Law Abiding Citizens

So far, Miranda has been raising the son of her ex-lover, Dougie. When Dougie disappeared without a trace, Miranda obtained temporary custody, but Dougie has returned. Miranda is afraid he has come back for his son. Despite her mistrust of Dougie's intentions, he is now the prime suspect in the murder of one of Waylon's teachers. Miranda knows, in her heart, he didn't do it, so she sets her sights on proving his innocence.

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Matt has hired two part time cashiers to help out in the afternoons and evenings. This arrangement has given me some free time to scour the web for information on Mr. Tomlin, Mira Evanoff, Reverend Foley, and anything else I can find related to Mt. Olive. Most of it is the usual, happy, God fearing testimonial things that are written about churches. There are beautifully photographed images of the cinder block building. I'm pretty sure someone added trees and flowering bushes to the photo. It didn't look as cold and stark as it did when I stopped by this morning.

There is little about Mira Evanoff, a little bio of Reverend Foley. He is married to his high school sweetheart, has two children. Moved to Patterson in the late nineties and became full time with the church after the standing reverend passed away six years ago. He seems like a nice guy. Raising money for charities, organizing highway and beach cleanups several times a year. Opened his church up for the homeless two weeks in winter, then urged other churches to follow suit. This guy sounds really good for the community.

I check the monitors to make sure the new girl is okay, then lean back in the chair and stretch. My stomach is unhappy today. I couldn't even enjoy my coffee earlier. Momma said it's nerves. Momma is usually right.

I type in The Narrows. Twenty-one items come up. I check out the first few. "The Narrows, an idyllic camp for tweens and teens to navigate through the complexities of young adulthood. Geared toward making wise choices in the eyes of God...". This goes on for several paragraphs. Pictures of clean-cut young people are scattered throughout the text.

There are several testimonials of attendees, glowing reports of how confused youth were guided to return to the Lord. It almost sounds like reform school for the soul.

But, after digging through the highlighted things, the darker side of The Narrows was starting to become evident.

"Camp Narrows should be called Camp Narrow-minded. The closest thing to medieval torture ever. They will beat the gay out of you. The level of guilt and coercion used knows no limits. It's their way or the highway. If this is how God works, I want no part of it. I counsel troubled teens and what they need is understanding and to trust someone. They will only get bullied at The Narrows."

This goes on for several paragraphs. I scroll down to the end and I get the shock of my life. There is a picture of Dennis Tomlin, shaking hands with Reverend Foley. The caption reads, "Working with The Narrows has opened my eyes to how the world views the homosexual community. It may not be Auschwitz, but places like this should be feared."

I know Mitch doesn't really think that Mira, the little speck of a woman, could have anything to do with Tomlin's murder, but this is another connection to Tomlin.

As I reach for the phone, I glance at the monitor again. Speak of the devil, Mitch is walking past the counter, heading for the office.

"I was just gonna call you," I say, walking out to greet him. "Everything okay? Or is this a donut emergency."

He smiles tiredly, then he ushers me back into the office. "Do you think I can borrow you for a few?"

My spicy little mind gets cranking and I go to lock the office door. "No, Miranda, I need you to come down to the station for a few minutes."

"What's going on?"

"It's Aaron. He was involved in an altercation. I can't make sense of it, he asked for you. He's embarrassed, I just think you're my shot at figuring out what happened."

"Is he okay?" My spicy self is suddenly kicked to the curb by the Miranda who is worried about her friend.

"He's a little banged up, but he's fine."

I call Matt to let him know I have to leave work for a little while but I'll be back. Luckily, its been a slow day and Rita hasn't left yet.

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Aaron looks up with bloodshot eyes when I come into the interrogation room. It could be that he's been crying or it could be from his chronic use of marijuana. Your guess is as good as mine.

"Thank you, Miranda."

"What's going on, Aaron? Are you hurt? Mitch said you got into an altercation. Tell me what happened?"

He leans forward, covers his nose and mouth with his hands. "I took a side job. I was gonna help out some senior citizens. You know, handy man kind of stuff."

"Okay. So, what happened?"

"I showed up, tool box, couple cans of paint, you know, brought whatever I thought I might need. I knock on the door, some old lady opens it. She looked like that puppet, you know, Madam. She told me to come inside and get comfortable. She asked me if I brought my own music. Weird question but maybe she was gonna turn on a radio for me if I didn't have anything."

"Aaron, get to the altercation part, please," I say gently.

He nods, glancing to the mirrored window, knowing there are people on the other side. He swallows, then takes a breath. "I asked them what they needed me to do," his voice trails off as he says the words.

"Aaron, just tell me, please. What did they say?"

"They said, "Get naked"."

As Aaron covers his face again, I see two faces floating around in my head. "Mitch!" I holler. "Where are they?"

Seconds later he is leading me down the hallway to the holding room. I peek through the glass and see two very familiar faces.

Brenda and Alice.