“No, he’s real. I think he’s real. I can sometimes see him, but my parents can’t. He can stand and talk to me from right behind them and they don’t know it. My parents even try to turn and look at him…and he’s right in front of them, but they can’t see him. It’s scary...a little bit scary.”
Dr. Theurkauf was so enthralled with Adam’s story that he let fall the pen that he had been holding in his hand. It plummeted to the floor, creating a slow-motion drum roll in the silent room. He looked at Adam closely and it looked like there was a movie playing in his head. Adam was connecting to something, but only he knew what it was. The doctor had been doing this work for a long time, but Adam’s case was quickly moving into unchartered territory, so he held his breath while awaiting his next revelation.
“He’s here now,” said Adam. “I can see him.”
Dr. Theurkauf smirked. Adam was a wise boy for his age, there was no questioning that, but there was a reason Dr. Theurkauf was so highly regarded. He had been working with children for almost 30 years. A six year old was not about to pull the wool over his eyes.
“What does he look like, Adam?” he said with a smile.
“He’s got a full head of gray hair…ahhh…he’s tall…thin…with a gray mustache. He has lots of wrinkles on his face. He…he…he actually looks like your father.”
Dr. Theurkauf froze. He knew that it had been reported that Adam knew particulars of which he shouldn’t. He knew things that would be impossible for him to know. As for the doctor’s father…yes, Adam did describe his father to a tee. They always teased his father about never losing his hair. It was so gray, yet so thick. His hair was a big part of his identity. He was tall and thin, too, and had a mustache to accompany a ton of wrinkles. However, there was no possible way for Adam to have ever come across his father as he had been incapacitated in a nursing home for almost a decade. It was just a bizarre thing to say, even coming from somebody who possessed knowledge that is seemingly impossible for him to know. Besides, Adam’s description could have been a number of older gentlemen.
“Can’t be him, though,” said Adam, “’cuz he’s in the place.”
“Who’s in what place?”
“Your dad. He’s in that place…you know the place. You put him there nine years ago. So it can’t be him. He also can’t talk like this guy. That’s another reason.”
Dr. Theurkauf leaned forward and asked, “How do you know anything about my fatha?”
“I dunno. I just pick up on bad people.”
“Adam…what do you mean when you say you pick up on bad people. How are you able to do that? Tell me about what happens. How are you able to pick up on bad people if you’ve neva even met them?”
Adam looked down at his feet and slid the tip of his sneakers against the floor as he appeared to be carefully considering a safe answer. “I dunno how it happens,” said Adam, “but something…something happens…in my head…and I know people I’ve never met and I know everything about them. Sometimes it happens when I walk by people. I get scared when it happens. Sometimes it happens with people who know the bad people…like you.”
“Like me?”
“Like you and your father. That’s how I knew he was a bad man. He was a very bad man for hitting you all them years, but he got what he deserved. He’s been in that place for a long, long time. What you did to him, making him go there…was pretty bad, but he messed you up. He messed you up real bad, and that’s probably why you do this kind of work, huh?”
Dr. Theurkauf looked at his watch. “Well Adam…looks like our time is up. Where does the time go?”
Adam hopped out of his chair and reunited with his parents on the other side of the door.
“I think I’ve done all that I can do for your son,” said Dr. Theurkauf. “Sometimes you just get the sense that you cannot help a child, and sorry to say, I got that feeling with Adam.”
Carter and Brenda gasped when he said that. “Are you saying you don’t want to work with our son any longer?” asked Carter. “It’s only been 10 minutes!”
Dr. Theurkauf looked them in the eye and said, “Look, I sometimes cannot work with children. That’s why I have that initial interview, so I can determine a child’s need and decide if I am capable of making a difference in their lives. Unfortunately, in this case, I don’t think I am capable, so there will be no charge today.”
“Was it us?” asked Brenda. “Is it the clothes we’re wearing? Who the hell do you think you are? Aren’t you the child expert? Some expert!”
“You came highly recommended,” said Carter. “Now, I don’t know if you have too many cases on your plate or what, but I just wish you never agreed to this appointment in the first place.”
“He’s just mad about his dad,” said Adam.
“Get your son out of my office now,” exclaimed Dr. Theurkauf, pointing at the door.
“Come on Brenda, Adam,” said Carter. “We’ll go to someone who can actually help us!”
CHAPTER 10
The Spence family arrived home from the therapy session and Brenda thought she saw someone passing by a window inside their home. They pulled into the driveway and parked the car, waiting to see if there really was someone inside the house or whether it was a shadow or some other explanation. After five minutes, Carter decided to check it out, leaving Brenda and Adam behind in the car.
Just in case, Brenda shifted her body over the emergency brake and sat in the driver’s seat in the off-chance they needed to use the car for a getaway. They had seen enough movies. Brenda was the only one who thought she saw the image, and Carter was the one who came up with the getaway plan, should the need arise.
Carter clicked his door shut softly, and slowly made his way to the front door. He tried looking in to see if he could see anyone through the long windows on either side of the door. He saw nothing. He looked through windows in the front of the house, and saw nothing. He then grabbed his key and unlocked the front door. He did this without a sound, pushing the door in and entering his home. He looked around and saw nobody. He still tiptoed through the house until it was deemed fit for his family. However, when he got to the kitchen, he was startled to see Evan sitting there at the table with his dog in front of him.
“Hi Carter,” said Evan, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening at the moment.
Carter’s mouth was hanging open as he looked at Evan in disbelief.
“Sorry to startle you,” said Evan. “Thought I saw someone moseying around in your house, so I figured I’d check it out.”
Carter looked at him, stunned. “How did you even get in, Evan?”
The back door was left open, so I passed through there. I thought you might like to know that I’m part of a neighborhood watch, and everybody in this neighborhood looks out for their fellow neighbors. That’s just what we do.”
“Well, I gotta be honest with you. Brenda and I are a little bit uncomfortable having you come into our house uninvited, especially when we’re not home. You’re a former cop. You know that’s Breaking and Entering.”
“You’ll have to forgive me. I just don’t want a repeat of what happened to your son that night. That’s why I…”
“Evan, I’m not gonna say this again, and I don’t know how to say it any nicer. Do not come into our house without an invitation. You may be preventing other people from breaking in, but you aren’t preventing yourself from breaking in. Come on. Think about it. The last thing Adam needs is someone coming into the house. We’re trying to get back to normal and this is not part of that plan. Besides, you can look out for our house from the outside. No need to come in.”
“Fine,” said Evan. “If that’s the way you want it. I was just trying to help.�
�
“Well, there are other ways to help. Now, I’m going to go to the car and let Brenda and Adam know that it’s okay to come into the house. We saw someone in our house as we pulled into the driveway from the psychologist. You know how terrifying that is after having just gone through hell and back the last few days?”
Evan was sitting back in the kitchen chair and said, “So you had to go to a psychologist to talk about your ordeal. Now that’s a waste of time.”
“Actually, it was for Adam. We needed to get him some help.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’s kind of personal, don’t you think, Evan?”
Evan looked down at his dog, Skippy, who got to his feet and then sat back down again and whined briefly. “No shame in it, but don’t you think he’s kind of young to be seeing a shrink?”
“He’s older than you think, mentally. He really is beyond his years.”
“You think he’s traumatized? Is that why?”
“Actually, no. I don’t. “
“That’s why.” Evan did not want to give up on his trauma theory.
“I said it’s not. What difference does it make, anyway? He just…if you must know…he claims to see things that we don’t.”
“Things?”
“People.” Carter was getting agitated, and figured he could get Evan out of his hair faster if he just coughed up a couple of details.
“He sees people that you don’t see? You mean ghosts?” Evan asked.
“Yeah, something like that. You happy?”
“Happy that he claims to see ghosts?” Evan chuckled. “No…why would that make me happy?”
“Evan, I gotta let my wife and child back into the house,” said Carter impatiently.
“So did you get it straightened out with Adam at the therapy session?” Evan pressed.
“No,” said Carter sternly.
“Course not,” said Evan. “Told you they’re a big waste of time.”
Carter was back into the conversation. “It’s not that. The guy told us that he couldn’t help us.”
“Another point in my favor,” said Evan with a smile of self-satisfaction.
“He said that he sensed there was nothing he could do that would benefit Adam’s continuing to see him.” This conversation nearly made Carter forget about his family in the car.
“Did he say why?” asked Evan with squinted eyes from curiosity.
“That’s all he said.” Carter’s shoulders went up and down.
“I could do a better job,” said Evan.
“Yeah? Let me guess. You’re a child psychologist?”
“Nope. That would render me useless for the boy’s special needs, and I wouldn’t be able to do a better job.”
“Then what are you getting at?” asked Carter.
“I think I could take a crack at helping your son?” said Evan, confidently.
Carter stood there before Evan and Skippy. They went back and forth and he had been getting tired of his shit, but now Evan said something that piqued his curiosity. He had his arms folded as he took a couple steps to the right of Evan, and then a couple of steps to the left. He looked into his eyes to gage authenticity. He got nothing, but that didn’t really mean much. He did another round of pacing in the silent room and asked, “How so?”
Just as Evan was preparing to answer, the front door opened and Brenda cautiously stepped in with Adam remaining behind on the front porch. “Carter,” she called out. “Are you there?”
“Yes, honey,” he said. “All clear. I’m in the kitchen.”
Brenda and Adam appeared in the kitchen. “Oh,” said Brenda. “It’s Evan again.”
“Yeah, I been awfully concerned about you guys lately with the Adam incident and all, but Carter don’t want me keeping strangers away.”
“I didn’t say that, Evan.”
“Somethin’ like that. Let’s just say you won’t see me much around here when you guys leave and your house becomes fair game, but I suppose I could walk by.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” said Brenda with a sarcastic smile, “especially because you nearly scared the daylights out of us.”
“Didn’t mean no harm. I’m just lookin’ out. We do that in this neighborhood.”
“Great,” said Brenda. “How long have you lived in this neighborhood?”
“I’ve lived here longer than I can remember.”
“Oh, so you must have known Carter’s parents, Sidney and Patricia Spence?”
“Actually, no. I didn’t know them.”
Brenda looked over at Carter and then back to Evan. “Really…wow…right around the corner and you didn’t know them. You must have seen them or Carter through the years, no?”
Evan looked at Brenda matter-of-factly. “No.”
“Okay,” said Brenda. “I guess I’m gonna join Adam in the living room and let you two talk.”
“Thank you,” said Evan.
As Brenda slowly moved out of the kitchen and into the living room, she did not take her eyes off Evan. It was not a kind look that she was giving him, and Carter took notice, hoping that Evan didn’t turn his head slightly to the right and see her disgust. Her heart and her attitude weren’t transparent.
Since Carter wanted a further explanation of what Evan was talking about when he said that he could help Adam, he told Evan that he would walk him out. He did some small talk as they walked down the hallway to the front door, but questions began running through his mind. How could he help Adam? Did he know something that they didn’t know? Is he full of shit? Is he a used car salesman? Is he really who he says he is? Actually, does he really even live around the corner? Is he a cop and a psychologist?
They made it outside and slowly strolled into the driveway, and Carter began his mission of examining Evan’s last statement. “So Evan,” he began, “in the kitchen you said something about being able to help my son. He definitely needs some help, but he needs professional help. I know you were a cop, so how do you plan on helping Adam? Did you have any experience with child psychology…a degree…what?”
“I’ll tell you what I have,” said Evan. He watched his dog do a circle and sit by his feet. Then he looked up at Carter. “I can guarantee I’ve got a shitload more experience in this stuff than that worthless psychology guy you just got back from seeing. I can guarantee you that.”
“Go on,” said Carter.
“I have what you call a sixth sense. Had that since, oh, I don’t know…since long as I can remember. That’s why I lasted so long on the force. Got shit accomplished that nobody else could…saw things that people couldn’t see. What I mean by that is…I have an intuition on things, and although I’m not always right about things, I think I’m worth your time…that’s all.”
“What do you mean when you say you’re worth my time?”
“I’m worth your time. I came to you that morning not just because I heard about what was going on.” Evan looked down at his feet and kicked a rock across the driveway. “I had a sense that something was going on at your house long before the sirens. Never met you before, never met your folks before. Heck, three streets away and I’ve never even been down your street.”
“Yeah,” said Carter. “Pretty amazing.”
“There was never a need. That morning there was a need. And whenever I get the sense, my body just moves to the place my mind directs it to go. I haven’t a choice. Sometimes I get myself into a mess because of it. That’s why Skippy accompanies me wherever I go. That’s why you find me in places you don’t expect me to be…like your kitchen. When I get a sense, Skippy leads
me there.”
“I see,” said Carter, “but I do know that some things cannot be explained through logic.”
“Damn right they can’t. When I lost my wife all them years ago, and the police closed the case with no leads, I opened my own private investigation…because whenever I told them about a hunch that I had, they’d tell me that they can’t work on hunches. They needed concrete proof. They wanted to help…sure they did. They felt bad for me…sure they did. But none of that mattered worth a shit.”
“So how were you able to track him down?” asked Carter.
“It was the sense I been telling you about,” said Evan as he looked in the air at nothing in particular. “I just follow up on everything, and hope it pans out.”
“So how did it pan out with your wife, if you don’t mind me asking?” asked Carter, shamefully.
“Well, let’s just say that the guy got his due,” said Evan. “Remember that I was a cop, and I dedicated my life to upholding the law. Taking matters into my own hands does not constitute justification or upholding the law in the eyes of the judicial system, so I know what I did was wrong.”
“But they couldn’t help you.”
“That’s right, so I helped myself.” Evan paused for a smile. “They never even knew the guy was missing, or how or why. I knew how to get this done without so much as a crime scene. Now my wife can rest in peace.”
“As can you,” Carter added, putting his hand on Evan’s shoulder.
Evan brought his hand to his eyes for a brief moment, then said, “Yeah…sad but true. I would much rather she just left, like Adam.”
“Like Adam?” asked Carter.
“Like Adam. He wasn’t taken. He left on his own free will.”
“So we think,” said Carter.
“I know,” said Evan, confidently.
“How do you know?” Carter’s tone abruptly turned. He wanted to know how this guy could be so sure of himself.
Desert Son Trilogy: Desert Son, Wayward Soul, Spiritual Intervention (Books 1-3) Page 54
