No News Is Good News

I gave Victoria a hug, and we parted ways.  It was a few days after her confession to me, and we had just left the police station.  We gave Detective Stratton everything that each of us had, and told him everything we knew. 

Luke's trial was scheduled for October, and they were going to be pressing charges on Nate, too.  Detective Stratton said he would be talking to the prosecutor the next day and putting out a warrant to search his apartment and seize his computer, and also for his arrest for accessory, premeditation, and possession charges.  Detective Stratton said they may add other charges, but this was the preliminary plan. 

I wait until Victoria rounded the corner and then I went back into the station.  I asked the front desk again to speak with Detective Stratton.  One of his fellow Detectives saw me sitting there and took me up to him. 

"Hey, Aleah, did you remember something else?"

I bashfully looked at my feet.  "No... I just wanted to check in..." I trailed off.

Detective Stratton sighed.  But his voice softened.  "Aleah, you already know that I couldn't tell you anything even if I knew."

"I know," I said sadly, staring at my hands.

"Hey," he put his finger under my chin to move my head up, making my eyes meet his.  "This is what you need to remember.  No news, really is good news."

~~~~~~~

I was curled up on my couch eating some Almond Butter balls.  It was a recipe I had discovered/altered when I was at home late one night and craving something sweet, and healthy-ish, that I could make with some random ingredients.  They hit the spot, perfectly.  I was catching up on So You Think You Can Dance, when my phone started ringing.  It was a number I didn't recognize with an out of state area code.

I frowned at my phone.  I normally don't answer numbers I don't recognize, however, I was hoping it was Aaron, calling from where ever he was.

"Hello?"

There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone.  Then a tentative female voice.  "Uh, hello.  Is Aleah available?"

"This is she."

"Hi, Aleah.  This is Quinn, Aaron's mom."

My eyes widened.  I definitely didn't know how she got my number.  I also had definitely never met her or spoken to her.  Aaron had told me a little bit about his family.  I knew they lived in Illinois, specifically a suburb of Chicago.  I knew he had 4 sisters and his parents are divorced.  He had said he was relatively close with his family, but didn't see them often because of the distance.  He had also told me he wanted me to meet them, but with my last semester being crazy, and then him being in Philadelphia, and then who knows where, it just hadn't happened.

I cleared my throat, completely aware of my awkward silence.  "Oh, um, hi!"  I really didn't know what to say, and knew I was making this even more uncomfortable with my inability to hold a conversation at the moment.

There was gentle laughter coming through.  "I'm so sorry to call you out of the blue like this.  Aaron had given me your number, before he went AWOL, in case of an emergency."

"Oh my..."

She must have heard the terror in my voice and cut me off.  "Oh, no no no.  I'm sorry.  There's not an emergency!  Aaron spoke very highly of you, and he also seemed very worried about you the last time I talked to him.  I wanted to check in... on his behalf.  But, also, I'd really like to meet the woman who my son is so enamored with."