Chapter 3



Renee and gabriel were sitting beside each other at the table. Across from them were Tom and Andrew. Michael sat down at the end of the table when everything was on the table.
No one talked while they ate dinner. Once it was over and everyone had taken their dishes to the kitchen, the five of them went into the living room.
Renee and gabriel sat on the couch. The pother three sat in chairs placed around the room. Andrew sat so he could look right at the two on the couch.
A fire was blazing in the fireplace and several wrapped packages sat at Michael's feet. He picked up the smallest one. Unwrapping it, he found a small picture frame. In the frame was a child's drawing.
"One of yours?" he asked Renee.
"Yeah. One that Mom still had."
He nodded his head and picked up a rather flimsy package. When the wrapping paper was off, a handful of papers fell to the floor. Quickly picking them up, he put them back into a neat pile.
As he looked at each paper, the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile. He turned to renee again and said, "Thank you." He finished opening the gifts, then leaned back in his chair.

Tom stood up and went into the kitchen to get the cake he had bought for this night. Andrew followed him to help. The three others moved back into the dining room.
Renee had not spoken to Andrew throughout the whole night. She was still avoiding him by looking down at her plate. She had finished her cake and was mixing the crumbs with the melted ice cream. Gabriel reached over and put his hand over hers. She could see Andrew's grip tighten on his fork.
An hour later, Tom and Andrew left. The younger Delany shook Renee's hand in farewell. She frowned when he wouldn't let her pull her hand out of his.
As soon as they had driven away, Gabriel took Renee's hand in his and they walked outside to sit on the porch. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, then Gabriel asked, "What was his problem with me?"
She shook her head. "I really don't know."
"Did something happen between the two of you?"
She laughed, but the sound lacked amusement. "I don't think you could say that."

He looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"
She swallowed before continuing. "A couple years ago I thought I was in love. With him." She looked over at him before continuing. "Maybe I was, but he never felt the same way about me. When I told him, he said he was flattered but didn't know how he felt." She swallowed again. "That hurt more than saying he didn't have feelings for me. I thought I still had a chance."
"So why does he hate me?"
"I don't know. I was over him by the time I left for New York."
"So it's not like I stole his girl."
She laughed at how old fashioned stealing some one's girl sounded, then shook her head. "No. I went with you willingly."
He laughed, then leaned over and kissed her.
*******
Sara was sitting at the table writing down everything she knew about the case. She put her head in her hands, frustrated. None of it made any sense. "I wish you were here, Danny."

"Pez, I am here."
She turned around, startled. "Why do you have to be dead? I could really use your help now."
He smiled. "I didn't really have a choice."
"None of this makes any sense," she said, pointing to the paper she had been writing on. "There's only bits and pieces of clues and nothing fits together right. I need your help."
He shook his head. "You have help."
She was going to say something, but he was gone. Just then, she heard a knock on the door.
*******
"Ian, come here."
He cringed when he heard the order. Ian knew he had been caught sneaking out or back in. With bowed head, he slowly made his way over to where Irons was sitting.
Irons rose when Ian stood before him.
"Ian, didn't I tell you I gave Sara Pezzeni all the help she needed."
"Yes, sir, you did."
"And didn't I tell you not to speak to her unless I tell you to do so."
"Yes, sir, you did," he repeated.
Irons raised his hand to strike him, but then changed his mind and lowered it again. He stepped back and sat down again. Ian took this as a sign for him to leave. he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

He stalked down the hall to his room. Slamming the door, he walked over to his bed and sat down. He had no idea what to do. He had promised Sara his help and he wanted to give it to her. He could still remember how he had felt when she had thanked him for helping her before. But he had never defied Irons like this before.
Still undecided, he let his hair fall loose, then slipped into bed.
*******
Gabriel grabbed Renee's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on. You're getting cold," he said, as they walked inside together. In the living room, they sat beside each other on the couch.
Michael was in the kitchen washing the dishes. Renee just shook her head at him. "It's his party and he refuses to let me help clean up."

Gabriel laughed. "You take after him there."
She gave him a surprised look. "I do?"
He nodded his head. "You never let anyone help you." he smiled at her. "You can definitely be stubborn."
"And so can you."
He smiled again. "Then we make a perfect pair."
This made her laugh. Suddenly he remembered something he was going to ask her. "What were those papers you gave your dad?"
Her smile brightened her face. "Some of my poems and stories. It's become sort of a tradition for me to give him my latest works for his birthday or Christmas."
"How did this tradition start?" He had to admit he was curious.
She smiled but there seemed to be a hint of sadness in it. "No one else in my family wanted to read them. He was the only one that encouraged me."
"Well, now you have two people to encourage you."
She looked at him and smiled. Then, laying her head on his shoulder, she felt a moment of bliss as the tension if the day left her body.
*******



"Well, this is another piece of evidence that makes no sense. What is this suppossed to mean?"
Jake just shrugged. He was as confused as Sara. They were looking at a paper he had brought over. It had been an encoded message. After several hours, they thought they had finally cracked it. once decoded, it read:
They were turned from their path, but have returned home once more.
"What does he mean 'they have returned home'? They're dead."
"I think that is what he means, jake. But how does this help us?"
She read the message again, hoping to figure it out, but still couldn't. Shaking her head, she said, "Jake, we both need a good night's sleep. Why don't you go home and we'll try to figure this out tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
He left and Sara went back to sit at the table. She was going to try to figure this out no matter how long it took.
*******
In the morning, Renee and gabriel were sitting on the porch swing when they saw a car coming up the driveway. It stopped at the barn when her dad came out. He pointed up to the house and the car started forward again. When it finally came to a stop and the door opened, Andrew Delany stepped out.

She could see the storm brewing in his face. As he came closer, she began to get angry. Why should he be so upset that she had moved on?
Her face was red with fury and Gabriel could hear it in her voice when she said, "Hello."
Andrew didn't even look at her, but walked right up to Gabriel. "What do you want?" Gabriel asked irritated. Renee couldn't help but smile. He talked like Andrew was just an annoying fly.
"I want to know what you're doing here with her."
"And I thought it was obvious."
Renee stepped forward. "There's no reason that he shouldn't be with me." The anger was rising in her again.
He looked right at her. "I thought you would wait for me. You know I was still trying to figure things out."
"What, wait while you decided if I was worth your time or not? I know what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go. And unlike what I used to think, you weren't a part of it. If I had waited, I would still be sitting here, waiting for you. So, you want to know something? I decided you weren't worth my time." She was close to screaming by this point.

Andrew's face had paled by the time she was finished. His mouth opened and closed several times, then he turned back to gabriel. "So you choose him instead," he sneered.
"Yes, she did," Gabriel replied. "Now, I think it would be best if you would leave." He was really getting tired of this guy.
"And you're gonna make me, right?"
"Give up the tough act, Andrew." She sounded extremely disgusted with him. "You're smarter than that."
Gabriel had not made one move yet. There was a warning in Renee's eyes when he looked over at her. He shrugged. Obviously, she would get rid of him her own way.
"Andrew, go home," she pleaded with him. "I'm over you. I have been for more than a year. You missed your chance."
He glared at both of them, then turned around and stalked to his car. The door slammed and he pulled away.
As soon as the car was out of sight, renee buried her face in Gabriel's shoulder. He stroked her hair as her body started to shake from sobbing.

Ian had waited until he saw Jake leave before he came out of the shadows. Now he was once again in Sara's apartment with her looking at him in surprise.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked him with genuine curiousity.
"Doing what?"
"Helping me."
He shook his head. "I'm not sure." He looked up at her. "I just know that I am."
She nodded, pulled out a chair, and motioned for him to sit down. He looked at it, then at her.
"Please sit. You make me nervous standing there like that."
He obliged her and she started to tell him all she knew about the case. He was looking at the message they had decoded while she talked.
Suddenly he looked up and cleared his throat.
"What?" she asked, looking up.
He nodded at the message. "This is wrong."
"What do you mean?" Don't tell me we have to start fresh again.
"I know this code. Irons taught it to us when we were younger."
"Us?"
He nodded. "For several years another boy lived with us. Then one day he was gone."

She thought about this new information before asking, 'What does that mean then?"
Ian studied the message again for a minute, the said, "It doesn't make much sense."
"Not much about this case does.'
"I can't make out all of it, but this first part here says 'it is better'. Then that part there means 'refuge in Lord'. The last three words are 'trust in man'."
"It is better...refuge in Lord...trust in man." She seemed to think of something all of a sudden. Turning sharply arund, she disappeared into her bedroom for a minute. When she emerged, Sara was carrying a book.
She quickly thumbed through the pages until she had found the one she was looking for. She skimmed down the page, then started reading. "'It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.' It's from Psalm 118 of the bible." She looked over at him. "What was that kid's name?"
"Luke Matthews," he replied. There was no point in pretending he didn't know what she was talking about. And after all, he did want to help.

She nodded. "Don't know if it will get us anywhere, but it could be a start."
He had started to move toward the window when she spoke again. "Ian."
"Yes, Lady Sara?" he asked as he turned toward her.
"Thanks."
His lips parted in a brief smile, then he was out the window and fading into the shadows.
*******
She lifted her head and smiled at gabriel. He pushed her hair away from her face. Her face was streaked from the paths of her tears and her eyes were red from crying. "You look terrible," he told her.
"Thanks for noticing."
He laughed, then asked her, "You okay now?"
"yeah, I'm fine."
"Good." He started to trace the line of her jaw with his finger. She grabbed his hand and pulled it away. Then, she kissed his lips. When she pulled away, Gabriel could see Michael walking up the driveway.
"Parent alert," he whispered with laughter in his voice.
She used her shirt to try to dry her face. But it was useless. When he reached the porch, Michael could tell that she had been crying. "What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"Nothing, Dad."
He looked at gabriel. "Why didn't Andrew stay longer. he said he wanted to see the two of you." Things were starting to fall into place now.
"He decided he had better things to do," Gabriel told him.
The older man nodded. "I see. Well, why don't you two come inside. I have something to tell you before you leave."
They walked inside and Michael closed the door behind them.