Don't Touch Me! - 14

 

"Can I hire you?" Brent asked with a laugh as they began eating.

Cody chuckled. "To make sandwiches? I think there are shops all over town where you can get them."

"Not as good as this," Brent protested, after taking another bite. He smiled when Cody's face turned red with embarrassment. Then he asked if Cody was working on a new book.

Cody admitted he had been, but seemed to be stalled out. "It's all this," he said disconsolately. "I thought if I got back to it, I'd stop thinking about my mother's death and…and everything. It didn't work."

"We're going to figure it out and prove you didn't kill her," Brent said firmly. He was surprised how much he wanted to give Cody a hug to let him know someone was on his side. He almost asked how Cody could stand not being able to express his feelings physically, the way most people did. Not a good idea. It would probably depress him even more than he is already.

"How?" Cody asked angrily. "If the cops can't find the guy, how are we going to be able to?"

"I don't know, Cody. I only know, somehow or another, either they or we will."

At that moment, Brent's phone rang. Answering, he heard Walt say, "I got a message to call you back. I hope it's important. I'm beat and heading home."

"Just two questions. One you probably won't answer. The other you might."

Walt sighed. "Okay, hit me with them."

"Cody's mother only left the house to go to doctor appointments. They were in the medical building at Fifth and Central. Is there any chance the other victims had doctors in the same building?"

There was a long pause before Walt replied, "Two did. What's the other question?"

"Were all the women overweight?"

"Yes. Before you ask, I've already decided that could be the reason they were targeted."

"Including Cody's mother."

"Brent." Brent could envision Walt shaking his head. "Yes, including her. It does not mean she's one of the killer's victims."

"But that piece of information wasn't in any of the news stories."

"True." Walt sounded reluctant to admit it. "We were holding it back."

"Thanks for answering my questions. Go home and play with the kids. That'll relax you."

Walt chuckled, said "Or drive me farther up the wall," then hung up.

"So?" Cody asked.

"Like we figured, all of them were overweight, and two of them went to docs in the same building as your mother."

"Which means that's where he picking them."

"It might, if the last woman had gone there too."

Cody chewed his lip. "Maybe she lived in the area?"

"Something to find out, but not tonight. Let's finish eating, then you go to bed and get some sleep."