Harry
Brayden thanked Harry again for the bringing him up north. “Canoeing was a lot of fun.”
“What was the best part for you?” Harry asked as they stepped onto the porch.
“Um, how quiet it is. The only thing you could hear was the water dripping off the paddles.”
“Very true. There’s serenity in that, isn’t there?”
“I don’t know about serenity, but it’s definitely peaceful.”
Harry chuckled. For about five minutes, he had forgotten about the case stolen from him and Natalie needing to “talk” later. The rest of the time they spent canoeing, his mind raced through all the facts of the case, the conversations he’d had with Cam, and Grace’s near death experience in her car. She could have been killed by some asshole. The killer. He still wasn’t convinced it wasn’t Cam. Except with the ATF and FBI looking for Eric Lund, Harry doubted himself. How could they be that wrong? Unless they weren’t…
Leaving the door unlocked was something Harry never did. He took the keys out of his pocket and turned the deadbolt. The cylinder rotated, clicking the pins into place, sounding louder than usual. There was no reason for Harry to think this, however with the missing glass from the gun cabinet, and the bedding being left out, perhaps they had a squatter.
“Brayden, get behind me.”
“Okay, why?”
“Just do it. Please.” Harry pushed the door open.
Schklikt klikt!
“Get down!” Harry shouted. Eric rushed out of the bedroom with a shotgun pointed in their direction. He sensed Brayden at his back, unable to move. His own brain was also trying to play catch up to what was happening. All he knew was he needed to keep Brayden protected. At the moment, there was nothing else more important, not even his own life. He didn’t want to die, but he wanted Brayden to survive more.
“Git down on the floor!” Eric yelled.
Harry put his hands up, bent at the elbows. “Easy, man.”
“Anyone else with you?”
“No. Just me and the kid.” He slowly lowered himself to the floor, telling Brayden to do the same.
“Where’s your car, how did you get here?” Eric rambled.
Damn, the man was sharper than he would have thought. “In town, with my guy.”
“Is he coming back? I don’t like surprises.”
“Yes. I dunno when though.”
Eric stepped closer, adjusting the barrel of the gun lower. “You lying to me?”
Brayden ducked his head, covering his ears while he knelt on the floor. He whimpered.
“No, he’s been gone a while. He didn’t say how long he’d be gone,” Harry said, hoping Cedric wasn’t on his way back now.
“Got any weapons on you?”
“No.”
Eric snorted. “A cop without a gun. That was stupid. Very, very stupid.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Harry, shhh,” Brayden whispered, shaking his head.
“It’s okay, everything is going to be all right,” he whispered back.
“Is it, Detective? Is it going to be all right? I wouldn’t tell the boy lies if I were you.”
Harry glanced around his immediate area. Nothing he could use as a weapon stood out to him. The gun cabinet was too far away and the other shotgun was probably unloaded anyway. He still had the keys concealed in his hand though. Great, he could gouge the fucker’s eyes out in the unlikely event he got close enough.
“How did you know about this place?” Harry asked.
Eric narrowed his eyes. “What’s it to you?”
“Call it curiosity.”
“Stop trying to negotiate with me.”
“Is that what I’m doing? I only want to understand you, that’s all. Maybe I’d like to get to know you better.” Brayden inched closer to Harry.
“Yeah, you like that, don’t ya? Got real cozy with Cam.” Eric lowered the shotgun. Asshole probably thought it was rifle.
“I’d hardly call an interrogation cozy.”
“What he tell you?
“What didn’t he tell me?”
“He didn’t tell you anything about me.”
“He told me plenty, like how you guys killed a woman and set that warehouse on fire to cover it up out in California.”
“Pfft. He wishes he was in on it. He’s obsessed with everything I do.”
“He looks up to you.”
“He didn’t have anything to do with that, that was all me.”
“You’re proud of your work.”
“If he told you all that, why didn’t you arrest him or have him extradited?”
“He disappeared, didn’t he?”
“Quit fucking with me.”
“I’m not. We’re talking, getting to know—”
“Shut up!”
Brayden buried his head into the back of Harry’s shoulder. His body quivered as he cried silently. Harry craned his neck and judged the distance between them and the open door. Ten feet. Maybe. When he turned back, Eric was staring at him. The asshole marched to the door and slammed it shut.
Shit!
Brayden jumped and leaned in even closer to Harry. “It’s okay, he just closed the door, that’s all.” The effort to calm the kid’s fear was futile. He tried anyway though.
Eric grabbed the lightweight armchair and positioned it facing them. He sat on the edge of the seat and laid the shotgun across his lap. Every couple of minutes, the asshole picked up the gun, aimed it at Harry then Brayden. His hands would shake and he’d lower it again. This happened so many times Brayden became less tense. Braver. Harry loved the kid. If anything happened to him…He was so smart and kind…no, nothing was happening to him. Harry wouldn’t allow it. He made a decision. Natalie and his baby would grow up without a father, but Grace would be there and Brayden would get the chance to be an adult, to fall in love, have a family of his own one—
“Why are you doing this, Ned? I’m just a kid and Harry’s girlfriend is pregnant,” Brayden said.
Eric stood abruptly, the gun clutched in both hands. He shook it and put his back to them. Perfect, Harry motioned toward the door and mouthed “go!” to Brayden.
The kid shook his head. “Do you know what it’s like to grow up without a dad?”
Eric spun and glared at Brayden.
“I think your dad was around, maybe he was mean to you. But he must’ve have taught you right from—”
“Shut up, kid. You don’t know nothing about me and my pops.” Eric brought the gun up and tapped his forehead on the side.
Brayden was getting to him. Keep him talking, Harry thought.
“I can tell you don’t want to do this,” Brayden continued.
“Shut up.” Eric sat down, rocked back and forth, and stood again like the chair had caught fire.
“You don’t kill kids. Remember that time I talked to you about how my mom and dad didn’t get along? Remember what you said to me?”
Eric’s face flushed bright red. “Didn’t happen.”
“You made me feel better.”
“No I didn’t.”
“Yes.”
“No. Shut up!” Eric barked.
“You told me that sometimes people are poison for each other, it doesn’t make either one of them bad, only bad for each other.”
Harry always knew Brayden was a damn genius. Now he had proof. He kept Eric’s mind occupied, distracting him from paying attention to Harry.
A cell phone rang faintly. It took a few rings before Harry realized it was Brayden’s phone upstairs, still in his bag. Whatever trance Brayden had lulled him into vanished.