One Big Mistake
Kevin wasn’t sure what to think when he received a call from a panicked Ariana at 1 in the morning. From what he could make out between her crying and quick chatter was that Howie had been hurt. He was on his way to the hospital and she was scared, she didn’t want to be alone.
He got up and dressed in no time flat and made his way to the emergency room where he found his best friend’s wife sitting and talking to a few police officers along with Rob who had also managed to show up.
“What happened?”
When she saw Kevin she stood up and grabbed him into a hug, “Oh Kevin it was horrible. Someone broke into our house and attacked Howie.”
“Attacked him? Is he okay?”
“The doctors are in there looking at him now.” Rob answered on Ariana’s behalf.
“So, did you get a look at who did it?”
“No, he told me to stay upstairs and then I heard a bunch of noise and the next thing I knew there were police.”
That seemed odd to Kevin, “You didn’t call the police?”
“No, Howie called 911, when I went to call them there was already an operator on the phone.”
“Was he shot? Stabbed?” Kevin looked over to Rob for an answer.
“He was hit in the head with a baseball bat.”
“Jesus.”
“And is this person in custody?” Now Kevin was growing angry.
“No, he got away.”
“Was anything stolen?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” Ariana said, once again taking a seat in the chairs as Kevin sat beside her.
As he wrapped his arm around her, she tried her best not to smile. This is how she had pictured Kevin, soft and protective. His embrace was firm and she always knew when he gave hugs, he meant them. He pulled you in and held you in place. “He’ll be okay sweetheart. It’ll take more than a bat to the head to slow down D.”
He smiled down at her and even though she really didn’t need to, she found herself feeling better. “I hope you’re right.”
“I’m going to go talk to the police and see if they found anymore physical evidence.” Rob said as he stood up to leave the two friends.
“Are we taking it over?”
Rob shook his head, “No, it was probably just a break in.”
Kevin nodded as he watched his boss walk away. He tried his best to calm his nerves and did find himself relaxing when he heard it wasn’t a gunshot wound. Over the years, both detectives had been lucky when it came to injuries. Neither one had ever been shot or critically wounded.
“I should have run downstairs to help.” Ariana cried as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue.
“No, you did the right thing…if you had gone down there then we’d be visiting two of you in the hospital.” Kevin stroked Ariana’s hair and once again pulled her into a hug.
“Stupid kid…you have to wonder why they do things like that. What would they have to gain? And when are the doctors going to come out and tell me something?” She felt like she needed to act a bit more upset. Maybe she wasn’t doing a good enough job.
“I’ll go see if I can find out anything.” Kevin smiled and gave her one more hug as he stood up and walked over to the nurse’s station.
Once gone, her thoughts went to Jack. What on earth was he thinking sending the boy to the house? That kid was lucky he wasn’t caught. When Ariana heard the police talking about no suspects being apprehended she breathed a sigh of relief.
Why would Jack have sent him over to the house anyway? He knew that they were away camping, unless he was going to plant something in the house to implicate Howie in the murder of the girl. She wanted to call him right now and get to the bottom of things, but she couldn’t. Now would not be a good time to call her lover while her husband was in the emergency room after being beaten to a pulp.
She watched as Kevin came and sat right by her side once again, “So…they said there’s no word yet but we can expect some news soon. The nurse said she’s going to try to find out for us.”
“Good, thanks Kevin. I’m so glad you’re here.”
He grabbed her hand and once again she got a tingling sensation. This is the brother that she wanted but maybe it was also the type of lover she wanted. Jack never did stuff like that for her.
She realized it was sick to think that way, of her half brother as a perfect lover but she couldn’t help it and in her mind he was never really her brother anyway. “Did you tell your father about what happened to Howie?”
“No, he was asleep when I left and I didn’t even think to wake him or anyone else for that matter.”
“That’s probably a good idea, why worry everyone when we’re not sure what is wrong yet.” She said smiling at him although part of her wished that her father would show up.
“So you didn’t go downstairs at all right?”
“No, I wanted to though.”
“And you’re sure nothing was taken?”
“It’s hard to say but the police made me do a quick walkthrough of the place and the kid didn’t seem to take anything.”
Before he could ask anything more a doctor came out into the waiting area and headed over towards where they were sitting. This was the part that Kevin always hated.
“Mrs.Dorough?”
Her grip on Kevin tightened a little bit, “Yes?”
“I just got done examining your husband. He’s still unconscious and has quite a concussion but we think he’ll be okay. Would you like to go and see him?”
She smiled and wiped at her eyes. “Thank you so much!”
Kevin motioned for her to go, “I’ll be back in a minute, I just want to check with Rob first.”
“Okay.”
He watched her leave with the doctor and a nurse and then made his way over to his boss who was still talking to the policeman in charge of the break in. “Do we have word?” Rob asked when he saw Ariana leaving with the doctor.
“Yes, he has a concussion but he’ll be okay…can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure.”
Kevin pulled Rob away from the officer and closer to the chairs that he had recently vacated. “Do we have any descriptions of the people who broke in?”
“No, there were no witnesses.”
“Not even Ariana, right?”
“She said she didn’t see anything.”
“Okay…that’s what I thought.”
“Why?”
Kevin bit at his bottom lip for a second, unsure if he should say more or not, “Just that she kept referring to the person who did this as a kid.”
Rob had a slightly surprised look on his face, “She did?”
“About twice.”
“Maybe she just assumed that.”
“Maybe.” Kevin said quickly nodding at his boss.
“You don’t sound so sure about that.”
Kevin wasn’t sure about it at all, in fact something didn’t sit right with him, he felt like she was lying to him but he wasn’t sure why. “No, you’re probably right, it’s probably nothing.”
Rob placed his hand on Kevin’s shoulder, “Let’s go see your best friend.”
Kevin smiled, “Sounds good to me.”
He sat in a corner holding his little arms around his knees the whole night. Afraid to death to go to sleep as weird sound after weird sound kept coming from the other room. It was the first night he had ever been away from his family for an entire night and all he wanted was to call them. Why wouldn’t they let him at least call his mommy?
It was so dark, he begged for the light to stay on but the mean man said no way, he had to go to sleep in the dark or else! He said that anyone who was older than five should not be afraid of the dark then he proceeded to call Nick a wussy, not that he even understood what that meant. He knew it wasn’t good though because Billy Karr got sent to the Principal’s office when he yelled that out to somebody.
He heard laughing coming from the room next to his and took solace in the fact that a small ray of light from that room was making it’s way into his, but still all he wanted was not to be alone. Even if it was the mean man keeping him company.
He heard a girl laughing too. They were having so much fun. It sounded like they were playing a game. Why wasn’t he allowed to play? Maybe this was another trick like the one Kevin’s friend played on him before.
The little boy bravely stood up and knocked on the door, “I know not to talk to strangers anymore…can I come out now?” He asked. He tried not to cry but he wiped his tears away when all he heard was the woman say “Oh how cute is he?”
That’s when he walked back to his position on the floor and rocked himself back and forth all night long until he fell asleep.
Once again Nick woke up startled. When he finally realized he was in the safety of his own bedroom and looked down to see AJ resting peacefully across from him on the bed he allowed himself to relax.
“Was Ariana the girl I heard laughing?” He asked himself as he carefully moved his legs over AJ’s and hopped out of the bed.
Glancing at himself in the mirror he couldn’t help but groan at how bad he looked. He was still pale as pale could be and had huge puffy circles under his eyes. Why couldn’t he just forget everything? Part of him just wanted to forget all about Ariana and everything he had learned within the last few days. It’s not like anyone would believe him anyway so why bother remembering it himself. Maybe he could go to one of those hypnotists, the kind that helps people stop smoking. Supposedly his father had done that when it came to kicking his smoking habit and it seemed to work just fine for him.
He left his room and made his way down the stairs, surprised to see the couch where Kevin was supposed to be sleeping, empty. Immediately he went to the door to check for his car and just like he thought… it was gone. He wasn’t sure why he panicked but he did.
“Brian!” Nick said pretty loudly as he shook his brother.
“What? Are you okay? What is it?” Brian asked groggily sitting up and yawning.
“Where is Kevin?”
“What?” Brian was a little confused.
“He’s not here and his car is gone. Where did he go?”
“I have no idea…what time is it? Maybe he went to work?”
“It’s a Saturday.”
“I have no idea squirt. Maybe he went to go buy us breakfast or something, I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“It’s not even 5 in the morning.”
“Why are you awake? Are you feeling okay?”
Nick sat down on the couch which caused Brian to shift slightly to allow him some room. “I was coming down to get something to drink and noticed he wasn’t here.”
“You didn’t answer my question, how are you feeling?” Brian was totally able to tell that his brother was avoiding the question and of course that had him concerned about the answer.
“I’m feeling okay, just a little tired I guess.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t be up at, I don’t know, 5 in the morning then?” He reached over and tousled Nick’s hair which made the blonde laugh. “And worse yet, you wake ME up too!”
“Sorry about that…so you really have no clue where Kevin could be?”
Brian shook his head, “Nope, sorry squirt. But don’t worry; I’m sure he’s fine, okay?”
Nick nodded but it was the hesitation that made Brian sad. “Oh did AJ tell you that Patty came to visit?”
That took the teenager by surprise, “No, when did she show up?”
“Earlier today. She came by looking for you and I have to say she seemed pretty disappointed that you weren’t here.” He winked and clicked his tongue at his baby brother.
“I didn’t even know that she knew where I lived.”
“Apparently she does. She left me a number for you to call. I’ll have to find it. Remind me when I wake up.”
“Uh Bri…you are awake.”
“I mean when I’m really awake up, I’m not awake right now. This is just a temporary situation.”
Nick laughed. “I’ll let you go back to sleep then.” Even though he wanted to stay there forever, he stood up and started for the kitchen.
“Nicky, if you need me wake me up buddy and like I said, don’t worry about Kevin. I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Thanks Brian.”
“No problem squirt.”
“I hate when you call me that!”
“I know!” He winked as he rolled onto his side and pulled the blankets over his head.
“Where the hell are you Kevin?” Nick whispered as he went to get a glass of milk to calm his nerves.
When Kevin arrived in Howie’s room he gasped when he saw the sight of his best friend. His eyes were bruised and his face swollen. At least what he was able to see behind the bandages that were wrapped around his head.
Ariana was holding his hand and talking to him as he slept and when she saw Kevin walk into the room she stopped and smiled at him, “Baby…Kevin is here.”
“Has he woken up?”
She shook her head. “Not even stirred.”
Kevin moved a chair close to his friend, hoping that his wife wouldn’t mind being intruded upon, “Hey buddy!” He was so tired of being put into this position. Constantly having to worry about the people he loved.
“Wake up soon okay? You have us all worried about you.” Kevin brushed his hand on Howie’s arm in a loving way and then looked over at Ariana who seemed to be deep in thought.
“Everything okay?”
She seemed to jump at the question which further just confirmed what Kevin had been thinking, “Oh, yeah I’m just…I don’t know. I still don’t know how someone could do this.”
“I know what you mean. Random acts of violence seem to be escalating every year and maybe this kid was troubled. You never know, I mean did he seem troubled to you?”
“I didn’t see him.”
Kevin nodded, “That’s right. I forgot. I wonder if Howie got a good look at him.”
He was watching her very closely now as she sighed and tightened her grip on her husband’s hand, “I hope so.”
“Me too.” He sat back and once again focused his attention on her body language just like he was trained to do. Maybe she wasn’t hiding anything. Maybe she just said kid because in her head who else would do something like this but a teenager. But there was that hesitation in her voice whenever asked about what happened. The hesitation he was always taught to look for. Every single time he asked her about what happened she paused a few seconds before answering. What was she afraid of? Maybe she knew who did it?
He felt horrible doing this with Howie in the room. If he knew the thoughts that were running through Kevin’s mind he probably would wake up long enough to kick his ass. But now thoughts were running through his mind and none of them good ones.
“Did you get to talk to the 911 operator?”
She looked up confused, “No, not really. I mean yes…but I didn’t really talk to her.”
“So, how long do you think he was down there before the police came?”
“A few minutes maybe. Thank God they came quickly. Howie must have called them right away.”
“Yup, I’m sure he did.” But why didn’t you? Was what he was thinking and normally if this was a real interrogation he would have come right out and said that but Ariana was a friend. Why was he even being so suspicious of her? He knew why…it was the phone. It all went back to his cell phone and not being able to find it. How it then conveniently ended up in his brother’s pocket. Plus all of the accusations made about Nicky where she was concerned. Maybe it was all beginning to leave a bad taste in the agent’s mouth.
A small groan was heard coming from the bed and this made both Kevin and Ariana move in closer to Howie who slowly opened his eyes. He groaned once more at the pain. “Baby…” She whispered to him, softly kissing his cheek.
He looked over to her, “Thank God you’re okay.” Howie said before looking over at Kevin.
“Hey buddy…how are you feeling?”
Howie blinked a couple of times before answering, “Like I’ve been hit in the head with a baseball bat.” That made Kevin laugh. It was good to know that D still was able to keep his sense of humor about things.
“I’m going to go tell the doctor he’s awake.” Ariana said as she stood up and smiled at her husband. She needed to get out of there, for some reason Kevin was making her feel claustrophobic although it probably wasn’t smart to leave them alone to talk, she’d take her chances.
Once gone Kevin walked over to Howie, “Do you know who did this to you? Do you remember?”
Howie closed his eyes for a second, trying his hardest to recollect, “It was a kid…he looked familiar to me.” So it was a kid, he thought to himself, not really all that surprised.
“A kid? About how old?”
“A teenager, Nicky’s age…that’s right. He knows Nicky…he’s the one who took his skateboard. I think it was him.”
“What?”
“It’s a long story but it was him, he looked familiar.” Howie was repeating himself and then he closed his eyes.
“My brother knows him?” He said more to himself than to Howie just as Ariana and a doctor walked back into the room.
“Let me just give him a quick examination.” He said ushering the two of them out of the room and closing the door.
“Did he say anything else?” She asked as she twirled her hair with her fingers.
He never noticed her do that before. He also never noticed the way she bit at her bottom lip when she asked questions.
“Nope, nothing really.
“Well, I’m sure he will.”
Kevin nodded at her, “Me too. The truth always comes out in the end Ariana.”
She bit at her lip again and stared just for a second before smiling and agreeing with him…the hesitation again. “I’m going to see if there’s anything I can do to help out the police. Tell Howie I’ll be back later. I’ll let you guys get some one on one time.” He pulled Ariana into a hug.
She watched him leave, feeling uneasy but not sure why. She didn’t realize her big mistake.
Kevin knew exactly where he needed to go so he left to go check the 911 tapes to see how long it was before Ariana actually picked up the phone to call for help. He wanted to be wrong but his gut was telling him he wasn’t.
