ROLAND PARK ELEMENTARY
It was recess time and Corey was kicking the soccer ball around with his friends. Sam kicked the ball and Corey missed it and it went on the other side of the playground by the fence.
"I'll get it." Corey said and ran over to pick it up
"Hi, Corey." He heard a voice say as he bent down to pick it up
He stood up and saw a man standing on the other side of the fence. He eyed him skeptically as he had been told, like most children, by his parents not to talk to strangers. But this man knew his name.
"Hi." He replied
"You don't know me do you?" The man asked
He shook his head, "Uh uh."
"I'm a friend of your dad's. My name is Mike."
"My dad never said anything about a friend named Mike."
"Well, it's been a long time since I've seen him. But I'm in town and I'd like to talk to him-"
Corey's teacher, Mrs. Patterson approached his friends, "Where's Corey, Josh?"
"Over there." He pointed, "He went to get the ball
Mrs. Patterson looked over and saw Corey talking to the man and she immediately felt alarmed. The children had all been taught not to talk to people who tried to approach them in the school yard.
"Corey!" His teacher Mrs. Patterson called from where she stood with his friends, "Get away from that fence young man and come back over here."
Corey ran away without a word back to where his friends were.
"Corey, you know you aren't supposed to talk to strangers." Mrs. Patterson admonished him
"But he said he knows my dad." Corey explained
"Well, just stay away from anyone you don't really know."
"Okay." He said and returned to playing with his friends
Mrs. Patterson looked back at the fence and the man who Corey was talking to was gone. She made a mental note to keep an eye out for him.
Michelle was in the room of what was slowly becoming the nursery looking at paint and carpet samples when she heard the front door open.
"Shell!" A female voice called out
"Up here Sarah." She called out
She heard footsteps and then Sarah Carvelli DeLuca appeared in the doorway, "Hey, how's it going?" Joe's "baby" sister was kindred spirit for Michelle. A biology and anatomy teacher, she and Michelle could spend hours talking about DNA, among other scientific and medical topics.
"Well, as you can see, it's not going anywhere." She replied, "I'm looking at paint and carpet samples now. What do you think of these?" She showed her a pale pink paint sample and white carpet
"White?" She asked
"Well, for now and besides girls aren't nearly as messy as boys." She replied
"You haven't seen my girls' laundry." Sarah quipped, "Sometimes I play the game 'guess that stain'."
Michelle laughed, "Why don't we go downstairs for some coffee."
"Sure."
Michelle poured a cup for Sarah and some juice for herself as caffeine was strictly off limits for her and baby.
"So, Joe said you had some excitement the other night." Sarah informed her
"Yeah, Corey thought he saw someone outside his window but when Joe went to check no one was there."
"Is Corey alright?" She asked taking a sip of coffee
"I think so but I think he doesn't think Joe believed him." Michelle replied
"Ah, that's what Joe said." Sarah said, "What do you think?"
Michelle sighed heavily, "I don't know. He finally stopped having nightmares so I hope this isn't a manifestation of that."
"Maybe he really saw something." Sarah suggested
"I don't know what bothers me more, the thought that he imagined it and we're taking two steps back or that someone was really there."
Sarah reached out and squeezed Michelle's hand, "It's going to be okay." She assured her, "Besides you have little Lily to think about too."
Michelle shook her head and laughed, "You would be on your brother's side."
Sarah gave her an impish grin and took another drink of coffee as the back door opened and Corey came in, "Hi Mom." He came over and greeted her with a hug
"How was school, Sweetie?" She asked
"Good." He said with shrug
"Hi, Corey." Sarah said
"Aunt Sarah!" He walked over to her and gave her a hug, "Are Sophie and Claire here?"
"No, I'm sorry. They had after school stuff to do. I just came by to see your mom…and you." She said
"Honey, why don't you go on upstairs and start your homework? Daddy's bringing home pizza tonight."
"Okay."
"Hey Corey, would you like to go to a movie with the girls this weekend?" Sarah asked
"Yeah!" He responded enthusiastically, "Thanks Aunt Sarah." He said and dashed upstairs
"Thank you." Michelle offered
"You don't have to thank me. He's a great kid and the girls like hanging out with him." She replied, "I figured you and Joe could use some time to yourselves. Now I just have to find a movie they all would like."
Joe arrived home with a pizza and as they were eating Corey mentioned the man he had talked to at school that day. It set off alarm bells with both of them.
"Corey, who was this man and why were you talking to him?" Joe asked sternly but tried not to scare him
Corey shrugged, "He said he was your friend, Mike."
"Corey, I don't have a friend named Mike." Joe told him
"That's what I told him and he said you hadn't seen him in a long time." Corey replied, "He knew my name and everything."
"Then what happened?" Michelle interjected
"Nothing, Mrs. Patterson told me to stop talking to him and so I did and went back to playing with my friends."
"Well, if anyone ever tries to talk to you like that again you just walk away, okay?" Joe told him
"Okay, Dad." He replied, "May I be excused now?"
"Yeah sure, Sweetie." Michelle told him
Corey left the room and Michelle didn't know whether to be angry or scared, "You still think no one was outside his room that night?"
"I don't know what to think." Joe said, "But I'm sure as hell going to find out."
They went to bed but Joe couldn't sleep. He quietly got out of bed and went to Corey's room to find him sleeping peacefully, his angelic face untroubled. There was a time he thought he would never have a family but not all he could think about was keeping them safe. After seeing Corey was alright he went down the hall to the nursery. The only thing in it was a rocking chair that had belonged to Michelle's grandmother and had been handed down in the family. He sat in it and tears formed in his eyes. God help me protect them. They mean everything to me. He sat there for a few minutes silently praying and vowing to find out who this guy was.
"Hey." A soft voice called from the doorway
He looked up and saw her standing there, "I'm sorry, Babe. I thought I had managed to get up without bothering you."
She caressed her belly, "You didn't, she did." She explained, "I had to go to the bathroom and saw you were gone."
"I just can't stop thinking about this guy." He said his tone slowly increasing in anger, "He talked to my son. How can we protect him if some guy can do that? What kind of school let's that happen?"
She came over to him and sat in his lap, "He couldn't have gotten Corey. The fence is ten feet high and locked."
He caressed her thigh, "I know, I just…" He trailed off
"I know." She said
He moved his hand to her abdomen, "Maybe she's better off staying in there."
"Are you kidding?" She replied placing her hand over his, "She's one tough cookie. Have you felt her kick?"
He smiled as he felt the baby move as if underscoring her mother's point, "She is something else, strong and undoubtedly beautiful and smart like her mother."
Michelle smiled and kissed him, "You think so, huh?"
"Hmm, I know so." He told her, "Now why don't we go back to bed, you're, uh, crushing my legs."
"Hey watch it, mister." She quipped as she got up, "Mom can kick just as hard."
"I'll keep that in mind." He said with a lopsided grin
12th PRECINCT POLICE STATION
Joe got his morning cup of coffee, his second one, having had one at home. But it was doing nothing to clear his head. He wanted to do some digging to see if he could find out who this "Mike" was and the best place to start was checking to see who he had arrested that maybe had just been released from prison. Inmates have an enormous amount of time on their hands to plot revenge and even though their computer access was monitored, that didn't stop friends on the outside from doing the work for them to find out information on the cop that put them away. So he could have gotten his address and found out about Michelle and Corey.
"Carvelli." A voice called, "You wanna grace us with your presence in the briefings this morning?"
"Oh yeah, sorry Captain." He got up and went into what looked like a classroom but was where they have staff meetings and briefings.
As he took his seat Captain Harris began, "Well now that Detective Carvelli has been so gracious as to join us, I'll get started."
Snickers were heard around the room
"Alright, this isn't high school." He said, "Now, I just got word from the guys up in Baltimore that Mike Falco was released a few days ago. It was early for "good behavior" but since his family is still in the area there is a good chance that he came back here so I want all of you to be on alert. This guy is crazy."
Joe sat frozen in his chair. That had to be who Corey talked to. Oh my God, he thought, that bastard got to my son.
The Captain wrapped things up and as they were leaving called Joe aside, "Look, Joe I know this Falco thing was your case about ten years ago, right?"
"Yeah um, Captain, I think he's been looking for me." Joe replied
"Why?"
"Corey saw a man outside his window a few nights ago and last night he said someone named Mike approached him when he was outside at recess at school and tried to talk to him saying his was my friend."
"So that's why you look like death warmed over and keep zoning out." The captain replied, "Damn it, Joe why didn't you say something sooner. We could have already done something."
"Done what?" Joe asked, "I wasn't sure until Corey told me about the man at school. I thought the man in the window was his imagination. It's been hard on him since the whole thing in Allendale."
"Alright, we'll put a unit outside your house and Corey's school." Harris told him
Joe knew it was the right thing to do but he worried about telling Michelle. The last thing she needed was stress, "Thanks Captain."
He placed a hand on Joe's shoulder, "We'll get this guy. Don't worry, Joe."
Joe nodded and returned to his desk to call his wife. He needed to tell her before the unit showed up at their house. He dialed while trying to formulate what he would say in his mind.
"Hello." She answered
"Hi, Babe." He said, "There's something I need to tell you."
TBC