really turning on the cute isn’t he? Yes you can take him home if it’s past four and he’s still here!” Kevin said shaking his head at his brother.



“Sounds like a deal to me!”



“Come on ham boy they need to get back to work and so do I. Shows over.”



Kevin’s comment was met with boos from the mostly female crowd gathered around ogling at the tiny child. But all of them applauded Nick as he bowed. Howie walked over to the desk and allowed Nick to jump on his back and together they all walked into Kevin’s office.



“Remember before I leave I want a work up of those names I gave you on my desk” He said to Maria who he could swear called him a jerk as he was walking away.



“Kevin I feel like I have something on my back…do I have something on my back?” Howie asked pretending to shake Nicky off.



“Yes you do and it’s laughing really loudly.”



“Ah!” Howie said once again shaking around making Nick’s legs fly back and forth and sending the 8 year old into hysterical laughter.



“Howie with all the candy he just ate if you keep that up he’s going to puke all over you.”



“Wow you’re no fun Kevin.” Howie squatted down to let Nick climb off his back.



“I guess I should finish up my work too. I’ll see you later captain,” Howie saluted to Nick who saluted back.



“Nicky why don’t you take out your homework or something, I won’t be too much longer okay?”



“I don’t have any homework tonight.”



“Oh…well maybe a book?”



“I can draw, do you have crayons?”



“Sorry I left my crayons home today Nick.”



“I might have some,” Nick plopped down on the floor and started going through his backpack in search of something to keep him occupied.



“What’s with all the dancing before?”



“I thought they would like that.” Kevin laughed.



“Well good call because they did.”



Tyler knocked on the door and entered before being invited in, “Hey Kevin I have a question for you.”



“Okay shoot.” He glanced over at his little brother who was preoccupied with the piece of sticky tack he had found. Rolling it into a ball and throwing it in the air.



“It’s about the baby killer case.” Kevin once again glanced over at Nick who seemed not to have heard that, then back to Tyler looking annoyed.



“Oh I’m sorry I didn’t realize you had company.”



“That’s okay…this is my brother Nick…Nicky.” Hearing his name had Nick look up and smile, he was lying on his belly and sat up and yawned, probably from boredom.



“Hi Nick.”

“Hi.”



“So what did you need to ask me?” Kevin asked walking around his desk and towards the door after Tyler motioned that it wasn’t something his brother should hear.



“I’ll be right back Nicky.”



“Kay.”



Kevin closed the door and stood outside peering at his little brother on the floor before turning his attention back to Tyler, “So what’s the deal?”



“Do you know this woman?” He gave Kevin a picture taken from the lobby of the building. She was tall and wearing sunglasses and a long dark coat.



“No, she doesn’t look familiar why are you asking?”



“Because I was running through surveillance footage of the day that letter came here about Sheila being dead and this woman was registered as coming to see you. But she didn’t did she?”



“Nope…you think she’s the one that delivered that envelope?” Kevin asked once again studying the woman making sure he really hadn’t seen her before.



“I think so yes, so now we are going to try to track her down. She put her name in the book, she had to, so now it’s only a question of is she really who she says she is.”



“Well, let me know what you find out.”



“I will…so why is he here today?”



“Babysitting emergency.”



“Not exactly the best place for a child you think?” He hated when Tyler talked down to him. They always had a friendly competition going on, always trying to out do each other.



“I know but you gotta do what you gotta do.” He was not about to defend himself to this guy.



He walked back in and smiled at his brother who looked bored to tears, “I’m sorry buddy I just have to finish this and I’ll take you home okay?”



“Can we go back to your house?”



“Not tonight buddy, I’m afraid I have plans tonight, but maybe another time okay?”

“Kevin is this what you do all day?”



“Pretty much.” Nick stood up and walked over to his brother motioning that he wanted to sit on his lap. Kevin pulled out his chair and helped his brother climb up onto his lap.



“Then I’m not going to worry about you anymore unless you can die from boredom!”



“Where do you pick this stuff up from? Oh never mind… I forgot you spend all day with AJ.” He said laughing at what Nick just said.



“I feel bad because I didn’t make you anything so here’s my sticky tack if you want it.” Nick said handing over the glob of tack as if it was some prized jewel.



“You don’t have to give me something every time I see you baby.”



“Will you buy me a toy?”



“That was random…why do you ask?”



Nick shrugged and hugged his brother, “I don’t know.”



“Maybe we’ll stop at a store on the way home…but just one thing okay?”



“Yay!” Kevin shook his head disgusted about the way this kid had him wrapped around his finger.



Howie walked in and smiled at the pair, “Am I interrupting a moment?”



“Kevin is buying me a toy!” Nick said excitedly walking over to Howie and giving him a hug.



“Wow lucky you! Kev...your mom’s on the phone.”



“Oh okay thanks D.”



“I was talking to her for awhile; she was grilling me about Lisa.”



“I bet.”



“Hey mom.”



“Hi sweetheart, I hear Nick was a hit at your place huh?”



“Yeah he has certainly been that.”



“Babe…look I’m not going to make it home until after 5!”



“Mom! You promised!”



“I know love but I can’t leave if I leave there will NO nurse on duty!”



“Can’t I bring him there?”



“No way, there is some kind of horrible flu going around and I don’t want him around all of these sick people. I won’t be too much later than 5 honey. I’m sure your friend won’t mind the extra company.”



“But I haven’t seen her in a few days.”



“You’ll live. Please do this for me? I don’t ask for much Kevin.”



“Fine! But you need to call my cell the instant you get home!” He was mad and yelling at his mom now. He felt bad but he couldn’t help it. He even hung up on her before she could talk to Nicky.



Kevin looked up to find both Nick and Howie staring at him, Howie annoyed and Nick hurt. “Howie what are you doing in about an hour?”



“Working remember? You scheduled me to work late tonight?”



He looked over at Nick and smiled, “Hey Nick I’m sorry, you know I’m not mad at you, I just had plans that’s all.”



“I was going to give you my sticky tack and everything.” Nick said pouting.



“Okay how about two toys? But don’t tell your brothers because I don’t want them thinking I play favorites.” Nick smiled and ran back over to Kevin giving him a huge hug.



Oh to be young and able to be bribed by toys and have finding a glob of sticky tack constitute having a good day he thought as he hugged his brother back. Not sure how Lisa was going to feel about having an uninvited guest for dinner.



I'll try to be back on Sunday with chapter 14 but if i'm not don't hate me. Real life things....Have a great weekend!

14



I’ll never break your heart…





Kevin sat behind his desk typing out his final notes about the bank robberies and wondering if he should call Lisa and warn her about having his little brother show up for dinner. In an act of desperation he had even considered just leaving him at the office with Howie, sure that between Howie and Ariana, Nick would be well taken care of, but once realizing how stupid that idea was he just resigned himself to the fact that his romantic night was squelched.



He glanced down at Nick who was using his backpack as a pillow. The poor kid had fallen asleep from total boredom. Serves my mother right now! He’ll be up all night for her… he thought while an evil smirk crossed his face.



Howie opened the door and quietly closed it behind him when he heard the snores coming from the floor.



“We’re that exciting huh?”



“I guess so.”



“Just wanted to come in and say have a great time.” Howie sat down across from Kevin before continuing, “And here is the paperwork you asked Maria for.”



“I think I heard her call me a jerk before.”



“You might have heard right,” Howie said shrugging which made Kevin laugh.



Howie stood up, ready to walk out the door, “By the way I finally did it.”



“What did you do?” Kevin asked looking at the results of Maria’s paperwork.



“I asked Ariana out.” That made Kevin look up and smile.



“You did?”



“Yup…we’re going out tomorrow night.”



“That’s awesome man…I knew she’d say yes!” Howie had wanted to ask the secretary out forever, ever since she was hired almost a year ago. He and Ariana seemed to hit it off very well but still there was a shyness that the both of them shared.



“I actually have to thank your little brother over there. She was just glowing and laughing and I couldn’t resist.”



“You can buy him a toy, I’m sure that’s what he would like.”



“Yeah either that or sticky tack,” Howie said leaving the room.



“That kid,” Kevin said once again looking at the child sleeping peacefully on the floor, Kevin’s jacket draped over him and big enough to almost cover him completely head to toe.



“I think you are going to be as short as your other two brothers’ kiddo,” He said walking over to Nick, bending down and lightly shaking him awake.



The 8 year old groaned and stirred, gradually opening his sleepy blue eyes, wiping away the tears from a huge yawn as he sat up. “Is it time to go yet?”



“Just about…let’s go into the bathroom and clean you up a bit, you have chocolate on your shirt and some on your face still.”



“I like chocolate.”



“I know.”



They ventured into the bathroom smiling and waving at everyone along the way, “Wow you made quite an impression on everyone here.”



“What does that mean?” Nick asked once again yawning and shaking his body like a wet dog.



“It means they really liked you.”



“Oh, well I AM cute Kevin.”



Kevin laughed and ruffled Nick’s hair, “Yes you are.”



In the bathroom Kevin wet a paper towel with some soap and gently cleaned his brother’s face and shirt before running his hands through his own hair. He so wanted to have sex today but that was not going to happen. “Maybe next time…”



“What?”



“Never mind…now Nicky listen to me, Lisa doesn’t know you’re coming with us to dinner tonight so I want you to be on your best behavior okay?”



“Who’s Lisa?”



“She’s the girl we are going to pick up now.” He opened his car door and watched as Nick climbed in and buckled himself up in the back seat.



“Is she nice?”



“Yes but she doesn’t know you are going to be there.”



“So does that mean she’ll be mean to me?”



“No.”



“Where are we going?”



“To the airport.”



At the mention of the airport, Nick’s eyes grew wide and a huge excited grin spread across his face. “Airplanes? Can we go to Disney Kevin please?” He asked jumping up and down in his seat.



“No, we are just going to pick her up there Nick, we aren’t taking a plane,” Kevin said driving away from the parking lot and towards the airport.



“That sucks man!”



“What did you say?”



“I said that sucks man…AJ taught me to say that when I don’t get my way.”



“How grand of him.” Kevin rolled his eyes, “I suggest you don’t say that in front of mom otherwise you’ll get a smack and a well deserved one at that.”



“AJ says that in front of mom all the time and he never gets slapped.”



“Well he should.”



“Can I slap him?”



“Yes Nicky, you have my permission to slap AJ the next time he says that.”



“Goody!”



They arrived at the airport twenty five minutes after five. Kevin parked and then pulled Nick along staring at his watch and knowing Lisa was not going to be pleased. She was standing there arms crossed right in front of the sign that read terminal three, her small suitcase lying next to her on the floor. She smiled a curt smile and then looked down at Nick baffled.



“Hey baby,” Kevin said walking over and giving her a kiss on the cheek. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss on the lips which had Nick giggling.



“I’m sorry we’re late babe…there was a little traffic.”



“I wasn’t waiting that long…” She motioned towards Nick who continued to smile at the two of them as if he was watching a movie.



“Ooh, sorry…Lee this is my brother Nicky, you know I’ve told you all about him.”



She smiled and walked over towards Nick bending down and grabbing his hand in hers.

“Very nice to meet you Nick…I’m Lisa.”



Nick smiled and then grabbed her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek.



“Oh my goodness,” She said as Nick pulled away and looked up at his big brother, “Can we go eat now? I’m really hungry my belly has been talking to me since we got into the car.”



“What’s your belly saying exactly?” Lisa asked already falling in love with the small blonde.



“It’s saying feed me ice cream!” Lisa laughed as she stood up.



“Lee, I’m sorry about this, my mom got called into work at the last minute and there was no one else to watch him.”



“Oh…okay,” She didn’t seem mad but disappointed. Kevin closed his eyes for a second realizing that she wanted that sex as badly as he did.



“I’ll make it up to you.”



“You better buster!” When she said that his mood lightened up a bit. He really needed to stop doubting his girlfriend.



“So where are we going?” She asked as Nick grabbed both her hand and Kevin’s hand as they walked back towards the car.



“Well we did have reservations at Shay’s for 6 but I’m thinking French is out of the question tonight.”



“Can we go to McDonalds?”



“No Nicky, no Mickey D’s tonight.”



“Please?”



“No.” Nick pouted but continued walking on, “Lisa you pick it doesn’t matter to me.”



“Say McDonalds,” Nick whispered which caused Kevin to shake his head.



They ended up going to a Friendly’s restaurant, sitting in a booth; Lisa and Kevin on one side and Nick on the other. Kevin had his arm wrapped around his girlfriend who seemed distant and quiet.



“I have been calling you, how come you never answered your phone?”



“I’m having phone problems babe.”



“I called your office looking for you and a guy named Tyler said you were probably at Howie’s getting ready. Why would you be at Howie’s?”



Kevin looked over at Nick as he slurped on his milk shake listening in on the conversation. There was no way he could be honest with her with his kid brother right there.



“I have no idea.”



“You aren’t hiding something from me are you?”



“Honey…do you think we should really be talking about this now?” He motioned over towards Nick who burped almost on cue.



“Say excuse me.”



“Excuse you,” Nick started laughing which made Lisa smile.



“Oh I have a joke Patty told me, she’s my girlfriend Lisa.”



“You have a girlfriend?”



“Yup,” He said nodding proudly.



“So this is the joke, what do you get when you have two fluffy puppies and a box of toys?” Nick looked from one to the other waiting for an answer. When none came he blurted out, “A whole lot of fun!” Then started to laugh hysterically.



The two adults looked at each other and smiled, “That was a good one lil’ man.” Kevin held out his hand so Nick could slap it which he did and hard.



When Kevin turned back to Lisa, she leaned in close but was surprised about what she whispered in his ear, “Kevin have you been cheating on me?”



He quickly pulled back all defensive, “What? No! Why would you even say that?”



Her mood turned a bit cold, “Because you act like every other man who has ever cheated on me.”



Nick tilted his head and looked at both of them confused by the sudden change in attitudes.



“I’m not cheating on you but can we discuss this later?”



“Later? Kevin…you never return my calls.”



“I mean after I drop Nick off.” He motioned to his brother to remind Lisa that this was an inappropriate conversation they were having.



“Kevin, my tummy hurts and I have to go to the bathroom.”



He ignored his brother for a minute once again focusing on his girlfriend, “Lee, be reasonable...I can’t really go into it now but I promise I will level with you.”



“So you are hiding something then?”



“Kevin…I really have to go!”



“In a minute Nick.”



“Now! Kevin please I’m going to have an accident.”



“Take him…I’ll be here I promise.”



“I can go alone its right there,” Nick said pointing at the sign. Kevin glanced up to see they were sitting right across from the restrooms.



“Okay go ahead, I’ll be right outside the door.” Nick shot out of the booth and darted for the men’s room holding his crotch as he did.



Kevin quickly stood up and moved right outside the door, he wasn’t going to take any chances although his paranoia level had already gone down just by not working on that case anymore.



Lisa came and stood next to him, “I’m not cheating on you honey, my phone was confiscated because someone broke into my house. I didn’t want to say that in front of Nick but I’m staying with Howie.”



“Someone broke in to your apartment?” Kevin nodded.



“Why didn’t you call me right away when that happened? Why am I just hearing about it now?”



“Well…because you were gone and I didn’t want you to worry and…”



“Kevin that’s bullshit and you know it! You don’t tell me anything because you don’t think to tell me anything.”



“That’s not true.”



“Yes it is! You know it is. I think all I am to you is an easy lay Kevin.”



“Lee…”



She was really worked up now, “You know what? Forget this…I thought we could do it but there’s just too much stuff.”



“I don’t understand what you mean?”



“You don’t trust me Kevin…I am about tenth down on your list of things to do, literally and I need someone who will put me first.”



“So that’s it? You’re breaking up with me in front of a bathroom in a Friendly’s?”



“Take care Kevin…” She said walking away from him without even glancing back.



“How are you going to get home?”



“I’ll call a cab!”



And that was it, she was gone.



Kevin let out a big sigh and knocked on the bathroom door, “Nicky are you almost done?”



When there was no answer he knocked again this time a little more forcefully, “Nick! Come on, answer me!”



Now in full fledged panic ready to break the door down Kevin was about to ask one more time when the door gently clicked open to a crying Nick. “Why didn’t you answer me?” He asked the child ignoring the fact that the kid was crying.



“My tummy hurts and I threw up!” That’s when Kevin noticed the smell; there was vomit on Nick’s shoes and his shirt and all over the bathroom.



“Oh…my…okay everything is going to be okay Nick. Come on let’s get you home.”

Kevin apologized about the mess in the rest room and made a mental note to never go to that particular Friendlys again. He had managed to clean Nick up a little and took his shoes off and put them in a plastic bag.



Nick sat in the back of the car whimpering and then he asked, “Where is Lisa?”



“She went home.”



“She didn’t like me did she?”



“She liked you a lot; it’s me she doesn’t like.” Kevin said that last part more to himself before turning to face his brother while stopped at a red light, “How are you feeling? Do you need to throw up again?”



“No…but I want my mommy.”



“I know we’re almost home Nick.”



“Kay.” He said sitting in the back as he cried.



They walked into the house at almost 7, Nick still crying. When he saw his mom, he really lost it and went flying into her arms. She picked him up and kissed the top of his head. “Mommy’s going to make it all better my sweet baby boy,” She said walking up the stairs with Nick in her arms as if he was 3 years old. “Kevin! Don’t go anywhere I want to talk to you okay?”



He shrugged and plopped down on the couch, “It’s not like I have anywhere else to go anymore!” He was secretly blaming his mother for the breakup, like if Nick wasn’t there everything would have worked out in the end.



He had enough time to flop his shoes off of his feet and place them up on the coffee table when his two other brothers walked in the door arguing.



“You’re such an ass Rok!”



“There is no way in hell I’m letting you drive my car AJ.”



“I have my damn permit.”



“That’s not good enough for me, I don’t care if you have been driving for ten years you’re still not going anywhere near my car.”



“Technically it’s OUR car. That’s what mom said. Once I get my license we are sharing that bad boy!” Brian happened to look towards the couch just then and saw his eldest brother staring at him amused.



“God Kev…do you ever stay at your own place?”



“I am here dropping off Nicky for your information and mom asked me to stay. How was play practice?”



“Retarded!” AJ muttered jumping over Kevin and landing on the couch next to him.



“Oh and Jay, today Nicky said something very interesting he said that you taught him to say ‘that sucks’ when he doesn’t get his way?”



AJ busted out laughing, “Oh man…did he say it?”



“What do you think?”



“I swear to God I love that kid…he’s better than having a dog.”



“Well your little puppy is puking his guts out upstairs.”



“Okay too much information Kev…weak stomach over here,” Brian said moving over to the recliner and sitting down.



Shortly after that, Jackie came walking down the stairs, “I thought I heard you boys come in. How do you both feel?”



“Good, why?”



“Nick has that nasty flu, poor baby…he’s got a fever.”



“I thought it was just because everyone was stuffing him with candy at work today,” Kevin said looking up at his mom



“I just put him in a bath, he keeps crying about a toy you owe him.”



“Yeah, I told him I’d buy him something.” Both AJ and Brian laughed.



“What?”



“Nothing man…he just owns you I swear.”



“Kevin…come with me into the kitchen and help me put my dishes away.”



“Uh oh…” Both boys murmured when their mother said that. They knew the interrogation would be next.



Kevin followed his mother into the kitchen and handed her dishes as she put them in the proper place. “So Nicky tells me that Lisa left early…that’s her name isn’t it?”



“Yeah mom and she did. We broke up tonight.”



Jackie looked over at her son with concern etching the lines of her face, “What happened? Kevin I’m so sorry if it’s my fault.” Now that she had actually given him an out he couldn’t take it. He knew this had nothing to do with Nick and everything to do with trust.



“It just wasn’t meant to be. We weren’t right for each other… it happens.”



“Well one day you will find the right girl and she will sweep you of your feet baby.” She pulled him close then and gave him a kiss on his forehead. She pulled away quickly and put her hand to it instead, “Oh no baby…how’s your stomach?”



“Why do you ask?”



She gave him a sympathetic look and he shook his head, “No…no. no. no!”



But within an hour there he was kneeling over the toilet with his mother asking him if he was going to be all right.



“Well let’s see mom…my girlfriend broke up with me and now I’m puking my guts up and have a fever…I’d say no to that one!”



“I’m sorry baby…I really am.”



Kevin didn’t answer just stuck his head back into the toilet and barfed.


Enjoy :) because of the time of year i'm going back to updating this story once a week sorry about that :( so i'll be back on Saturday with chapter 15

15



Sick Day





Kevin lay in bed feeling dizzy and nauseous, it had been about one hour since the last time he was sick and he was trying to will his stomach to calm down enough for him to maybe sit up without having to run to the bathroom.



When his mother told him about this horrible virus that was going around she wasn’t kidding, that was for damned sure. He felt like he was dying, and yes he was a man so that seemed like an acceptable way to feel.



It had hit him fast and hard, first a fever, so small he barely realized he had it until his mom felt his forehead, next the headache followed by the vomiting. That was the worst. Naturally once he got sick he wasn’t going anywhere so AJ was kicked out of his room and it was made Kevin’s. Much to the teen’s displeasure he was sure, but at the moment he didn’t care.



As Kevin was about to close his eyes he heard the door creak open and saw his mother stick her head in.



She looked over towards her oldest son and when she saw his eyes open she ventured into the room, “How are you feeling baby?” She asked sitting on the bed next to him and feeling the top of his head with her lips.



“Mom, you really don’t have to baby me like this, I’m okay.”



“Excuse me, don’t tell me what I can and can’t do sweetheart, you’re my son and sometimes it doesn’t matter how old you are, everyone needs babying every now and then.”



“What time is it?”



She looked over towards the digital clock on AJ’s desk, “It’s almost midnight.”



“Crap!” Kevin said sitting up, “I should call Howie, he will probably wonder why I’m not there.”



“Howie? Is he staying with you?”



“No, I’m staying with him actually.”



“You are? Why?”



“It’s a long story...” Kevin removed his covers and tried slowly sitting up placing his legs onto the floor with the aide of his mom.



“Does this have to do with that girl who dumped you?”



“No mom.” Suddenly he felt a surge in his stomach so he stood up and ran to the bathroom, motioning for his mother not to follow him. He hated feeling so weak and helpless. He was a control freak so whenever he was sick he felt too vulnerable and out of his comfort zone.



Luckily when he was done he felt temporary relief so he walked past his ‘borrowed’ room and down the steps, “Mom I’m calling Howie. I’ll be right back.”



He got down the stairs to find AJ lying on the couch watching TV curled into a blanket, “Oh lookie who’s here…the bedroom stealer!”



“Sorry Jay, it wasn’t my idea.”



“If you get my ass sick I’m going to puke all over you I swear Kevin.”



“Well I guess then I’ll just vomit all over you after you vomit all over me.”



“Gross stop saying vomit you’re making me want to vomit!” AJ said disgusted as he turned the volume on the TV up.



Kevin sat at the kitchen table, trying to ignore the remnants of the smell of a home cooked meal which would usually make him salivate as he called Howie. He talked to his best friend briefly without going into too much detail about the night. Just informed him he wouldn’t be coming back to his place or work the next day.



“You haven’t taken a sick day in forever Kevin; you must be feeling like crap.”



“Yeah you can say that again.”



“So I take it the date didn’t go well?”



“Let’s just say I hope she’s puking her guts up too.”



“Wow that was harsh.”



“I know, but I’m too ill to really have a heart right now.” Howie laughed as Kevin’s head began to throb once again.



“D, can you let Rob know I won’t be in, I was going to call him now but I have to lie down and I’m afraid I won’t wake up in time tomorrow. Just tell him to call me here and give the team this number as well okay?”



“No problem man, do you need anything?”



“Sleep…I just need sleep.”



“Well better go get some then…talk to you tomorrow Bro.”



“Bye.”



As Kevin walked back towards the steps he was stopped by AJ, “Kevin you look like crap.”



“Gee, thanks man.”



“I asked mom if I could stay home and take care of you guys but she told me to take a hike! How horrible is she?”



“Believe me brother; you don’t want to stay around here with this virus. Nick is having a hard time getting to the toilet so you’d be cleaning lots of puke.”



“Thanks for sharing Kevin and at least not using the word vomit, night.”



“See ya tomorrow.” He managed to smile as he made his way back up the stairs.



He looked in on Nicky who was flushed red with fever and luckily asleep. The small light on showed he had a small garbage can next to him because he wasn’t having much success getting to the bathroom in time. Clinging between his arms was the shirt that belonged to their father and his Winnie the Pooh bear that he claimed he no longer slept with, given to him by Brian on his fourth birthday.



Kevin walked in and gently pat his brother’s head feeling sympathy for the kid when he felt the heat radiating off his body.



“Is he all right?”



He nodded at his mother as she made her way into the room, “I was just checking on him.”



“He loves you so much Kevin…seems like all he does is talk about you.” Kevin smiled as he watched his mother walk towards the baby of their family and kiss his head the same way she had kissed his.



“He’s a great kid.” Was all Kevin could think to reply.



She never took her eyes off of her youngest son as she answered, gently caressing Nick’s face, “Yes he is.”



Nick opened his sleepy eyes with a groan and a small whimper, “Mommy I don’t feel good,” he said as he started to cry.



“I know honey…it’ll go away soon.”



“My head hurts.”



She pulled him close to her, “I know.”



Kevin suddenly felt like he was intruding on their moment as his body grew tired from standing, “I’m going to go back to bed,” he whispered at the pair.



“Kevin…” Kevin turned towards his baby brother, his voice so weak it almost killed him to hear it.



“Yeah buddy?”



“I love you.” Jackie smiled at her oldest son and winked as if what she had told him reinforced itself in those words.



“I love you too Nicky…now get some sleep.”



“Okay.” He said before turning his attention back to his mother, “mommy will you stay in here with me tonight?”



“I’ll stay until you fall asleep how about that?” Kevin closed the door as he heard his mom start to sing some made up lullaby. He accidentally knocked into the table holding the Precious Moments figurines knocking all but three onto the floor.



Jackie came out when she heard the crash, alarmed. “Kevin? Are you okay?”



“I’m fine sorry about that. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”



She helped walk him back to his room, “No worries son, I’ll pick those up you get to bed.”



“Sorry again mom.”



She grabbed his cheeks and kissed him, “I love you sweet bear.”



“Wow you haven’t called me that since I was Nick’s age.”



“Maybe not to your face I haven’t, but you’ll always be my sweet bear!”



“I love you too mom.”



“Get some sleep and I’ll be in to check on you in the morning.”



“Night.”



Kevin walked into AJ’s room and fell onto the bed as if it was the most comfortable thing he had ever come in contact with.



~*~*~*~*~*~





The next morning he woke up drained but yet feeling much better. He sat up and groaned, disappointed that he took the day off. He could have gone into work after all. The clock read almost 11 am which surprised the agent. “Okay maybe I wouldn’t have been able to go into work.”



He stood up, still feeling a bit dizzy but not nauseous, that was a relief. He scratched his butt as he made his way out of the room squinting as the sun came through the slightly opened blinds. He heard his mother’s humming as he walked towards the bathroom and smelled the familiar scent of freshly washed linen as he approached Nick’s room.



Kevin popped his head in watching as his mother changed Nick’s sheets as the little guy looked on still looking flushed yet pale wearing his feetsie polar bear pajamas. When he saw Kevin he walked towards him and gave him a hug.



Jackie looked over at her son and smiled, “You are looking better today Kevin…how are you feeling?”



“Much better…how about you little guy?” Kevin asked his brother who was still clinging to his waist.



“My tummy hurts still and I have a headache.”



“I’m sorry little man.”



“I think I’m taking him into the doctors Kevin, did you want to come too?”



“No, I’m good.”



Jackie, once the bed was made turned it down and motioned for Nick to go back in and lay down, “Okay sweetness back into bed.” She said patting the warm sheets to which Nick didn’t waste time jumping into.



“Mom, I don’t want to go to the doctor.”



“I know baby but we have to get that fever down, besides you know he always gives you a lollipop.”



“Why does everyone give this child candy?” Kevin muttered under his breath.



“Because I’m cute” was his answer.



“I’m going downstairs to make some calls; did anyone call while I was asleep? Anyone from work?”



“Rob called he said he hopes you feel better and that if you need another day take it.”



“Okay thanks mom.” He made his way down the stairs and called work.



Ariana answered the phone and connected Kevin directly to Howie who was doing an endless supply of paperwork.



“Hey how are you feeling?”



“Much better but I’m still a bit drained.”



“No more throwing up your guts though?”



“Nope thank GOD!” Howie laughed, “Well just to be safe don’t come back to my place until you are completely germ free.”



“You are so sympathetic, thanks D.”



“Sorry man, but I hate being sick.”



“Yeah yeah save it, anyway anything I should know about?”



“Not really, the bank guys haven’t done anything for a few days, seems they are letting you get better first.”



“How nice of them…” He paused first before asking, “And how about the baby killer case? Did anything turn up from that?”



“Not that I’m aware of but Tyler hasn’t been in the office all day.”



“Okay…thanks D.”



Once he hung up the phone with his best friend he walked over to his jacket pocket to check his cell phone, hoping that maybe Lisa had changed her mind. Even though he wished his sour stomach on her last night he still felt himself missing her. Maybe he’d call and apologize.



His eyes widened when he saw that he had five messages from the same number. One he had never seen before. He walked over to the phone and dialed but only was met with an endless ringing. “Weird.”



“What’s weird?” Jackie made her way into the kitchen carrying a new bundle of laundry.



“Just got a few calls from a phone number I have never heard of.



“How is that weird? We get hang ups all the time from people.”



“I know I’m just being paranoid but it’s my job I guess.”



“I’ve decided not to take your brother to the doctor unless his fever doesn’t go down, I’m giving him another day, but I was wondering if you could watch him while I go pick up some Tylenol?”



“Sure no problem mom.”



She walked over and kissed her son, “Thanks baby.”



Once she left he ventured back up the stairs with his phone and decided to go lie back down when he was summoned into his little brother’s room.



“Kevin is that you?”



“Yeah buddy is everything okay?”



“Can you stay in here with me please?” Kevin sighed and rolled his eyes, he needed more patience when he wasn’t feeling well.



He opened the door and smiled at the child, “Sure what’s up Nicky?”



“I don’t want to be alone.”



“Okay.”



His cell phone rang again so Kevin quickly checked the number to see it was the same one as earlier. He stood up and clicked open the phone.



“Hello?”



“Get back on the case!” The man said with such animosity and fury Kevin almost wanted to throw his phone across the room to get away from him.



“How did you get this number?” He asked now walking out of the room so Nick couldn’t hear.

“Never mind that stay on the case.” And just like that he hung up.



Immediately Kevin redialed but once again was met with a constant ringing. He tried once more, “Answer dammit!” But yet again no answer.



He called his office getting Howie on the phone. “D, I need you to run a number for me, he called me again this time on my cell.”



“He what?”



“He called again here’s the number…(787)464-2326”



“That’s the number he called from?”



“Yeah”



“Okay hang on.” Kevin held onto the phone as he waited to see who that number belonged to.



“Okay Kev the phone records have that belonging to a Jack Roberts.”



“That might be our guy.”



“Okay I’ll tell Tyler and we’ll get down there right away.”



“Okay hang on and I’ll be…crap no I can’t. I’m watching Nick.”



“And your sick…don’t worry about this one; we’ll take care of it.”



“Be careful D and I want a full report as soon a possible okay?”



“Okay.”



When he hung up the phone Nick was out in the hallway clinging onto his father’s shirt and staring at his older brother. “What’s wrong Nicky?”



“Is someone trying to hurt you Kevin?” He asked as tears filled his eyes.



Quickly Kevin squatted down and let Nick run over to him as he hugged him, “No baby no one’s going to hurt me okay? It was nothing let’s go back inside and I’ll read you a story.”



“Are you sure?”



“Yes I’m sure…come on.”



They both walked passed the table holding the Precious Moments figurines that Kevin had knocked over earlier, not noticing that one was missing from its place.


I'm not sure when i'll be back to update this one, my guess is about a week. Thanks for reading!