The man’s arrogance seemed to be growing. “I don’t need to.”

Aaron reached his right arm through the window and grabbed the top of Lucas’s polo shirt. “Listen . . . you touch Mackenzie, you’re a dead man.”

“I won’t touch her unless you make me.” The man looked down at Aaron’s hand on his shirt. “Could you please let go of my shirt . . . I wouldn’t want to hurt such a beautiful girl. I have noticed of late that I’m becoming a bit unstable. Keep that in mind. And don’t involve the police.”

Aaron gripped the shirt a bit tighter. He saw Lucas grab something. A high-voltage current hit Aaron, bringing instant pain. Aaron jolted back, stunned, disoriented. He tried grabbing the roof of the car but couldn’t focus. His thought process was scrambled, like the enemy has blasted his radar system with noise. Dazed, he staggered back and fell to his knees. He tried to focus on the head in the car. He saw Lucas’s lips moving. A smirk?

Lucas held up the stun gun. “Does Mackenzie carry one of these?”

He reached out to grab the man, but his movement had not yet returned to normal. He tried to focus on the car as it drove off. The brake lights reminded him of Christmas.

Aaron staggered over to the bench at the entrance and sat down. His muscles seemed to be coming back to order. Those tiny neurological impulses travelling through his body had recovered from the shock and were back into their normal routine. He rubbed the back of his neck. His head was clearing.

He pictured Lucas’s grotesque smirk. In fact, when Aaron was under the spell of that stun gun, all of Lucas’s head looked gross. Maybe his real face changed. Aaron had heard stories of faces changing when evil was present. And now he knew the other night wasn’t an accident. It was intimidation. Mr Lucas Goatee was trying to scare Aaron, and it was obvious that drugs were clouding his thinking and judgment. His warning, although delivered in a confident manner, came out sounding panicked. Aaron was concerned about Lucas: his mind appeared unsound. And Aaron was more than concerned about Mackenzie.

He sat there alone in the car park, looking up to the heavens. There were only a few stars out. More would sparkle when the light faded. Are you there, God? He didn’t normally talk to God. He missed Dad. He missed the direction Dad gave him. Mackenzie told Aaron that God is the father of the fatherless. Oh, how at times he wished he could understand. He wanted so much to revenge his dad’s death, but doing so would now put Mackenzie’s life in danger. What would God do?

He walked towards the car. His muscles were still sore. What were they up to with the technology? What was the technology anyway?

There wasn’t much choice. He was off to Afghanistan in a few days. There was only one thing he could do for now, and that was let it be. At least Mackenzie would be safe, but he had to make sure that was the case. He had to get Lucas to understand who he was dealing with. No one was going to harm Mackenzie.

<°)))><

Lucas shook as the adrenaline wore off. He was surprised at how tough and convincing he was—it was like something took over. Now he was exhausted and just wanted to get home.

He heard a thump. He had no idea what it was. He heard it again. Thump, thump.

He kept looking in the rear-view mirror, but there were only a few cars out. He was sure that man would take a while to get back to normal again. Besides, he’d have no idea which way Lucas went after driving out of the business park. But being on a main arterial road was maybe not a good idea. He’d get off this road soon and find an alternative way to his flat at Morningside.

Thump, thump. Lucas wasn’t even sure of the type of car the man drove. He looked again in his rear-view mirror. Thump, thump. There was still only a few cars. One had been right up his tail, but had now had pulled out and came alongside Lucas’s car. Lucas’s heart pounded and he had goose bumps. He turned to look at the driver. It wasn’t the man he just incapacitated. The men stared at each other, then the driver pointed to the back of Lucas’s car.

Lucas pulled over. The other car continued on its journey, his deed done. Lucas got out and walked around the car. One of the rear tyres was flat. He banged the top of the car. He was tired . . . but he had to fix this.

He was glad it was the passenger side. His car shook from the draft of passing cars. One of the wheel nuts proved hard to get off, but he managed to get it loose. Thank goodness for his gym work. Some yobbos gave him cheek as they drove past. Lucas just ignored them. Besides, he didn’t understand a thing they said.

Tyre replaced, Lucas dropped into the driver’s seat. He was glad that was done. Lucas continued his journey homeward. Still just the occasional car behind him. He thought about his mum, about paranoia. He looked at the rear-view mirror again. There was a car behind him. He thought about paranoia again. Now he just wanted a joint.

He didn’t use the side streets, and he soon forgot about checking to see if he was being followed. When Lucas parked and locked his car, he didn’t notice a vehicle pull up and park not far from him. He didn’t notice a man in the car watching him when he appeared on the third floor landing. And he didn’t notice the car drive off after he entered his flat and closed the door.

<°)))><

Lucas gave notice to the security firm on Tuesday. A week’s notice was all that was required. He was being stretched; the minister was using more of Lucas’s time than he had. The minister suggested to Lucas that maybe he should quit his security officer job and just focus on the work the minister had in mind for him.

The receptionist at the office told Lucas that she would miss him. She also told him that someone had phoned asking about the type of shifts they worked, the hours of the shifts and the days. He said he was thinking of applying for a job. The receptionist had suggested the caller should drop in his resume, because one of their best had just resigned. The caller said he’d think about it.

It was the end of the Tuesday shift. Lucas parked his car, walked over to the entrance to the apartment block and started his climb to the third floor. He pressed the stairwell light button for the first level and started heading up the stairs. He did the same on the second level and continued his ascent. Lucas heard the stairwell door close on the third level. He pushed the light button but no light came on. It was amazing how dark that last flight of stairs was. He could just make out a shadowy figure coming towards him. He paused, smelled perfume, and then the light from a miniature torch revealed his presence. It was his neighbour, and she gave him some cheek about trying to scare her.

The third floor landing was as dark as the stairwell. He wondered when they were going to fix these lights. Maybe he needed to download a Flashlight app for his iPhone. A squeaky noise came from the shared laundry facility at the end of the landing. Probably a mouse. He had seen a few of them recently.

He placed the key in his door. Something cold touched his face. It was the barrel of a handgun.

“You’re dealing with a soldier, Lucas, not a boy scout. I’d have to say I didn’t enjoy my experience with you yesterday but I won’t return the favour. But let me tell you, you go near Mackenzie, and you’re dead.” 

<°)))><

Aaron didn’t like being sneaky, but he didn’t want to alarm Mum. After getting her comfortable out in the backyard he made an excuse to come back inside where she couldn’t see him. A vase sat on top of the fridge. Aaron grabbed it, turned it upside down, caught the key that fell out, then walked over to a solid timber cabinet in the family room and unlocked it. His dad’s shooting trophies sat above the cabinet. Aaron gave them a quick glance before he grabbed the handgun out of his backpack and placed it back in its case. He locked the cabinet.

“What are you up to, Aaron Fitzpatrick?”

It was Mackenzie. Aaron tensed as if he had been sprung stealing, but quickly got himself under control.

“Admiring my dad’s shooting trophies.” It was not a lie but a half-truth. “And what are you up to, sneaking into the house?”

“Spoke to your mum on the phone. She told me the door was open and come out the back, but then I saw this hunk of a man . . .”

Aaron smiled and looked at Mackenzie. Denim shorts should be banned. He walked over and gave Mackenzie a hug, wishing his tour of duty was not on. He wanted to protect Mackenzie. That Lucas character wasn’t to be trusted, particularly if he was to find out that Aaron was going to be out of the country for a while. He noticed Mackenzie staring at the trophies.

“Shooting, guns, war. Why are we involved, Aaron? Why are we involved in these conflicts overseas?”

Aaron smiled and looked at Mackenzie. “They tell us it’s not about destroying things, but to build, to develop the provinces and win over the locals. We train them and help them build bridges, hospitals, shopping centres—things we take for granted. And then we need to protect them. I feel I’m doing something worthwhile, Mackenzie. I’m contributing to a good cause. But the sad thing is, it’s taking these countries a long time to learn from their mistakes. We seem to have to keep going back to help them. ”

Mackenzie gave him a hug. “Just be careful. Always remember, many people will be praying for your safety over there. Not the wishy-washy standard ‘you are in our prayers stuff’. There will be committed people praying for you.” She looked up at Aaron and smiled. “We best go join your mum.”

He gave her a peck on the cheek.

They discussed Christmas coming up, the first one without Dad. Aaron wanted to take special leave to be with his mum. She disagreed—she felt that if the army needed to send troops over there at this time, then the need was urgent. He was told that he needed to go, and besides, Christmas was only one day and she was going to spend it at church and with her Christian friends. Mum won.

Mackenzie and his Mum dropped Aaron off at the airport later that day. He had a smooth, quiet flight back to Townsville.

Aaron flew out from Townsville on Sunday morning to start his tour in Afghanistan. It felt like he was leaving one war zone and entering another. He started thinking about where he was going and that he would not see Mum or Mackenzie for months. No.

Aaron started the process of blocking out the things of ‘back home’.

Chapter 13

WINDSOR WAS AT HOME in his office when he heard the car pull up. He walked over to the window, drew the curtain and saw the Police Commissioner getting out of his Lexus. Why would he be visiting? Windsor went to the front door to greet him.

“David, what brings you to this part of town?” He looked at the Commissioner’s face and then knew why. “He’s done it, hasn’t he? Timothy’s dead.”

A gasp caught Windsor’s attention. Windsor turned and walked over to his wife. He put his arms around her and turned to the Commissioner. “How did he do it?”

“Drug overdose.”

Windsor grimaced and bowed his head. “The demons finally got him . . . what do we need to do?”

“If you’re up to it, you can assist with visual identification, then we have to report it to the Coroner.”

“Why?” asked Windsor’s wife.