Dreamchasers

by Grasshopper

Chapter 10

"All this in connected somehow," Jase muttered, his eyes intently watching as an eagle wheeled in the downdrafts. "I don't know how but I know it is."

"Yeah," Cody sighed, wishing he could help more, do more. He was involved because Jase was involved and Davy and yet he felt like he'd known Charity, known Tommy. He wanted to see the truth almost as much as Jase, for both of the McBride men.

They watched Davy's bike kick up dust on the driveway, laughing as he rose up on his toes and let go of the bars.

"Will you tell Davy?"

"Not until we know for certain, then, yes, I will," Jase said softly. "He deserves to know that his blood comes from a good man."

Davy skidded to a stop, more dust flying, dropped his bike and walked up the front steps. Flopping into the porch swing, he wiped sweat off his face and said happily, "Hi, Daddy. Hi, Cody."

"Hey Punkin," Cody smiled. "Rough day at school?"

"Nah, Mrs. Bailey's daughter is having a baby and she was all excited and waiting for her phone to ring. She just kinda let us goof off." He sighed a contented sigh. "Oh, don't forget, the field trip is Friday. I gotta take my lunch." He grinned at Cody.

"Haha! Yeah, I remember field trips," Cody laughed. "I took enough food to feed an army and I ate all of it in the first ten minutes."

"Will you fix me some?"

"Sure.......We'll pack you up enough for a month." The two grinned, Jase watching with a sad smile on his face, remembering the times Davy had asked and all he had done was said to get the school bag lunch. If he kicked himself for all the times he'd failed his son, he'd never walk again. He heard Cody say,

"This is Wednesday. What do ya say we bake cookies tonight and then fix the rest tomorrow night? Then, you'll be all set."

Jase rocked slowly, listening to his 'family' discuss whether to make oatmeal or sugar or molasses cookies and the merits of peanut butter sandwiches over cold pizza for his lunch. He entered in to the conversation, "I guess that cooler in the barn will be just right."

"Daddy!" Davy laughed, "That's practically big enough for ME to get in."

Jase laughed, 'Well, from what I'm hearing, you're gonna need one that big."

The quiet talk and happy laughter went on, buzzing around Jase's head. Davy's sweet young, excited voice matched up with Cody's light, loving tone. Jase realized that he could live with this..........thrive on this.........God, if he only had one moment left in his life, he would be content just to be right here.

After dinner, Davy sat at the kitchen table, his hair standing in frustrated spikes as he worked on his spelling list. Cody sat opposite, the list in his hands, calling the words out.

"We're having the test tomorrow since we won't be there on Friday. These words are dumb."

Cody bit his lip to keep a serious face. "Not dumb, just tough. I'm assuming Mrs. Bailey wanted you to know what you're reading when you get to the park on Friday."

"I have trouble spelling them outloud," Davy groaned, "I forget where I am."

"Okay, get some paper and write them before you spell them to me."

Davy ripped a piece of notebook paper out of his folder and grabbed his pencil. "K, ready."

Cody glanced over the list. "Pueblo." He watched Davy get the P and then put a 'w' and rounded it out with 'eb' and 'lo'. He looked up and said confidently, "Pweblo".

"Nope," Cody grinned. "You can't spell stuff the way it sounds. Ya gotta know what it looks like."

Davy huffed, "See??? It's gross. I'll never get it."

Cody sat for a second and then started to get up from the table. "Okay, I guess I'll go watch TV for awhile then."

"What? No. No, Cody. I didn't mean go away."

"If you're gonna give up, then there's not much point."

"I won't give up. I promise. It's just hard remembering how to spell words that don't look like they sound is all. Please don't go."

"K, let's try it the way my brother 'Lijah taught me. You've gotta think of a way to remember...like a clue. For instance....ummm.......'hospital'. Don't spit in a hospital.....see ho-spit-al."

Davy giggled, "That's so gross."

"Well, it worked for me and then as I got older and read more and more, I just knew how words looked and when they were spelled wrong. Okay, pueblo...........hmmm...........make it 3 sounds...pu-eb-lo. A pueblo is a house. Um..... don't let the dog 'pu' in the house."

Davy snorted with laughter and Cody gave over. When Jase walked into the kitchen, they were giggling and couldn't catch enough breath to explain.

Finally, calm, Cody said choking back one more giggle, "Next word. Chaco Canyon."

He watched Davy write 'Chako Canyon."

"Pretty good, but its Chaco with a 'c'. Okay, It's hot there, so you go in a cave and drink a coke.........get it 'co'...coke."

Davy snickered, "What if I write Chacoke Canyon? Mrs. Bailey will think I flipped."

"Nah," Jase laughed, "She'll think you're thirsty."

The lesson went on through striated and Anasazi and kiva and Aztec. When they got to the end of the twenty words, Jase had added several ridiculous clues of his own and Davy could spell all the words correctly, laughing as he did it.

"This is bunches better than writing them ten times each every night," Davy laughed, 'And I can spell them now. Thanks, Cody." He hugged Cody's neck tight and shyly pecked his cheek. "Thanks, Daddy," he nuzzled into Jase's circle of arms.

"Get on to the bathtub now, Davy," Jase said, "So you can watch Superman before bed."

"K, Daddy." They watched the boy run out of the kitchen and heard the sound of a soft singing as he began to fill the tub.

"What's that he sings?" Cody asked. "I hear him doing it under his breath a lot."

"It's just a silly little nursery rhyme Charity used to sing all the time. I guess he picked it up from her. Kind of appropriate one for me around here now," he laughed as he chanted, "One little, two little, three little Indians, four little......................."

"Whoa," Cody said as he came out of his chair and slid into Jase's lap. "Stop at the 'two little' please. There aren't gonna be three little, four little, anymore little Indians around this house, Buster." He softened his words with a gentle kiss. He drew back his head to see Jase's eyes. They had gone dark and Cody felt Jase's arms tighten as his strong hand caressed the back of Cody's head.

"You're so good with him," Jase sighed. "I thank you for that."

"I love him, Jase, for being your child but I love him just because he's a wonderful kid who's had tough breaks but has come through with a whole heart. We'll keep him that way."

Jase breathed in deeply. "What did I do to get you here? God, I'm glad I did it." His mouth searched for Cody's and the kiss sweetened, deepened.

"Daddy!!"

Groaning, Jase hugged Cody and set him on his feet. He stood, his long legs stretching and looked down into those chocolate eyes that trusted him, loved him. "We will continue that later." As Cody watched him stride off to check on his son, Cody called, "Count on it."

Davy, cuddled up with his old ragged bunny, prayers said, last hugs given, Jase closed his son's door leaving a crack, the "If I need you" crack Davy called it. He had needed it ever since Charity died. Many times in the night, Davy had called out for his Mommy and Jase had never been able to give him what he needed. Now, he could. With Cody's love, he could.

Jase walked into the bedroom to hear the shower running. A look crossed his face, half mischievous/half lustful. He could picture the soap, the lather, the brown skin, the wet hair, the hard body. Unable to stop himself, he slipped in the bathroom door and clicked the lock. Dropping his clothes where he stood, he watched the silhouette of his little Indian through the soft blue curtain. He just leaned against the closed door and watched, his body hard and throbbing but just letting the feelings flood him.

"Come here, Jase, before I explode." Cody's voice was taut with emotion and begging for release. Jase pushed back the curtain and stepped into the shower.

"You're beautiful," he breathed, as his hand reached out to touch the sunkissed skin, tracing a trembling line down Cody's belly. Water streamed down, parting as if paying reverence to Cody's hard nipples and curving around his bellybutton, running finally into the thatch of black curls nestled low. Cody stood still, only one part of his body moving, jerking, pulsing as his wide eyes watched Jase lower himself slowly to his knees. The hot water, the steam, the fragrance of the soap, the sudden feel of heat from Jase's mouth; Cody's knees wanted to buckle. Grabbing the wall rail, he felt his bones begin to dissolve. One hand grasping the rail, the other tangled in Jase's wet brown hair, all Cody could do was hold on as Jase sucked him to the edge...........and over.

Sitting out in the warm night air, Jase in the rocker and Cody curled up between his knees, Jase ran his fingers through Cody's long damp hair, untangling and smoothing.

"The records in Albuquerque made Tommy's death what they call a "cold case" for the police," Cody said softly. "I don't suppose they put too much effort into identifying old bones that had been in the desert for years."

"They didn't have much to go on. I do want to bring him home."

Cody looked up into Jase's face and saw the sadness. "Of course you do. He needs to be here with Charity, with you, with his son. We'll drive over tomorrow while Davy's at school and make the arrangements. Then one small part of the puzzle will be in place."

"The more I think about it, the more certain I am that the same person killed them both. I know I don't have anything to base that on but my gut feeling."

"You think that whoever killed Tommy ten years ago in Albuquerque did it because it concerned Charity? Whoa......and then for some reason, waited six years and then came for Charity? The only clue we have is the older guy that Charity was seeing. She never mentioned anything to you at all about him?"

Jase stared off into the deepening darkness. "Not a word. She kept secrets. We know that now. I thought I knew everything about her but obviously, I didn't. What did she say about him again?"

Cody thought back to Charity's diary. "He was an older guy. He was looking at her. She thought he was cute. Oh, and he had a moustache. Wait.......didn't she say something about a piece of ribbon? He left her a piece of blue ribbon in the library? Wait, there was something more. Let me go get the book." Cody jumped up and headed down the hall to bring the little book into the kitchen. They sat at the table, pushing aside Davy's spelling and read the passage again:

"Okay, all we know is he was an older guy with a moustache who asked her to have coffee and possibly gave her a blue ribbon for her hair. Not much to go on, Jase, and it was over ten years ago."

"He could have been a professor at the University," Jase added. "That's pretty much the only older men we were around."

Something niggled at the back of Cody's mind. There was something right in front of him but he couldn't see it. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts free verse across his brain.

"What's.....................?" Jase asked.

Cody sat up totally straight in the chair. "OMG!! Jase, stay right there."

He tore off back down the hall to the living room to bring back the printouts he'd asked Marge to make for him at the Records office. "Look at this!"

He shoved the papers onto the table in front of Jase and stabbed at the section with his finger.

Jase looked up at him questioningly.

"And here, Jase. Look here." He stabbed again at the section about Tommy.

"Wait right there," Cody yelped and ran for the bedroom, pulled open the top drawer, made a grab and ran back to the kitchen. "Look, Jase." He held a long slender piece of sky blue ribbon in his hand.

Jase's eyes darkened. "He's killed more than once, more than twice."

The next morning, after talking away the night, blurry-eyed, the two men climbed into Jase's black Ram truck with Davy in between, his bike in the back. "We'll be back by the time school's out but if we should have car trouble or anything and aren't here, go to Ty's house."

"Yes, Daddy."

"Don't turn on that cell phone unless it's an emergency."

"Yes, Daddy."

"We'll be in Albuquerque for a few hours and then right back home."

"Yes, Daddy." Davy looked over at Cody and rolled his eyes. Cody winked.

"He worries," Cody smiled.

"I'm pretty big. I can take care of myself," Davy grumbled. "He doesn't need to fuss so much."

"HE is right here," Jase said, "And HE will worry all he wants to."

Davy was giggling as they drove off. He parked and locked his bike on the bike rack and pulled out his daddy's cell phone punching in the #1.

Cody answered, "Hahaha.........you had a bike rack emergency?"

"Nah," Davy laughed, "Just checkin on all systems. I think we're a 'Go'."

He clicked off, stuffed the phone in his backpack, waved to some friends and started toward the school. They chattered all the way in about the field trip tomorrow, what they were gonna bring to play with, what food they were bringing, who they'd sit with. No one noticed the nondescript tan pickup parked in the teacher's lot.

The FBI investigator they were introduced to went by the name of Agent Crisp. He was dressed in basic black, had a pencil thin moustache and an air of being in a hurry. Seated across the desk in two stiff wooden chairs, Jase and Cody explained why they were there.

"I lost a very good friend ten years ago. He disappeared. The police closed the case and until just the other day, I didn't think I'd ever know what happened to him," Jase said quietly.

Cody took over. "I came to Albuquerque to look at missing person's records for the period and discovered that Tommy's um.. remains had been found in the desert by hikers in 2001. He'd been shot in the head and buried."

"How do you know it was your friend?" Agent Crisp asked, looking from Jase to Cody.

"I had given him a necklace," Jase sighed. "It was found with the body. We'd like to identify him and take him home."

"Full name of deceased."

Jase took a deep breath. "Quiet Water, son of Climbing Wolf and Snow Bird, of the Gallup community of the Hopi Indians."

Agent Crisp looked up from his computer. "I thought you referred to him as Tommy?"

"That was his Americanized name. He'll be buried under his Native American name."

"You'll need to speak to the local authorities and make the proper identifications."

Jase frowned, "We'll want to take him home. Will there be a problem?"

"Are you a relative of the deceased?" Agent Crisp peered over small black framed glasses.

"No, he was my........he was....... a friend."

"Then, the remains will have to be claimed by a relative."

Jase's shoulders slumped and Cody reached to take his hand, the agent's eyebrow quirking up. "Don't worry about that now. We'll go see his parents and it will all get straightened out." Cody turned his head to look squarely at the FBI agent.

"We wanted to tell you about something that seems relevant to a murder that happened four years ago outside of Drifter. The murderer was never found and the case has gone cold."

Cody explained the blue ribbon theory and watched a spark of speculation flicker in the Crisp's eyes.

"There are always killings on college campuses, but there has never been a tie-in. Let's try something." He swung around and faced his computer screen, typing in codes and passwords. Finally, the screen opened and he keyed in:

Narrowing down, he keyed in:

Turning to look at Cody and Jase, he said, "Now, let's add your clue."

He keyed in:

"Bingo!" Agent Crisp muttered.

The computer churned and the screen filled with photos and information.

Crisp printed out the material and the photos. "We've worked on all those cases with the feeling that they were linked but now that I've cross referenced with the ribbon, it hits you in the face."

Cody looked at the faces of the once beautiful dead girls. There was something...........He rearranged the pictures and then gasped. "Look. Look at their foreheads. As they stared at the images, trying to see past the eyes screaming for someone to help, they saw the marks on the foreheads:

l .... ll .... lll .... llllll "OMG........Those are tally marks," Jase groaned.

Agent Crisp suddenly seemed to remember that he was discussing murder cases with two strangers. He came to attention and clicked off the screen.

"I will get back to you on your information. Thank you for coming forward. The state of New Mexico thanks you."

Jase jumped up from his chair and slammed his hands flat on the desk. "There is another case to add to your NOW secret list. My wife !!"

Cody took his arm and pulled him toward the door. "Agent Crisp, you need to look at unidentified bodies in Albuquerque in 2001, I think this man has other tally marks."

As they rode down the elevator, Cody held Jase's hand tightly. He could feel the anger rolling off him as they stood in the tiny crowded room. "That's all we could do, Jase," he whispered. "He was listening."

As they walked across the street to the parking lot, Jase growled, "Who the fuck is this guy?" knowing now that it all fit together somehow. "Cody, I've been thinking Charity never, I mean never, wore blue ribbons in her hair. Any other color but never blue. The day she left for school, the day she never came home," his voice faltered, "When they found her, when I identified her, there was a blue ribbon in her hair."

They made it home before Davy and Cody had spaghetti sauce bubbling on the stove when he ran in the back screen door, letting it slam.

"Hey, Cody."

"Hey, Kiddo. How'd ya do on your spelling test?"

"Aced it. Hahaha ! Will you help me every week? It was cool the way you showed me."

"Sure, the only thing is that you've gotta remember them now. Don't just dump what you learned."

"K. Where's daddy?"

"He had to go see about Mr. Carron's stallion. He'll be back for supper. Let's decide what you want for your lunch tomorrow."

When Jase came in, he saw everything from the fridge lying on the kitchen table. Davy was dancing excitedly as he and Cody 'built' the sandwich of all sandwiches.

"Is there anything NOT in that sandwich?" Jase laughed.

"Nope!" Davy giggled. "I couldn't decide, so Cody said we'd just put everything in it."

They had packed a can of Ripple chips, two packs of Double Stuff Oreos, 4 dill pickles in a ziplock bag, another bag of ChexMix, a huge bag of Cody's secret recipe chocolate chip molasses cookies, 3 cans of root beer, and a whole bag of Tootsie Roll Pops.

Jase fingered the bag of pops, raising his eyebrows.

"I gotta have stuff to trade," Davy grinned, "In case somebody brings something different."

Jase headed for the hall, shaking his head and laughing. He reached for the wall phone as it rang.

"Hello?"
"Yeah, he's right here. Hold on."

He held the receiver towards Cody. "Who?" Cody mouthed. Jase shrugged.

"Hello?"
"Oh hey, Mike." Cody covered the mouthpiece and whispered, "My roommate."

Jase nodded and went on down the hall to wash up.

"How's everything in the big city?" Cody asked, smiling at the thought of his good friend.

Davy glanced over and then stared at Cody as he seemed to lean heavily against the counter and fear spread across his face.

"He called?"
"When?"
"What did you tell him?"
"No, it's okay, really. Don't worry about it."
"It'll be fine."
"My father called? Are he and Mother all right? Where are they now?"
"Yeah, I miss you too."
"I'll be home in a few weeks."

Davy sat frozen. Cody was going back. He watched as Cody hung up the phone and walked slowly out the back door to stand staring out at the desert. Davy jumped up and ran down the hall. "Daddy, Daddy," he called at the bathroom door, "Something's wrong with Cody. Daddy, come please."

The door jerked open and Jase looked over the top of Davy's head for Cody. "What's wrong? Where is he?" he asked as he walked into the hall.

"He looked all funny like he was scared and then he said he was going home. I thought here was home. I thought............." Davy trailed off as Jase ran into the kitchen, his eyes searching for the beloved black hair, the beautiful dark eyes.

"He went out the back door, Daddy."

"Stay here and let me see what's wrong," Jase ruffled Davy's hair with a shaking hand.

Jase found Cody walking slowly out behind the house, kicking at the sand. He didn't say a word, just walked up, held out his arms and Cody slide into them hugging on with all his might. When Cody lifted his eyes, Jase saw the trace of tears as they trickled down his baby's face. He just held him and tried to take the shivers into his own body, rubbing Cody's back and giving him strength. They just stood, rocking gently until Cody took a deep gasp of breath and spoke.

"When I was 19, I interned at the National Museum of Art in New York. I was shy and had never had a relationship with anyone. I hadn't even acknowledged to myself that I was gay....I just questioned myself." He tried to pull away but Jase held on.

Jase took his hand and led him to the porch swing. He pulled Cody down and gathered him close. "Tell me. You'll feel better. Then, we'll fix it."

"I met someone. He was my guide in my internship and he was everything I thought I wanted to be; sophisticated, artistic, admired. He took me under his wing and I became his favorite. I look back now and I can see how I walked right into it but then.....then I was looking at him through those well known rose-colored glasses."

"Walked right into what, Baby?"

"He.......he hurt me, Jase. I was so naïve. I really didn't know what I was supposed to do, what I was supposed to be, so I did what he asked."

Jase kept any emotion out of his voice so Cody wouldn't feel how angry he was getting. "And what did he ask, Cody?"

"I didn't ever wanna have to tell you this," Cody sniffled, sounding every bit as young as Davy.

"You don't have to tell me anymore than you want to, Baby, but I will help you and I will love you no matter what you tell me." He heard Cody make a choking sound and felt his slender body shake.

Cody heard rattling noises coming from the kitchen. "Jase, Davy?"

"He's in the kitchen. He came to get me after your phone call."

Cody straightened in Jase's arms. "I'll tell you everything. I promise. Right now, I need to feed Davy." He struggled to his feet and swiped at his eyes. "I'm gonna need your help with this, Jase." His eyes pleaded for love and understanding.

"You have my help. You already know that." He stood and kissed Cody lightly on the forehead and then on the lips, holding his face gently. "I love you."

They walked back into the kitchen, arms around each other. Davy was sitting at the table, staring at the door. The minute he saw Cody's face, all tear streaked, he burst out in tears of his own. "Cody, are you gonna leave?"

"Leave? Oh Honey, don't cry. I'm not leaving." He squatted down and hugged Davy close.

"But you said you were going home. I heard you," he sniffled.

"What I said to Mike? Oh Davy, I just meant I need to go back to New York to settle my business there. I don't think of New York as 'home' anymore."

"Where is your home then, Cody?" Davy asked, his voice breaking.

Jase listened intently. "Yes, where is home now, Cody?" he echoed quietly.

Cody looked up at this tall man who had been such a stranger, such a puzzle to figure out. This hurt broken man with a little boy who loved with all his heart. "My home is wherever you two are."

By the time Davy was settled, the lights were dimmed and Jase had taken his shower, Cody was sound asleep. Jase wanted to wake him and love him and tell him that nothing he ever said would make any difference but he let him sleep, his hair spread like a garden of black silk across the pillows, his eyes puffy from the tears and his mind dreaming sweet dreams to erase the pain.

No one would ever hurt Cody again. Part of Jase wanted to catch the first plane to New York and beat the shit out of this man........this guy who had hurt such an innocent soul. He knew it wouldn't change anything but he'd sure feel a hell of a lot better.

Cody was so full of love that even whatever this bad thing was, he could still love. Jase would make sure nothing happened to take love away from this beautiful boy ever again. He belonged here with him, with Davy. Together they could stand for whatever came their way.

Charity, Tommy .............. some psychotic was out there, killing girls with blue ribbons in their hair. What did that have to do with them? How did he know that it was all tied together? Why didn't he kill Charity when he met her? Why wait six years?

His mind full of questions, tumbling and rolling, banging together. Jase had so many daemons and now, it seemed, Cody had one of his own. Finally, unable to sleep, he covered Cody gently, checked on Davy, saddled Sazi and rode off toward Wild Horse Ravine.

The old house rattled and creaked, moaned in the wind off the desert. A lone coyote howled. A warning?

The next morning, Jase finally exhausted from a sleepless night, slept fitfully on their big bed as Cody got Davy all packed for the big trip. Davy kept glancing at Cody, touching him lightly.

Cody sat down in the kitchen chair, pulling Davy close. "Listen, Davy. I'm not going anywhere. I love your daddy. I love you. I'm not going away. I promise. K?"

"K," Davy sighed, "I just got scared when you looked so scared last night."

"I know and I'm sorry. I heard some bad news and it got to me. But I'm fine now. I want you to have the best time today and don't worry.....I'll be right here when you get home. As a matter of fact, how about I pick you up from school cause you're gonna be sooo tired."

"Okay!! I'd like that," Davy beamed. "Cody..........I love you."

"Me 2 U, Munchkin. Now, since we've got this truckload of food to transport, I guess we'd better get goin."

Davy slipped in, kissed his dad on the cheek and he and Cody shoved the cooler in the back of the pickmeup and drove off down the drive, turning left at the highway.

No one noticed, in all the scurrying to get ready, that the old ragged bunny that sat in the oak rocker in the corner of Davy's room now had a new necklace........a sliver of sky blue velvet ribbon tied in a bow.