TOO CLOSE TO HOME
Chapter 19
Don awakened early and headed downstairs to fix some coffee and check in with Terry. As he passed the dining room table, he saw fresh evidence that Charlie was hard at work, his head bent over a notebook furiously writing down numbers, totally oblivious to everything and everyone.
Don opened the cupboard and rummaged around for the coffee while he dialed his cell phone. "Hi. Did I wake you up?" he asked when Terry answered.
"No, no. I was just getting up," Terry replied. "How's Charlie?"
"Back at it. After breakfast I'm going to see if I can drag him away long enough to get his bike." He rubbed his forehead. "I just hope he isn't pushing himself too hard."
"Me too, Don. I'll see if the forensics reports are back yet. Maybe this time we'll get lucky."
"I hope so. Hey, I'll talk to you later. Okay." He hung up the phone and removed a couple of mugs from one of the cupboards.
"Alan headed downstairs to start breakfast. Seeing his youngest at the table, he asked, "Hard at it already, Charlie?"
"Morning, Dad," Charlie replied, not looking up from his work.
"I've got coffee brewing," Don said, stepping out of the kitchen. He set one mug in front of Charlie.
"What do you boys want? I'm open to suggestions," Alan told them.
"Nothing," Charlie replied.
Alan frowned. I already let you get away without eating for the last twenty-four hours. That's enough."
"Not twenty-four. Had lunch."
"You got sick so that doesn't count," Don pointed out.
"I need to work on this. Now if you could please leave me alone," Charlie said, his voice taking on a certain tenseness they were familiar with.
Alan reached down to clamp a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Charles Edward, I am going to fix you breakfast. And if I have to, I will stand over you to make sure you eat every bite. Understood?"
Charlie sighed. He knew he was in trouble when his father resorted to calling him Charles Edward. "Understood," he said after a moment.
"All right. I'm fixing you a cheese and vegetable omelet."
"Then can I go back to work?" Charlie asked.
"Then can you go back to work," Alan told him. "You want an omelet, Donny?"
"Sure. Why not," Don replied. He looked at Charlie. "You know that dad's not going to let you get away without eating."
"I know. But I hate it when he calls me by both names."
"Yeah. That means he's pretty fed up with you. So, are you making any headway on the equation?"
"I think I finally am," Charlie said and stifled a yawn.
"How early did you get up?" Don asked.
"About 5:00 I think. I couldn't sleep and it was better than lying in bed doing nothing. I can't let that guy kill another student."
"Well, according to his pattern, even those it's the same campus, he's never used the same place of attack twice. We'll have all possible placed staked out."
"But it would be better to catch him before then." Charlie replied. He put down his pen and headed for the kitchen table.
A/N Not exactly my best chapter. But the story goes on. Update coming soon.
