Brian Freeman - Marathon

“I understand.”

“Krista pulled an all-nighter in the ER. She’s sleeping now. She said the injuries she saw were horrific. Like something out of a war.”

“Thank God for nurses like her.”

“Yeah.” A little smile of pride played across Drew’s face. Then the smile washed away. “I lost two people at the store. Seth was just nineteen. Candice was twenty-one. Both of them the nicest, sweetest kids you could meet.”

“I remember Seth. He helped me last year when I was in training.”

“Another girl from the store is critical. They don’t know if she’ll make it. Two others suffered concussions and burns.”

“I’m so sorry, Drew.”

“When you find the guy who did this, you’d better not let me near him,” he told her.

Serena nodded. She’d already heard that sentiment over and over again. Among the police. Among the runners. Among the Duluth people who’d had their marathon stolen from them in the worst way possible.

In the swing, Michael fussed, and Drew slid him out of the harness. The rocking of his father’s arms quickly settled the boy. Drew was a small man, but he had an athlete’s strength. He wore runner’s shorts, a yellow soccer jersey, and sneakers without socks. His kinky, straw-colored hair was tied in a rubber band behind his head.

“Do you want to hold him?” he asked.

“I was ready to grab him as soon as I got here,” Serena replied, smiling.

She lifted Michael under his chubby shoulders and held him against her chest. He was warm and smelled clean and fresh, and he was already more boy than baby. She put out two fingers, and he grabbed them in a pincer grip. His eyes never left her face. She could see a strong reflection of Cat in his eyes.

She’d never thought of herself as maternal. There was little from her own childhood she wanted to remember. She’d run away from her mother after years of abuse. A teenage abortion had left her unable to have kids of her own, and she’d had to make peace with that part of her life. It wasn’t that she had regrets. She was forty, Stride was fifty; they’d already decided that they were beyond the age where they wanted to adopt. Even so, holding Michael in the hospital eight months ago had changed her. After that moment, she’d understood for the first time what it really meant to be willing to give up everything for another human being.

“He’s getting heavy,” she said.

“Twenty-one pounds. He’s crawling, too.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. Nothing is safe.” Then Drew added, “How’s Cat doing?”

“Nothing is ever easy with her,” Serena said. “Has she been by to see you?”

“Not yet. She knows she’s welcome, doesn’t she? We’d like her to feel close to Michael and to play a role in his life. It’s not just talk. Krista and I both want her involved.”

“Stride and I keep encouraging her to visit,” Serena told him.

“Do you know why she’s reluctant? Does she regret giving him up?”

“It’s not that. She wanted to keep him, but she knew she wasn’t in a position to give him the life he deserved. She loves the idea that he has such a great family with you and Krista. I think she’s genuinely happy about that.”

“Then what?”

Serena shook her head. “I don’t think she believes she has anything to offer him right now.”

“That’s silly,” Drew said.

“I know. I’ve told her you and Krista don’t expect anything from her except love. It’s just something she has to come to in her own time.”

“Fair enough. I understand.”

“Cat was in Canal Park yesterday, too,” Serena said.

“Oh, my God. Is she okay?”

“Physically, fine, but she was very close to where the bomb went off. She feels guilty. She wonders why she was spared.”

Drew pushed the tree swing back and forth with one hand, even though it was empty. “I know how she feels. Krista and I both ran the marathon. I should have gone over to the store when I was done, but instead, we just hung out and drank beer in the finisher’s tent with our friends. If I’d gone back, I’d be dead. Instead, my employees paid the price for me.”

“Do I have to give you the speech I gave Cat?” Serena asked. “About none of this being your fault?”

“No, I get it. It’s just that the world feels pretty fragile today.”

“Yes, it does.”

“The FBI told me the bomb was in my store. Is that really true?”

“It is.”

“Unbelievable. Somehow that makes it even worse, you know? They let me inside this morning to assess the damage. It’s a total loss. All the inventory was destroyed. The space is unusable. I feel bad thinking about that, given what happened to my people, but it’s going to be hard to rebuild, even with insurance. Retail is always tough. We’ve been struggling to stay afloat despite a decent economy. But after this, I don’t know what happens to tourism around here.”

Serena thought: Every crime has ripple effects that people don’t see.

“Listen, Drew, I have to ask you a couple of questions,” she told him.

“Of course.”

“Did you have security cameras in the store?”

“We did, but the video archive was on a DVR near the register. I don’t think there was much left of it after the blast.”

“Did you talk to any of your people in the store after you finished the race?”

“Yes, Candice was in charge. I called her from the finisher’s tent. She said everything was fine. She was the one who told me to relax and not bother coming over to the store.”

“What time was that?” Serena asked.

“About eleven-thirty.”

“Did she mention anything out of the ordinary?”

“No, nothing.”

“How hard would it be to sneak a backpack into the store without being noticed?”

“In a camping store? Not hard at all. We’re more concerned with backpacks sneaking out of the store. Assuming the pack looked new, I doubt anyone would pay attention to it. Anybody could slide it off their shoulder and walk away.”

“Okay, that’s what I figured.”

“Sorry I can’t be more help.”

“I do have one other question. Last Tuesday evening, you called 911 because of a problem in the store. Something about a homeless man causing a disturbance. Can you tell me about it?”

“Oh, sure,” Drew said. “I felt bad, because I really didn’t want to get the guy into any trouble. I was more concerned that he should be in a hospital. Why are you asking about him?”

“I like to check out everything. What happened?”

“Well, this guy came into the store. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t a tourist. Let’s just say he smelled like he hadn’t seen a shower in a while. The staff and I were keeping an eye on him, because frankly, we thought he might be looking to do a little grab-and-go. He climbed up to the loft level, and the next thing I know, he’s screaming and rolling around on the ground, banging into fixtures, throwing merchandise. We ran up to calm him down, and I called 911, but before the cops arrived, the guy bolted.”

“Did he steal anything?” Serena asked.

“No.”

“Have you seen him in the store since then?”

“No.”

“What did he look like?”

“Medium-height. Forties. Beard, long brown hair, stocky build.”

Serena stood up and delivered Michael back into Drew’s arms. “Okay. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. Tell Krista I said hi.”

“I will. Congratulations, by the way.”

“On what?”

“On finishing the marathon.”

“Oh.” Serena shrugged. “Thanks. The weird thing is, I almost forgot about it. Getting through the race doesn’t feel so important today.”

Drew shook his head. “Not true. Don’t let this asshole take it away from you. Finishing a marathon is a big deal.”