Don't Touch Me! - 11

 

After his visit with Walt, Brent went back to the office. He had two other jobs to deal with before he could even consider paying Cody another visit. They took most of the day, so it was after four when he called Cody to tell him he was coming over.

"What did you find out?" Cody asked the moment he opened the door.

"And hello to you too," Brent replied, chuckling.

"Sorry. Hello." Cody stepped aside to let Brent in.

"You look like hell," Brent said, which Cody did. He had dark circles under his eyes and his cheeks seemed even more sunken than normal.

"I didn't sleep well last night." Cody danced nervously from one foot to the other. "Would you like—I don't know—coffee or something?"

"Sure. Coffee sounds good." Brent followed Cody into the kitchen, standing in the doorway to keep a safe distance from the younger man. "How do you manage to grocery shop?"

"We… I have it delivered." Cody smiled hesitantly. "Go online, order what's needed, and there you go."

"I might have to try that. It would probably save me money. I tend to be an impulse shopper."

"I used to be, before…" Cody poured two cups of coffee. "Sugar? Cream?"

"No, this is fine." Brent came into the kitchen when Cody put the cup down on the table. "Do you want to talk here?"

Cody nodded, taking the chair on the far side of the table from where Brent stood. Brent sat across from him, taking a sip of coffee. He noticed Cody's hand begin shaking as he picked up his cup. Brent barely resisted grabbing it before Cody spilled his coffee. Instead, he said calmly, "Take a deep breath and relax."

"Relax? My mother is dead. The cops think I killed her, and you want me to relax? How the hell am I supposed to do that?" His voice rose angrily with each question.

"Cody," Brent replied quietly. "Yelling is not going to help the situation."

"Bet me!" Cody spat out. Then he slumped back, smiling briefly. "Actually, it did. Now maybe I can look rationally at what's going on. Did you get to talk to Detective Milburn?"

"Yep. He wouldn't tell me why he thinks her killing isn't related to the other ones, but then, I didn't really expect him to. I think I managed to convince him your touching phobia is real. I told him about what happened the first time you met Ashlie, so he's going to talk to her to confirm it. Would you be willing to give the psychiatrist permission to talk to Milburn? It could help."

"I…suppose." Cody then said sourly, "I thought he already believed me about that."

"Not really, I'm afraid. He said he played along because, as he put it, he didn't want to deal with 'dramatic overacting' on your part. Honestly, I suspect he wasn't certain one way or the other and wasn't willing to chance you having a full-blown episode."

"It would have happened."

"I'm sure. Between your mother's murder and the cops swarming the place, anyone touching you would have been the last straw."