Todd Ritter - Death Notice

“I was just asking,” the other boy said.

“This is Jeremy,” James told Henry. “He’s a stupid head.”

Jeremy scowled. “You’re a stupid head.”

Kat slid behind the wheel and admonished the pair with a stern glance in the rearview mirror. “You’re both stupid heads. End of discussion.”

That sent the boys into hysterics.

“Mom called us stupid heads,” James said through a torrent of giggles. “That’s funny.”

Henry should have found it funny, too. Yet the presence of the boys made him so uncomfortable it eclipsed all amusement. He wasn’t good with kids. Not anymore. And although he could normally bear brief moments of contact with them, this was too much to handle. He had to get out of the car.

“I need to go,” he mumbled.

“But we’re not finished,” Kat said, baffled by his sudden change in mood. “You need to come back to the station and make an official statement.”

Henry shook his head, feeling tears form at the corners of his eyes. He didn’t want anyone to see him crying. Henry Ghoul didn’t cry. Especially in front of children.

“I can’t right now,” he said, opening the door and stepping out onto the street. “If you need me, you know where to find me.”

Kat was left with no choice but to drive away. As the patrol car departed, James and Jeremy pressed their faces to the window and waved.

Henry mustered a small wave in return. Then, once they were gone, his anger and sorrow took over. These feelings were difficult to control, even after five years. Still, Henry tried. And as he breathed deeply, the rage flaring in his chest, only one tear leaked out. It caught on his scar and followed its path down the entire length of his face.

Kat and James arrived home after school to find Amber Lefferts waiting on the front porch. She wasn’t alone. A tall, young man with a shock of black hair and an intimidating build leaned against the railing next to her. One of his huge arms was propped over the babysitter’s shoulders. He had the other wrapped around her waist, hand sneaking upward toward her right breast.

The youth immediately stopped pawing Amber when the patrol car turned into the driveway. Despite his speed, Kat saw it all. And when she got out of the car, the groper offered a sheepish grin.

Kat knew his name. Everyone in the county knew Troy Gunzelman, the star quarterback for the Perry Hollow Cougars. He was as good as any player his age in the state, and the town expected big things from him. There were rumors Penn State was trying to recruit him, a big deal for a place as smalltime as Perry Hollow.

“Afternoon, Mrs. Campbell,” Troy said in his best suck-up voice. “How are you today?”

“It’s Chief Campbell. And I’m not married.”

She eyed Troy warily. He wasn’t merely good-looking. With his chiseled features, he was movie-star handsome. Kat didn’t know exactly why he was hanging out with Amber, but she had a pretty good idea.

“Troy gave me a ride from school,” the babysitter said. “He was just leaving.”

That was news to Troy, who shot Amber a disappointed look. She apparently forgot to tell him about Kat’s strict no-boys-allowed policy.

“Whatever,” he said. “I’ve got to hit the gym anyway.”

“See ya, Troy.” Kat patted him on the back as he stomped down the porch steps. “Hit it hard.”

She remembered Lou’s earlier comment about Amber as she watched Troy cross the yard to his vintage green Mustang. Yes, she knew what she was getting herself into.

The babysitter came from one of the most respected families in town. Reverend Lefferts was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. His wife volunteered with every organization in town, despite having to raise seven children, all of them blond, pale-skinned, and squeaky-clean. They were Perry Hollow’s own von Trapp family, only without the lederhosen.

Except for Amber.

Barely fifteen, the youngest of the Lefferts children was by far the wildest. She smoked behind the high school, stayed out after curfew, and altered her clothing to reveal as much as she could get away with. In spite of the winter weather, that afternoon she sported a pink T-shirt, white Keds, and a denim skirt so short it might as well have been a belt. Despite being a natural blonde, she had put streaks in her hair that were practically white. Combined with her porcelain-doll skin tone, it almost made her look like an albino.

No one had high hopes for Amber, including Kat, but she was an angel with James. Unlike other sitters, Amber talked to James and not at him. Since she showed no signs of being uncomfortable around him, James responded in kind. Amber was the only babysitter he looked forward to spending time with. For that reason, she was always the first person Kat called.

When he got out of the car, James bolted onto the porch and gave Amber a hug.

“Do you wanna play Wii with me?” he asked. “I got a new dog game.”

“Sure,” Amber said, shaking off the sting of Troy’s abrupt departure. “We’ll do whatever you want.”

Kat opened her wallet and took out a twenty.

“This is for pizza. I have no idea what time I’ll be home. If it’s past ten, I’ll pay you overtime.”

Amber accepted the money with a shrug and tucked it into a fake Gucci purse slung over her shoulder. “It’s cool.”

Before leaving, Kat pulled James aside. Although she knew what his answer would be, she asked, “Are you going to behave for Amber?”

“Yes, Mom,” he said, his voice tinged with the sarcasm he was just beginning to learn. For that, Kat blamed Jeremy.

“Now, on the hug scale, how much do you love me?”

When James wrapped his arms around her and squeezed, Kat felt overwhelmed with love. Moments like that made all the hard work it took to raise him worthwhile. Moments like that made Kat realize she would do anything for her son.

“Go have fun with Amber,” she said, reluctant to let him go. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

James smiled and waved before running inside the house. Kat trudged back to the car, dreading the long evening ahead and wanting only to stay home with her son.

Ten years ago, while still a rookie officer with everything to prove, Kat never thought she would one day feel this way. At the time, she considered her pregnancy to be an unwanted burden.

So did the father.

His name was Jackson Moore—Jack, for short—formerly the other half of Perry Hollow’s two-person police force. Back then, he and Kat considered themselves a couple, although not a serious one. Kat’s focus was on her career, and she knew that when the time came to settle down, it wouldn’t be with someone as undependable as Jack. Despite a killer smile, a quick wit, and being an animal in bed, he wasn’t husband or father material.

Then Kat got pregnant, forcing both of them to make major decisions. The first was whether to keep the baby, a question Kat wrestled with more than she cared to admit. When she told Jack she’d decided to have his child, he did the honorable thing and proposed. Kat said yes, not because she wanted to be his wife but because she felt it was the right thing to do.

The wedding ceremony lasted ten minutes and was followed by beer, chips, and a cake Lou had baked the night before. Their honeymoon trip consisted of moving Kat’s belongings from her mother’s house to Jack’s apartment. They pretended to be happy while waiting out the remainder of her pregnancy. But the fact Kat kept her maiden name should have been a signal to everyone that she assumed it wouldn’t last.

When James was born with Down’s Syndrome, Kat vowed to love and protect her son for the rest of her life. Jack assured her he was also up to the challenge of raising a child with special needs, and Kat wanted to believe him. But deep down, she couldn’t. She expected the marriage to last at least a year. She got ten months.