Shorts and Prompts - 9. Chapter 9 Prompts 764 and 765

The tears were still falling as he grasped the doorframe, watching the dark figure disappear in the rain. When he woke up that morning, Matthew could not have predicted that by day’s end his life would have imploded in such an unimaginable way. He held one hand tightly over his mouth, and the other over his stomach. It didn’t stay the heaving or stop the searing pain coursing through his body. He watched until he couldn’t see anything but shadows, then he opened his mouth to let the pain and wretchedness free in an agonizing, earsplitting wail. He slammed the door shut and kicked the umbrella stand to the floor in a fit of anger and disbelief. That started a frenzy of uncontrolled fury at everything in his path, until he collapsed, winded in a heap.

Sunlight poured over the sectional sofa, bathing everything in its path in white, blinding light. The glare of it forced Matthew to open his eyes, which he immediately closed again. The sudden brightness hurt, and the inside of his lids felt grainy. Giving himself a moment to get his bearings, he slowly rolled over and sat up. His eyes followed the streaks of sunlight across the floor to the overturned center table, and the lamp, which lay broken on its side.

A knock on the door startled him out of his trance and to his feet, and then a scream lobbed itself from his throat a second later when it rattled open. He heard footsteps coming toward him and then a familiar voice calling his name before arms wrapped around him.

“Hey, Matty, it’s me. It’s Lee. I’m sorry I scared you. It’s me, shhh.”

Matthew’s body sagged and he gave in to convulsing sobs as his friend rocked him.

After his sobs simmered to sniffs, Matthew let his friend lead him to the sofa and sit him down. He watched as Lee went into the kitchen, came back with a bottle of water, and handed it to him.

“Did Clint tell you?” Matthew asked.

“No. He called this morning and said you needed me, but didn’t say why. I knew it was serious because when I asked, he only said, ‘Finley, just get there.’ So, here I am.”

Matthew nodded. Clint, Lee’s husband, was also a police officer. He didn’t work in the department specializing in the investigation of missing and abducted children, but he would have known what was happening.

“Judging by the look of your kitchen and your living room, I’m guessing something serious went down. Did you and Ed break up? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Matthew swallowed, and then whispered hoarsely. “Worse.”

“Worse, what could be worse? Oh, oh god, did they find Auggie? Is he….”

Surprised he had any tears left, Matthew batted his hand across his cheek.

“They didn’t find Auggie. I still don’t know if he’s … if he’s alive or not.”

“So, what then?”

“Ed was arrested last night.” Matthew put a hand on Lee’s thigh to stop his interruption. “Let me get this out, okay. I still can’t wrap my mind around it, so I just need to get it out all at once.”

“Okay.”

“Ed was supposed to be working this case, so he hasn’t been home much. He must have known this was coming, because they arrested him at a bus station, of all places. His captain came to tell me personally last night, that the man I loved, with whom I was thinking of spending the rest of my life, was the same man responsible for the kidnapping of my little brother.”

Lee gasped, and reached for Matthew’s hand, gripping it tightly. Matthew snorted derisively. “I mean, Auggie has been gone, missing for three years. Ed has been there, beside me, giving me hope, begging me not to give up. Yet the whole time, he knew. He knew where my baby brother was. He knew what it cost me fighting to get custody after my mom OD’d. He knew what having him meant to me, and he pretended. He pretended every day for three years that his worry was the same as mine. He acted like he loved Auggie just the same as I did. He saw what the kidnapping did to me; how I blamed myself when I thought I was late picking Auggie up. But it was Ed playing us all along, and he let me suffer while he faked it.”

“Oh, no, Matty. Ed? But he’s… Ed?”

“I know.” Matthew shook off his friend’s hand, only to wrap his own arms across his body. “The worst thing is I let it happen. I let the man who turned out to be a monster into our lives. I gave Auggie to him. I, I….”

“Matty, no. This isn’t your fault. You could not have known about Ed. None of us could have. You did everything right for Auggie. You didn’t do this, you didn’t.”

“I tried so hard to make a life for Auggie. I wanted a home where he would feel safe and loved and protected. Instead, he’s gone; taken by someone who swore to protect him too. Ed won’t even talk. He won’t say where Auggie is, or who he gave him too. All I know is that Auggie fit the profile, same as the kids gone missing before him. Ed had a hand in that, Lee. Who would do that to kids? What does that say about me, and my judgment, and my choices. Auggie is God knows where because I wanted someone to love us, and be a family. You can’t tell me this isn’t my fault. Now, I have to go face all these people and tell them I knew nothing. I was just as in the dark about their colleague as they were.”

“They don’t seriously think you had anything to do with this, do they?”

“Procedure or something, I guess.” He sounded defeated when he continued. “Lee, he said he loved me, and I believed him. I let him touch me when he said I needed to forget for a while. I trusted him when he said he was taking care of me. I was grateful, even. I trusted him, and he betrayed me.

Matthew stood abruptly and ran out of the room. Moments later, Lee heard him emptying his stomach in the bathroom. He grabbed the discarded bottle of water and followed his friend.

“I’m so sorry this is happening to you, Matty. There was nothing wrong with you for wanting those things for you and Auggie. You fought for your brother as soon as you found out about him. You fought for him when no one else would. You made a family for you all, but you always put Auggie first. Auggie knows how much you love him. Ed did this, not you. Ed abused your trust and your love. Ed put Auggie in danger, not you.”

“I don’t know what to do, Lee. I can’t face those detectives. They’ll look at me thinking I’m like him. What if when we find Auggie he thinks the same thing?” Matthew looked up from the floor at his friend. “What am I going to do?”

“Well, first, you’re going to take a shower while I clean up out there. Then, you and I will drive to the station together. You will answer their questions, and we’ll ask some of our own, but you won’t be alone, Matty. I will stay as long as you need me. Clint will be there too, and neither of us will leave you alone. When we get Auggie back, he will know you couldn’t have had anything to do with this.”

Matthew let Lee help him up and waited until the door closed before stepping into the shower.

On the way back to his bedroom, Matthew stopped at Auggie’s room and pushed the door open. He walked over to the bed, picked up Auggie’s blue blanket and held it to his nose. He hadn’t been able to breathe in Auggie’s scent for a long time now, but he always tried. He let his eyes travel around the room, looking for proof; ways in which he hadn’t totally failed his brother. His glance caught on the statue sitting on the desk. It was the first award Auggie had won for Little League Baseball. Matthew had been so proud of him, and Auggie had been so happy. Ed took the team out for ice cream, to celebrate. They were happy – the three of them. How had he missed where it went wrong?

Before he could spiral into further anguish, Lee’s voice sounded in the hall.

“Hey, Matty, grab a raincoat too. Looks like it just started to pour.”

Matthew managed a half-smile as he arranged the blanket back on the bed. They lived in Seattle. It was always just starting to rain.

As they drove down Lake Union Loop, a foghorn from a passing boat sent a flock of seagulls on the pier into flight. It broke into the silence and brought Matthew back to the present.

“Thank you, Lee,” he said quietly. “It means a lot that you’re here.”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. We’ll get through this together, no matter what.”

Matthew nodded, and turned back to stare at the passing landscape. Somewhere he hoped Auggie was holding on, waiting for his big brother to come get him. He had to pull it together now and fall apart later. He had to fight again, for Auggie.

Thank you to @AC Benus who always smooths out my rough edges.  
Thank you for reading.