Published: 19 May 2022

From Previous Chapter:

Back at The Cove, Ken Thomas had lain down early that evening. He felt he needed the extra rest and with all the boys up in their rooms, he felt comfortable in getting a few extra winks himself.

The man had felt he had just fallen into a deep sleep when his phone rang. He woke with a start to the ringing phone. He gruffly answered the phone, and was going to tell the person to call back in the morning, when he learned it was Jules Diamond Security.

The man at the main office was calling to tell him that they just received a signal from one of his coins. Hearing that information, immediately woke Ken Thomas right up. He sat up on the edge of his bed and asked the man to explain everything to him.

Mark heard all the commotion out in Billy’s bedroom and the Sheriff Deputies searching throughout the house. He remembered his ‘big brother’ had him promise to stay in the ‘Safe Room’ until Mr. Ken came to get him, so that was what he did.

The youngster heard the Deputies calling out his name, but he didn’t want to disappoint his foster ‘big brother’, so, again, he kept quiet and waited for Mr. Ken to come and get him. But the boy constantly wondered what had happened to his mom and dad and of course Billy. He cried himself to sleep.

Mr. Ken had the security man on duty repeat what he’d just told him, so he didn’t misunderstand what was happening. The security man at Diamond’s main office that night told Mr. Ken his operating procedure had him call the Sheriff’s office first, Mr. Diamond second, and in case one of his coins was detected, he was the next person to call.

Mr. Ken asked him whose coin was the one that came up on the satellite.

The owner of The Cove listened closely and when he heard whose coin it was, he asked for the address. The security man gave him the address and Mr. Ken said he’d get there as soon as he could. Mr. Ken dressed quickly and then he knew he needed to call Ms. Judy.

The phone rang about eight times before Judy Turner finally answered the phone. When she answered, Mr. Ken could tell she had to have been in a very deep sleep.

“Hhheeellloooo,” answered Judy Turner.

“Judy, it’s Ken. Get dressed. We have an emergency. One of your foster kids is in trouble,” practically yelled Ken Thomas.

“Ken … Ken who?” said a still half-asleep Judy Turner.

“JUDY!” yelled Ken Thomas.

“JUDY, it’s Ken. One of my coins. It went off. You need to get dressed. I’ll be over there in less than twenty minutes to pick you up!” again almost yelled Mr. Ken.

“Ken? A coin? Get dressed? Tell me again, Ken,” now said a more coherent Judy Turner.

“Judy, listen. I just got a call from Diamond Security. They got a signal from one of my coins. They called to tell me. Listen, get dressed. I’ll be there in less than twenty minutes,” said Mr. Ken, who then hung up before Ms. Judy could ask him whose coin it was.

Less than twenty minutes later, due to the traffic being light at that time of night, Ken Thomas arrived at Judy Turner’s house. Judy was waiting outside her home, yawning. Eric was there with her. Ken got out of his truck and quickly went to them.

“Ken, what’s going on?” asked Judy Turner.

“Judy, Diamond Security … they called me about twenty-five to thirty minutes ago. One of my coins … it went off earlier than that,” replied Mr. Ken.

“Whose coin was it, Ken, that I had to get up for?” asked Judy.

“Bill’s, Judy, it’s Bill’s coin. I never took it from him when he left. So, for some reason he activated it, so he must be in trouble. I have the address. We need to get there.

“Eric, you better stay here. The Sheriff’s office was also called, so when we get there, the place might be crawling with Deputies and we might not even get in,” explained Mr. Ken.

“Eric, you’re old enough to stay here by yourself,” calmly announced Judy. “I’ll call you when I know something,” finished Ms. Judy, who then kissed her son, and quickly went to Mr. Ken’s truck and soon, the two drove away.

Eric went inside and immediately called his Best Friend, Robert. Robert’s phone rang and rang until he finally answered it.

“Robert!” yelled Eric. “Dad … he just picked up my mom. Billy’s coin … it went off. They’re … they’re going to where he is. He must be in big trouble,” said Eric.

Hearing that Billy’s coin had gone off woke Robert right up. The two Best Friends then talked about what might have happened. Robert then went and woke up Charles and told him what was happening.

It took Mr. Ken and Ms. Judy about thirty minutes to get to the address the Diamond Security man gave them. When they got there the Sheriff’s Deputies had the area blocked off and they couldn’t get in.

Mr. Ken told the Deputy that Ms. Turner was the Director of Children’s Protective Services and one of the people involved was one of her foster kids, and she needed to get in there to check on the boy. Mr. Ken asked him to call ahead and tell them she was there.

Lt. Fischer heard the radio call then went to the perimeter and had Mr. Ken and Ms. Judy follow him into the cordoned off area. Sheriff Barnes saw them arrive and he went over to them to find out how they knew about what happened there. Ms. Judy told the Sheriff that one of her CPS children lives in that house. Mr. Ken said he’d gotten a call from the security company. Sheriff Barnes didn’t question it any further.

When the Sheriff walked away, Mr. Ken pulled Lt. Fischer aside and said, “Dan, can you tell us about Bill? How is he? His coin went off, which is why we’re really here.”

“Ken, Judy … Bill … he was taken to the hospital. They say he looked in bad shape. But I didn’t see him, but the Deputies who had seen him … they said they really couldn’t tell how bad he was because of all the … all the blood.

“But, Ken … it wasn’t his coin that brought us here. It … it was the family’s security alarm that was tripped which brought us here. We also got multiple 911 calls from the neighbors that there were multiple gunshots coming from the house.

“Ken, Judy … it isn’t pretty inside. The intruders … they did a number on everyone. But … well, we can’t find their son, Mark. We’ve checked the entire inside of the house and … and we just don’t know where the boy is. We feel he is in there, but … well, we just don’t know where he is hiding.

“And Ken, Judy … there was also another teenager inside. He too was shot. They … they ahh … they found him in the master bedroom … he was lying in the corner of the room. He’d been shot … in the back. And Ken, Judy the boy … the teenager was … it was Kaden,” revealed Dan Fischer, Sheriff’s Lieutenant.

Judy was stunned when she heard it was Kaden who was also in the house. Mr. Ken didn’t react much differently and wondered why the teen would be there. He then asked Dan if the boy was there as Billy’s friend, or did he arrive with the men who invaded the house. Dan said that was what the investigation would reveal.

“Ken … the funny thing is … it was Billy … it is what he said to the EMTs … as they loaded him into the ambulance. The EMT’s … they said … they said that the teenager told them that he told Mark that you, Mr. Ken, that you would be here and for him to wait for you. Do you know … do you have any idea what he might mean?” asked the lieutenant.

“Dan … maybe … just maybe … Bill had Mark hide and had him squeeze the coin,” speculated Mr. Ken. “Could I, you know, go inside and maybe … maybe call out for him? He might … he might just respond to me if Bill, you know, if Bill told him to wait for me.”

Lt. Fischer went to the Sheriff and told him what he wanted to do. The Sheriff was skeptical about doing that, especially since it was an active crime scene, and the inside was not fit for civilians to see.

The lieutenant told the Sheriff about what Billy told the EMTs before he was taken away. The lieutenant recommended they give it a try. He argued that if Mr. Ken helps find the young boy, then that would close out that aspect of the scene, and then they could really focus on the rest of the investigation.

Sheriff Barnes went over to Ken Thomas and asked him if he really wanted to go inside and call out for Mark. Mr. Ken told Sheriff Barnes that if Bill told Mark to wait for him to come and get him, the boy could be hidden for a long time.

Sheriff Matthew Barnes told the owner of The Cove that it wasn’t something he would ordinarily do. The Sheriff told Ken that they don’t usually let a civilian see, or send them into an active crime scene, especially someone who was not used to seeing what they were about to see.

Sheriff Barnes asked Mr. Ken point-blank if he really was willing to go into the house that had a dead body lying on the floor, and where lots of blood was all over the downstairs, and up in what they figured was Billy’s bedroom.

The Sheriff wanted to make sure Ken Thomas felt he could deal with the carnage he was about to see, while he helped try to find the missing boy. The Sheriff then said that if he thought he could do it, finding the boy would help them out tremendously.

Mr. Ken said he would help wherever he could. The Sheriff had the deputies give him some booties to use to cover his shoes and a smock to cover his clothes because there was blood in many places. They also gave him gloves to keep his fingerprints from being found at the crime scene. Ms. Judy was told she had to remain outside. She was disappointed as she wanted to help find the boy, too.

The news media saw two non-police type people talking with the Sheriff and when they identified who they were, they desperately wanted to interview them. Then, when they saw the man, who they identified as Mr. Ken Thomas, get dressed up in protective clothing and head into the house, they really wanted to talk to those two people.

The arrival of Ms. Judy Tuner, the Director of Children’s Protective Services, and Mr. Ken Thomas, a well-known foster parent, entrepreneur, local hero, and friend of many high elected officials, caused the reporters to call for an on-air reporting segment from the crime scene. It was a major turn of events at that horrific shooting location, and being late at night most of what was on TV were reruns, or half-hour long AS SEEN ON TV ads.

Ms. Judy decided to call her son, Eric’s, cell phone, only to find the number was busy and the call went to Voicemail. So, she called the home number. Eric picked it up right away.

“Eric, who are you talking to at this late hour? Oh, don’t tell me. It’s Robert,” quickly said Judy Turner, when her son answered the phone.

Eric quickly told Robert that his mom had called on the house phone, and he would tell him what she said after they hung up. Robert just waited on the line.

“Mom, what can you tell me? Is Billy OK?” excitedly asked the woman’s son.

“Eric, all we know is Billy and his foster parents … they were all taken to the hospital. I don’t know how bad they were hurt, if at all. Mr. Ken … Sheriff Barnes has him helping them find the coin,” added Ms. Judy.

“Didn’t Billy have it with him?” quickly asked Eric.

“Son … that’s the problem. Mr. Ken … he doesn’t know if Billy had his coin with him when they took him to the hospital. That’s all I know. I also don’t know when I’ll be home. I might have another foster boy to place before the night is over,” finished Judy Turner.

“Mom … you know Mr. Ken … he’ll take him. Especially if the boy was Billy’s new little brother,” chuckled Eric.

“Eric, now don’t stay up waiting for me. And tell Robert not to wait up for his dad, either. It might be a long night,” counseled the teen’s mom, who then hung up.

Eric immediately told Robert what his mom just told him. The two began figuring out if their ‘dad’ would be coming home with a new foster boy. They both agreed he would and then they both laughed, not knowing the circumstances surrounding the reason why Mr. Ken might be getting another foster son.

Robert then told Charles what he was just told by his Best Friend, Eric. Charles told his older brother that he was going back to bed, and to wake him when their dad came home. The teen then yawned, used the porcelain god and went back to his bed.

Chief heard the voices out in the hallway, so she opened Matthew’s bedroom door and went out into the hallway to see what was going on. Robert told Chief that their dad was out and would be back later.

Chief gave Robert a few doggie kisses, went down the stairs to go outside to relieve her bladder and then came back up to Matthew’s room. She entered and then closed the door after going back inside. Robert laughed at the resident pet’s antics.

Sheriff’s Deputy Corporal George Carrillo escorted Mr. Ken into the house. Lieutenant Dan Fischer followed right behind them. The men searched throughout the downstairs area of the house, first. All the while the men walked around downstairs, Mr. Ken kept calling out Mark’s name.

Mr. Ken also saw what Sheriff Barnes warned him about. There was a man still lying on the floor just outside the master bedroom, and he appeared to be dead. Inside the bedroom there were pools of blood on the bedspread and in the one corner of the room. It was a horrible scene for sure, and Mr. Ken hoped and prayed that the man and woman would be OK.

Not getting any response in the downstairs area, the men headed upstairs. They went into each of the rooms as Mr. Ken continued to call out Mark’s name. Mark had fallen asleep and, in his sleep, he thought he heard his name being called out. That was what woke the boy up.

“Mark … Mark … it’s Mr. Ken. Billy … he said I’d come. So, please … please come out. Mark … Mark … it’s Mr. Ken. Please come out,” was what Mr. Ken kept calling out as he moved throughout the upstairs area of the house. Lt. Fischer and Corporal Carrillo walked alongside him keeping him from walking over any of the crime scene evidence.

The three men walked into what was being considered Billy’s room and that’s when Mr. Ken saw all the blood on the top of the bed. The man winced upon seeing the blood smeared all over the bedspread and splattered the wall near the headboard. He, again, hoped and prayed that Bill would also be OK, and recover from whatever those men had done to him.

It was when the three men walked into Bill’s room, and while Mr. Ken was calling out Mark’s name and saying who he was that the boy, waking up from his sleep in the ‘Safe Room’, where he was hidden, that he caused a commotion that brought the men’s attention to that space.

The three men thought they heard it, so Mr. Ken lightly called out, “Mark, Mark … Billy … he told you I’d come, when you squeezed the coin. So, so here I am. Please … please come out, so I can take you to him.”

Mr. Ken said that twice, and on the third time, a young boy’s voice called out from within his hiding place, “Are … are you really … are you really … Mr. Ken?”

“Yes, yes, I am. I gave Billy that coin … and I told him … I told him that if he was ever in trouble … all he had to do was squeeze it … and that I would come. So, Mark, here I am,” replied Mr. Ken.

The boy came out of a hiding place that was created between the two room’s closets. The only way you would have known it was there was you would have had to have measured the rooms to figure what space was missing.

“Misssterrrr Keennnn?” timidly asked young Mark, as he came out of his hiding place, when seeing three men standing there, one in a white smock, and the other two in Sheriff’s uniforms.

“Yes, I am he,” replied Mr. Ken, as he knelt down and opened his arms for the boy. Mark immediately ran to the man, and cried.

“It … it was terrible. They … they beat him. They beat him so bad,” Mark cried hard, as he let what he’d heard and seen out of his system. Mr. Ken grabbed the boy, picked him up and held him tight.

“They … they beat him and … and they kept beating my ‘big brother’, when … when he didn’t … when he didn’t answer them the way they wanted him too,” got out Mark, through his tears.

“Then the men … they … they talked about … about killing my parents and … and Billy before … before they left the house. Then … then I heard … then I heard one man run down the stairs and soon after that there were gunshots and ….and the other men … they went racing down the stairs, too, and then there were more gunshots,” cried Mark into Mr. Ken’s shoulder.

While Mr. Ken and Mark talked, Corporal Carrillo checked out the ‘Safe Room’. When he came back to the other two men, he told them that whoever made that room knew what they were doing. The Corporal said the fittings were so tight that you wouldn’t know it was there unless someone told you, or you took out a measuring tape and measured the rooms.

Mark heard what Corporal Carrillo said and he told the men that their alarm company had installed it after his dad was made a bank branch manager last year. He added that they also installed Panic Buttons, and he didn’t know why it didn’t work.

The lieutenant guided his friend, still holding onto the boy, out of the house. As soon as Ms. Judy saw the trio walk outside, she rushed over to them. Sheriff Barnes put on a big smile and then called over the EMTs and told them to attend to the youngster.

Judy Turner quickly identified who she was to the EMTs. She then told them she was taking custody of the boy, if the parents weren’t available to take charge of their son, themselves. The EMTs carefully looked over the boy. After a few minutes, they told the Sheriff they couldn’t find any injuries on the boy. They said he didn’t look as if he’d been injured at all.

Sheriff Barnes said they needed to interview him. Ms. Judy said it was late and the boy needed a good night’s rest and would be better prepared to talk to them in the morning. The Sheriff persisted and told Judy Turner he would talk to the boy to get some initial information, and then they’d talk to him at length tomorrow.

While the adults argued over the boy, Mark went to Mr. Ken and asked him if he knew what happened to his parents and big brother. Mr. Ken knelt down next to the boy and told him that all he knew was his big brother and his parents were taken to the hospital, and he’d try to take him to see them tomorrow.

Sheriff Barnes and Ms. Judy came over to the boy. The Sheriff then called over Lt. Matthias to do an initial interview of the boy. They asked Mark to tell them what he knew about what happened there tonight.

Mark told them that these men came rushing into the house about 8:30, and Billy sent him up to the ‘Safe Room’. The youngster said he pushed the Panic Button, but nothing ever happened. Mark then said the men brought his ‘big brother’ to his room, and then they began asking him questions.

The boy explained that every time Billy didn’t give them the answer they wanted, they hit him. Lt. Matthias asked Mark what sort of questions the men were asking Billy. The boy told the lieutenant that they kept asking his ‘big brother’ about some guy named ‘Smokey’, and why he called the cops on him.

The Sheriff, the lieutenant and Mr. Ken all raised their eyebrows over hearing the men wanted information about ‘Smokey’. Matthias asked more questions about what happened, but Mark began to yawn and became restless.

Lt. Matthias told Mark he had one last question for him. The lieutenant then asked Mark if he heard the names the men called one another. Through his very big yawn, the boy said he heard them call one another Bennett, Weston and that one man had a Spanish name, Santiago.

The boy went over to Mr. Ken, who picked him up, and Mark laid his head on the man’s shoulder, and before long the boy was fast asleep. Ms. Judy asked her friend Ken if he would be the boy’s temporary foster parent, while she found out about the parents.

Mr. Ken gladly accepted the role of temporary foster parent for Mark, until they knew more about his parents. Ms. Judy said she had some forms with her that she would sign and then give them to him, so he could have legal custody of the boy. The Director of CPS told her friend that she would bring the more formal papers over tomorrow and, when things settled down about the parents, they would talk some more.

Mr. Ken then asked her about Billy, and what would become of him. Ms. Judy asked her friend if he was interested in taking Billy back. Mr. Ken said that if Kaden was involved, that could have been how the drugs got into Bill’s room. The man said he’d gladly take Bill back. Judy Turner smiled and thanked her lucky stars her friend would accept Billy back at The Cove.

Sheriff Barnes and Lt. Matthias came over to Mr. Ken. The Sheriff thanked him for his help in finding the boy. He asked the man when he thought would be a good time for the detectives to stop by tomorrow to interview Mark, again. Mr. Ken asked the lieutenant if one o’clock would work for him. The man said he and Sgt Roberts would be there at that time.

After the Sheriff and lieutenant were finished talking to Mr. Ken, Ms. Judy handed the man his temporary legal custody forms for Mark Golderson. She also gave him the temporary legal custody forms for Billy. The two, with Mr. Ken carrying the sleeping Mark, walked over to Mr. Ken’s truck.

The news media had watched from afar and took video of the Sheriff talking to a young boy and Mr. Ken. They waited for the two people to walk away from the Sheriff, so they could interview them. But they didn’t count on the Director of Children’s Protective Services accompanying them away from the authorities.

“Mr. Thomas, Mr. Thomas … can we ask you a few questions before you go?” called out one of the news reporters.

Mr. Ken was still carrying Mark and was being accompanied by Ms. Judy. He really didn’t want to talk to the news people, and told Judy that. The man laid Mark down on the floor of the back seat of the truck and walked away. He told Ms. Judy she should make a statement, as all he was there for was being the foster parent.

Judy Turner sighed and said her friend was right, so she walked over to the news people. They asked her what happened to Mr. Thomas and all the woman said was, he was going to be the foster parent, which was why he was there.

While Ms. Judy talked to the news media, Mr. Ken walked over to Dan Fischer to ask him a few questions.

“Dan … can you check to see why the Panic Button in the ‘Safe Room’, where Mark was hiding, didn’t work,” asked Mr. Ken. “If it had … the security company … they would have called you guys much sooner and the intruders would have been dealt with long before Billy was severely beaten and the others shot.”

Dan said he’d ask Matthias and Roberts to check that aspect out. Dan then added that he was surprised that Kaden was involved, and at the mention of the three men’s names he knew they were the men who were arrested a few weeks back along with Kaden.

“Ken … I think … I think there’s a lot more going on here than meets the eye. It looks like we’re now going to have to double our resources to find out more about those three men and how … and how Kaden got involved with them,” offered the Sheriff’s lieutenant.

“We also have an APB out on the other two men, Bennett and Weston, and have Deputies watching their last known addresses. We’ll get them and, hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of what happened here tonight,” added the lieutenant.

Dan’s friend Ken asked him if he had any idea of what type of wounds the people had. The lieutenant told Mr. Ken that the man and woman and Kaden all had gunshot wounds, and that the man had what looked like contusions about his head and was bleeding from those injuries.

Dan added that Kaden had at least one gunshot wound to his back, that the man had been shot at least twice and the woman looked as if she had been shot at least three times, or maybe more, and was in very serious condition. Dan said that she had been taken by air ambulance to the hospital, because of her many wounds.

Mr. Ken asked again about Bill, and Dan then said that he wasn’t sure of what happened to Billy, but that his injuries were consistent with being severely beaten, and that he probably had many internal injuries.

Mr. Ken told Dan he couldn’t believe that people could do such things to other human beings. The owner of The Cove told Dan he’d offer up a reward for those two men’s capture if that’s what it would take to get them in custody.

Dan told his friend that he appreciated the offer, but, for now, he wanted to see what his men could do to find them and bring them in. The two shook hands and Mr. Ken walked back toward his truck.

Ms. Judy told the news media that she was involved because of the parents being injured during what appeared to be a home invasion and their son would need to be taken care of for the time being.

The news reporter asked her why she was there and not one of her field agents. Ms. Judy told them that as the boss she needed to lead by example, and that her being out late at night shows her case workers that they could also be called out at any time and that if she could do it, then they would also be expected to do it sometime in the future. The news reporters accepted that answer ‘hook line and sinker’.

The reporters asked her again about Mr. Ken and his being here. She reminded them she already told them he would be the temporary foster parent for the boy they saw him carrying. They persisted and wanted to know why they arrived together. Without missing a beat, Ms. Judy told them he didn’t want her out driving alone that late at night and had agreed to drive her there.

The news media had also been monitoring when the Sheriff’s department would make a statement about what happened there tonight. When the news reporters saw the information officer for the Sheriff’s Department stop talking with Sheriff Barnes, and begin walking away, they knew something would soon be announced. They all abandoned Ms. Judy and headed over to where the information officer was.

Ms. Judy and Mr. Ken took advantage of their being ignored and headed over to the truck. Mr. Ken woke Mark up enough to get him onto a seat and buckled into a seatbelt. The boy fell asleep once again. The adults buckled in and then Mr. Ken drove away.

On the way back to Ms. Judy’s home the two talked about getting Mark fresh clothes. Mr. Ken speculated on when he’d be able to get back into the house to retrieve Mark’s and Billy’s things.

Judy told Ken to ask the detectives when they interview Mark at one o’clock. She then asked if he was going to have Stewart Russell there to represent the boy. That just added another complication to Mr. Ken’s day.

It took them about forty minutes to drive back to Judy Turner’s home. Traffic around the crime scene was bottled up with onlookers and looky-loos and Mr. Ken had to wait many times for the police to unsnarl the traffic.

When they finally got to the house, Eric noticed them and came out onto the front porch. Judy hugged her son and then berated him for waiting up for her. All Eric would say is, “Ahhh mom, I had to know what happened and how is Billy?”

“Eric,” Mr. Ken began to answer for Judy, “it wasn’t a pretty scene. The family’s home … it was invaded and the men … they did a number on the family. All, that is, except their son, who was hiding in a ‘Safe Room’.

“You’ll probably hear more on the TV News, but what I just told you … is not for anyone else’s ears. That is, unless you also hear it on the news. Now it is late and I better get home.”

“Is that … the boy?” asked Eric, as he pointed to the truck.

“Yes, it is, Eric,” replied Judy. “Mr. Ken … he’s going to foster him until the parent’s situation is clarified. They were also injured and are in the hospital, but we don’t know anything else.”

“What about Billy?” quickly asked Eric.

“Billy was also injured. Mr. Dan … he told us he didn’t see him, but the Deputies that had seen Bill said he looked really bad, but couldn’t be sure because of all the blood. We won’t know until we can go to the hospital later today and see him. That is IF they will allow us to,” answered Mr. Ken.

“With your foster parent papers, they should allow you to see him,” added Ms. Judy.

Ms. Judy hugged her friend for taking her over to the crime scene and for fostering Mark and agreeing to take Billy back. Hearing Mr. Ken was taking Billy back was a big surprise to Eric.

“So … so, you’re going to foster Billy, again, too?” asked a surprised Eric.

“Yes, I am,” was all Mr. Ken said to the question asked. The teen then smiled knowing Billy would be back with his ‘brothers’.

Eric then thanked Mr. Ken for helping his mom tonight and then he hugged the man. Mr. Ken smiled and returned the hug, which the teen graciously accepted. Mr. Ken then got into his vehicle and drove on to his own home.

Mr. Ken stopped at the Main Gate and told the guards that the news media would probably be there in the morning to ask him about where he was tonight. The guard asked him if it had anything to do with the home invasion earlier that evening.

Mr. Ken smiled and told them that it did, and that he had another foster boy in the back seat and he needed to get him into bed. The owner of The Cove then told the guards to tell their relief that Stewart Russell, the attorney, and the Sheriff Detectives would be there around one o’clock and not to delay them.

Mr. Ken drove into the garage and after closing the garage door, gently unbuckled Mark and carried him into the house. The man’s son, Robert, was waiting for him in the Kitchen Nook.

“What are you doing up so late?” asked the boy’s dad.

“Eric … he told me when you left their house. … Is that … is that our new ‘brother’?” asked the teenager.

“Yes, this is Mark. He’s almost ten, but right now, I need to get him to go to the bathroom and into bed. Let’s head up to the bedrooms,” replied the dad.

When they were upstairs, Mr. Ken put Mark down and then asked Robert to take the sleepy Mark into the bathroom and get him to drain his dragon.

The still half-asleep boy was awake enough, though, to hear what Mr. Ken said and he sleepily asked, “Drain my … dragon?”

“Yes, Mark … it is a polite way to ask you to go … pee,” smiled Mr. Ken.

Robert showed Mark where the bathroom was and guided the boy into the bathroom, so he could do his business. Once the two boys were back out in the hallway, Matthew’s bedroom door opened and Chief came out to see who the new voice belonged to.

“Chief … this is Mark. He’ll be the one who will take care of you from now on. But give him a few days to get settled. He’s had a very bad night and his parents … they’re in the hospital and he’ll be more focused on them. Mark will sleep in Robert’s room tonight, and we’ll get him his own room tomorrow. You OK with that?” asked the resident pet’s first master.

Chief gave a few quiet, “Woofs”, and then went over to Mark and nudged his hand. The still half-asleep boy petted the dog and then yawned big. Mr. Ken told the boy to sleep in his underwear for tonight, and they’d figure out something later in the day. Robert then showed his new ‘brother’ into his room and which bed for him to use. Chief followed along.

Mr. Ken whispered to his son to let the boy sleep in as long as he needed to, and not to tell his ‘brothers anything he heard from Eric. Robert smiled at hearing the remark about Eric and said he wouldn’t say anything. The man then walked to Matthew’s room, closed the door and headed down to his own bed.

Once inside his private space, Ken Thomas took care of his own bathroom needs, dressed in his own sleeping attire and then sat down on his bed. He sat there thinking back over the events of the past few hours.

He couldn’t believe the number of bullet holes he saw in the master bedroom and all the blood that was spread out on the floor, and on the bed itself. He wondered if the parents could have survived all that shooting.

The man then asked himself if Kaden was involved with those three men, and had gotten the drugs into Bill’s room, he wondered how he did it and when did he have the opportunity.

Ken Thomas felt the strain of the night, and his tiredness began to overtake him. He lay back down on his bed and fell directly asleep.

Mark had a fitful sleep that night. The young boy dreamt about what he heard while in the ‘Safe Room’ and how badly his ‘big brother’ was beaten. The boy tossed and turned all night long. Chief was there, at the ready, if she was ever needed to get Mr. Ken.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhound at CastleRoland dot Net

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