Micah sat totally paralysed as Nel continued to speak. He was ice cold. And it wasn't getting any better as she spoke.

"Last Monday, I was on my way over here and I saw some creep standing at the tree line of the forest and watching the house. Like he was studying lab rats or something. He was so into it he didn't even notice me ride by on my bike." she was saying, looking quite frightened herself. "I usually let myself in. So that's what I did. I came straight through to the kitchen to find out what he'd been looking at. I saw Nat standing by the window and washing dishes and realised he must have been staring at her. I looked out the window but he was gone."

She stopped to catch her breath. Micah decided it was best not to interrupt. She looked tormented by whatever memories were going through her head as she stared unfocused at a point over his shoulder. It seemed it took a lot for her to come this far.

"I... I told her about the man. And she lost it. I mean really lost it. She was like hyperventilating and whispering something over and over." Nel said, her eyes brimming with tears. "Julian had to come home after I called him cos I couldn't calm her down. He told me to go home for that day and that he'd call me. I was really scared and confused about the whole thing. He called me that night to tell me everything was ok and Nat felt bad for scaring me. That she had PTSD and they should have told me since I come over so much. I talked to her too. Everything seemed fine. Julian said the man was probably just a hunter or something.

"So, you know, I just figured he must be right. I overreact to stuff a lot. The man was probably just passing through. I didn't see him again so that must have been it. I mean, I didn't even remember to bring it up when the cops came by two nights ago." She took a deep breath and looked down at her intertwined fingers resting on the counter top. Gravity pulled a few tears down and they splashed on the inside of her glasses. She didn't bother wiping them and instead continued talking.

"Yesterday, I saw him again. The man. I was sitting out on the porch at my house. He had just walked passed on his way here when you drove by. He saw you turn into the driveway and he stopped. Like he doesn't expect to see you. And he just watched as you carried Caleb in. Then he just went off the road and into the woods." Nel paused again as the tears from earlier started to fall down her face. Micah struggled to keep composure for Nel's sake as she herself started to come undone.

"That's when I knew that he wasn't just a hunter or a hiker. He really was staring at Natalie that day." she continued as her voice became thick. "He must have done something to them. It's too much of a coincidence. I should have tried harder to convince them. The way he was looking at her just wasn't right." She broke down and started sobbing softly, clutching her chest . Micah himself was feeling a bit like crying. He got up and walked over to her then gently urged her into a hug. She immediately melted into his grasp, clinging to the front of his sweater like lifeline.

Micah was grateful she accepted the hug because he needed it just as much as Nel did. What she just revealed was terrifying. He had handled cases like this of course, but it had never been his own family. He had held on to hope that it was really just an accident. That was gone. It was obvious someone had planned to kill either Natalie or Julian. Maybe both of them.

Nel's sobs slowly subsided as she calmed down and pulled out of Micah's arms gently. "I'm - sorry." she said, hiccuping between words and adjusting her crooked and smudged glasses. She seemed really embarassed and was looking down again.

Micah pulled up the stool next to her and sat. "Nel. I'm not going to tell you not to cry. Cry as much as you feel is necessary. That's the only way you can process everything you've had to go though. No teenager should ever have to deal with what you're dealing with right now. So please, cry.
But know this. You have nothing to feel guilty about. You have nothing to be sorry for. You did the best you could to protect your friends but whoever did this had the benefit of months - possibly years - of planning. We were all blindsided. None of this is on you."

Nel nodded with her head held down. Now she had a really bad case of cry hiccups. "I...I - just want - Caleb - to be safe." She managed.

"He's gonna be. You protected him two days ago. And you're protecting him now by telling me all this. But you're also gonna have to tell the police everything. They need to know so they can catch this guy."

She nodded again, probably not confident her voice would come out right. She stared at him for moment before giving him a watery smile. "You're a - really - good cop." she said with hiccups still punctuating her speech.

"I know, right?" Micah replied while returning her smile before they both laughed.

"I'll go - clean up." she said and got up and headed towards the guest bathroom under the stairs.

Micah got up too and started clearing away the dishes and loading them into the dishwasher. He wiped down the countertop and tried not to think too much. He didn't want to think about Mr. Creepers. The mystery man seemed a lot more sinister now and it was messing with Micah. He went back to making the grocery list instead. Nel rejoined him with smudge-free glasses and a clean face. The hiccups had also stopped.

"Perfect timing." Micah said to her as she went to the sink to get a glass of water. "Do you know what Caleb's current favorite things to eat are? He's generally quite predictable but I haven't seen him in over 2 months."

Nel pursed her lips and thought about it. "I'm guessing you know about the broccoli mac and cheese thing." Micah nodded. "Hmm. Well there's this vegan sandwich he really loves. They make it at the deli. Personally I'm not a fan. But he's always been a bit strange so...."

"You speak only the truth." Micah agreed. He made a mental note to check out the deli later. "What about you? What do you like at the deli?"

"Umm... the grilled shrimp and avacado is nice. Also the smoky corned beef and coleslaw. Oh and if you like soup they have a nice selection. Wonton's my favorite. For salads, the watercress, feta and grilled chicken one kills."

" Hmm. fancy. I was expecting to regular kind of deli you know." Micah said. Leave it to Julian to make even a deli boojie.

"Yeah. There aren't many of those around here. Especially not one with such a wide range." Nel said.

"Oh. Ok." Micah said, shamefaced. He should really know that. He
seriously needed to get a better handle on the businesses. There was still the restaurant in New York to think about. Also, he had to check on the café renovation in Montpelier. He added yet another mental note to call Declan.

Inevitably he began to feel excited about seeing the beautiful mountain man again. He squashed the butterflies in his stomach as he remembered his resolution to keep things platonic. Then he remembered Declan's muscular body rippling under his shirt and the cycle continued.

"Uncle Mike! I'm ready!" Caleb yelled as he ran in and rescued Micah from himself. 'How long was he gone?' Micah thought as he glanced at the clock on his phone. 7:33. Just over 20 minutes. Time was really moving at a snail's pace. He looked back at Caleb and took in the outfit. His hair was still in the two cornrows Micah had made the previous night and now he had on beige jeans and a green and purple plaid shirt with plain black vans.  He was holding a navy baseball jacket with leather sleeves in his little hands and looking at Micah with wide excited eyes.

"Wow. You look great Caleb." Micah said honestly.

"Thank you." he replied with a coy smile. Caleb always showered and dressed himself and he usually didn't need adult intervention. Where he did need it was in controlling the mess he made in the wake of getting ready. And with a social worker coming over, things could get awkward if they saw that. "Did you put your stuff away?"

Caleb looked guilty. He started to nod slowly but then Micah sternly said "Don't lie." and he changed his mind and shook his head instead.

"I appreciate you not lying." Micah said with a smile. "Don't worry buddy. I'll help you."

"Yeah! Me too!" Nel said. "Come on."

When they got to the room, Micah immediately regretted procrastinating on getting things in order last night. It seemed like the war between the closet and the toy box had escalated. And no one was winning.

"Ok. I hope you know this is one-time deal." Nel said, looking as horrified as Micah felt.

"I'm sorry." Caleb said from behind Micah's leg. He sounded like he meant it.
"Hey buddy." Micah said as he turned and kneeled to Caleb's level "Don't be sad. While this is a real disaster, we can sort it out. And I'll show you how to make sure it doesn't get like this again, ok?"

Caleb perked up a little. "Really? Is it like when we play Reward-Or-Reparation for me to get ready for school?"

"Yes. It's exactly like that. So let's say you put your toys away. You get a reward. You don't put your dirty clothes in the basket. You pay reparation. So everything you do, you have to think about what you'll get for it."

"I can do that uncle Mike!" Caleb said excitedly. He really loved this game. And Micah did too. It was a good way to trick him into chores he normally hated.

"Great! So why don't you started picking up toys and putting them in one pile. Then when you're done we'll sort them into the right boxes. Maybe you'll even get a reward. Who knows?"

"Ok!" Caleb said and darted off to pick up toys.

"That's twice now." Nel said from beside him as he got back up. She folded her arms and cocked her hip to one side as she continued. "And that's not even counting whatever powers you used on me. You're evil."

Micah smiled at that. "No I'm not. I only use my powers for the greater good. And trust me, they don't always work."

"Whatever He-Devil."

"He-devil?"

"Yeah. The devil is actually a girl. Don't tell me you didn't know that." Nel said as she walked off towards the closet.

"Are there no sane people here?" Micah asked himself as he made his way to the chest of drawers to start sorting and folding clothes.

***

Between the 3 of them, Caleb's room was spotless an hour later. Caleb himself had done quite well and Micah rewarded him with a small serving of ice-cream. Nel left after that but they would see her later when they picked her up to go into town. They exchanged numbers so she'd text when she was ready. Micah watched her from the door as she retrieved her long since forgotten umbrella from the stairs, got on her bike and rode home. He closed the door when he saw her shut her own front door. The new information about Mr Creepers had Micah even more on edge and he feared she might be targeted too.

The bell rang again at about 9 am. Micah had just been explaining to Caleb that they'd leave to get groceries soon and was trying to divert the little boy's attention to something else. Micah couldn't really blame him. He had been as patient as one would expect a 6 year old to be. Caleb followed Micah to get the door, probably not wanting to fall for any tricks of being left behind.

"Good morning." Micah greeted very tall and very wide middle-aged man in brown suit and black trench coat. His salt-and-pepper hair was combed back and his face was cleanly shaved. He was an attractive man if you were into the whole bear thing. Micah then noticed a young woman in a white button-down shirt tucked into a grey knee-length pencil skirt standing behind the man. She had on black knee-high boots and a navy trench coat the was unbuttoned and her brunette hair was in a high bun with side-swept bangs. "May I help you?"
"Micah LeRoux?" the man asked in a deep baritone and Micah nodded. "Detective Elias Monroe." he finished and held out a hand which Micah took and shook quickly. "This is Carla Peterson. She's the child protection worker Irene talked to you about."

"Nice to meet you both." Micah said, inwardly cheering for not retrieving the gun again like he wanted to. He stuck his hand out to Ms Peterson and she gave him a warm smile as they shook wordlessly. "This is Caleb, my nephew." Micah said pointing to the little boy clinging to his leg for dear life.

"Hello." Caleb said to Detective Monroe. Then he looked at the woman and held on even tighter to Micah's leg. Micah wondered just how much Caleb knew about what social workers did.

"Hey Caleb. We've met actually." detective Monroe said. Micah rose a brow to that but then remembered Caleb had been at the police station just two days prior. They probably met there.

"Please, come in." Micah said and picked Caleb up before allowing them to walk in and closing the door. Caleb's arms circled Micah's neck and he buried his little face in the crook. This was really bizzare behaviour for Caleb and Micah was beginning to wonder what was going on. Micah looked at the pair awkwardly standing in the hallway and walked passed them to lead them into the living room. "Please, have a seat. Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee maybe?"

"No thanks. I can see you have your hands full." detective Monroe said smiling as he took the arm chair by the doorway.

"Nothing for me either." Ms Peterson said, settling into the armchair beside Monroe's.

Micah took the love seat and tried to place Caleb beside him but the boy wasn't having it. He tightened his grip on Micah and buried his face deeper into the crook of Micah's neck. Defeated, Micah adjusted Caleb until he was sitting sideways on his lap with legs stretched out on the rest of the love seat. The two guests watched patiently as the battle died down.

"Firstly Mr LeRoux, I'm truly sorry for your loss. We both are." Detective Monroe said with sincerity.

"Yes. I'm not really supposed to be here but I felt I wanted to give my condolences in person." Ms Peterson added. Micah stared at her blankly. 'What on earth is this?' Micah thought but decided to reserve comment for now. All will soon be revealed.

"Thank you. I didn't expect you to show up at the same time. Unless it was intentional." Micah stated as more of a question.

"That's correct. It was intentional." Ms Peterson said. "The police have been involved with this case for quite a while now. In fact, it's more of a police case now. Child Protective Services is just providing as much information as it can at this stage."

"What does that mean exactly? Were you planning to arrest Julian or Natalie? What's the case pertaining to?"

"No Mr LeRoux, police presence wasn't requested for Ms Peterson's protection." detective Monroe said. "Or anything like that. Your brother and his wife were being stalked and harassed by someone. Whoever it was mainly used Child Services to make contact. This was also the source of the harassment."

"What?" Micah said, completely thrown. "Wow. That is... news to me. Not to mention really hard to believe."

"At the time of my request, I was unaware of Mr and Mrs LeRoux's... demise. I was simply trying to organize a visit with detective Monroe to inform them of new developments."

"New developments? This was ongoing." Micah said, still reeling from what he just heard.

"We're not exactly sure how much you were told about the reports to child services. Started back in March? " Ms Peterson asked, now seeming a little unsure of herself.

"I have no idea...." Micah thought for a moment. "Right.. Right." he said as light dawned. "But that wasn't really serious. They told me about the visits you made. And that you quickly realised it was a mistake. That's what this is about? "

"Mr LeRoux. I assure you that it was a very serious incident." Ms Peterson stated, looking quite serious herself.

"Wait. Just wait. This is all too much, too fast." Micah said and hugged Caleb closer to him. He wasn't ready for anything new just yet. He turned to the detective. "I want to hear about what happened to them first."

The detective shifted uncomfortably in his seat and glanced at Ms Peterson, seemingly for reassurance. "Currently there isn't much. From the moment I got the call about Julian and Natalie, I suspected foul play. That was confirmed by the manner in which they were found." he shifted again. "Are you sure it's ok to continue in front of... your nephew?"

"It's ok. Just... keep it PG." Micah said impatiently.

Monroe nodded and continued. "They were found bound and gagged in a bedroom on the first floor. The fire couldn't get to them because the door was closed so they were identified very quickly. The owners of the residence, the Meulers, are missing still, as is their car.

"The crime scene is still under investigation by the fire department, of course. They need to determine the exact cause of the fire before turning it over. But there is a CSI team working with them to gather what evidence before it's compromised. The coroner's office is also yet to release the autopsy reports. So, officially, I can't investigate this as homicide yet, but that's a formality at this stage. Especially given the prior case of stalking and harassment. And I am making inquiries to this end."

Micah sighed heavily and closed his eyes. It was comforting to know how seriously Monroe was taking this. He recognized the cop double speak. At least he could count on Monroe.

Micah opened his eyes, feeling a lot calmer. He was fairly certain he could handle the surprises because the worst of it had been revealed. "Ok. So let's hear about this stalking thing then."