Jaxon stood outside the hacker’s home who he now knew belonged to one Bartholomew Jenson. The headless teen was more than likely Quentin Jenson, but since the head was not in the house, they would have to wait for fingerprint ID or DNA. The mother, Jeanette, had been the woman on the couch and the other male, Quentin’s older brother, John. All of them had rap sheets, including the hacker. Jaxon was confident it would only be a matter of minutes before they confirmed the headless kid’s identity.
Victoria was working with the Crime Scene Lab, trying to extract anything they could from the boy’s computer, but they had to collect any evidence from the room and the body before they could move the boy out and concentrate on the computers in the room. Initially, Victoria hadn’t been able to manipulate the main system to display anything other than the cat video where the feline tickled the ivories of a pink piano while a large mutt licked his balls in the background. Funny, but pretty much useless and annoying at this point. At least they could turn the sound off.
Jaxon had called the Harrison father and given him instructions so he could come and retrieve the two kids. They were a wreck and even the boy leaked a few tears when Victoria told him his friend and his friend’s family were dead. She didn’t provide specifics. The girl buried her face in Luke’s shoulder and sobbed until the father came and took them home. Jaxon gave explicit instructions to the man not to stop for anything. Take the kids straight to the house and do not leave until instructed. The girl was to remain at the Harrison’s until Jaxon came by to get her. The police officers stationed in the neighborhood would double their presence in front of both their houses. The father didn’t look impressed. “I have a gun,” he had said. Normally, Jaxon would scold the man or tell him to let the police do their job, but this time he didn’t.
“Do you know how to use it?” Jaxon asked.
Surprised, the father nodded his head. “I go to the range once a month.”
“A range is different than pointing it at a man. If you point it at a man, are you prepared to see it through?”
The father hesitated, but then nodded.
“Keep it close,” Jaxon said and looked the man hard in the eye. Mr. Harrison frowned but nodded once and got in his car. Jaxon watched him drive away. If anything happens to those two… but he didn’t let himself finish the thought.
Jaxon’s phone rang. It was him.
“You’re a busy Son-of-a-bitch, aren’t you?” Jaxon said.
“Hello, Detective. We’re getting to know each other now, aren’t we?” Same numbers-all zeroes-same altered voice.
“Oh, I know you good, asshole. You’re becoming predictable.”
“So you say, Detective. How is my girl? I see you’ve been spending a little time with her today. Did she enjoy her outing?”
Jaxon looked around again, trying to find a camera, but nothing was in plain sight. He had to have something around the area. “Why her? I thought this was between you and I. You take my son and I find you and screw you up beyond belief.”
“Your son was nothing to me…”
“Don’t you do that!” Jaxon shouted, people turning and staring at him. “Don’t you knock him down to some discarded toy you got tired of. He was everything!”
“No. She is everything. And she will be mine. I’ve changed the plan. See if you can guess what it is, Detective.”
“I’m coming for you!”
Suddenly the voice changed. The man must have turned off the filter device. What came across was a deep, gravely, rumble of rage and anger that shook Jaxon to the core.
“That’s what I told Michael. But you never came.”
Ellie held on to Luke tightly. She was done crying and Luke had shed a few tears of his own with her although he had tried not to. It had just been too much. The roller coaster they were riding was taking its toll on them both.
“I don’t want to go to my house,” she said. “I want to stay with you.”
“Maybe you can.”
She looked up at him. “Are you serious?”
“I think it would be cool. My parents won’t, but this is a messed up situation. If you’re over here, Smith won’t know that and you’ll be safer. I bet Jaxon and Victoria would think it a good idea.”
“My mom will never go for it. She’ll think it an excuse for us just to be together.”
“A bonus,” he said and grinned.
She smiled for the first time all afternoon and it warmed him. “It can’t hurt to ask, right?” she said.
“Right. Let me talk to my parents first and if they agree, it will be easier to have them convince your mom.”
She nodded and then kissed him. “Go ask,” she whispered.
Luke and Ellie approached his parents and at first his dad was against it but his mom saw the wisdom of it. She had some rules, though.
“Ellie will sleep in your brother’s room and your brother will sleep with you,” Luke’s mom said.
Luke didn’t like it, but he knew it would be the only way they would allow her to stay.
“I don’t want to put anybody out, Mrs. Harrison,” Ellie said. “I could sleep on a couch or even the floor.”
“Nonsense, it will be no trouble. There’s a spare bed in the room anyway and Christopher’s car bed is easy to move. This is not a party, you two. If your mom agrees, then you’re welcome for as long as she will let you stay. But if she wants you to come home, we’ll take you right away. She’ll probably be worried. And no funny business.”
“We promise, Mom,” Luke said and smiled at Ellie who nodded vigorously.
Luke’s mom grinned back at them and gave Ellie a hug. “You’ll be safe here, sweetheart.”
Luke’s dad made the call and after a little convincing, Ellie’s mom agreed to let her stay. She would gather some things for her and bring them over a little later. Luke’s dad pointed to him and said, “You, come with me for a minute. We need to talk.”
The conversation that followed was not what Luke expected. His dad was very worried about Ellie and he told Luke that if something happened, the gun would be in his sock drawer.
“Dad, I don’t…”
“Luke, I love you son. You may have to grow up a little quicker than you want. I know this is scary for you, hell, it’s scary for me, but you’ll do what you have to do, when you have to do it.”
“I’ve only fired it a couple of times with you at the range. Will you show me how to load it again?”
“Tonight, when your mother has gone to bed.”
Luke looked at his dad. He couldn’t remember a time when he seemed so tired. “Dad, we’re gonna be ok, right?”
His dad smiled weakly. “Yeah, we’re gonna be ok. The police are keeping an eye on things and I’ll watch over us too.”
“Ok.” Luke felt exhausted. He hoped the police would do what they said they could do. It just seemed like he and the other kids were doing better when it was only them dealing with the killer.
“Now, I don’t want you disrespecting that girl while she’s here. You get my meaning?” His dad grinned and Luke nodded, his face feeling hot all of a sudden. His dad did something that surprised him, then. He hugged him and said, “I’m proud of you son. I know you’ll keep her safe. Go on. Go be with her and make her feel better.”
The doorbell rang and his dad got up to answer it. It was Jaxon and Victoria to pick up Ellie. Luke heard his dad explaining the plan to them and they seemed to believe it was a good idea. Jaxon looked in and saw Luke watching and he turned back to his dad and said something Luke couldn’t hear. His dad closed the door and talked with them outside for a few minutes and then came back in looking pale.
“What is it, Dad?” Luke asked.
“Nothing.” But Luke could tell he was lying. It was something alright, and it looked like something big. His mother could see it too and she joined him in the kitchen where they murmured in low voices Luke and Ellie couldn’t hear.
Luke sat with Ellie who leaned into him and he closed his arms around her and stroked her soft, blonde hair.
“Thanks,” she said. “I couldn’t stand being alone in my house.”
“Your mom and your brother were there.”
“But I felt alone. My mom just wanted to yell at me.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said.
She kissed him softly on the lips, and then stared into his eyes.
“You know, my dad told me I wasn’t to ‘disrespect you’ while you’re here.”
She giggled. “Are you going to?”
“Depends on what you consider disrespectful, I guess,” and he smiled.
“Nothing you could do would make me love you less,” she said, a little smile on her lips, but her eyes were serious.
“I know,” he said in a whisper. He searched her face and was overcome by a desire to grab her and hold her as tight as he could. Never let her go. The feeling was so strong and so intense, it almost brought tears to his eyes. She must have seen it, because she grabbed him and pulled him close, holding on to him as if she would never see him again. They clung to each other like that for quite a while.