“I need to know if this is the guy,” Grant said.
“I get that. But I don’t want him upset.” Marty thought for a few seconds. “When he comes downstairs, I’ll explain what we have and ask him if he’s willing to look and see if it’s the bad man. If he says no, I won’t push him. I know this is important, but some things have to happen at Cameron’s pace. Otherwise he could get hurt all over again, and that’s the last thing either of us want.”
“That’s a deal.” He helped load the dishwasher, and when Cameron came back down the stairs, they were sitting in the living room with Dexter at their feet.
“Come and sit here with us,” Marty said. “I need to ask you something. Okay? It’s important, but you can always say no.”
Cameron folded his arms over his chest. “No pokes?”
“No pokes. I promise.” He was really beginning to wonder about that fixation. Maybe the two of them would need to talk about it. Cameron climbed between them, and Dexter sat up and put his head on Cameron’s lap.
“Officer Grant thinks the police might have found a picture of the bad man. If it is him, it will help them catch him and put him in jail.”
“Forever?” Cameron asked.
“For a long time. He won’t ever hurt you again. The picture is on my phone. Will you look at it?” Grant asked. “Like Marty said, you don’t have to. But remember, it’s just a picture. You don’t need to be afraid of a picture. I’m going to be right here, and so is Mr. Marty as well as Dexter. Okay?”
Cameron nodded slowly.
“Okay. You can show him the picture.” Marty held Cameron’s hand as Grant brought up the image and turned it so Cameron could see it.
He took the phone and looked at it closely. “Bad man,” he said. Then he stuck out his tongue and hit the front of the phone, “Mean, bad man.” The reaction was intense.
“Okay. Thank you,” Grant said. “That was very brave of you.”
Marty put an arm around Cameron and held him close for a while. “You did really well. Are you sure that’s him?” He was afraid that Cameron might be telling them what he thought they wanted to hear.
“Yes. That him. He’s a bad man.” He turned to Grant. “You put him in jail. Okay? Put him where bad men go.” He slipped off the sofa and sat next to Dexter, who licked his cheek, making Cameron giggle.
“Okay. That helps. I’m going to get this picture circulating, and maybe we can put some pressure on this guy. Someone has to know who and where he is.” Grant hugged Marty and then kissed him. “Thank you for looking after me, and for breakfast.”
“Any time. Saturday night is a big processing night, so I’ll be up late. Stop by after you get off if you want.” What he really hoped was that if Grant was up to it, maybe they could do a little more than kiss. But he wasn’t going to pressure Grant.
“I’ll call you when I know more.”
“Good. And if I find out anything I’ll let you know. Hopefully one of us will get lucky today.” If Grant came over after work, maybe they would both get lucky, in a very different way.
Grant got Dexter into his harness, and they walked to the door with Cameron hurrying behind them to wave good-bye.
“Get the bad man,” he told them, and then closed the door with a thud.
“I’M HUNGRY,”Cameron said after dinner that evening, while they watched TV. It was just a statement and not a question about what he could have, but Marty took it as a positive sign. He had been waiting for some sort of indication that Cameron was coming to trust him as far as food was concerned. The little boy still had his moments, like when Marty found a banana in his bed that morning and a small package of Oreos hidden under the sofa.
“What would you like?” Marty asked. “I can make us popcorn, and we could watch a movie. MaybeHercules.”
Cameron thought really hard, like it was a very important question. “Okay. With butter?”
“Of course,” Marty said. Who wanted to eat dry popcorn? He got out the popper and made up a batch, adding some melted butter and a little salt. Then he brought the bowl into the living room, along with glasses of ice water, and put on the Disney movie.
Cameron sat enthralled through the entire movie, and Marty swore he ate more than half the bowl of popcorn until his little belly pooched out. Then he stretched out on the sofa until the movie ended and almost immediately fell asleep.
“Come on, let’s get you up to bed,” Marty said softly. He carried Cameron up the stairs and to his room, where he got him undressed and under the covers. Cameron snuggled right downwith Binky and was out like a light. Marty watched him a minute, wondering what twists of fate and evil had brought this amazing bundle of happiness into his life.
Then he closed the door most of the way before going downstairs to his office to check on work emails. Thankfully, things were quiet and there were no pressing issues. A few job stoppages were handled by their own systems control people, and the one question that came in was easily answered and closed. In short, it was an unusual night, and he made sure his alerts were functioning before turning out the light. He was about to go to bed when a soft knock caught his attention. He went to the door.
“The house seemed quiet, and I wasn’t sure if I should stop by or not. But I saw the light go out in your office, so I knew you were up. Maybe I should just go on home. I have to—”
“Hey,” Marty said. “Come on in. When was the last time you ate?” It wasn’t likely that Grant was having regular meals, and what he did eat was most likely crap. He closed the door behind him and hurried to the kitchen, where he got a haggard-looking Grant seated at the table. He brought him a glass of water and some juice before making up a cheese and ham omelet that Grant tucked into like he hadn’t eaten all day.
