Page 14 of Having HIs Back
He seemed happy enough as the two of them left the house.
Brian sat quietly on the sofa. Henry came out and sat on the floor in front of the television, totally engrossed in what he waswatching. Once the show ended, Henry turned to look at him and went over to sit on the sofa, with Pebbles taking a place on the other side of Henry.
“Did you know my mommy?” Henry asked.
“No. I didn’t,” he answered. “But everyone says that she was really nice and a great mom.”
Henry nodded. “She’s an angel mommy now.” He leaned against him as the show changed, and the two of them watched quietly together.
Kerry returnedand stopped when he saw them. “There’s someone outside waiting for you,” Kerry told him before taking Henry by the hand and leading him down to his room. Pebbles followed them, so Brian took the chance to meet Janine outside.
“He’s getting Henry ready.”
“How is he going to get the kid to talk? It’s been apparent that he doesn’t want to.” Janine had thought to dress in casual clothes like Brian.
“I don’t know. He’s the child psychologist, so he should know what he’s doing. We’re here to listen and keep quiet. No matter what we hear or what Henry says, we can’t react or say anything. That would kill any chance we have of getting something useful.” He hoped to hell they got something to go on. Otherwise, they would be putting a kid through hell for no reason.
“I get it.”
Brian’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he reminded Janine to set hers on silent as well. He answered Kerry’s text, and they quietly entered the house, went down the hall, and paused outside the bedroom.
“She’s an angel mommy now, and I don’t want her to be mad. Making angels mad is really bad,” Henry was saying.
“You aren’t going to get in trouble from me or your angel mommy. I promise you that,” Kerry said, and Brian met Janine’s gaze, wondering what prompted this.
Henry began to cry. “But I was bad.” He cried some more. “I did what Mommy said not to, and now she’s an angel, and I was bad, and she’ll hate me forever in heaven.” The tears came more strongly, and Brian didn’t dare peek into the room, but he could imagine Kerry hugging him.
“What did you do that Mommy said not to?” Kerry asked. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. You can tell Pebbles. He’s really good at keeping secrets.”
Damn, the guy was fucking smart as hell. Get the kid to talk to the dog. That was darned brilliant and about as non-threatening as possible.”
“I wanted a cookie,” Henry said in a child’s whisper. “And I climbed on the counter to get one. I gave you one too.” He must have been talking to the dog. It was working. “Mommy always said I was supposed to stay in bed except to go potty, but I was hungry.”
Brian snuck a peek into the room in time to see Henry holding Pebbles.
“Did you get the cookie?” Kerry asked, but Henry was silent. “It’s okay. Sometimes, we all wake up hungry. I do, and I want a cookie too.”
Brian backed away and continued listening.
“Pebbles heard something, then I heard it too. In the garage,” Henry said. “It was Mommy, and she was yelling. I was scared, but you were with me, and I knew you would bite anyone who tried to hurt Mama.” Damn, it had been Henry who let Pebbles into the garage. What a smart kid.
Henry cried harder, and Kerry was so patient, talking quietly. Brian closed his eyes, trying to push away the pain he could feel battering the walls of his professionalism. He glanceda look at Janine, who seemed almost as affected as he was. “Pebbles is okay, and I’m sure he was happy to try to defend your mom. Can you tell Pebbles what happened?”
“But he was there. He saw it too,” Henry whispered.
“Yes. But he was busy,” Kerry said softly and with such care.
Kerry was met with silence that went on for quite a while. Brian found himself fidgeting, which was something he didn’t normally do at all. He had to force himself to stay still and quiet.
“You ran out after the bad man, and you tried to stop him. I know you did.” Henry seemed to be talking to the dog. “You were a good boy. But he was hitting Mommy, and he wouldn’t stop. I wanted to help her, but I was scared. You barked and bit him. I saw you.”
Jesus. Brian had to put his hand over his mouth to stifle a gasp. The six-year-old had seen what happened to his mother. His heart ached for both him and Kerry. He dared a peek into the room. Henry sat on the floor with his back to Brian, holding Pebbles in his arms. He seemed surprisingly calm.
“Can you tell Pebbles what he looked like?” Kerry asked. Henry nodded, and Brian was too fascinated to look away as he hung on every word.
“He was mean,” Henry said. “And he had bad eyes, and I was scared. He was hurting Mommy like this.” He put his hands around Pebbles’ neck. Holy shit, the kid had seen it all. Part of him had hoped that he’d been wrong and that the kids would have been spared this kind of thing. “I ran back into my room and pulled the covers over my head. I waited for Mommy to come, but she never did.” Henry was crying again. “I want my mommy to come home.”
“Damn,” Brian whispered after making sure he was out of sight. Then he motioned to Janine, and they quietly left the hallway, went outside, and closed the door while Kerry and Henry continued talking. He was fairly sure they weren’t goingto get anything more from Henry. What the fuck had he been expecting? Henry to give a detailed description of the attacker?
