The Wild Boys

Chapter 1 Destination Darkness

FEBRUARY 1989 - LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

“Mom! Eric’s bullying me!”

Beth Farrell looked up from the drawing she sat studying. She raised an eyebrow at her youngest son, who stormed down the staircase with an irritated glare in his sky blue eyes. She steeled herself for the inevitable outburst. “Alright Joe, calm down. What did your brother do this time?”

Beth could take a good guess what the argument was about but she gave ten-year-old Joe a chance to speak his mind. He slid to a halt in front of her but before he could start babbling fifteen-year-old Eric decided to clarify things. “I wasn’t irritating him mom. I was checking whether he was busy with his homework. He wasn’t he was drawing doodles and talking to his girlfriend on the phone.”

“Girlfriend! Have you gone wacko?! Bobby’s my best friend! Yuck! You’re disgusting! I don’t even like girls! And Bobby’s not like the other girls so lay off!”

Beth suppressed a smile. Joe and Roberta Teixeira had been friends since kindergarten. The pretty nine-year-old tomboy was always climbing trees with Joe and challenging him with silly games like spitting competitions. When they weren’t trying to beat each other at something, they were purposely irritating Eric and playing pranks on him. They were as close as friends could be and Eric, being a teenager, could never resist ragging his younger brother about it. Beth had a few rules though, so she forced a strict look onto her face.

“Now what did I tell you about homework before fun?”

“But mom I was...”

“But mom nothing. Go do your homework. And don’t think you’re off the hook either Eric. Just because you’re older than Joe doesn’t mean you get to order him around. Be a bit...” She shook her head and waved them off. “... never mind. The two of you go finish your homework I’ll be up to check in a little while.”

Eric replied “Sure mom.” but Joe poked his tongue out at his brother. He yelled “I’ll get you back you bigshot bully!! I’m gonna tell Carly about Jane and Cindy!!” as he stormed up the staircase.

Eric went off like a bullet out a gun. He turned blood red in the face and raced after his brother yelling, “Don’t you dare you little flea!! Get back here!!”

Beth watched them go and shook her head to herself. The two boys couldn’t be more different if they tried, and not only in the looks department. Eric had been blessed with a thick bunch of dark-brown hair which he kept in a short cut, with the top a bit longer than the sides. He’d discovered the advantages of hair gel, and often gelled up his neat-cut fringe. The effect was dramatic; it caused the strong auburn streaks shooting through Eric’s hair to stand out, and that accentuated his eyes. That feature was Eric’s strongest point – his eyes were a remarkable mix of brown and amber, framed by thick, dark-brown eyebrows. Add to that a slender nose and full, sensuous lips, Eric made the girls turn and stare. He was a mother’s idea of a good choice for her daughter as a boyfriend – steadfast, serious, a brilliant student, polite. He never took action without thinking through the consequences. Eric’s taste in clothes highlighted his serious nature – jeans, neat pants, shirts and t-shirts, often with tasteful jackets worn over t-shirts that he made work to his advantage. Though gangly and growing, a hint of the man Eric would turn into could be seen in the angular lines of his face, the serious set to his strong jaw. He stood half a hand taller than Beth, lithe and muscular despite his fifteen years. 

Joe was the opposite of Eric. His thick mop of wavy dark-blonde locks was never above collar-length and more often than not touched the tops of his shoulders. It seldom saw a comb, despite Beth’s insistence and begging. His unruly fringe bothered his striking sky-blue eyes and he balked at the thought of having a haircut. Eric was the thinker, the serious obedient hard worker, willing and ready to help, the perfectionist. Joe, on the other hand, was Beth’s little dreamer, off in a world of his own.

A person just had to check their schoolbooks to notice. Eric’s books were a study of neatness and checkmarks with good comments. Joe, though he achieved high marks in school, was not a stickler for neatness. His homework was a scribbled haste, which he finished in a great hurry so he could go surfing or play PlayStation games. A bigger problem had raised its head, though. The boys were at an awkward stage. Joe was still a little boy while Eric was well into the teenager-with-raging-hormones phase. Eric had three girlfriends hanging around with none knowing about the other two and did not appreciate his younger brother tagging along. Joe, of course, couldn’t resist, even if just to press Eric’s buttons. Beth had been having the time of her life keeping the peace between the two of them especially since her husband William, an agent in the FBI, was away from home so often.

“Aargh stop it!! MOM!! Eric gave me a wet willy!!”

Joe’s angry yells tore downstairs and Beth got up with a frustrated groan. “This too shall pass... this too shall pass... yes that’s right... keep on believing that.”

Beth separated the boys and an hour later she decided to check up on Joe. Eric had finished his homework and was in his father’s study doing project research on the internet. After taking Eric a mug of coffee Beth went upstairs to Joe’s room. She sighed when she walked in. As always the room was a mess of clothes, shoes, PlayStation games and magazines.

The difference between Joe and Eric got illustrated if a person happened to compare their bedrooms. Eric’s room was tidy, his bed made and his clothes folded or hanged up in the cupboard. Where Joe’s choice of reading matter was Rock and Roll, Surfing and Motorcycle magazines, Eric’s was detective and crime novels. Eric’s chess set took pride of place on his study desk while he had his TV tuned into either the crime channel or Discovery channel. Joe on the other hand, watched one of three channels – music, sports, in particular ice hockey and bike racing, or cartoons – when he wasn’t glued to his PlayStation.

AC/DC was angrily blaring ‘Thunderstruck’ in the background. Joe’s fledgling music collection included old-school hard rock heroes like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Boston and Guns ‘n Roses, as well as Alternative bands like Nirvana and quite a few Bon Jovi albums – which Joe was collecting.

Eric’s walls were decoration free except for diplomas and awards he received for academic excellence. Joe’s walls were overflowing with posters of rock bands – mostly of Bon Jovi, Metallica and AC/DC. What little space on the wall hadn’t been taken up by posters of Joe’s rock heroes, were filled with surfing, Ice Hockey and motorcycle posters. Included in those was a big one of Joe’s favorite Ice Hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings, and smaller ones of his heroes, Wayne Gretzky, Kelly Slater and Duke Kahanamoku. The awards gracing Joe’s room were trophies he won for Ice Hockey and Surfing, his greatest passions.

Joe was constantly on the go, a bundle of supercharged energy running all over the place while Eric was the thinker, the calm, level-headed but recently moody older brother. Beth took an educated guess that Eric’s moods had more to do with girl troubles than anything else. She dreaded the time when Joe noticed that the female species was different than the male for reasons other than teasing and cooking – she had a good idea he’d be in for a harder time than Eric thanks to his blonde-haired, blue-eyed surfer boy looks.

Joe had fallen asleep. He was sitting behind his study desk and had nodded off on his arms. Beth began tidying up but stopped herself. As much as she’d love to, she knew spoiling Joe wouldn’t do him any good. He had to take some responsibility and part of that was keeping his room tidy. She always tidied it up properly after he finished his own half-baked effort but he had to at least try. She reached over and ruffled his hair.

“Joe? Wake up baby... it’s almost supper time.”

Joe shot up so fast that she got a fright. “Huh? Who’s there?” he mumbled with a scared look behind his eyes. Beth stepped forward. “Hey, it’s just mom... what’s the matter?”

Joe breathed his galloping heart down to a trot. “Um... nothing... I was just having a dream.”

He frowned down at his math book and closed it so Beth couldn’t see the mess of scribbles. He got up with one eye on the clock against his wall. “When’ll dad be home? Wasn’t he supposed to be here already?”

“He’ll be home before you go to bed tonight honey.”

“Mom... um... dad can find out anything can’t he?”

 “Well, almost... why?”

“Nothing... just... nothing. I’m hungry.”

 “Supper’s almost ready but before you get fed you have to tidy this mess you call a bedroom.”

Joe gave the place a quick glance and shrugged.

“Sure... what’s for supper?”

“Mom’s surprise... now get going young man.”

She left the room still wondering and Joe shot into action. He gathered up the clothes and shoes lying on the floor, stuck the bundle into the bottom of his built-in cupboard and made a small effort of straightening his desk. He picked up the magazines, tossed them into the drawer of his bedside table, and gave the PlayStation games a quick look. He decided they could stay on the floor because he planned to play some before bedtime. He then stood back and frowned to himself. “Good enough... crap...”

He jumped forward when he remembered sticking a glass of milk under his bed the previous night. It still had to be there. He dragged it out, ran to his bathroom, and flushed the sour day-old milk down the toilet. He raced out and rode the banister of the staircase down to the living room with the glass in his hand, satisfied that he did a good enough job.

Joe’s question bothered Beth. She kept a close eye on him during supper. She noticed for the first time that he seemed distracted and worried. He ate his supper with a small frown on his face and his mind far away. She could kick herself for not noticing it before but she began putting two and two together. Joe had been acting strange for a while. He was clingier, always wanted to know where she was, and when they were out together he never left her side. He seemed to have receded into kindergarten stage where he didn’t want her to leave him alone for a second. Besides that she realized for the first time he’d slept with the light on for the past week. Something else occurred to her. He usually bicycled to school but for a few days now he’d had an excuse and asked her to drop him off and pick him up. Beth had a rule of always being home for the boys when they came back from school. She owned a successful architecture firm and had been so busy the past week she hadn’t thought much about any of this before that evening.

Joe and Eric cleared the table after supper. It was Eric’s turn to dry the dishes and Joe’s turn to wash, but Beth knew Eric would be stuck doing both chores sooner rather than later. Sure enough, Joe had just started washing the plates when he spun round and ran out the kitchen. Beth yelled after him, “Whoa! You’re not finished get back here!” but Joe had the answer ready. He yelled “Eric said he’d finish up mom!”

Beth raised a questioning eyebrow at her eldest.  Eric lied through his teeth. “Sure did...”

Beth didn’t question it. Despite the fact that they were constantly arguing Eric always took the blame and covered up for Joe.

Beth left Eric to it and made her way up to Joe’s room. When she walked in her youngest was parked on the carpet playing his latest craze, NHL, while AC/DC had made way for ‘Sweet child of mine’ by Guns ‘n Roses. Joe saw her coming in but didn’t stop playing until she sat down on his bed. He paused the game and turned to her.  “What’s up mom?”

“You tell me. What’s bothering you? And don’t say nothing you know I can see straight through you. Something’s wrong. Tell me what. I promise I’ll listen and help where I can.”

Joe frowned down at his hands as if trying to make his mind up about something. He jumped up and flopped down on his bed on his stomach with his chin resting on his arms. “You’ll think I’m stupid.”

Beth lay down next to Joe and turned on her side to look him in the eyes. “No such thing as stupid. You’ve been acting funny the whole week. It’s not like you. I’m sorry I haven’t noticed before but now that I have I need you to talk to me. Whatever it is, I’ll understand. Are you being bullied at school?”

“Uh-uh.”

“Then what is it? Talk to me.”

Joe turned on his back, interlaced his hands behind his head, and glared up at the ceiling. “Someone’s been following me.”

Beth shot up straight. “What?!” Are you sure?!”

Joe turned on his side mumbling, “I told you you’d think I’m being silly...” but Beth turned him to face her. “Baby if that’s what you think I will take it seriously. But you have to tell me why you think you’re being followed. Have you seen this person?”

“No. Yes. I mean... I haven’t seen his face. There was this car. A few times I spotted it outside the school gates. A black car, I think a Mercedes. I didn’t think much of it but then it followed me home a few times. And today at football try-outs it was there again. The windows are tinted I couldn’t see who was inside. I got a lift home with Buck but it followed me again. Buck’s mom dropped me off and it drove past the house. I looked out the window ten minutes later. It was parked a few houses down facing our house. This time I saw someone. A man stood outside the car, watching the house. I couldn’t see his face, he had a baseball cap pulled down to hide it. He got in the car and drove away. You pulled into the driveway a few seconds later. He must’ve seen you coming.”

Beth’s heart raced away with her. Because of William’s job he often got to do with unsavory characters. He taught his wife and sons how to defend themselves and what to look out for. Joe knew better than to make up stories about something as serious as a stalker. William often warned them there were people out there with grudges against him who would be more than willing to take it out on his wife and sons. They’d never given it much thought. Not until that evening. Beth read the fear creeping through the façade Joe put up for her sake. She read her sons like open books. She pulled him into her arms.

“Hey it’s okay. I’m proud of you for being so observant and dad will be just as proud. I’m so sorry I didn’t notice before today that you were frightened. That’s why you wanted me to drive you to school? Because you were scared of this man?”

Joe’s wall of courage crumbled to dust. He mumbled “Uh-huh...” with a trembling chin. Beth pulled him a bit closer. “What you asked me earlier, if dad can find out anything... in this case he can. He’s going to be home just now then I want you to tell him everything you told me. You have to think hard and try to remember if you saw any marks on the car, registration number, anything that can help. Can you do that?”

“Sure... um... mom... can uh... can I sleep in Eric’s room tonight? I don’t wanna be alone I’m scared he’s out there watching me. Just now...” he looked towards the window with big eyes. “...just now he gets in through the window.”

“Of course honey I’m sure Eric won’t mind if he knows the circumstances but you shouldn’t worry about this man coming into the house. You know Russ will warn us if anyone’s around and no one gets past him without regretting it.”

Joe let out a deep sigh of relief. He felt better now that he confided in his mother. He knew Beth was right. Their old Alsatian, Russ, was well trained and a good watchdog. He’d be all over any intruder before the man knew he was even there.

“Tell you what, until dad catches this man I’ll allow Russ to sleep inside with you and Eric. Will that make you feel better?”

“Sure. Thanks mom.”

He snuggled into her arms feeling safer now that he knew his dad was almost home. William, although not a big man, was Joe’s hero. In Joe’s eyes no one was stronger, cleverer or bigger than William Farrell. William would never let anybody come near his two boys. Joe knew while William was around he was safe as houses.

After calming Joe Beth persuaded him to have a shower. While he washed up she went to Eric’s room. Eric was on his bed reading a novel but looked up with a smile when she walked in. Nat King Cole was crooning a song in the background Beth didn’t care to recognize, she was too upset. When Eric saw the look on her face he put the book down, switched off his stereo, and sat up. “Mom? What’s wrong? What happened?”

Beth sat down on the bed, weighing her words before speaking. Eric had a cool head on his shoulders but when it came to Joe that cool head would be forgotten. Despite the fact that Joe irritated Eric senseless, Eric was protective over him. Eric wasn’t a hothead but he’d go to any lengths to keep his reckless baby brother safe.

“I need you to listen. You have to put away all animosity between yourself and Joe and you have to do it right away. There’s trouble. Dad will be home tonight and he’ll sort it out but you need to help us keep an eye on Joe. He may be in danger. Someone’s been following him home from school. This has been going on for more than a week and he never said a thing about it until now. He’s scared and I don’t blame him. He asked me if....”

She never got the chance to finish. Eric interrupted with blazing eyes. “Someone’s been following him?! Why?!”

“I don’t know but it’s worrying. You know what dad tells us... we have to take him seriously your brother knows better than to make up stories like this.”

Eric sat back with a big frown. “Yes, he does... he’s telling the truth. Now that you mention it he’s been acting up for a while now. He’s always hanging around me when you’re busy or at work. I thought he was purposely irritating me but now...” he looked up at his mother and said it before she could ask the question. “I want him to sleep in my room until this guy is caught. I won’t let him out of my sight. I promise. If anyone dares touch my little brother I’ll...”

He looked away and Beth steadied her nerves. Eric had an easy-going temperament but if he did lose his temper it meant trouble. She’d never forget the time when Joe was being bullied at school. When Eric found out about it he stormed into the gym and punched the bully lights out. It took a lot of sweet talk and some serious explaining to save Eric from getting suspended but for once, Eric didn’t care about the consequences. The boy who did the bullying was Eric’s age and had two buddies by his side but that didn’t stop Eric. Arguably, help in the form of one of Eric’s friends did save Eric from getting a beating; he was outnumbered three to one and wouldn’t have stood a chance if Buck hadn’t stepped in. Joe never got bullied again and the bully ended up getting suspended. That incident was a seldom-seen eruption when it came to easy-going Eric. Joe was the one with the explosive temper. He had a short fuse and Eric usually calmed Joe down. If Joe was scared enough to want to sleep with his older brother it was serious. Very little scared Joe. He was a risk-taker who leapt in feet first without thinking.

 “Alright... I think that will be best and from tomorrow I’m driving both of you to and from school.”

“Mom, Joe has that camp to go to this weekend... don’t you think it’d be better if he stayed home?”

Beth thought a bit about that before replying. Joe’s ice hockey coach organized a team camp and Joe had been looking forward to it. Keeping him from going may do more harm than good. “I don’t know honey. I need to talk that over with dad.  You know how much your brother has been looking forward to this camp. I’d hate to keep him from it. He’ll be surrounded by his friends and dad can have a talk to the coach, explain things to him. I’m sure it will be okay. Besides, knowing dad, he’ll get to the bottom of this before the weekend.”

They heard a knock on the door followed by a small voice saying, “Mom?”  

Eric leapt up. He yelled, “Come on in bro, mom’s with me!” because he knew Joe wouldn’t come into his room without permission. He’d given Joe plenty warnings and a few good donkey-bites to drive that particular point home. Joe opened the door and Eric forced a smile. “Hey... you wanna play me a game of chess?”

Joe almost swallowed the bed in astonishment. Eric’s chess set was his most prized possession and he usually wouldn’t even allow Joe to look at it. “Um... sure... but I don’t know how to play chess.”

“That’s cool I’ll teach you. Come on...”

Eric pulled up two chairs and Joe shrugged and joined him. Beth gave them each a soft kiss on the forehead and left the room with a satisfied smile tainted by worry. Her two boys may constantly be at loggerheads but when push came to shove nothing could come between them.

William Farrell arrived home half an hour later. Beth tried her best to calm down but William’s keen power of observation went beyond the workplace. He put his suitcase down and knew straight away he had walked into trouble. William wasn’t a big man by any standards. As a matter of fact, he would hardly turn heads when walking down the road. With his short dark-brown hair, round glasses perched on the edge of his nose and deep-brown eyes he looked unimposing or even a bit nerdy as Eric liked to tease him every so often. In William’s case, however, looks was deceiving. He was anything but unimposing and harmless. Many people made that mistake in the past. William Farrell was not a man to be taken lightly, not even by the biggest men in the criminal underworld, and his instincts were sharp as a knife. He stepped forward, took Beth in his arms and kissed her, and then he pushed her away to look into her eyes. “Alright honey, spit it out. I don’t like what I see behind those beautiful blue peepers of yours. Something happened. Are the boys alright?”

“They’re fine. They’re up in Eric’s room playing chess.”

That in itself was enough to make William sit up and take notice. “Joe? In Eric’s room? Playing chess? And they’re not murdering each other? Now I’m really worried.”

William’s attempt at a joke brought a small smile to Beth’s face. She took William by the hand, led him to the sofa and sat him down, and then she sat down next to him and told him everything.

A short while later William went up to Eric’s room to greet his sons. They had given up playing chess and were sitting on Eric’s bed. William had to smile to himself when he saw Eric watching MTV with Joe. Joe sat bopping to the beat of some hard rock band William didn’t recognize. It said a lot to William that Eric even allowed rock music in his room. Eric’s choice of music was classical and jazz with some light pop thrown in for good measure. He hated rock of any kind and was always yelling at Joe to turn down ‘that gross shrieking’ as he called it. The boys looked up when the door opened, and as usual Joe flew off the bed first. He took flight like a jet lifting off. “DAD!! Dad you’re home!!”

William caught Joe, swung him in a circle, and gave him a tight hug. “Yes I am my boy. Damn it’s good to be back with you guys.”

He put Joe down and pulled Eric into an equally tight hug. “You boys look better every time I see you. And bigger. I shouldn’t stay away for so long I get scared.”

Eric let off a small laugh as he returned his dad’s warm embrace. “You were only gone for three weeks dad.”

“Three weeks too long. I miss you guys more each time. But this time I’m back for at least a month. I’ve got some leave due and I think it’s time that I take a bit of it.”

Eric caught his dad’s eye. He cleared his throat. “Can I make you some coffee?”

“Sure son, that’d be great. Why don’t you make yourself and Joe some as well and join us when you’re done?’

Eric grinned up at his dad as he ruffled his hair and then he left the room, closing the door behind him. Joe dropped down cross-legged on the bed and began shooting off questions about what William did while he’d been away. William answered as best he could but he finally got down to the crunch. He sat a bit closer to Joe. Joe looked up and into his father’s eyes and fell quiet. His question froze on his lips. He waited with a dry throat for William to speak. William put a hand on Joe’s leg and gave him an encouraging smile.

“Son, mom told me about the man following you. Can you tell me about it?”

Joe hadn’t told Beth everything. As a matter of fact he kept most of it to himself. He had been waiting for William to come home before he came out with the rest of it. He sat back against the wall and turned his head away from William. “That man.... I didn’t tell mom but the first time I saw him was Saturday three weeks ago, after you left. I was with mom at work. I saw the black car in the parking garage and when we left it was still there. Upstairs in her office I walked around and I saw someone with an army overcoat and a baseball cap slipping out the fire escape. I thought I saw wrong but when we left that car followed us. I didn’t tell mom about it I thought I was being stupid. Mom went to the hairdresser and I went to play games. I ran out of quarters. When I walked to the hairdresser to fetch some from mom I saw that same man again. He was in another shop but he wasn’t shopping he was pretending. I could see him watching mom. He was staring at her like he couldn’t stop looking. Then he looked away and saw me watching him. He turned around and I ran to mom. I never went back to play games and when we left the car was gone. The next morning it was parked outside when we left home. It followed us. Mom went into a shop to buy cake and I got mad. I ran to the car to ask him what he wanted. It was pretty stupid I suppose, but nothing happened. He started the car and drove away when he saw me coming. That’s when he began following me. But dad...”

Joe turned back to William. His bottom lip began quivering. “...he left a message for mom, a letter. I read it. He said stuff in the letter about loving her. I found it under the wiper of the car after he drove away. I never gave it to her I put it in a plastic bag and wrote the registration number down like you taught me. I dunno why he began following me instead of her I never told her I didn’t want her to worry. I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”

Joe wrapped his arms around his body and began shivering. Tears broke free and spilt down his cheeks. “He’s scary dad... he just sits there in the car and watches when I’m in school or at practice, then I ride home on my bicycle and he’s following me and just before mom gets home he leaves. When we’re in town he follows me around even when I’m with Eric he’s always there, watching me and walking far behind me where he thinks no one can see him but I do I know he’s there and that’s why I don’t wanna go anywhere alone. I don’t know what he wants with me...”

William fought his anger down and pulled Joe into his arms. “It’s okay champ... I’ll find him, and I’ll get him locked up. Dad’s home and you know I’ll never let anything happen to you. Right?”

Joe snuggled into William’s chest and croaked out, “Right... you’ll catch him dad you can do anything.”

William couldn’t help smiling at Joe’s innocent hero-worship.

“I’m not superman I’m just human but I’ve never broken a promise and I promise you this man won’t bother you again. Okay? But I think the best way for us to catch him is for me to pretend to leave. I think if he sees I’m back he’ll be careful and it’ll be harder to catch him. You’ll be safe, I promise, he won’t get to you or to Eric or mom. I’ll make sure of that. I love you buddy, you know that hey?”

A small smile creased Joe’s face. “Love ya too dad.”

 Joe started blushing and William took an educated guess Joe had a bit more on his mind than just the man who’d been following him around. “You got something else to share with me?”

Joe’s eyes grew a tiny bit bigger. “Yeah. Uh... dad? You know how when you were in school you played football and you got all those trophies and you were the captain?”

“Yes... why?”

“Well uh... I thought I’d try out for the football team. I mean... you played right? So... in any case today was the trials.”

“And? How’d it go?”

William asked the question but he already knew the answer because Joe was so red in the face  it looked like he was about to implode. “Horrible... I hate football. I suck at it. I got murdered.” He looked up at William from under his eyebrows and whispered, “Sorry...”

William burst out laughing and pulled Joe into his arms. “Sorry for what? Honestly son you don’t have to prove anything to me. Just because I was good at football doesn’t mean I expect you to be as well. I couldn’t ice skate to save my life let alone whiz around on the ice like you do. You’re amazing out there. That’s your game. That’s what you’re good at. I’ll always be proud of you no matter what.”

Instead of disappearing Joe’s blush grew more pronounced. William pulled away and c****d his head at Joe.

“What else? Huh? Come on out with it before you erupt.”

Joe went off like lit firecracker. “Mr. Thompson heard me fooling around in music class I was playing guitar and singing a song I wrote and I didn’t know he was listening and he said I’m real good and that I should take classes for singing and guitar and stuff because I’ve got talent and I shouldn’t waste it and I love it dad I really do I wanna take music I wanna learn all that stuff I’ve been writing some songs and they’re a bit silly but Mr. Thompson likes them and he says they need work but he can use them for the school play and I know it’s not football or anything like that but I really love it when I sing it’s like I’m in another world I wanna study music when I leave school I wanna write music and sing and stuff I...”

William put a finger to Joe’s lips to stop his breathless jabbering. “Whoa there buddy just now you go blue in the face. Breathe.”

Joe sucked in a deep breath and William shook his head at him with a proud smile. “If music’s your thing then I’m with you all the way. You get the details from Mr. Thompson, find out what you need and we’ll go shopping. You have my blessing. I said it before and I’ll say it again... never forget this... you’re my son... no matter what you do with your life or what path you choose to follow I will always be proud of you and I’ll always support you.”

Joe finally let his breath out and William burst out laughing. “That’s better. For a while there I thought you were about to lift off like a hot air balloon. So... tell me about school.”

That gave Joe his cue to start babbling again and when Eric came in with the coffee two minutes later he was still at it.

William left later that night after the boys had gone to bed. He made a big show of putting a suitcase in the boot of the car and kissing Beth goodbye. After arranging covert protection for the boys and Beth he snuck back to the house using a moped. He hid in the nearby bushes and kept watch.

The next morning he followed Joe to school. The men he put on duty to watch Beth and Eric reported back to him at regular intervals. There was no sign of the stranger. Forensics reported back to William that evening. No leads were to be found on the letter. Traces were run on the registration number of the black Mercedes, but they hit a dead end. For the rest of the week William and his men kept close tabs on Beth and the boys but it was as if the stranger had disappeared off the face of the earth.

As the week wore on Joe’s excitement grew and by the Thursday there was no keeping him in, he was all over the place like an overactive toddler hyped up on too much caffeine. Beth had the time of her life getting Joe down and in bed. That Friday morning he was up before Eric and Beth. He began rushing them along, hopping around and chattering nonstop. Eric began contemplating gagging and binding Joe but he had the feeling not even that would help, Joe would just find some other way to keep on irritating him. Before leaving for school Beth decided to check Joe’s bag, because she felt certain he’d forgotten something. Sure enough Joe’s toothbrush, hairbrush and towel were missing, and the clothes he packed had been unceremoniously shoved into the bag like a bunch of dirty laundry. After repacking the bag and adding the missing items they left to meet the bus. Most of Joe’s teammates were already on the bus and waiting impatiently to leave. Beth got rewarded with a quick smack-kiss and Eric with a ‘see ya’ then Joe stormed for the bus without regarding either of them with a second glance. Beth couldn’t help being worried. She stared teary-eyed at the bus as it drove away. Eric slipped an arm around her shoulders.

“Stop stressing mom, he’ll be fine.”

“I know Eric it’s just... he’s just a baby and he’s so reckless. He doesn’t think things through like you do he takes too many chances. He thinks he’s invincible. And that man is still out there.”

Beth’s voice trailed off and Eric gave her a reassuring hug. “Hey, you know dad’s keeping close tabs on Joe. He’ll be fine and he’s going to have loads of fun.”

Eric’s words belied his worried feelings. He wasn’t about to share with Beth that he had a bad feeling about the trip, that something was going to go wrong. He shook it off as paranoia and followed his mom to the car as the bus turned the corner and disappeared from view.