When his cell phone rang, Aaron rolled over in bed and covered his head with the blanket. The pattering of the rain on his window-not to mention some shots of whisky the night before-had lulled him into a long sleep. He didn’t realize just how long until he rubbed his eyes and read the time on his phone showing a quarter to eleven on a Saturday morning.
After nearly getting his nose busted by an ex-con the day before, Aaron wouldn’t mind staying in bed all day. But he couldn’t resist answering the call of the woman who got him in all those wicked jams. He loved that his own parents considered him too much of a fuck-up to watch their house when they were away, but a police officer kept calling on his skills.
“Hey babe,” he answered. Aaron couldn’t suppress a yawn. “Why you always waking me?”
Moni responded with a soft whimper. He heard the whooshing of wind rolling over her speeding car.
“Aren’t you wondering why I’m all slacking and sleeping so late?” he asked.
Despite the slow set up pitch right down the center of the plate, Moni didn’t swing. She peppered the phone with short tense breaths that reminded him of a red-faced woman undergoing labor pains in one of those childbirth documentaries.
“Moni? What’s wrong?”
“That damn Sneed. He ordered officers over to steal Mariella.”
“What! Where is she?”
“Thank God.” She sucked in a relieved gulp of air. “She’s here with me. The Lagoon Watcher’s monsters took her before Sneed’s cronies did. They took her into the canal. They wanted to… But I… I dove in and grabbed her back. You don’t know how brave my little one was.”
“Sounds like you were plenty brave yourself,” Aaron said.
Moni groaned as if someone had just balanced a boulder on her spine. Aaron hoped that her reaction came from his flattery, but she reverted into exorcism breathing mode. Moni couldn’t get a word out that wasn’t mangled.
Aaron let the waters settle and then he asked her what happened.
“I ran away when I could have helped them,” Moni said in a sobbing voice. “Tanya Roberts, and Clyde Harrison are dead. I escaped with the girl. The monsters… they…”
“Dead? That’s terrible. Moni, the important thing is that you and Mariella are…”
“No! I mean I know it’s important, but the sheriff and Sneed won’t see it that way. I disobeyed a direct order to turn over the girl and the two people who were sent for her wound up dead. Who do you think they’ll blame?”
Her anguish hadn’t stopped Moni from thinking straight. Aaron agreed that they would try pinning their deaths on her. Even short of trumping up murder charges, Sneed could build a strong case that Moni had neglected her duties by fleeing the scene while they were in danger.
“Were there any witnesses?” Aaron asked.
“My neighbor watched from her window and called the police. I’m not sure how much she saw. I left before they got there.”
“Left? Where are you going?”
She didn’t hesitate before she told him; at least she trusted someone else besides the girl.
“I’m headed up the Space Coast Parkway towards Kissimmee. I’m going as far away from the lagoon as possible.”
He was glad Moni couldn’t see him shaking his head. She had cut and run while leaving two people she worked with to their deaths. And her next plan? Cut and run again. She was headed out of town with the only witness to the beheadings while the helpless citizens of the county she served continued getting murdered.
Harsh judgments like that came too easily, Aaron realized. He dwelled on Crystal Marshall, his former best friend who had moved away because he didn’t stick up for her against those racist punks. He couldn’t blame her for leaving. How could she take on all those kids by herself?
Moni fled because Aaron hadn’t done enough. He should have been there when the officers came for Mariella. He should have skewered that gator on his speargun. His whole life, Aaron had cowered away from moments like that. When they dumped the books out of his backpack in school, he had laughed it off and scooped them up instead of throwing down. When they picked on his little brother, he pretended like he didn’t know him.
His parents would never believe that Aaron could help someone like Moni. Maybe he couldn’t conquer the horde of mutants in the lagoon, or crack the secrets of the bacteria like Professor Swartzman, but Aaron could make good use of his crafty noggin. It had saved him from expulsion more than once.
“Running isn’t the right move,” Aaron said. “Whoever is poisoning the lagoon wants Mariella out of the picture and hiding her is the next best thing. You need to keep working your magic with her, and solve this case.”
“But, what about the Lagoon Watcher? I can’t fight for her life every day. Then there’s Sneed. He won’t let me near the girl after this. I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t take my badge and toss me in jail.”
“I’ve got a plan for both of them,” Aaron assured her. “Sneed likes card games, right? We’ll cut him a deal. You can keep Mariella and your badge if you allow her to help lay a trap for the Lagoon Watcher.”
“Hell no! I’m not using my baby as bait.”
“I hate to break it to you, but she’s already bait. The Lagoon Watcher is stalking her whether you’re ready or not, so you might as well prepare a little something special for him. ”
“I can’t keep putting her life in danger. I want out of here.”
“Running away won’t put an end to this. If we don’t catch the Lagoon Watcher, will you feel safe a year from now-ten years from now? Could you send her out of the house alone knowing that he’s still out there looking for her?”
Her silence answered the question for her.
“If the Lagoon Watcher is gonna come, let’s be ready for him,” Aaron said. Think of it like a surprise party, but minus the party and plus a whole lotta beat-down.”
“I hear you. That does sound good. Lord knows he’s earned it.”
“It’s more than good. It’s perfect. Remember how Trainer showed up outside the police station? That’s because you were too far from the water for one of his animals. So you move into temporary housing away from the water and don’t take her anywhere near the lagoon. You can have undercover officers guarding her, so when the Watcher makes his move, they catch his crazy ass.”
Moni didn’t say a word. Aaron gave her space so she could think it over. He heard her decelerate and switch on the turn signal.
“I’m sorry, Mariella. But you know we couldn’t leave home forever,” Moni said. Aaron wondered how she knew the silent girl wanted to flee. “No matter what, I won’t let any bad people near you, baby.”
After agreeing that he would call Sneed and shoulder the brunt of his rage, Moni said she would meet him at the sheriff’s office that night for the obligatory task force meeting they held after each murder. When their call ended, Aaron wondered what he had just set in motion. Did he invite Moni back to town, despite the risk to her and Mariella, because he wanted her? Or maybe he couldn’t resist feeling wanted.
The first time he went home from school with a black eye, his mother had told him-with his father scoffing while watching baseball in the background-that it’s best to walk away from a fight. Aaron had always followed that advice-until he met Moni.