"Jordan," Jake started. "He did work for Garrett Vessella, just yard work and stuff. He found the books, and thought it was cool.. It was, you know snakes, blood, fire…we used to get drunk and fool around with it."
Jimmy and Skeeter exchanged a look. "What next?"
"Dr. Bradshaw was really strict…Jordan got really into the drugs and…he found the real group. I went once, and was kind of freaked out, but he was my best friend. I couldn't go back…they killed people, they wanted all of us to kill people. Jordan was supposed to find girls, he was popular, girls liked him. And…I'm sorry, so sorry."
"Where?" Jimmy asked. "What are their names?"
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"What?" Max asked, as Kenny wound his arms around her waist and pulled her in close. "Kenny?"
"The kids are asleep."
She smiled at that. "How's your head?"
"Full of thoughts of a naked you."
"You're so corny," she groaned, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Upstairs, in a locked room?"
God, she's gorgeous, he thought. I think she looks better now then she did 12 years ago, has it really been 12 years since we met? I should of dropped down on one knee then. I love her hair, it's so long, I've never seen her grow it this long. Even in her oldest jeans and black sweater. How did I ever get her to be mine? She's always been too good for me. "Anyway you like it, Honey."
"Really?" Max asked, wrapping her arms around him. "That has possibilities, Lacos."
Way too good for me, he thought, she's changed…this warmer, more nurturing side of her, my Max. My wife, mother of my children, she is everything I have ever wanted. "Yeah? Come here, Honey."
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"A farm," Jake stated. "On Miller Road. It…the barn, and…there are bones and blood. I can't go back there. I'd rather be in jail."
Jimmy nodded. "A name."
Jake shook his head. "I can't…He'll kill me."
"He won't kill you here. Tell us."
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"That what was great," Max sighed, snuggling in close. "I've missed you. Us."
He squeezed her to him. "Want to runaway to a tropical island? Raise the kids in the jungle? Live off the land?"
"Hm, don't tempt me."
"You in a little bikini everyday?"
Max groaned. "I'm getting to old for that."
"You're hot."
"I have stretch marks."
"You're prettier then you were when you were 22. I can't get over your hair, I love it like this."
Max smiled at him through it. Soft and pretty…a stay at home mom…it's what he wants for me. From me. "I know you love my hair."
"I love you."
Max kissed him again. "You want to go again?"
"Frisky."
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"Unbelievible," Jimmy said under his breath, as Jake was taken back to his cell.
"You believe him?" Skeeter asked.
"We'll get the warrants and find out. He words with children," Jimmy stressed. "Our children."
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"How are you?" Max asked, as she sat down with Jill for coffee after dropping the kids off at school. "I hear you got your job back."
"With everything that happened wit the Bradshaws, the hospital vetoed his decision," Jill smiled. "And how about you?"
Max shrugged. "I'm good. Really, I started running a few days a week, it feels good."
Jill looked down at the three month old in the seat on the floor. "And how is she? She's getting big."
Max rocked the seat gently with her foot. "Sleeping through the night. She can wake the dead when she cries. Kenny is great about getting up with her."
Jill smiled at that. Kenny would do anything for her, I wonder if Max really knows that? "Does he still want you to be a stay at home Mom?"
Max nodded. "I know he does. We've gone back and forth over it, and I get what he's saying. And I love being with the kids, I really do."
"But?"
But what, Max thought, really? Beside me wanting to work? We took in Caro's kids to give them a home, Lindsay and Emily are so young, and…Oh, god, am I seriously considering this? What is happening to me? I'm not this person. Am I? "I can't spend the next 18 years going to playgroups, baking cookies, driving carpool…and that may make me horribly selfish…does it? I haven't worked in a year, and I miss it. I don't want my kids and niece and nephew raised by a nanny…Oh, I hate him for putting this in my head."
Jill smiled at that, as she regarded her young friend for a long moment. Softer, Jill thought, more relaxed and open. She looks radiant, despite everything. "You are considering it?"
"No, yes, I don't know. It would mean a lot to him…and it would be good for the kids. I'd even have another one, despite what happened last time. I never thought…what happened to me? I'm not this person."
And she loves Kenny, Jill thought, she would do this for him. I'm just surprised he asked her to. "You want to have another baby?"
Max glanced down at Lindsay again. "We can never replace Josh…I want to give Kenny another son. He is so great with Nate, and…you know?"
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"What?" Kenny asked, bowled over by the news. "We're doing what? That's who…No way. He recruited all those kids…Wow."
"For years," Jimmy said. "He had all that contact and no one knew. Get your gear."
Kenny nodded, feeling his stomach clench up. Wrong, he thought, I've had drinks with the man. He was at our wedding.
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"What do you want?" Jill pressed. "Honestly? Forget about what Kenny wants."
Max bit her lip. "I want my life back. I want Kenny to realize that I'm still me, despite everything that has happened.. That I'm not broken or a victim."
"You're his wife, the mother of his children, of course he's treating you differently. I know losing Josh…And I'm so sorry for that, I know that changed a lot for the both of you."
Max tried to ignore the ache in her heart and gulped back her tears. My sweet boy, my first… "It did. He was so sweet and…it wasn't fair that he never…."
Jill passed her a napkin. "Max, it's okay."
She wiped away her tears. "Sorry. It hits me sometimes."
And I'm sure it hits Kenny too, Jill thought. Which is probably why he's pushing this on her. I don't think he can handle anything happening to her, while I think Max could pull it together if something happened to him. Not easily, but she has more grit and determination in her then most people. "Of course it does, it's barely been a year. Max, don't make any rash decisions. That's my best advice to you. "
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"Michael Oslo?" Jimmy said, as he opened his front door. "You're under arrest."
"Jimmy?" he asked, staring at the patrol cars lining his street. "What is this?"
"We found the farm, Michael," Jimmy stated, as he cuffed him. "What have you been up to for these last 20 years?"
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I'm going to lose my mind, Max thought, as she listened to the mindless chatter as she picked Emily up at pre-school. Are they talking about cake? Do they know what a fraud I am? That I couldn't bake a cake if someone paid me to? Buckling the girls into their car seats, she glanced at the clock. Thirty minutes to get Nate. Okay.
"She is beautiful."
"What?" Max asked, shaking her head and looking down at Lindsay. "Thanks."
"How old is she?"
"Almost four months. Which I can't believe."
"How did you lose your baby weight so fast?"
"I never gain that much," Max offered, not wanting to delve into her stroke. "She was early too. We have four at home, it keeps me busy."
She nodded. "We're having a fundraiser bake sale for the school."
"Jimmy! This is insane! I am not a cult leader," Oslo stated.
Jimmy regarded his old friend carefully, before laying the photos they had discovered in front of him. "It's your fingerprints all over the barn. And these."
Oslo paled as he stared at the images in front of him. "You don't understand."
"It's you. You recruited those kids through the school."
"I want a lawyer."
"You need one."
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Samantha smiled, as Zach walked her toward his car. It's better then the bus, my aunt and uncle know him, I really like him. "Thanks. I don't know what I hate more, the bus or being picked up and dropped off."
Zach shrugged. "I know. Max and Kenny are cool, but they aren't my…you know, not parents, but…I mean I don't live with them."
"It's just different here. I've seen them make out more in the last nine months then I saw my parents in 14 years."
Zach laughed. "Really?"
"They're happier then my parents. Even when they fight. I want to be happy, but…I miss my Mom, my family…I don't know if this is ever going to be home."
"It isn't so bad here. You know, ignore those guys, they'll back off."
Samantha shuddered. "I don't care about them. I just want to go to school, graduate, and go where no one knows me."
I want to know you, Zach thought.
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"Oslo?" Kenny asked, shaking his head. "Recruited kids through the school?"
Skeeter nodded. "It's his farm, they've been digging up bodies all day."
Max talked to him alone, Kenny thought, about Samantha. He could of…she was pregnant, hurt, crippled, how could I let her do that? He could have…No. "Yeah."
"You okay?" Skeeter asked, glancing at his partner. "Hey, how's Max doing?"
Being the perfect stay at home mom, he thought, raising our kids…and all she wants to do is work. "She's good. Running again, she's got a clean bill of health from her doctors."
"When is she coming back?"
Never, Kenny thought, if I could convince her. Instead she's looking at nannies again…she's a natural with them, how can she not want this? It's not about what we want anymore. "She has to pass her physical, we need to find some childcare."
"You not happy about that?"
"What? I'm happy that she's making a full recovery…I told her I want her to be a stay at home mom."
Skeeter looked at him like he lost his mind. "You told Max that? Max? We're talking about the same person? You told her that? And she's still speaking to you?"
"Most of the time."
"A stay at home Mom? Max? I've seen her with the kids, she's great. I really think she would lose her mind. You know her, probably better then anyone."
"It's different now."
Skeeter regarded his friend for a long moment. "Are you okay?"
I can't watch her almost die again. Even her comment about having another baby, she almost bled to death, had a stroke. They held a gun to her head. And she dives head first into those situations. I can't do it again. "Yeah, I'm good."
Liar, Skeeter thought, something is going on here. Stay at home Mom? What is going on with him?
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Can I do this, Max wondered, standing in the living room doorway for a long moment. Nate lecturing Emily on his cars, Lindsay bouncing in her chair, Samantha doing geometry at the table. And I have to make that insane cake. Stay home? How can…It isn't just about us anymore. Four kids. Would I be thinking about this if he didn't bring it up? I've been a cop for 12 years…Oh crap.
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"Forty eight bodies," Jimmy confirmed. "He hired Wambaugh."
Kenny nodded, looking down at the photos. Sliced open, raped, he thought, feeling sick, all these years? How could we not know? "He recruited kids through school, and had them sacrifice all those girls? For years? What was his motive?"
Jimmy shook his head. "That's what we need to find out. Go home, get some rest. We'll regroup in the morning."
Kenny nodded again, looking at the clock. Three hours late, Max is going to be pissed. No, she won't be because she understands this job. She wants this job back…we'll both be working late, the kids will be with strangers, and what happens when she gets herself hurt or killed? I can't do this without her.
"Max has her physical this week?"
"What?" Kenny asked, tuning back in. "Yeah. Tomorrow."
"Good. I want to sit down with her at some point and talk about the three month part time schedule."
"She'd like that," Kenny deadpanned, his heart leaping into his throat. Max out on the street, with just Pete to have her back? He's a kid.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."
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What did I do to myself, Max wondered, studying her reflection in the mirror after the kids went to bed. Fingering the hair that Kenny loved so much, she pushed the strands back and sighed. It's more then that though, she thought, more then the diaper bags, hair, making insane cakes, arts and crafts projects, I'm different. Jill said it, Kenny said it. Losing Josh, my family, Samantha and Nate…can I really give up such a big part of myself?