shoulder.
There was no sound on the television, but they could hear Jim’s hooting and their son’s faint giggles from below.
At one point Jim and Caleb went off camera, leaving the family room to go elsewhere. It was only seconds later before the couple realized that the sounds of the man and their child were becoming more distinct, and they were in fact, climbing the stairs towards the very room they were being held captive in.
They could hear Jim’s heavy footsteps pounding up the wooden stairs towards them. They could hear their son’s giggles rising. And before long, they could hear Jim’s voice right outside the bedroom door.
“What do you say, pilot Caleb? Should we venture inside?”
The excruciating irony the couple felt just then was surreal:
They did not want their son to enter the room. Did not want him to see his Mommy and Daddy battered and helpless. Did not want him to see that they could not protect him, could not save him from the boogeyman.
And yet it was only the boogeyman himself who had the ability to make that wish come true. That realization was an explosive punch to the sternum that stole their breath and gave them no other option but to sit and hope for a madman to obey their deepest wish.
“No!” Caleb’s little voice echoed, the sound of it making tears instantly pour from Amy’s eyes. “Downstairs! Go back downstairs!”
“You sure?” Jim asked, and Patrick was certain the man was grinning fangs with fire-red eyes at the door when he spoke.
“Yeah! Yeah!”
“Okay, pilot Caleb, you’re the boss. Hold on!”
The voices and thumps started to fade, and as they watched Jim and their son eventually reappear on the TV screen, husband and wife regretfully thanked the boogeyman.
* * *
They did another quick loop around the family room before Jim flew Caleb right up to his mother’s bookshelf. Jim stuck Caleb’s face close to a row of books. “There’s a secret camera in the bookshelf, pilot Caleb! Wave to the secret camera! Wave to the secret camera, pilot Caleb!”
And there was a secret camera. A small, portable camera that Arty had installed deep into the shelf earlier that day.
Caleb couldn’t see it. Nobody could see it. But it was there. And the little boy waved and smiled. Carrie jumped up onto the arm of the sofa, and, following her brother’s lead, gave a hearty wave and a smile into the “secret camera” as well.
“Kisses!” Jim grinned. “Blow kisses into the camera!”
Carrie immediately did, blowing several of them, posing like a movie star. Caleb balked.
“Come on, pal,” Jim said, “I’ll do one first.” Jim puckered up and brought his lips as close to the hidden lens as possible. Both kids then giggled as Jim added an exaggerated wink for the benefit of his audience above.
Caleb finally gave in and blew a kiss at the secret camera before giggling and turning away.
* * *
Upstairs, the silent movie Patrick and Amy were watching had turned the explosive punch to the sternum into a shotgun blast.
47
Maria Fannelli held a look of both contentment and fatigue. She had her boys and her grandchildren with her, but it was late.
“You getting sleepy, Ma?” Jim called to her, Caleb sitting on his lap in the big recliner.
“A little,” she admitted. “I’m okay though.” She reached over and stroked an equally tired-looking Carrie’s hair.
“You do look tired, Ma,” Arty said. He was leaning against the bookshelf that held the secret camera.
“Oh, but I’m not ready to go to sleep just yet,” she said. “I don’t get moments like this too often.”
“I know you don’t, Ma, but we did get a late start.” Arty pointed at Carrie and Caleb. “And the kids are looking a bit sleepy too; it’s past their bed time.”
Caleb jumped in Jim’s lap. “I’m not tired!”
Jim gave him a squeeze on the shoulder and said, “Good for you, champ.”
Carrie’s eyes drooped, yet still she asked the question that had been her theme throughout the night. “When are my Mommy and Daddy coming?”
Arty shook his head, smiled and said, “You are one insistent piece of work, kiddo.” He walked to the sofa, squatted down so he was eye-level with her, and said, “Why don’t we go find out what’s keeping them?”
Carrie’s droopy eyes lifted and she hopped off the sofa.
Arty held up a hand. “Give me a second first, kiddo. Why don’t you play with Josie?”
Carrie turned towards the doll that had been lying beside her on the sofa. She picked it up and