Picture Perfect

Chapter 19

    "Huh? What? What's going on?" Aaron said as he jumped off the couch and bashed his leg on the coffee table. "Ouch, sh..." He stopped himself before he actually cussed.
    "Holy shit!" Hayley said in relief then realized what she said. "Oops, sorry." She apologized looking between Aaron and I.
    The next sound was a sleepy giggle from Sebastian. "Aunty Hayley said a bad word."
    "One you are never to repeat little man." Hayley informed him as she put her gun back in it's holster.
    Sebastian got up from the spot on the floor near the tree where he had fallen asleep and walked to me. Leaning against me he asked, "Why did you yell mommy? Daddy and I were sleeping and you always tell me I should be quiet when people are sleeping."
    I kneeled down to look my son in the eye, "I'm sorry buddy, I shouldn't have yelled. I just..." I had to catch myself before I started crying.
    "The people were hurt pretty bad weren't they?" Bash asked.
    I nodded my head, "Yeah little man, they were."
    "Well daddy and I are okay." He gave me a sleepy smile then yawned, "Can I take a real nap in my bed mommy? I didn't mean to fall asleep on the floor. It's cold and not comfy at all." He finished with a slight frown.
    "Of course you can sweetheart."
    "Okay, I'll see you guys later. Oh aunty Hayley my toys are over in the corner. You can play with anything but the Lego space ship. I'm doing that all by myself!" He warned then went off to bed.
    Hayley and I both sighed then collapsed on the couch.
    "Beer or coffee?" Aaron asked.
    "Huh?" I said in return. I heard what he said but for some reason the question stumped me completely.
    "You ladies need something. I just don't know what you can drink." Aaron said with a shrug. "Didn't know if you had to go back to work or if you were in for the day."
    "Thank you Aaron. A beer would be terrific." I replied.
    "Make that two please." Hayley added then turned to me with a joking smile on her face, "How much beer do you guys have?"
    "Not enough to erase today." I whispered.
    Aaron walked in with three bottles, handing one to each of us then said, "There is a Morris family gathering here later so there's plenty." After taking a swig of his own beer he added, "If not I'll walk down to Open Pantry and get more."
    The three of us sat in silence for a few minutes. Aaron decided to turn on the TV and stopped on a random basketball game. After a few more minutes he spoke up, "So I'm guessing the scene was pretty bad."
    I took a deep breath, hoping to compose myself to give Aaron the details he deserved to know. He had known Steve just as long as I had, we all grew up together. We'd been close for years.
    "It was another family." Hayley said then looked to me. I could tell she was just trying to give me a nudge, she knew me too well.
    "That's rough." Aaron replied and shook his head. "And today of all days. Are you okay Ash? You're pretty quiet."
    I nodded my head then shook it instead. I wasn't okay at all and I could admit that to my family, "It was Steve's family."
    Aaron looked confused, like he was running through the people he knew to figure out who I was talking about. It didn't take very long I could tell by how his face dropped. "Not Daniels?"
    All I could do was nod sadly.
    Hayley chimed in, "All three of them plus a fourth unidentifiable woman."
    "Oh god." Aaron replied.
    Then he did something that surprised me. He put down his beer, moved over next to me and gave me a hug. This pushed me over the emotional edge, I started balling. I don't know how long we sat like that but it was long enough for all three of us to cry ourselves dry.
    "I think we should wait at least a day to tell Sebastian." Aaron suggested. "He's so excited today, I'd hate to crush that."
    "I agree. I just don't know how to tell him." I said weakly.
    "We'll figure it out." Aaron said encouragingly. "And we'll do it together."
    All I could do was nod in agreement and hug him again.
    "At least we know the best possible people are handling this." Aaron added.
    "Huh?" He lost me.
    "Well I'm assuming Kayla's handling the, um, ME side of this. Then you and Hayley investigating. You three are amazing at what you do, you'll find the bastard!"
    "We haven't yet and this isn't his first go around." I answered honestly. I already felt defeated and this case was only a few hours old.
    "But you will. Not that the other families didn't matter but this one really hit you Ash. I see that stubborn fire starting in your eyes." Aaron replied.
    "That doesn't change anything." I replied.
    "You are the most stubborn woman I know Ash, with Hayley and Kayla not far behind. I know you've been putting everything you can into the Olsen family's case but now this guy really pissed you off. And I can say from personal experience, being in the line of fire when you're pissed is hazardous to one's health."
    "Or at least one's nose." Hayley chimed in jokingly. "Let's just try to enjoy today, be thankful for our family and make the best of it. Tomorrow you start hunting this guy down so he can't hurt anyone else."
    I nodded, wishing I had his confidence. I hadn't told him about the message to me or my fear that the killer was watching us. I probably should have but I was afraid he might bolt back to his parents with Sebastian. It may be selfish but for now I needed them close.

    The rest of the day was hard. My family and Aaron's parents joined us. All the adults knew the horror that occurred a few blocks away. Kayla had already called our parents before they got to my house. I overheard Aaron telling his parents and his mom didn't take the news well. She instantly panicked and wanted Aaron to move back into her house with Bash immediately. She'd always hated the fact that I was a cop but me being mixed up in this case, as she put it, made her extremely uncomfortable. Surprisingly Aaron, the notorious mama's boy, stood up to her and said this house was his home and he wouldn't leave unless I asked.
    We all put on a happy front. We did it for Bash, Tyler and Dylan but also for ourselves. Christmas was supposed to be a happy day. We all needed to remember that even though horrible things happened we still had each other so we were lucky.

    The killer watched the goings on in the Morris house with interest and a bit of disappointment.
    "Did I not affect you enough Ashlee?" She questioned then smirked. "Don't worry, the games have only just begun!"