Aidan
Six Months Later…
I walk into the station and look around, admiring the decorations. It's completely decked out for Halloween – zombies, vampires, giant spiders, and a host of other garish monsters fill the squad room. They tend to get some of the local kids through here on Halloween night, doing some trick-or-treating, so they like to put on a show – the kind I had enjoyed putting on, once upon a time.
“Detective Brown,” I say. “It's been a while.”
“Four years to the day, I believe,” she says.
“Exactly right,” I reply.
“I heard you have a new baby,” she says.
“You heard right.”
“Congratulations, Aidan.”
“Thank you, Detective.”
She nods and gives me a tight smile. It's been nearly six months since the shootout with Victor, and life has moved forward. Katie and Dalton have moved into my place – which makes Oliver happy – and all of our wounds are healing. Both, inside and out.
Life is getting back onto an even keel, and we are learning about each other. Exploring the love growing between us. And I find that I'm enjoying every minute of it. I take none of it for granted, and I appreciate every moment I have with Katie.
I think that's the biggest lesson I'm taking away from this – appreciating every moment you have with a loved one, because nothing is ever guaranteed. All you can do is love hard, live the best you can, and enjoy every last second.
It's something I've been working hard at, along with putting my past to rest. Moving on from it, and no longer letting it define me.
Which is why it was such a shock when Detective Brown – the lead detective in Maddy's case – called me out of the blue on Halloween morning, asking me to come into her precinct down in Savannah.
I follow her into one of their interrogation rooms and take a seat. I look up at her expectantly and see something on her face – something I can't quite place. I'm not sure how to interpret her expression.
“Can I get you a soda?” she asks. “Coffee? Anything?”
I shake my head. “No, I'm fine, thank you,” I say. “Why am I here?”
She looks at me with a mixture of compassion and triumph in her eyes. Do I dare hope she's going to tell me what I think she is? It can't be. Not after four years. Can it?
She takes a seat across from me and slips a plastic evidence bag out of her pocket. She sets it down on the table and slides it across to me. I pick up the bag, feeling like I've been kicked straight in the gut, and look at the broach inside.
Maddy's broach.
“Do you recognize this?” she asks.
I nod. “Yeah. It belongs to Maddy,” I say. “It was a gift from her grandmother. She got it the day she graduated from high school. It's a family heirloom.”
Brown nods, and the look of triumph on her face only deepens. She looks at me for a long time, her eyes positively sparkling.
“We got him, Aidan,” she says. “After four years, we finally got the son of a bitch.”
A surge of energy blossoms in my heart, but I can't define it. I don't know how I feel. I’ve spent so much time thinking about her and just praying to find out the truth. To finally be able to find her murderer just feels surreal.
“How?” I ask. “I mean, it's been so long, and – are you sure? Are you sure it's really him?”
“He tried to pawn this,” she says. “I've had it on a watch list with all the pawn shops in town. It turned up earlier this week, we got the word, and were able to track him down.”
Although the overriding emotion inside of me is gratitude – elation – there's also a strong undercurrent of rage bubbling just below the surface.
“Is he here?” I ask.
She nods.
“Who is it?”
“His name is Gary Sundberg,” she says.
A surge of pain hit me. A mixture of intense guilt and remorse. Knowing that I brought him into our lives.
“Do you know him?”
I slam my fist onto the tabletop, startling Brown.
“Yeah, I know the bastard,” I respond, trying to keep my anger at bay. “He was on one of my construction crews. A part-timer we called in when we needed extra hands. Had him out at Fleury House a few times with a crew to do some work.”
“That explains how they met,” Brown says. “That was the piece of the puzzle we didn't have. From what we’ve gathered, it seems that he became obsessed with her and started stealing items of her clothing, and personal effects, and it escalated from there to outright stalking. Her murder was methodically planned by Sundberg for months. He said he waited for her to come home that day by hiding in the shadows on the side of the porch. When she opened the door and disarmed the alarm he grabbed her before she could set it again. He was on her before she even knew what happened. But, we got the sick son of a bitch. It’s over, Aidan.”
We sit in silence for several long moments, just staring at one another. The idea that this is finally over, that Maddy's killer has been caught, and that justice will be served, is a heavy feeling. I’m still in disbelief. I thought finding the truth would bring me peace, but knowing I brought that monster into our lives…I feel myself starting to spiral again. Then as the darkness descends around me, a flash of Katie and our baby enter my mind.
I know for their sake, I can’t let myself get back into that dark place. They’ve been so strong, and I must be even stronger for them.
“Do you want to see him?” she asks. “I can give you a few minutes, if there's anything you’d like to say to him.”
For so long, I've dreamed of this day – though never dared to believe it would actually come to fruition. I had prepared in my mind all sort of things that I would do to hurt that son of a bitch. Hell, I even had a speech prepared. The things I wanted to say and do to him. Evil things. Brutal things. I dreamt of the moment that I could destroy the man that killed Maddy. I had hoped I would be able to get my hands on him first. I doubted the police would put me alone in a room with him by myself, without any supervision.
For so long, I wanted to crush him. To make him regret ever laying a hand on Maddy. So many things I wanted to say to him, so many ways I wanted to make him feel pain.
That was the way I lived for four years, consumed by anger and vengeance. Ever since the night Maddy was taken from me. I’ve ran this scenario through my mind, dreaming of the day I could act on it. I wanted to get justice for Maddy, since she couldn’t get justice for herself.
But, now, as I sit across from Detective Brown, knowing Maddy’s killer is in the next room, the thought of possibly spiraling again. The thought of succumbing to the anger and vengeance weighing at my soul. I know that I must walk away. That’s what Maddy would have wanted. Knowing the monster will finally be where he belongs for life is enough. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a few minutes alone with him in a windowless room, but I know better. Doing so would only give him more power.
And I've spent too long giving this bastard control over me. No more.
It’s a startling revelation for me, but as I think about my life now –
The one I’m building with Katie– I realize I’ve started to shed the pieces of my past that made me a broken man. Now, I’m holding on to the pieces that will help me be a better man for my family.
I'm starting to chart my own way forward. Learning to hold onto the good things from the past, while getting rid of the bad. Certainly, tragedy, pain, and loss have honed and shaped me, but they no longer define me. I won’t let them.
Katie's taught me that.
“Actually,” I say. “I think I'm okay. I don't have anything to say to him. He's not worth my time.”
Brown smiles and nods. “Good for you, Aidan,” she says. “Good for you.”
I reach across the table and take her hand, giving it a firm shake. “Detective Brown,” I say, “I want to thank you for your hard work, and your dedication. You never let this rest. You’ve never given it up. Because of you, Maddy is finally going to have justice. I can't thank you enough for that.”
She shakes her head. “You don't need to thank me,” she says. “I'm just doing my job.”
“No, you went above and beyond,” I say. “I'll never forget that, Detective. Ever. If there is anything you ever need, anything at all, you know where to find me.”
She grins. “Coming down off your mountain, are you?”
I shrug. “Maybe so,” I say. “I haven't decided yet. But, for the first time in a very long time, I'm in a really good place, Detective. No matter where I am, whatever you need – just call me.”
“I'm happy for you, Aidan,” she says. “And thank you.”
“Thank you,” I say. “And thank you again for never giving up on finding Maddy's killer.”
I stand and walk out of the interrogation room feeling good. Feeling satisfied and content. And as I head out of the precinct, I cast a look around at the over-the-top decorations again, and smile. It may be too late to do anything this year, but I'm already starting to get ideas for next year, suddenly looking forward to putting on a show.
Most people wouldn't see this next step as anything special or noteworthy. But it's more than that. It goes far deeper. In reclaiming my love of Halloween, I’m not only honoring Maddy’s spirit, and our shared love of the holiday, I’m taking back control of my own life.
And I have Katie to thank for that.