Taking Counsel

Carol and Daryl had talked for a while trying to decide who and how to tell this story. Daryl asked Carol to wait until he had a chance to talk with Kevin Connelly. Carol knew how much Daryl respected the older man's advice and agreed. Daryl left then to go visit with his good neighbor, retired Boston police detective, Kevin Connelly.

Daryl walked over to Kevin's house which was close to Ashton's place. Kevin had been vacationing in the mountains when everything happened. He had no family to draw him away and he had met Connie at the Adair refugee center. He had taken over a farm on McAllister Mountain and eventually Connie had moved there with them. They were an odd couple; he had a brief miserable marriage without children and had spent all his energy on his job as a police detective. Connie had been a wife and mother for nearly thirty-five years and had just retired as a school librarian. He had gone to bars to relax and she had knitted. They were very happy together and Daryl had found himself drawn to the two of them. Kevin for all his outward gruffness was an inward teddy bear and Connie loved Carol and adored Lizzie and Mika. They had become the younger generation's grandparents. Lizzie and Mika loved to visit with them and Connie had knitted a baby blanket for every new arrival in their neighborhood.

Daryl rang the bell on the gate and hoped that Kevin could hear it over the noise of his sander. Kevin loved using power tools and no one visited when the electricity was off. The sander was shut off and Kevin stuck his head out of the woodshop and waved at Daryl. The gate was shut with chains but not locked. Kevin brought him into their sun porch which was decently warm today.

Daryl got right to the point and described Carol's worries. Daryl knew that Kevin was a skeptic He believed in evidence and things that everyone could see, but he trusted Kevin's advice. Kevin studied him; Daryl believed Carol and Daryl wasn't some guy who believed in UFO's and alien babies living in the White House. Daryl did tell a chupacabra story that was a little out there but the rest of the time he was rock steady. Carol had been able to defend her homestead from a large group of raiders because she had known they were coming. Forewarned was forearmed.

Kevin had never been a father but he knew that he loved Daryl liked a son and Carol like a daughter. Kevin knew that he would kill any son of a bitch that did anything to Lizzie and Mika. He hated the spidery feeling that this story gave him. "Do you want my advice?"

Daryl nodded; he did want Kevin's counsel. Kevin started thinking out loud, "This guy knows you and your family from someplace. He knows where you live and he knows that the girls never leave the homestead without an armed adult. He's a pervert. He likes young girls. He wants Lizzie but he'll take Mika. Or Arya from next door. Or Patrick's daughter Sarah. He will scout the area around your house out. There are too many people in the house for him to come in. The girls are always in the barn and he could come in that way and get her out through a hole in the fence. The raiders came in that way didn't they?"

Daryl had turned pale as Kevin spoke, but his voice was steady, "I'll scout around to see if he has been watching from the woods. We need to tell the girls."

Kevin nodded, "I am going to go talk to Ashton and Jo. Arya and Ariel need to be watched. I'll talk to Patrick and his wife. This guy has to have a back way in I think. There are so few vehicles traveling through here now because gasoline is so scarce. He may not be in a hurry. He may be getting pleasure from planning it, but don't get false hope. If he is fixating on Lizzie or some girl up here then sooner or later he will try to get her."

Kevin went on, "You keep a close watch and you need to make things look the same. Add a couple more cameras in places that you can't see from the house. Be subtle, we want to catch him. We don't want him to know that we are on to him. Now you tell everyone that lives at your house and out the road. They need to know, but you had better let me talk to Carl".

Daryl asked, "Should we tell anyone in law enforcement?"

Kevin's face hardened, "No, Dickens and his merry men are idiots. When we find him, we aren't going to have him arrested. We will handle it internally and eternally. I'll do it. There is plenty of room on this mountain for one more grave."

Daryl said, "The first one to him will do it and I hope that it is me. I didn't want to bring in Dickens, but you being a policeman might sway you that way."

Kevin laughed, "Retired policeman and that was another time. Send Carl over to me before he starts wiping out some more guy trying to bring home some rabbits for supper." Kevin sobered quickly. "He'll come after her when you are distracted; he might cause some sort of distraction to draw you out. Now get out of here and send me Carl". Kevin's voice was rough but he unexpectedly hugged Daryl at the gate. Daryl patted Kevin's back awkwardly but appreciated the gesture.

Daryl went back to the homestead and found Carl and told him that Kevin wanted to see him right now. Carl took off. Daryl squared his shoulders and went into the house. Carol was waiting for him and they took Lizzie and Mika into the bedroom with the crib and the rocker and told them them everything they knew.

Kevin was waiting for Carl at the gate and brought him into the sun porch. Kevin loved this boy but he knew that he had to get it across to him that he couldn't walk two steps behind Lizzie with an automatic rifle for the rest of his life. Kevin told the story as well as he could and he saw how hard it hit him. The boy loved Lizzie and Mika. "Carl, this isn't about how much you care about those girls. It's about keeping them safe. We don't want him to know that we are looking for him so you have to make it look like business as usual. It may be a while before he does anything. You just have to keep your eyes on those girls all the time without looking like you do. You work in the barn all the time and that a good place for you to be. Keep some weapons stashed out there. Every time you go in the barn you search it like somebody is waiting to knock you in the head, cause somebody might be. If this perv has been watching the place he'll know that he had to go through you to get to them. Go wide around every corner even outside. He'll not use a gun because it's too loud, but he'll have something. Maybe even a stun gun or chloroform. Something to knock Lizzie out and get her out of here."

Carl's freckles stood out on his pale face and Kevin knew he had put a lot on this boy's shoulders but there was no way around it. Carl was in the mix; the perv would know that the boy was always around Lizzie and Mika. He might see Carl as a rival for Lizzie's affections. Carl swallowed hard but managed to say, "I'll be careful. I will have my eyes on them and all around me. I won't be afraid to use a weapon. He won't get a second chance."

Kevin sighed, "Spoken like the good boy soldier that you are. Now don't be killing off everybody that moves. He'll be inside the fence or trying to get through it. We are going to take care of this internally. Do you understand? He never leaves this mountain. No talking to outsiders. The fewer people who know about it the better. "

Carl walked back to the homestead. He knew that he would have to follow Kevin's advice. He couldn't just walk into the barn or any of the storage buildings and not pay attention. He had to search every corner and crevice of the barn and the yard before he moved. He would do it; he would not fail Lizzie and Mika.

Kevin rested his head on the gate and thought about mistakes that he had made as a policeman. He had learned from mistakes; he was going to use that hard won knowledge to keep those girls safe. He loved their parents and he loved those girls. He would find this bastard and he would protect his family.

How can this go wrong with Carl and Kevin in the fray? Maybe it won't?

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