"Howie, you're a hero."
"I didn't do anything. It was you people." He went over to my wife and kissed her tenderly. "You insisted." She began to cry. He shook my hand. "You made the call." To Quinn, he said, "you put me on the scene. I'm sorry I'm such a shit head sometimes." He turned to his cousin. "Martha, I couldn't fall asleep until you sat by my side and whispered. It was your notes that Ben conveyed to the tip line. I'm just a hammer; you guys are the builders."
We agreed to call it a night and reconnoiter in the morning. The thoughts of where we would go from here weighed heavily on everyone's mind. In spite of such worldly concerns I barely remember climbing beneath the covers sleep came so quickly. I woke to sunlight and my wife clinging to me with an intensity that hurt.
Howie looked terrible as he poured a cup of coffee. The rest of us remained in night attire but he was fully dressed. Quinn and Martha prepared breakfast. Betsy retrieved her computer and began powering it up.
"Nightmare," was his answer to my unasked question. "Bad guys were everywhere and children running away."
"There's one less bad guy, Howie," I said, "Thanks to you."
"There are far too many monsters left on the loose."
"The ball is in your court," I said. "You have this gift. There's a world of good you could perform."
"There's a wealth of important scientific work that could use your contributions," Quinn said as he served eggs. His comment earned a look from Martha suggesting the subject had been discussed in the confines of their bedroom.
"Let's just eat in peace and talk later," Martha said.
Once we were sated and gathered in the living room Betsy began work on her computer. The rest of us looked to Howie, all of us wondering what roads we'd travel forward.
"The children; they're the important ones. There must be many more like Timothy Burton." He added, "And Annie."
"Unfortunately, there are a lot more slugs like Otto what's-his-name as well," I said.
"And many more nightmares," Quinn asked. "Think about it."
"I have," he said. "I thought about it for the entire night. I don't think I closed my eyes."
"Are you saying you want to proceed like we did yesterday?" Martha asked.
My wife looked up from her lap top. "There are scads of missing children, out there, Howie. Most are teen agers and probably runaways, but I'm sure many are cases like Timothy and that girl from Cranston they mentioned. There are lots of unsolved cases, kidnappings for ransom too."