“Well, I’m glad it was helpful,” I smiled.
“Whoa,” she gasped, her eyes wide as they roved over the tray of food on the table. “Is this for us, too? You shouldn’t have!”
“It’s no problem,” I shrugged. “I’m sure you kids are tired and hungry after your hike.”
“Heck yeah, we are!” Mark exclaimed as he took a seat at the table and snatched one of the sandwiches off the tray.
“Mark, you’re so rude,” Juniper sighed dramatically before turning to me. “Thank you very much, sir. You’re probably the nicest person we’ve met so far.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Mark echoed between bites of his sandwich.
“Like I said,” I smiled warmly. “It’s no problem. I wouldn’t say I’m an especially nice person, though. Treating a couple of kids to a hot shower and some sandwiches isn’t exactly a saintly deed or anything. It’s just basic decency.”
“Yeah, well, there’s plenty of non-decent people out there,” Mark muttered. “Like that guy in Birch Lake who was going around hassling people for ‘illegal camping.’ Remember that, Juniper?”
“Yeah,” Juniper frowned. “He wasn’t even a park ranger or anything. Just some busybody going around trying to boss people around.”
“Some people aren’t happy unless they’re hurting someone else,” I sighed. “It’s sad, but there are just some people in this world who are just rotten.”
“Speaking of which,” Juniper suddenly perked up. “You said you were going to tell us a story about when you were a federal agent, right? Let’s hear it.”
Mark turned his attention to me as he finished off his first sandwich. He must have been hungrier than I’d thought if he polished it off in the few minutes that we’d been sitting here. I snickered and pushed the tray closer to him before speaking.
“Well, where should I begin,” I hummed. “I guess it all started when my agency received a call about a murder involving a child.”
1
Daniel Weaver woke up to the cheery tune of his alarm and the enticing scent of coffee. He sat up in bed and stretched languidly before reaching over to pluck his glasses from where they were sitting on the nightstand by his bed. He turned off the alarm before swinging his legs over the side of the bed to stand up. After taking a minute to stretch, he walked across the hall and into the bathroom for a quick shower. Normally, he’d take a little more time getting ready in the morning, but today he was too full of anxious energy to move slowly.
After stepping out of the shower, he moved to the mirror to brush his teeth. As he did, he drew a smiley face on the steam-fogged mirror. He’d woken up in a good mood. Once he had finished grooming himself for the day, he stepped back into the bedroom and began to gather his work clothes.
“Megan!” he called as he stuck his head out the bedroom door. “Have you seen my good work shirt?” She was supposed to do the laundry the previous night, so if anyone knew where it was, it would be her. Daniel had other work shirts, of course, but he wanted to look his absolute best today. He was up for a promotion at work, and his boss had scheduled a meeting with him the day before. Daniel knew that this meeting would be pivotal, so even though it was a little silly and superstitious, he wanted to wear his lucky shirt.
“I left it in the dryer,” Megan replied as she walked into the bedroom.
“Go and get it for me, will you?” Daniel asked as he moved to the closet to pick out a tie.
“I’m cooking breakfast now,” Megan responded slowly, enunciating each syllable. “I don’t want it to burn. Can you get it instead?”
Daniel turned toward her and leveled her an icy glare. Megan shuddered in fear before rushing off to the cellar where the washer and dryer were. Daniel felt a little guilty about scaring her, but she needed to learn not to defy him, especially after the last time. Still, he should try to make an effort to be kinder to her. Maybe he’d buy something for her on his way home today. If nothing else, it would keep her pacified for a little while.
Megan returned a few minutes later with the shirt, and Daniel resumed getting dressed. He made sure to check his appearance carefully in the mirror before heading downstairs. Maybe it was a little vain of him to worry so much about his appearance, but his father had always told him to dress for the job he wanted. If his boss was still uncertain about giving him the position, a nice shirt and tie could make all the difference in swaying his opinion.
The house was absolutely spotless as he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. It always was, ever since Megan had moved in. Daniel thought it was extremely relaxing being able to wake up in the morning and come home at night knowing that the house would always be clean and that a meal would always be ready for him. Maybe he had been a little too hard on her, but ultimately, it was important that she know her place here.
He sat at the small kitchen table, where he preferred to eat his breakfast. They had a large dining table that they used when they had their weekly dinner parties, but for everyday meals, he preferred sitting at the tiny two-person table. From here, he could smell the enticing aroma of whatever it was that Megan was cooking, and he could read by the light of the large picture window on the eastern wall of the kitchen.
Megan set a cup of coffee down on the table in front of him. He inhaled the warm steam coming off of the coffee appreciatively before taking a
