The Cryonics facility manager parked his car in his reserved spot—not that he needed a reserved spot, as the car park never overflowed. He walked over to the police officers and introduced himself. An officer from the Department of Defence sat with them. They all headed to the facility’s main entrance.
The facility manager flashed his card over the security pad. A click resulted. He pushed the door open. They wandered around; they could not locate the case.
The Defence officer looked up and noticed a monitor in the room. “What’s the purpose of the monitor?”
“Maintenance and security,” the facility manager said.
“Are you able to bring up who has accessed the room recently?”
“Sure, wouldn’t expect to see much, maybe the occasional maintenance access visit.”
“That’s fine. Let’s have a look.”
The facility manager double-clicked an icon that resembled a large key with a small clock underneath it. He entered his user ID and password, then clicked on the appropriate menu. Entries were listed in date order, the most recent first.
“Looks like Grant Windsor paid a visit twenty minutes ago.” The Defence officer turned to the police officers. “He’s in custody, isn’t he?”
They nodded in agreement.
“Wonder who it was then?”
Part 5 - Crazy man
Chapter 30
September
THREE MONTHS. A NEW season sprang into life.
Aaron had put in many hours at work to make up for his time off. Now his boss told him he was working too hard, and to take a day off. So he did.
He rode his bike out to Mackenzie’s place and then caught the train into the city with her. He wanted to make sure she was coping okay now she’d returned to full-time work. He knew she would be but was just being over protective. She had changed her appearance a little but still got the occasional ‘hey isn’t that the girl that came back from the dead’ look from strangers.
“Maybe I should have moved interstate like Joshua,” Mackenzie said.
“Why’s that?” Aaron asked.
“I spoke to Joshua recently. He’s doing well and he keeps a low profile as not much Brisbane news filters down to Melbourne. Which would be nice as I still sense a lot of people look at me because of what happened.”
Aaron noticed that Mackenzie had her head tilted down slightly as she spoke to him.
Mackenzie continued. “His mum passed away recently and he and Mel have been busy sorting out things. They hoped to come visit around Christmas time. Mel was building up his collection of jokes.”
Aaron missed Mel in a funny sort of way.
She continued. “Their mum got things right before she died. He said that if Churchie was there he would have seen the angels come and take his mum’s spirit away to be with the Lord. Joshua said there was a nurse in attendance that told them that she had a happy feeling when Joshua’s mum passed away. She puts it down to the presence of angels and has experienced it before but not often. Joshua had coffee with the nurse and he told her about his experience. She cried and thanked Joshua for such a beautiful insight.”
Aaron wondered how often Mackenzie spoke to Joshua on the phone. “That all sounds good Kenz.”
Aaron stared out the window as the train pulled into Central Station. He knew Mackenzie was getting frustrated with him and the faith thing. After all they had been through, she couldn’t understand why he hadn’t asked Jesus into his life. Aaron wasn’t grasping what that meant.
They stopped at the entrance to Mackenzie’s work. Aaron placed his hands on Mackenzie’ shoulders so she was facing him. He looked her up and down. “You look beautiful, Kenz. Go get ’em.”
Mackenzie gave him a peck on the cheek. “I love you, Aaron.”
Aaron smiled and watched her walk off.
The Rev had taken Aaron under his wing, and Aaron had a spring in his step as he headed off to meet with him.
<°)))><
Aaron walked up the concrete steps. He remembered the first time he saw Churchie here, and his comment, ‘You deaf or something.’ The memory brought a smile to Aaron’s face. Funny thing was, he was a little deaf thanks to his Afghanistan experience.
“Aaron, my mate,” Churchie called. He sat on a concrete bench just outside the main entrance to the church. “You’ve come to set your ways right?”
“You’re cheeky, Churchie. Where’s the Rev?”
“Follow me.”
They walked into an area with a large kitchen bench. The Rev came over and gave Aaron a hug. He pointed to the couch. Aaron made myself comfortable and felt a bit nervous. He wondered why he felt that way. Churchie sat on a chair near the window.
The Rev came and sat. “How are you, Aaron?”
“Good, Rev, recovering, like all of us . . . I’ve just got to deal with my dad issue and the Mackenzie issue, and I’ll be as right as rain.”
“What’s the dad issue?”
“Justice . . . that Lucas fellow had something to do with my dad’s death. And he’s still out there somewhere.”
