Phantoms of the Moon

by Michael Ciardi

Before daylight had dwindled into darkness, the investigation into the matter of Victor’s death was officially regarded as a botched kidnapping attempt. After the proper reports and photographs were recorded, Victor’s body was promptly transported to the morgue, where it was scheduled for an autopsy at a later date. After an extensive medical evaluation, the infant was returned to his mother for what amounted to be a joyous reunion.

  Miraculously, no apparent injuries had been detected on the baby, and the officers were further surprised to learn that the infant escaped without even sustaining a minor bruise. While the doctors admitted that such an outcome was highly unusual, Hailey took her baby in her arms with an expectation that things could not turn out any differently.

  Braxton was prepared to close the book on this incident, but not before being drawn to Hailey’s room for a few questions that still nagged him. He entered Hailey’s room just after twilight. She still held her infant in her arms when Braxton tapped his knuckles on the room’s door.

  “That’s one lucky baby you have there,” Braxton declared. He then introduced himself before pacing into the room. “It’s been a long day,” he said. “I’m sorry to disturb you so suddenly.”

  “It’s okay,” said Hailey as she swept her dark hair away from her face. “I don’t know if the nurses told you, but I’m very thankful for your help, Lieutenant Braxton. My baby owes his life to you and the other officers.”

  “Well, we’re glad to be here when people really need us,” he said humbly. The man’s expression still appeared more unsettled than Hailey believed it should have, however, which prompted her to become a bit nervous by his unexpected appearance.

  “Is everything okay, Lieutenant?” she asked.

  “Oh, everything is fine, Miss Gardner. Um, I just feel a little awkward about coming into your room so soon after all that’s happened. You’ve been through a lot today already. I’d hate to bother you with anything else.”

  “You’re not bothering me. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong parse,” he replied. “It’s just a little police business—you understand how these things work.”

  “Not really,” Hailey answered somberly. “Do you need something from me?”

  “Well, I need a few questions answered—you know, so I can clear up everything and I won’t have to hassle you again.”

  “It’s no problem,” Hailey reassured the lieutenant. “Hey, it’s the least I can do after all that you’ve done for me and my baby.”

  “That’s very nice of you, Miss Gardner. I knew you’d be cooperative.”

  After acknowledging the girl’s praise, the lieutenant proceeded into the room and stationed in the same recliner Victor had found comfort in earlier. The burly man had an unlit cigar crammed in the corner of his mouth, just under the shadow of his mustache. He still acted slightly embarrassed by his forwardness, but not enough to desist from his objective.

  “Maybe this isn’t the best time to ask,” Braxton declared while removing a small notepad from his shirt pocket. “But how did you know the boy who attempted to kidnap your baby?”

  Hailey hesitated briefly before saying, “He was my ex-boyfriend’s best friend. Honestly, I think he had a crush on me, too.”

  “I’d say that’s a fair assumption,” said Braxton, scribbling her response into his notepad. As the lieutenant continued to write, the point on his pencil snapped. He immediately fumbled though his pockets in search of a spare writing utensil. “Forgive me—I tend to be a little absentminded,” he declared apologetically. “I just need to write these things down—if that’s okay with you, Miss?”

  Hailey now recognized that the lieutenant seemed a bit more disorganized than she originally surmised. She waited somewhat impatiently until he found another pencil tucked in his hip pocket.

  “Ah,” said Braxton, holding up the dull-pointed pencil. “Well, this should be fine. Can we continue now, Miss Gardner?”

  “Sure—whatever you need to do,” Hailey responded, but not as enthusiastically as before.

  “Okay, so where were we again, Miss—?”

  “You asked me about Victor,” Hailey reminded him.

  “Of course I did,” said Braxton as he pressed his fingertips against his forehead. “Gosh, you know, I can’t believe the way my memory fails me at times—anyway, this is so embarrassing. I’ll get my thoughts in order—I promise, Miss Gardner.”

  “Okay. Take your time.”

  “Ah, yes,” Braxton continued, “you’re right. We started to talk about the perpetrator. Were you expecting him to come and see you here today?”

  “No,” Hailey answered plainly. “He just showed up. I think he told me he worked here, but that turned out to be a lie.”

  “Yes, you’re correct, Miss Gardner. He in fact wasn’t employed here. Um, but did you talk to him at school or anywhere else recently?”

  “Not lately. I haven’t spoken to him in months.”

  Braxton scribbled notes into his pad as she spoke. He took a few minutes to review the facts before asking, “So you’ve had conversations with the boy in the past?”

  “Yeah,” Hailey responded with a shrug of her shoulders. “We went to high school together, and as I said, he was my ex-boyfriend’s best friend.”

  “That’s right,” Braxton tittered, “I remember you mentioning that now. My memory is getting sharper by the second. Um, so that I’m not confused, what is your ex-boyfriend’s name?”

  Hailey paused briefly to evaluate the lieutenant’s question. She didn’t seem eager to answer. “I don’t see how that matters,” she answered tersely. “He was just an ex-boyfriend. I’m not bragging, but I’ve had quite a few.”

  “Of that I’m sure, Miss Gardner, but I only need to know the name of the perpetrator’s friend. Can you help me out with that?”

  “It’s not going to make any difference if I tell you, Lieutenant. You’ll never find him now.”

  Braxton appeared perplexed by this statement. “You’re going to have to help me out again, Miss Gardner. Belle Falls is a relatively small town. I don’t see how it would be too difficult to locate him—I mean, if I needed to find him for any particular reason.”

  “He’s the boy who vanished nine months ago,” she said softly, but with no genuine emotion. “His name was Ryan Hayden.”

  Braxton knew the name well, and was equally familiar with the disappearance of the boy’s family. Hailey’s response immediately raised the lieutenant’s eyebrow. “A lot of folks have been looking for that young man. I suppose I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t ask you if you knew of his whereabouts?”

  “I don’t,” Hailey answered snippily.

  “I’m sorry for prying—you see, I knew I’d be a bother to you, Miss Gardner.”

  “It’s okay,” she sighed. “I’ve been asked that question about a thousand times over the last year. I guess I’m just tired of answering it.”

  “I see,” said Braxton as he adjusted the cigar in his mouth. “I imagine it’s quite difficult losing someone so close to you.” The lieutenant then gestured to the baby on her lap and said, “You obviously shared something very special together.”

  “What are you talking about, Lieutenant?”

  “Um, the baby, of course,” said Braxton innocently. “I assume your ex-boyfriend is the father—?”

  “I never said that,” Hailey replied.

  Braxton’s cheeks flushed slightly before he said, “I…I just made a presumption. Gosh, I really should stop doing that stuff—especially in my line of work.”

  “Ryan was my ex-boyfriend,” Hailey clarified. “We broke up months before I became pregnant.”

  “My apologies, Miss Gardner,” said Braxton while he adjusted his notes. “You would think after twenty-five years on the job I’d learn how to do these things correctly. So that this doesn’t happen again, may I ask who the father is?”

  The longer Lieutenant Braxton lingered in the room, the more uncomfortable Hailey became. “Did I
do something wrong?” she asked, measuring her tone against the lieutenant’s body language.

  “Not to my knowledge,” Braxton answered.

  “Then why are you asking me so many questions?”

  Braxton leaned closer to Hailey’s bedside and closed his notebook. He didn’t pretend to be delicate or doddering any longer. “Here’s the thing, Miss Gardner. I’ve got a seventeen-year-old boy in the morgue of this hospital with a bullet lodged in his heart. So it’s imperative that I investigate this matter from all angles before I inform Victor’s father that the police shot and killed his son today.”

  “But I’m the victim here,” said Hailey tonelessly. “Victor tried to kill my baby. He was insane.”

  “Yes, you may have a point there, Miss Gardner. The boy must’ve been unquestionably unbalanced to want to harm an innocent baby. What in the world would possess another human being to attempt such a heinous act?”

  “I won’t shed any tears for him. He got what he deserved, Lieutenant.”

  “Perhaps that’s true,” Braxton conceded, “but I’m troubled by what the boy said—before he died.”

  “He was crazy,” Hailey reminded the lieutenant. “Do you really care what an insane person rants about?”

  Braxton lowered his voice and stared directly into Hailey’s eyes before he spoke again. “He insisted that your baby wasn’t human. Needless to say, it was a strange statement, and he said it more than once. Even if the boy was beyond bonkers, why would he make such an outlandish accusation?”

  “You expect me to know why?”

  “It’s a rhetorical question, Miss Gardner. It helps me think. Anyway, it’s a lot to consider. I’m still frazzled by all that’s happened today, and I’m sure you are, too.”

  “Very much so,” said Hailey. “Before today, I never thought Victor was a bad person—a little shy, maybe…but you know what they say about the quiet ones. You have to watch out for them.”

  “That seems a bit unfair even when it’s accurate,” Braxton declared.

  On that note, Lieutenant Braxton closed his pad and returned his pencil to his hip pocket. He then offered Hailey a subdued smile as he stood up from the recliner. Hailey tended to her baby’s needs as he began to fidget in her arms. Braxton peered at the infant closely, almost with scrutinizing concern. When Hailey noticed the lieutenant inspecting her infant, she pulled the blanket back from his head to reveal his features.

  “You see, Lieutenant Braxton,” she said, turning the baby slightly toward him. “A perfectly healthy baby boy—and as you can see, very much human.”

  Now embarrassed, Braxton scratched at his temple and began to back out of the room. “Forgive my intrusion,” he said. “I know you have much more important things to consider.”

  “Goodnight, Lieutenant Braxton,” Hailey whispered.

  “Oh, thank you, Miss Gardner. You’ve been very helpful. And when you’re feeling up to it, maybe you can answer a few more questions—if that’s agreeable to you?”

  “I won’t make you any promises,” she said in an equally hushed voice.

  “Of course,” Braxton muttered under his breath. “Well, this job never gets any easier. Goodnight, Miss Gardner. I’ll be in touch if I can think of anything else.” The lieutenant didn’t wait for a reply this time. He simply disappeared behind the frame of the door.

  Braxton still had more questions stirring his head, and maybe that amount increased since he spoke to Hailey. But none of his curiosity was satisfied on this day. When leaving the hospital, the lieutenant noticed an unusually dressed man standing outside the medical facility’s main entrance. The elderly man didn’t appear to have any urgent business in the hospital, and looked a bit out of place. He might’ve gone unnoticed if was not for his gray suit and matching cowboy hat. Before he crossed the street, Braxton directed a long stare in the man’s direction.

  After a few moments, the gray-suited man looped his thumbs in his gold belt buckle and meandered down the street. As he walked forward, his head tilted toward the facility’s windows. Braxton continued to watch the man’s movement until he disappeared between two buildings on a side street. The lieutenant almost followed the silver-suited stranger, but another call from his radio distracted his intentions. When Braxton responded to the dispatcher from his squad car, he was informed that Victor Walden’s death represented the first time in the history of Belle Falls that a person was shot and killed while committing a crime. Although Braxton harbored no desire to predict the fate of this town’s reputation, he took brief comfort in the fact that this forthcoming evening promised more serenity than the day. Still, as the lieutenant drove off in his squad car, he trained one eye on the third floor of the medical facility. Twilight had just faded into the surroundings. An array of shadows soon converged over the terrain.

  Upstairs, on the medical facility’s third floor, Hailey snuggled her newborn with a touch unique to motherhood. The infant she named Randy slept peacefully against her breast, no doubt lulled into silence by the soft cadence of his mother’s heartbeat. Hailey glanced toward the window near her bedside. As the sky darkened, she noticed the first visible star of this night. A feeling of contentment enveloped her senses as the celestial eye of evening soon set the late summer sky aglow.

  She had never felt more at peace with herself as she imagined the lunar light pouring over her flesh, and then directly upon the fragile features of her child. Sleep came easy to her now, and her dreams had new focus. Before drifting to the solitude of her subliminal thoughts, she offered one final gaze through the window. A single streak of silver light trailed across the heavens, reminding her that she was not alone. In time, Hailey Gardner learned to understand her place among the stars, and the infant she cradled so dearly in her arms soon embraced his chance to flourish among the Phantoms of the Moon.

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