The Man in the Yard
Kevin met Howie across the street from Patty’s house just as the hustle and bustle of a busy morning began to explode. The sleepless night still living in Kevin’s features as he tried to shake himself awake and alert for what he hoped would be the day he got his baby brother back. In his gut, he felt like Patty was going to be the key to this mystery, that she would be able to crack the case wide open. The girlfriend saving the day, isn’t that how so many crime dramas ended? Even if in this case the girlfriend was only 8 years old.
“How are you holding up Kev?”
Kevin looked over at Howie, “As well as I can I guess.”
“Did you get any sleep at all? Even an hour?”
“No, can’t say I did.”
“We’ll find him Kevin.”
Kevin nodded, hearing the words but knowing they were only meant to console. It looked like Howie also got little sleep; he looked drained and unusually pale considering his natural coloring.
“Let’s do this,” Kevin said walking across the street and ringing the doorbell.
A small dog started yipping when the bell rang, followed by a sudden flurry of activity in the small house. Within a minute or so, Anita Nicosia opened the door in her light blue bathrobe and slippers. She looked startled and surprised to see Kevin and Howie standing there.
“Good morning Mrs. Nicosia and I’m so sorry to disturb you so early.”
“Is there something wrong?” She had a panicked look on her face as she continued, “Is it my husband? Has something happened to him?”
“No, I’m sorry it’s nothing like that…it’s actually about my brother.”
“Nick?”
“Yes, may we come in for a few minutes?” She seemed confused but yet relieved that her husband was fine as she opened the door and let the detectives inside.
“My husband is away on business so when I saw you standing there I just automatically thought the worst.”
“I’m sorry we made you worry.”
“Would you like some coffee or bagels or anything? I’m afraid I don’t have too long I have to get Patty ready for school.”
“Actually Mrs. Nicosia…”
“Please call me Anita.”
“Sorry, Anita…it was Patty that we were hoping to speak with.” She seemed surprised and suddenly not as happy to see the two men standing in her kitchen.
“Couldn’t this wait until after school? Is there a problem with Nicky?”
“Actually yes…my brother…” Kevin had a hard time getting the words out, it was the first time he had to admit what had happened, to someone other than his friends and family and he just couldn’t do it, so Howie noticing that took over for him.
“Nicky has been abducted.”
Anita wore a look of shock on her face, “Sweet Jesus…are you sure?”
“Yes, he was taken out of his home early yesterday morning.”
“My God, I don’t even know what to say…Kevin I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks,” He said nodding his head while looking down at the floor, once again a feeling of hopelessness ripping through his body.
“How do you think Patty can help?”
Once again Howie took over, “We think maybe Patty can tell us if she saw someone hanging around Nicky the last few days.”
Anita nodded in understanding, “I’ll go get her right now and I think I am keeping her home from school today. She will not be happy when she hears about Nick.”
Anita walked out of the room leaving the two detectives, in the kitchen. “Want me to talk to her Kev?”
“No, I should probably do the talking,” Kevin said giving Howie a small smile.
Within five minutes time a sleepy Patty wearing purple kitty and hearts on her night gown walked into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning. When she saw Kevin standing there she immediately smiled and looked behind him, “Nicky? Is that why I’m not going to school today mommy? Is Nicky coming to play?”
Kevin felt his heart fall as he sat on one of the kitchen chairs and gently placed his hand on Patty’s arm, “Hi Patty, Nick isn’t with me.”
“Oh…are you taking me to him then? I’m not dressed and I can’t go in my pajamas.” She giggled a cute little giggle still excited at the prospect of spending the day with her best friend.
Anita decided to step in at that point by squatting down next to her daughter and hugging her, “Baby they are here to ask you some questions about Nicky okay?”
“Are we having a party for him?” She asked now confused but starting to feel like something bad had happened.
“No Patty…Nicky is missing sweetheart and his brother wanted to ask you some questions hoping that you might be able to help find him.”
Patty’s eyes grew wide, “Missing? Like you cannot find him?”
“That’s right Patty…we can’t find him.” Kevin said now taking over the conversation.
“He is a good hider maybe he’s hiding somewhere. Did you try calling his name?”
The innocence that was held behind that statement almost did Kevin in, he wanted to just grab the child in his arms and cry. If it was only as simple as calling Nick’s name. Things were never that simple though.
“It’s not quite like that Patty,” Kevin said making eye contact with the child and doing his best to smile at her, “Someone took him away from us…see we think someone knew his special word.”
“String bean?” She asked without any hesitation.
Kevin nodded, “Yes…Patty do you know if he told anyone else that word besides you?”
Patty shook her head as she pouted looking ready to cry.
“Did you tell anyone that word?”
Once again she shook her head.
“Honey are you sure? No one is going to get mad at you if you told someone that word or if Nicky did, it might help us find him,” Howie said now leaning on Kevin’s shoulder as he stood behind his friend.
“We told Mr. Cooper.”
“Mr. Cooper? And who is that?”
“That’s their teacher.” Anita cut in as the grip on her daughter tightened.
“Patty that’s okay to tell your teacher, did you tell anyone else?”
“My mommy and daddy.”
Kevin glanced over at Anita as she smiled, “And you didn’t tell anyone right?”
“No.”
“Is my Nick going to be okay?” Patty asked now beginning to cry.
Kevin pulled her close to him and pat her head and gave her a little hug, “I hope so Patty…is there anyone else you can think of that Nicky talked about? Was there anyone who wanted to know his word or maybe looked like he was following my brother around?”
“There was a man in the yard once.”
“A man in the yard what yard?” Kevin asked now feeling a small sense of hope creeping into his veins at the same time as a feeling of disgust.
“We were playing at Nick’s house and we both saw a man standing in his yard. He smiled and waved at us but by the time we went and got his mom, the man was gone.”
“Do you remember what he looked like?” Kevin signaled for Howie to grab him a pad and a paper so he could take down a description.
“He was big and tall but I don’t remember what else…he was wearing a hat I think and he looked scary, that’s why we went to go get Nick’s mommy even though Nick said he was nice man.”
“A nice man? My brother knew who he was?”
Patty nodded, “I think so but when I asked him his name he told me it was a secret.”
“Can you remember anything else? What color were his eyes? What was he wearing? Anything?” Kevin’s voice grew to forte as he became anxious, but the change in tone also frightened Patty, who backed away from him and closer to her mother.
“I don’t remember mommy.” She said now directing her answer to her mother instead of the detectives.
“That’s okay baby…she doesn’t remember anything else Kevin, I’m so sorry.”
Kevin nodded, annoyed but yet understanding that he was just dealing with a child and she had helped, if even in a small way.
“Okay…I understand, thanks Patty for your help.” Kevin said once again patting Patty on the head and smiling at her.
“You should try under his bed, Nicky always hides under his bed and I always find him.” She laughed temporarily forgetting that her friend was gone.
Kevin nodded, “Thanks sweetheart, I’ll do that.”
“Baby why don’t you go back upstairs I’ll be there in a little bit okay?”
“Kay mommy.” Patty turned with her fingers in her mouth and walked out of the room.
“Do you think my daughter is in any danger?” Anita asked once Patty was no longer there to hear the conversation.
“I wish I could say no for sure but I’m going to ask a detective to keep an eye on her okay?”
“Oh my God…”
“Don’t worry Anita…it’s just a precaution…in the meantime I was wondering when you expect your husband to be home?”
“Later tonight, he’s in a meeting all day and then he is going to hop a red eye back home…why?”
“Because I’d like to talk to him as well, Patty mentioned that he also knew the word and I just want to see if there’s any chance he might have told someone.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t do that Kevin but I know you have to follow as many leads as possible.”
“Thanks for understanding Anita and thanks also for allowing us to speak to your daughter. I may be back with more questions.”
“I understand…Kevin how is your mom holding up? Is there anything I can do for her?”
“She’s doing okay, as well as can be expected under the circumstances, I’ll tell her you were asking.”
“Thanks, she’s such a great lady,”
“Yes she is.”
As they walked out Howie turned to his friend, “You are starting to suspect the father aren’t you?”
Kevin nodded, “He just always seems to be out of town at the right moment. I have a feeling he’s not out of town. Have you noticed his pictures aren’t anywhere visible in there? I mean there are pictures of Patty and Anita all over the place but I didn’t see one single picture of the father.”
“Are you thinking he’s our man?” Howie asked hopeful as he sipped on a cup of coffee he had hidden in his car.
“I don’t know D, but I’m running out of ideas.” His cell phone rang at the end of his sentence and Kevin felt butterflies twitching in his stomach. He turned the phone around to see if he recognized the number and sighed when he saw it was just the office.
“Hello.”
“Richardson.” His mood continued to dampen when he heard Tyler’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Hi Tyler, what’s up?”
“You need to get to the office right away, there’s a package waiting for you.”
“Okay…thanks I’ll be right there.”
Kevin and Howie both made their way to the headquarters where Tyler greeted them in Kevin’s office. He didn’t look as if he had slept either. Probably not from worry but from the strain of working on a high profile case that now involved someone in their own department, that particular someone also happened to be gunning for the case to be handed back over to him.
“How’s AJ?”
“He’s going to be fine.”
“I tried to go talk to him yesterday but your mom…”
“I know, she was upset but she also understands he needs to be questioned.”
“Good,”
“Tyler, I’d like to do the questioning.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea Kevin, I mean it’s just too personal for you right now.”
“I know, but I think that AJ would be more willing to open up to me then he would be to anyone else.”
“Has he woken up yet?”
Kevin shook his head, “No not yet but my mom is going to call me the second he does.”
“Okay good, we’ll figure it out then. We have a lot more stuff to talk about Kevin but first comes first,” Tyler said handing over the envelope to Kevin who was surprised to see it had been opened already.
“You opened it?”
“Yes, I felt it was important to do that, I wasn’t sure what it might say and how quickly we’d have to react, surely you understand?”
Kevin nodded, “Yes…” He held the envelope in his hands “Is this going to be bad?”
“No, not too bad.”
Kevin spilled out the contents of the envelope onto his desk; it contained a note, a small locket of blond hair and a picture of a sleepy but at least untouched, unhurt Nick. As much as he wanted to be excited he also remembered getting a package identical to this one not too long ago containing the smiling happy face of Sheila Tamry.
“Why the hair I wonder?” Tyler asked as he looked at the strands of hair in the plastic bag.
Kevin wasn’t paying attention to Tyler; he was concentrating on the picture of Nick. He was wearing his overalls this time with the cute red suspenders that Kevin had bought him for his 8th birthday, his red shirt covered in penguins wearing baseball caps. In his hand he held the Winnie the Pooh Brian had talked about as well as their father’s shirt. The date in the corner of the picture read today.
“Wait a minute…Howie look!” Kevin exclaimed handing the picture over to D who examined it closely.
“This shirt was still in the bedroom as of yesterday which means that…”
“He went back! He went back there to get my father’s shirt.”
“You were at the crime scene yesterday?” Tyler asked as he dusted the envelope for fingerprints.
“You mean my mother’s house? Yes I was. Brian needed some things and I felt the need to look around.”
“Kevin…”
“Now is not the time Tyler, okay?” Kevin was short with the detective whose only response was to shrug it off.
Kevin placed his hand on the photo and gently moved it on his brother’s face as if trying to reach through the picture and make him feel safe. “At least he looks okay…he doesn’t look scared.”
Kevin looked up at Howie and nodded, “That’s because he knows whoever this is.” Remembering what Patty had said about his brother saying the man in the yard was a nice guy. How many times had that man met Nicky in their very own backyard, undetected by all the people who claimed to be so watchful of the little boy? Kevin shuddered at that thought and his sudden feelings of failing to look out for the people he loved the most.
After allowing himself to take his eyes away from his little brother, afraid once he did the picture might vanish just like the child in the photo did; he grabbed the note in his hands, dreading what it might say.
Hey there again Kevin,
I dressed Nicky up in his favorite outfit for you. He said that you gave it to him, seems like he can’t stop talking about you. I also gave you some of his hair; you might want to give it to your mom to remember him by…just in case something horrible was to happen to him. He cried a little when I pulled it out but then I tickled him and made him feel all better. His fever has gone down by the way. I gave him some aspirin.
By the way how is AJ?
Kevin’s first instinct was to take the paper and rip it in two, exactly what he wanted to do to the man behind those words. He grimaced, a look of intense hate on his face especially when he stared at the words…I dressed Nicky. He wanted that man’s hands no where near his baby brother and then the thought of him pulling the hair out of his baby brothers head and of course ending his note asking about AJ as if he cared about the child he SHOT!
“He’s just playing with you Kevin; it’s all a mind game,” Howie said trying to calm his friend’s nerves.
“Tell that to the Tamrys…” He said walking out of the office, down to the water fountain and letting the cold water run on his hands as he splashed it onto his face. Howie joined him out in the hallway a few seconds later.
“We need to go back to my mother’s house D, he was there we need to re examine that room.”
“Tyler agrees he’s sending people out there now.”
“I want to be one of those people.”
“I know.”
Kevin walked back towards Tyler as he assembled his men, “I’m coming with you.”
“Kevin go back to the hospital, let me take care of this okay?”
“No, I can’t just sit and do nothing at the hospital, let me come with you.”
Tyler took in a deep breath, “Okay fine.”
“Thanks.”
As they were about to leave, back to his mother’s house once again, he took one more long look at the picture of his brother; he was smiling, his bright blue eyes didn‘t show a hint of sadness at all.
“He’s being taken care of at least, which shows some hint of compassion right?” He asked anyone who was listening. In this case it was Maria who gave Kevin a sympathetic nod.
“Howie!” Howie stopped dead in his tracks right before he entered the elevator.
“What is it Kev?”
“Do me a favor and go talk to my mom’s neighbors! They might have seen this guy that Patty was talking about. Maybe they caught him snooping around and contacted the police?”
“Good thinking Kev…you sure you don’t need me for this?”
“No, I think between me, Tyler and Maria we’ll have it covered.”
“Okay.”
Kevin nodded, glad he thought of the neighbors, ever since this whole nightmare began he wasn’t as on top of his game as he should have been but then again maybe that was the whole idea. Maybe Nicky was taken more to distract Kevin than anything else. Keep him from doing his job well?
He took those thoughts with him as he went searching for more clues at his mom’s house, unaware that there was one staring him right in the face.
Howdy! I'll be back next Wednesday with another chapter. Thanks for reading and i'm loving your comments :)
