White Space Season 1

have no idea,” Jon looked from the black screen to Cassidy. “That was nothing.”

    * * * *

CHAPTER 6 — Liz Heller

    Hamilton Island, Washington
    1:25 p.m.

    The morning had been hell.
    Liz tiptoed away from Aubrey’s room, thanking God she had finally fallen asleep for her nap. Hopefully she’d stay down for the next couple of hours.
    Aubrey had cried for nearly 30 minutes straight, refusing to sleep. She wanted her daddy, and it broke Liz’s heart to see her little girl’s head turn every time someone came into a room, eyes in search of her daddy.
    Liz didn’t know how to explain the situation to her daughter. Aubrey was only six months old, and while she seemed to understand far more than Alex had at that age, Liz didn’t have a way to explain a concept like death. She didn’t want to lie and say, “Daddy will be back soon,” or anything which might use a lie as comfort food.
    So she simply hugged her, or in most cases, distracted the child with something else.
    And every time she successfully made Aubrey momentarily forget her daddy, it broke Liz’s heart just a little bit more.
    Today was particularly rough for them both.
    Between waiting on the window guy to replace her windshield, dealing with several more unanswered calls to the medical examiner’s office to find out when in the hell she’d be allowed to get Roger’s body, and wondering what on God’s green Earth could be on the flash drive, she barely had eye contact for Aubrey, let alone undivided attention.
    This made Alex’s return to school all the more noticeable, magnifying the emptiness of the house. Now Aubrey was missing both her daddy and her brother, and constantly looking for them, likely wondering why everyone was leaving her. And probably also wondering when mommy would leave?
    Liz needed a nap, and decided to sleep in the spare bed in Aubrey’s room.
    She headed downstairs to make sure the door was locked, for probably the hundredth time in the past few hours. As she approached the door, she saw movement outside the front window. A chill shot through her body. She went to the window and saw a police officer heading up her sidewalk.
    She felt suddenly sick, fearing more bad news.
    Relax, he’s just here to follow up on the car thing, or maybe something related to Roger. Maybe he’s gonna tell you when you can get Roger’s body and finally bury him.
    She ran to the front door hoping she could get there before the officer had a chance to ring the bell and surely wake Aubrey.
    Liz threw the door open, and saw it wasn’t just a cop at her door, but Chief Brady. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her get and deep in her marrow. She stepped onto the porch.
    “Hello, ma’am,” he said, tipping his hat.
    “Hello, Chief Brady. How can I help you?” Liz positioned herself between the chief and the slightly ajar door at her back. She would invite him in under normal circumstances, but didn’t want his voice to wake Aubrey. Waking to the sound of a stranger in the house would scare her even more than waking not to find Mommy next to her.
    “Is Alex here?” he asked.
    “No, he’s at school. Why? What’s wrong?” Liz said, her voice rising in pitch.
    “There was an incident at the school,” the chief said.
    Liz felt her stomach churn. An incident? Oh God.
    “What happened?” she asked, her hands involuntarily clasped over her chest.
    “Well, we’re not sure exactly. He seems to have gotten into a fight with two kids. He and his girlfriend, Katie were involved, and they both took off into the woods. One of the boys is in the hospital in serious condition. The other is banged up, but he’ll live.”
    “Oh God,” Liz said. “When did this happen?”
    “About a half hour ago or so. We’re looking for them, and thought maybe they came here.”
    “I haven’t seen or heard from them,” she said, trying not to hyperventilate. “Did you check with Katie’s mom?”
    “I’ve got an officer trying to track her down now. She wasn’t home.”
    “I think she works at the hospital, in the accounting department.”
    “Yeah,” Brady said. “He’s on his way as we speak.”
    “Is Alex in trouble?” Liz asked.
    “Well, I’d like to talk to them both,” Brady said, “to get their side of the story.”
    “Alex is a good kid, Chief. He would never start a fight. Those kids must’ve started it. Who was involved?”
    “Jake Brewster and Ray Wilson.”
    “Oh, God. I had both of them in my class, and I