Maria had wanted to have a Friday night family dinner with Aaron and the kids, but Samantha had gotten her way after whining all the way to and from school about not being able to sleep over at her friend’s house. She had also complained about the difficulty of making friends in such a small town if she was always stuck at home on the weekends.
“You know she’s going to keep throwing that in your face, right?” Aaron said. “And now that you’ve caved—”
“I know, Aaron. You don’t have to remind me.” Maria noticed Cody moving his food around with his fork, but not eating. “You don’t like the enchiladas?”
Cody glanced at Maria and took a bite of his food. He chewed slowly and winced. Aaron stared at Cody while he stabbed two pieces of enchiladas with his fork, but he didn’t say anything. He held his focus on Cody for a brief moment, when his phone chimed. He chewed his food while he checked the message.
“Would you put that phone away?” Maria complained. “We’re eating.”
Daniel Corbin made bail, the message from Sergeant Henderson stated.
Aaron replied: When did he get out?
“Seriously?” Maria said. “You’re going to sit there and text while we’re eating?”
Aaron apologized and relinquished the phone to his wife with a playful and sheepish expression on his face. The phone chimed again in the middle of the surrendering transaction. Aaron held his grip on the phone, but Maria yanked it from his hand and shook her head.
“At least tell me what it says.”
“You need some serious help,” Maria teased, and checked the message. “Scott says ‘an hour ago.’ And no, I’m not going to answer him for you.”
Aaron laughed. “I’m not that—”
“May I be excused?” Cody asked.
“But you’ve barely touched your dinner,” Maria said.
“I’m sorry. I’m just not feeling well.”
Aaron and Maria shared glances. “Okay, sweetie,” Maria said. “Is it your stomach?”
Cody nodded and glimpsed at Aaron.
“I thought something was up,” Aaron said, and placed the back of his hand against Cody’s forehead. “Feeling nauseous?”
Cody shook his head. “Not really. My stomach just hurts.” Cody lowered his eyes to the plate of food and then raised them at Maria. “I’m sorry. I know you worked hard on making us dinner.”
Maria formed a sympathetic smile. “That’s okay, sweetie. I’ll make you some chamomile tea, if you want.”
Cody smiled a little, and nodded. Then he got up and went to his bedroom, his hand held over his stomach. Aaron also noticed a slight wobble in Cody’s steps. He waited for Cody to close his bedroom door before saying anything else. “That’s no stomach ache.”
“It’s not?”
“No,” he frowned. “He’s getting bullied at school.”
“What? How do you know?”
“He told me,” Aaron said, while getting up from the table. He finished his glass of iced tea. “He didn’t want me to say anything.”
“How long has this been going on?” Maria grabbed Cody’s plate and placed it on the kitchen counter.
“I don’t know. I just found out about it a couple of days ago, but he made it clear that he didn’t want me getting involved.”
Marie eyed him. “But you did, didn’t you?”
“I kind of confronted the bully yesterday.”
“And you think he retaliated?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m sure of it.” Aaron gazed up at the ceiling and rubbed his neck. “I thought it would help. You know, with me being a cop, but that may have just made it worse.”
Maria grabbed his plate from the table. “You were just trying to look out for him. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Aaron raised his eyebrows and twisted his mouth. “Yeah, maybe. Doesn’t feel like it, though.” He headed towards Cody’s bedroom. “I’m going to go to talk to him.”
“Aaron.”
“I just want to apologize.”
“At least help me with the dishes, first, okay?”
“All right. I’m sorry.” Aaron turned around and helped his wife finish cleaning up the kitchen. Then he headed back towards Cody’s bedroom.
He tapped on the door, cracked it open, and poked his head around the door. Cody was slouched over the desk with his head resting on his arms. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep and steady. Aaron pulled the comforter back on Cody’s bed and then gave him a gentle shake. He didn’t respond.
Aaron pulled the chair back. “Come on, kiddo.”
Cody whimpered while Aaron lifted him out of the chair. His arms dangled behind Aaron’s back while he carried him to the bed. He pulled the comforter over him, and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sorry if I made things harder on you. I just want to protect you.”
Aaron felt arms wrap around him from behind. Maria kissed him on the temple. “He’s lucky to have you in his life. He doesn’t show it most of the time, but he loves you very much.”
Aaron inhaled a deep, exhausted breath, and exhaled with a flutter of his lips.
“I know,” Maria said, resting her chin on Aaron’s shoulder. Cody’s eyes moved rapidly behind his eyelids. He turned over on his side, grumbled, and then rolled onto his back. Maria knelt next to the bed and ran her hand through his hair. “It looks like he’s having a bad dream.”
Aaron glanced at the Bible on Cody’s desk. “Let’s hope not.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Rumors
“And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him,” Father Sotoro read from the Holy Bible during Sunday Mass at Saint Michael’s Catholic Church, “and the child was cured from that very hour.” The priest continued to share the story with the congregation, and mentioned how Jesus’s disciples asked Him why they could not cast the demon out. “It was because of their lack of faith. In Matthew 17:20, the scripture tells us in the Lord’s words that, with faith as small as a mustard seed, we can move mountains. With faith, nothing is impossible.”
Maria, Samantha, and Cody sat a few rows from the front of the chapel. Maria smiled when she noticed Cody highlighting scriptures in his Bible during the sermon. It was the first time she had ever seen him do that. He impressed her even more by how quickly he thumbed through the pages to find the scriptures referenced by the priest. It brought back memories of when she’d had to help Aaron find the scriptures while sitting at the back of the chapel at Saint Hedwig Youth Home. It was the one memory from the events there that put a smile on her face. Everything else had been a nightmare.
After the service, Cody asked for permission to speak with the priest. Maria found that a bit peculiar, but that was exactly what she and Aaron had decided on. She was relieved that Cody had been the one to bring it up. When she followed him, Cody stopped her, stating that he wanted to speak to Father Sotoro alone.
“I’ll just be a minute, okay?”
“Okay, sweetie.”
Father Sotoro stood nearby, visiting with other patrons. Cody waited to get his attention, while Maria sat in a pew and waited with Samantha. When Cody finally got the priest’s attention, the elderly man bent forward to allow Cody to speak into his ear. His cheerful expression abruptly turned serious. He motioned for Cody to sit on the front pew and knelt in front of him. The priest held his hands and closed his eyes.
“Where are you going?” Maria said to her daughter, as she walked up the aisle towards the foyer.
“Outside. Is that okay?”
“No, stay with me.”
Samantha rolled her eyes and shifted her weight to one leg. “We’re at a church, Mom. Nothing is going to happen to me.” She pointed towards the crowded foyer. “Anyway, Aaron’s here.” Maria turned toward the foyer. “Where? I don’t see him.”
“Right there,” Samantha said, pointing a stern finger. “He’s talking to Mr. Henderson, over there by the fountain.”
Maria finally spotted her husband and Sergeant Henderson standing by the baptismal fountain
in the middle of the foyer. “Okay, fine. Tell Aaron that I’ll be there as soon as Father Sotoro is done praying with Cody.”
“All right, Mom, I will.”
The priest prayed with Cody for about five minutes. After the prayer, he formed the sign of the cross over Cody and spoke with him for another few minutes. Cody stood and wrapped his arms around the old man. He held the embrace for a full minute before thanking him and returning to Maria.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
Cody sniffled and rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He glanced at Sergeant Henderson. “What’s he doing here?”
“Who? Scott? He goes to church here. I guess you didn’t see him with his family.” Maria pointed to a section on the other side of the church. “They were sitting right over there.”
“Oh… okay.”
“There’s Mrs. Henderson, right there,” Maria said, as a tall brunette woman approached them with her twin five-year-old boys.
“Hi, Maria!” she greeted Maria and gave her a warm embrace. “And you must be Cody. I’m so glad to see you made it to church this morning.”
Cody formed a subtle smile and glanced at the twins, who were both staring at him with peculiar curiosity. “Um, it was nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Henderson.”
“You two go with Cody,” she instructed the twins, as Cody walked away. “Mommy’s going to talk to her friend for a minute.”
Cody wrinkled his forehead and gave Mrs. Henderson a sideways glance. He didn’t wait for the young boys, but continued towards the foyer. Halfway up the aisle, the two younger boys closed their hands over each of his. He stopped and looked down at them. They met his gaze and grinned. Cody shook his head and walked with the Henderson boys into the foyer.
“Well, isn’t that sweet?” their mother said. “They never warm up to anybody that quickly.”
“Your twins are really cute, Regina.”
“Thank you. That’s very sweet of you to say so.” She watched the kids stand by their father. “Scott and I were just talking about having your family over for dinner next weekend.” Regina pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “I’ll text you the address. Scott’s been dying to try out his new barbecue. God willing, the weather will be nice enough.”
“That sounds nice. I think Aaron would like that, too.” Maria waved at Sergeant Henderson. “What are you doing for lunch today?”
“We were going to eat Mexican, but Scott has some business to tend to at the office, so it’s just burgers over at the Dairy Queen. You and your family are welcome to join us, if you’d like. I swear my husband is such a workaholic.”
Maria laughed. “Trust me, I know what you mean. I can’t remember the last time Aaron came home at a decent hour.”
“Well, they do what they love. So, I guess that’s what’s important. I don’t know how they do it, though. Seeing dead bodies and investigating murders and such. Horrible thing, what happened to that Cunningham boy at the park. Scares the living daylights out of me, knowing there’s someone out there that evil.”
Maria nodded. “Uh-huh. Let’s not ruin a beautiful Sunday afternoon with that type of talk, though.”
Regina formed a big smile. “You’re so right, sister. No sense letting the devil take the joy out of our lives. Let’s go eat.”
†
Aaron lit a cigarette in the Dairy Queen parking lot after lunch. He stood by his Corvette and watched Maria and Regina carrying on a lively conversation inside the store. Samantha sat across from them with her eyes glued to her cell phone, tapping away on the screen at lightning speed. Cody sat in an adjacent booth with the Henderson twins. It was nice to see him having fun for a change, as he made the youngsters laugh with his funny faces.
Scott joined Aaron outside. “Those cancer sticks are going to kill you,” he teased, while slipping his phone into his pocket.
“Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be the cigarettes that put me in the ground.” Aaron shook a cigarette partially out of its package and held it out to Scott.
“You know I don’t smoke.”
“So much for peer pressure,” Aaron joked, while putting the package away. He took in a pull of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke through his nose. “So, you finally got yourself that pit you’ve been drooling over, huh?”
“Yep. Only six hundred bucks later.”
“Only?”
“Trust me. It wasn’t easy convincing Regina that it was a good purchase. Otherwise, you’d be attending my funeral soon.”
“What makes you think I’d go to your funeral?” Aaron jerked an elbow to Scott’s gut.
Scott laughed. “You know you love me, brother.” He nodded towards the boys inside the fast-food restaurant. “Luke and Mark have really warmed up to Cody, haven’t they?”
Aaron nodded. “Yeah, they have. Cody’s been going through a bit of rough spell for a while now. It’s rare to see him smiling and laughing like that.” He squeezed Scott’s shoulder. “Those kids of yours have a gift.”
“Yeah? How so?”
“It’s like they flipped a switch on him. You have no idea.” Aaron smoked more of his cigarette and snuffed it out against the brick wall on the building. He flicked the butt into some bushes. “Well, I guess I’m going to head back home and catch a ballgame.”
“Aaron, wait.” Scott stopped him before he got in the car. “I’ve got to talk to you about something.”
Aaron gave him a suspicious glare. “About what?” Scott rubbed his chin and hesitated. “About what, Scott?”
He placed his hand on the roof of the car. “It’s about Cody.”
“What about Cody?”
“Richard wants to talk to Cody about Randall Cunningham.”
Aaron pulled his keys out of his pocket. “I’ve already talked to Cody about it. He barely knew the kid.”
“You know that’s not enough. I’m just relaying information that the Sheriff wanted me to share with you.”
Aaron leaned back against his car and crossed his arms. He stared at Scott for a moment, but he knew there was no way around it. They needed to get Cody’s official statement since he knew Randy, even if only as an acquaintance. “All right. I’ll bring him in after he gets out of school tomorrow.”
“Actually, he wanted to see him this afternoon.”
“On a Sunday? Why didn’t he just ask me himself?”
“I don’t know. It just kind of came up.”
“Whatever. Doesn’t matter.”
Maria, Regina and the kids exited the building and walked towards the men in the parking lot. Cody jogged over to Aaron, with the twins skipping behind him. Samantha stood by Maria’s Mercedes with all of her attention on her smart phone, still tapping away on it.
“Is it okay if I go over to the Henderson’s house?” Cody asked. “Mark and Luke wanted to know if I could come over to play video games. Maria said it was okay, but she said I had to ask you first.”
Aaron glanced at Scott and nibbled on the corner of his mouth, showing clear discomfort. “I’m sorry, Cody, not today. We’re going over there for a barbecue next weekend, anyway. So, you’ll have plenty of time to hang out with them then.”
“Why can’t I go today? It’s not like we have anything else going on.”
“You can hang out with them next weekend.”
“Fine,” Cody said, pouting, and stepped around Aaron’s car. He pressed down on the passenger door handle, but it wouldn’t open. “Would you unlock the door, please?”
“Come on, boys,” Scott addressed his kids and grabbed their hands. “I’ll see you at the office, Aaron.”
Aaron nodded at him. Luke and Mark looked back and waved goodbye to Cody. He returned the gesture with nonchalance. Then he glared at Aaron. “That’s why I can’t go? Because you and Mr. Henderson are working today?”
Aaron unlocked the passenger side door and opened it. “Just get in the car. I’ll explain on the way.”
†
“You weren’t there
, so you have no idea,” Aaron said, while standing in the middle of Sheriff Donovan’s office. He had his hands resting on his hips and his thumbs hooked on his belt. His eyes were focused and his temples were pulsating.
Sergeant Henderson sat in a chair in front of the Sheriff’s desk. “Can I say something?”
Aaron glared at him.
“What, Scott?” Sheriff Donovan barked.
“I just wanted to say that I agree with Aaron.”
Aaron raised his eyebrows.
“Course, you do,” the Sheriff said. He grabbed a pen off his desk and fiddled with it while the three remained silent for an awkward minute. Sheriff Donovan finally broke the silence. “I don’t mean to try and open up old wounds. I respect that yer boy’s been through one heck of a ringer, but that was two years ago.”
“It’s not something you just get over,” Aaron said in a calm voice.
“That ain’t what I said. I just think he might be able to shed a little light on some things.”
“Like what?”
“Like whether or not this Cunningham boy’s association with Peter Slavic—and his dealings with Daniel Corbin—had anything to do with his death.”
“Then maybe we should talk to them, instead of wasting our time with Cody. Start with that drug pushing prick, Daniel Corbin, if you ask me.”
“Oh, trust me,” Sheriff Donovan said. “I agree with ya’ one hundred percento on that one. We ain’t done with that piece of cow manure. Selling drugs to kids ain’t something I take lightly. But we ain’t got nothin’ solid right now. Nothin’ to suggest he had anything to do with that boy’s death.”
“Except for the fact he removed a piece of evidence from the crime scene, which also happened to be where I found a photo of me with that creepy scripture reference on the back of it.”
Henderson mentioned that he’d already sent a blood sample to the lab. “But I think we know it’s going to match Randall Cunningham.”
Devil's Nightmare: Premonitions (Devil's Nightmare, Book 2) Page 24