Jennifer Morey - Cold Case Recruit

Putting the superhero down and wearing a smug scowl only a kid could pull off and still be cute, he took a few big gulps of the chocolate milk. When he put the glass down, a chocolaty rim covered his upper lip. Then he dug into the basket of crispy french fries, all the while making sure Brycen still watched. Showing up the adult.

“So, Brycen. Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?” Drury asked with a peculiar glance at Junior. “Since you’re going to be staying on our couch, we should get to know you.”

He supposed he forfeited his right to keep things professional when he invited himself to stay in her house. “What would you like to know?”

“Why’d you leave Alaska?”

She would have to start with that question. “I applied for a job in Chicago.” And that was about all he’d say. Kadin had earned more of his respect having not said anything about what he’d uncovered.

She stopped chewing a fry. “You just applied for it?”

“I got a call from an old friend. The climate is pretty close to Anchorage. Days are longer here in summer.” He watched Junior fly the superhero over his plate and out across the table toward Brycen, probably imagining clipping his nose.

“The climate is what made you move?” Drury asked, clearly accustomed to her son’s play tactics.

Junior shoved french fries into his mouth, eyes on Brycen, seeing if he’d get a rise out of him.

“No, the job made me move,” Brycen said to Drury.

“Do you like Chicago?”

“I like the big city. It’s a nice change.”

“No family? Wife? Kids?”

“No.”

“Pets?” She smiled.

“I’m gone too much. Crimes don’t happen on a regular work schedule.”

Junior stuffed a giant portion of his grilled cheese sandwich into his mouth and chewed with his mouth open. When he finally regained control of the mass, grease oozed out from the corners of his mouth.

“Noah Jr., use your napkin.” Drury picked up the crumpled cloth napkin and handed it to him. “You’re getting grease on that superhero.”

Putting down the figure, Junior laughed as he wiped his mouth and looked at Brycen. Besting him. Gaining attention through what he perceived as funny but shocking behavior. He didn’t know nothing shocked Brycen anymore.

“It laughs,” Drury said, smiling.

Junior made a face and then resumed stuffing more fries into his mouth.

“If you had a job in Chicago, why did you start your crime show?”

She sure asked a lot of pointed questions. “The opportunity arose.”

Lifting her sandwich, she paused with his short, uninformative answer. “Were you born in Alaska?”

She must have gotten the hint that he didn’t welcome talk about his reasons for leaving Alaska or what had sent him into show business. “No. Colorado. Moved to Anchorage after college when I started working law enforcement.” There. That ought to be enough to tide her over.

Taking a bite of her sandwich, she studied his face while whatever thoughts she had about him danced in her mind.

“Have you ever thought about getting out of Alaska?” he asked.

The blink and lowering of her eyes revealed that she’d considered it and maybe the issue caused her some trouble.

“No. My family is here. Junior’s grandparents...” She got a faraway look, turning her head and abandoning her sandwich. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t alone. I mean, I’m not alone, just...I miss the companionship.”

A murderer had torn her family apart and still held her hostage. She didn’t have the heart to move Noah Jr. away from his paternal grandparents. He was their only living link to their son.

“Would you move if you could?”

She took some time to think on that. “No, I don’t think so. It’s like I said. Sometimes I feel so alone.”

He could relate to that. He just would not engage in a discussion over why. “Do you have a big family?” They didn’t need to talk about death.

“Not so big. My parents live here and I have a sister. She moved away. California. She’s a lawyer.”

“A lawyer and a bush pilot.” Interesting combination. He chuckled. “I bet you have proud parents.”

“They could have done worse. What about you?”

“My parents still live in southern Colorado. They’re divorced.” After almost thirty years, they finally decided they weren’t good for each other. “I’m an only child.” Probably the only time they’d had sex was when he was conceived.

Junior began making grunting, singing sounds as he ate, swinging his feet and bobbing his head while he flew his superhero. “Uh, uh, uh-uh-uh-uh...”

“What’s it like not having any brothers or sisters?” Drury asked with a glance at her son and slight elevation of her eyebrows.

“What’s it like having them?” he countered.

She laughed. “Active. My dad flew. Not professionally, though. He runs a local hardware store, one of the oldest in the city. My mother inherited it when her parents died. My dad worked there, so he ran it from then on. Some of the old-timers still call it a sporting goods store. He sells a lot of that still, to this day.” She kept smiling with the good memories that must bring. “He took us many places. Haven’t been to Europe, though. That’s one place I’d like to visit someday.”

Brycen had never thought about where he’d like to travel before his end came. Travel wasn’t important to him. He liked to read or watch documentaries about the world. He used to love the mountains, but that all changed when he left Alaska. If he had to pick somewhere he’d like to go, he’d choose a beach, he supposed. He’d taken a woman to the Caribbean once. That had been okay. Women loved beaches.

“They like to stay active. They’re older now, but they still hike and camp and go on trips to fun places.”

“How did they meet? You said your mother was from New York.”

“She went on a cruise. She always wanted to see Alaska, so when she was in college, her parents helped her scrounge up enough money. The ship docked in Anchorage and she went in my dad’s store. They stayed in touch after that. When my mother graduated, she moved here and the rest, as they say, is history.”

He smiled, wondering if her parents’ relationship was as storybook as she made it seem.

“We all joke that New York must have made her the active spitfire she is, or was. She was a white tornado when I was a kid. I think that’s what my dad loved about her. He worked hard, but on his time off he liked to pick up and go, usually somewhere remote.”

“Is that what drew you into piloting?” Her dad had been a pilot. That must have influenced her.

Junior had stopped his grunt-singing and chewed on a fry, eyeing his superhero. Apparently he’d given up trying to shock Brycen.

“I wanted an education, and at the time, I didn’t consider bush piloting very professional. Air force had a nicer ring to it, and serving the country had a certain... I don’t know...” She lifted her face in thought. “Noble appeal.”

“What do you like most about flying?” He never understood why anyone would want to fly a big metal tube through the air.

“The freedom,” she said, looking upward dreamily. “Soaring through the sky. Everything looks so different from up there. You can see so much more of the land than your own little patch of it in everyday life.”

“Freedom?” Did she mean nothing but air could stop her? No train tracks, no other cars...?

“Yeah. The freedom to go wherever I want, to not follow any roads. To see more of the world. It’s hard to explain. Maybe what I really love is the thrill.” She laughed a little.

“Like the air force would have been?”

“Yeah. I dreamed of flying a fighter jet when I was in high school.” She lifted her eyes in mock wonder.