Killer Genius

by David Archer

Summer had overheard, and shook her head. "I’ve got this, Sam,” she said. “I'll take him home with me. I can keep an eye on him, and we get along pretty well. Don’t we, Eric?"

  Eric looked at her for a moment, then glanced over at Sam. “Um…” He swallowed. “I guess so.”

  Sam rubbed his face briefly. "If you really don't mind, I would appreciate it."

  Summer grinned and turned back to Eric. "Hey, Eric. You're gonna come home with me tonight, okay? I'll put you in my guest room, and we'll come back here in the morning." She took his hand and began to pull Eric to his feet.

  "You can just call. Send me back." Eric got to his feet, but then he looked at her hopefully. "Unless you want my help again?"

  Sam and Darren looked at each other.

  "We actually haven't decided yet," Sam said carefully, turning his eyes back to Eric. "We've got you for three days, though, so we’ll see what's waiting when we come in tomorrow. Tonight, we just need to go home and sleep."

  Eric nodded, but the hopeful look remained in his eyes. "Okay. I can do that. I—I can do that. Now?"

  Summer nodded her head. "Yes. Right now, let’s go."

  "Okay." Eric let her lead him out the door, and Sam was a little surprised at how docile he appeared.

  “Looks like she’s got the situation under control,” Darren said. “Of course, the kid probably has a crush on her by now.”

  “That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing,” Sam said. “Might even help him grow up a little bit.”

  Darren looked at Sam and rolled his eyes. “Summer? Spending time with her might make a guy want to stay a kid for a long time.”

  Steve stepped in between them. “No, it wouldn’t,” he said. “If anything, it’ll make him want to get older in a hurry.”

  THREE

  Summer had never seen a kid so fascinated with looking out a car window before. From the time they left the office to the moment they pulled up at her house, Eric's face was pressed against the glass. His eyes might as well have been sparkling. He was so amazed by every light, every billboard, every sign. There wasn't a single building or tree that wasn't stared at, not a single car went unnoticed.

  "You don't have any clothes with you, right?" Summer stuck her key in the door and gave it a twist, letting them both inside. "I'll get you a t-shirt to sleep in for tonight."

  Eric followed her inside and looked around, smiling at the core. "I can sleep in my clothes."

  Summer grinned at him. "There's nothing wrong with using one of my T-shirts,” she said. “I use them to sleep in myself, so they’re pretty big." She entered the key code to turn off the alarm.

  “Okay,” Eric said. “Can I take a shower?”

  “Of course,” Summer said. “The guestroom has its own bathroom, you can take a shower in there.”

  Eric nodded. “Okay, that’s fine.” He followed Summer down the hallway to the guestroom and let her lead him inside. The room was nice, if a little plain. He stared at the queen-sized bed for a moment, then sat down on it and bounced a little bit. “This is really soft,” he said. “I usually sleep on a cot.”

  Summer grinned. “Well, I hope you enjoy it. I want you to be comfortable while you’re here.”

  She started to turn away toward the door, but Eric jumped up and hurried around her.

  “You can’t leave me,” he said. “I’m not allowed to be alone.”

  Summer’s eyes went wide. “But you’re not alone,” she said. “My room is right down the hall. I’m not going to leave you here in the house by yourself. I’ll be right here in the house with you, you’re not alone.”

  “But that’s the rules,” Eric said. “When I’m out of the hospital, I can’t be alone at any time. Well, except to go to the bathroom, that’s all.”

  Summer managed to suppress the giggle that wanted to come out. “Well, I’m glad that’s permissible,” she said. “Really, Eric, it’ll be okay. You can sleep here, and I’ll show you where my room is, in case you need something in the middle of the night.”

  “No, no, no,” Eric said. “You don’t understand. I honestly can’t be alone, that’s the rules. Whenever I’m away from the hospital, I cannot be left alone.” He lowered his eyes to the floor. “I—sometimes I panic when I’m alone.”

  A single tear started to trace its way down his cheek. Summer stared for a moment, then reached out and took hold of his hand.

  “Okay,” she said. “You can sleep in my room with me. Would that be okay?”

  Eric’s eyes suddenly became big and round. “But you’re a girl,” he said.

  The giggle escaped. “Well, I’m glad you noticed,” Summer said. “Look, Eric, if you don’t want to sleep on the bed with me, I have an air mattress. We can blow that up and put it on the floor for you.”

  Eric stared at her for a moment, and she realized that he was doing his best not to look her up and down. “Okay,” he said. “Air mattress works.”

  “Okay, then,” she said. “Come on, I’m tired. I’ll get you a T-shirt and you can take a shower in my bathroom.” She started out the door, then stopped and looked at him again. “On second thought,” she said, “you’re about the same size as my boyfriend. I bet he’s got something here you can wear.”

  “You have a boyfriend?” Eric asked, letting her lead him through the hall.

  “Yep,” she said. “His name is Harvey, and he’s about your size. He keeps some clothes here for when he stays over.”

  It's hard to see him being any kind of threat, Summer thought, but she was in no way surprised by the childish nature he displayed. She could still see Eric's face as he gave them an amazing amount of information as if he were merely reading an essay. Still, he seems like a good kid. Weird, maybe, but he's a kid, no matter what.

  She found a pair of Harvey’s sweatpants in her closet and gave them to Eric, then hustled him into the bathroom. “You probably want to use Harvey’s shampoo,” she said. “It’s in the red bottle.”

  “Okay,” Eric said. He pushed the bathroom door until it was almost completely shut, then left it cracked a bit open.

  * * *

  Sam made his way quietly into the house, trying not to wake Indie or the kids. Indie was curled up on his side of the bed when he got to the bedroom, so he decided to skip a shower until morning and gently pushed her over so he could crawl in beside her.

  “Mmmm,” she mumbled. “You decided to come home, finally?”

  “A lot of paperwork to do,” he said. “It’s been a long day, babe.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “At least you’re here now,” she said. “I wasn’t sleeping very good without you. How did it go with the genius kid?”

  “Surprisingly well,” Sam said. “He was able to show us some things we had missed, and it definitely led to us catching the killer. Unfortunately, we were too late to save any of the latest round of victims.”

  Indie opened her eyes and looked at him. “But at least there won’t be any more,” she said. “That’s a good thing, Sam.”

  “I agree,” Sam said. “And it made my decision worthwhile.”

  * * *

  “Eric? You want breakfast?”

  Eric rolled over on the air mattress and looked up at her. “Breakfast?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I’m getting ready to make breakfast, so if you want some, come on down to the kitchen.”

  She turned and walked out the bedroom door, and wasn’t surprised to hear Eric scrambling up off the mattress to follow her.

  "I bet you're hungry."

  Eric nodded excitedly. "Yes, ma’am."

  “Good, because so am I,” Summer said. “You want scrambled eggs or Honey Puffs?” She held up the box of cereal.

  Eric’s eyes went round. “Cereal? With milk?”

  Summer grinned. “That’s how I eat it, yes,” she said.

  “Oh, wow,” Eric said. “I haven’t had cereal and milk in years. We eat biscuits and doughnuts for breakfast at the facility.”

&
nbsp; “Honey Puffs it is, then,” Summer said. She set a couple of bowls on the table and filled them up with the cereal, then grabbed a gallon of milk out of the fridge. She poured milk onto her own and slid it across the table to Eric. “Help yourself,” she said.

  In retrospect, she probably should’ve grabbed the paper towels before she gave him the milk. Eric looked like he was about to cry, but she only laughed it off.

  “Eric, it’s okay,” she said. “It’s just a little milk, it wipes right up.”

  “But I wasted it,” Eric said. “I didn’t mean to waste it.”

  She handed him a spoon and sat down at her own side of the table. “It’s all good,” he said. “Now, eat up. We need to get back to the office and see what’s going on.”

  * * *

  Denny looked over at Jade when she nudged him, and saw her motion for him to look over her shoulder. She kept her glance discreet, so Denny did the same, turning toward the door just as Summer stepped in with Eric on her heels. Both of them were smiling.

  "Hey, Summer," Denny said, turning his chair toward the doors and lifting a hand in greeting. "Eric. Coffee's ready if you want some."

  "Oh, I certainly do," Summer said with a sigh.

  "Is the coffee here like the coffee at the hospital?" Eric inquired, picking at the fabric of his sleeves. "Because the coffee at the hospital tastes awful, and I’d love to try some that doesn’t taste so bad."

  Denny chuckled and gestured toward the break room. "Get yourself a cup, and—"

  "We've got a new case." Sam said, coming into the conference room, barely looking up from the file in his hand as he sat down at the table. Jenna, his secretary, entered right behind him and turned on the monitor on the wall.

  “Sam,” she said, “your team has been requested to look into the bombing of a mobile home in Cassville, Missouri. It’s a small town just a short distance north of the Missouri-Arkansas border, and not known for this type of violence under normal circumstances. The mobile home belongs to a deputy sheriff, Jack Ramey, who was apparently killed in the blast, along with three other men. Local police have no suspects, and no leads. The sheriff there is a fan of yours, Sam, and convinced the county to put up the money to hire your team.”

  “That’s what Ron said,” Sam replied. “How soon do we leave?”

  “Ron has a plane waiting for you at the airport now,” Jenna said. “You’ll be flying into Fayetteville, Arkansas, and driving up from there. It’s about an hour’s drive from the airport to Cassville.”

  Denny let out a sigh and got to his feet. "Come on, Eric,” he said. “I'll get you a cup to take with us. We have to be on the plane in less than an hour."

  Eric blinked. "We? I get to come, too?"

  Denny picked up his own cup and started toward the break room. "Yes. We have a case we need to solve, so we might as well use you while you're with us."

  "Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course." Eric looked down sadly, though Denny couldn't tell if it was the idea of being used or the thought of going back to NFH that troubled him the most.

  FOUR

  "Are you listening to music?"

  It had taken Eric a good forty-five minutes to stop staring out the windows, watching the clouds and the sky beyond with fascinated eyes. Once the sky no longer held his attention, however, he became extremely bored and began getting restless. He changed seats and positions at least a half-dozen times, until he finally sat down next to Denny and tapped his right headphone.

  Denny pulled the headset down so it rested on his neck. "Yeah. Kills time."

  Eric nodded, staring at the headphones with a look of jealousy. "I love listening to music. I only have a few albums, though, and my MP3 player."

  Denny smiled at him. "Well, did you bring it with you?"

  Eric scowled. "No, I wasn’t allowed to. When they told me I was coming out here, they said I had to concentrate on whatever you wanted me to do, but I can have it when I get back. Then I can listen to all the music I want to."

  "Hey, Eric," Sam called to him from across the plane. "It's time for you to take your medicine."

  Eric looked stubborn, his reaction suddenly quite immature, but Sam had been warned about it. "I don't want to."

  "You don't get to make that call, Eric. You missed them last night due to the circumstance you were in, but that isn't going to be the way it normally goes." Sam picked up the zippered bag from beside his seat and opened it up, and then looked surprised. "Oh, my, what's this?"

  Eric perked up suddenly as he watched Sam reach into the bag.

  "Huh." Sam pulled out a small MP3 player and tangled headphones, holding them up for Eric to see. "It appears they sent this along as a reward if you don't give us any trouble about taking your medication."

  Eric broke into a smile when he saw what was in Sam's hand. "I'll take them! I'll take them right now, Mr. Prichard!"

  Denny chuckled to himself, silently cheering Sam for taking advantage of the situation. It hadn't been intentional, but by listening to music, Denny made Eric want his own music that much more. Sam used it so easily, Denny almost had to wonder if he had been expecting it.

  "You're going to need to eat something." Summer opened her bag and began looking through the contents, pulling out a plastic container and handing it across the table to Sam. "There. Give him that with his pills."

  Eric jumped up and hustled over to Sam, holding his hands out expectantly. He saw the plastic container and tilted his head to the side, momentarily distracted. "Is that for me?"

  Summer smiled. “Turkey sandwiches,” she said. “I got them from the break room before we left, because I figured you might get hungry on the flight.”

  He took the container and opened it, then looked up at Summer. “There’s two sandwiches,” he said. “Is the other one for you?”

  “Nope,” she said. “Those are both for you.” She rummaged in her bag again and produced a bottle of root beer. “And here, you can wash it down with this.”

  Eric took the bottle and stared at it. “I haven’t had root beer since the day I got arrested,” he said. He looked up at her with a smile on his face and a tear in his eyes. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

  A quiet settled over them, and Denny felt some kind of agitation in his gut. Somehow, the thought of such a nice kid being deprived of something as simple as a root beer suddenly struck him as cruel and unusual. Granted, some of the people NFH dealt with needed limitations, and that he could understand—when someone could turn everyday items into an IED, you had to make sure they didn't have access to certain things, but Eric just seemed so innocent. He didn’t display any desire to hurt anyone, and Denny couldn't see any reason to keep him under such draconian control.

  Summer smiled, and Eric smiled back.

  It was the first time Denny had seen Eric smile since they had first met. His face was full of the same delight that kept him looking out the airplane window, his face glowing with a kind of happiness that reminded Denny of happier times of his own, back in England.

  The kid was honestly happy, at least for the moment.

  "Thank you, Ms. Raines."

  "You're welcome, Eric," she said.

  Eric turned to Sam then, almost dancing as he stood in the aisle. "Can I have my pills, please, ?"

  Sam pursed his lips and pretended to consider the question, and then he handed over the small bag of pills. "If you promise to take these as soon as you eat, I'll give you the MP3 player now."

  Eric nodded vigorously, smiling again as if he was about to explode with sheer joy.

  Sam grinned at him for another moment, and then handed over the device.

  "Yes!" Eric took the MP3 player and hurried back to his seat, a smile once again spread across his youthful face.

  It was only a few seconds before Denny heard Eric humming to himself as he listened to something through the earphones, and he couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. Eric was such a likable kid. His smile, despite how rarely it appeared, was genuinely priceless.


  I wonder how long we could manage to keep him.

  Eric looked up at Summer and tried to speak, but he was struggling to get out the words he wanted to say. "I, uh—I… this was very… you didn't have to do this. So, um… thanks."

  Summer arched an eyebrow. "You have a problem offering thanks to people, don't you?"

  Eric nodded his head slowly. "Yeah,” he said quietly. “Something like that."

  Summer chuckled and shook her head. She actually found it sad that the lad had such a hard time accepting assistance. Of course, it was normal for a kid to be at least a little bit arrogant, to insist on being independent and doing things their own way, but Eric seemed to want to be better than that. Summer found it endearing.

  Denny was also watching. He smiled, shook his head, and slipped his arm around Eric's shoulders. "You're alright, kid. You're bloody alright."

  Eric was tense for a moment, but then he relaxed, putting his thumbnail between his teeth and chewing idly. "Good… that's good, right?"

  Denny chuckled and leaned back into the seat.

  Eric was more than just a likable kid. He was actually a very good kid, but Denny had the feeling that he ought to stay on guard.

  * * *

  Denny's gut was right.

  The crime scene was a mess, with half of the old single wide trailer scattered across half an acre. The entire team stood back as Walter walked through it, but then they all gathered around him for his report.

  “This is simple,” Walter said. “Jack Ramey owns the place, he’s the deputy sheriff who was killed. He lived here with his son, Lee, who was gone this morning when the bomb went off because he had already left for school. The explosion happened in the kitchen, and the bomb had apparently been hidden under the sink. The entire kitchen was blown to bits, and the debris went through some of the thin walls. Deputy Ramey and three other men had been sitting in the kitchen when it happened, and all four of them died instantly from the shockwave and impacts from the debris, according to the medical examiner.”

  Sheriff James Merton, who was there with them, nodded his head. “That’s right,” he said. “Jack and some of his neighbors all tend to get together in the morning before he comes to work. They sit around his table and drink coffee.” He shook his head. “Well, they did.”