"I just want to be home dad.  Why do you want to leave me?"  Teegan had turned it around on him.  Jasper wasn't leaving Teegan, he wanted to leave Martha.  Teegan was a smart kid and he knew how to talk to adults. 

"I don't want to leave you Teegan, that's why I am asking you to come with me."  Jasper tried to sound calm, but Martha could tell that he was trying to force Teegan to leave her too.

"I want to stay home with mom.  She needs someone to stay with her, especially if she is going to have a baby.  She needs someone to protect her."

Jasper looked at Martha, his fury seemed to double.  "You told him about the baby?"

"Let me explain,"  Martha was scared.

"Please do because your lack of communication lately has been starting to piss me off."  Jasper was fed up.  He walked out of Teegan's room.  Martha heard him go into their room, open the closet and start fiddling around with something.  Martha knew he was packing.  She wanted to go in and try to fix it, but she knew that talking to him in the middle of his tantrum would just make things worse.  All she could do was look at Teegan and cry.  They were now crying together.  Teegan got up and sat in Martha's lap and gave her a hug.

"Is dad going to come back?"  Teegan knew that Jasper was packing as well.  It surprised Martha how much this kid could sense something without even knowing it was 100% true. 

"He will come back.  Sometimes adults just need time by themselves to get everything in order.  He will be fine, just give him some time.  Mom is here for you.  I will never leave you Teegan."  Martha hoped that it was true.  She hoped he would come back.  She hoped he would come back the old Jasper that she knew and loved. 

Jasper left, the only thing Martha could do now was wait.  Time heals all wounds. 

Teegan slept in Martha's bed that night.  There was no one else home, and they both needed each other.  Neither one of them slept very well, but they were silent the whole night.  Tossing and turning, Martha kept wondering what was going to happen to them next.  She was still waiting on a police report for Richard's murder.  She still didn't know who Officer Marc's truck got sold to.  There was an autopsy in progress for Brick's death, and she still didn't have her phone back after it got taken away for evidence.  Martha had no contact with the outside world anymore. 

Martha woke up groggy.  She was going to make coffee, but she remembered that caffeine isn't good when you are pregnant, so she opted for some orange juice instead.  She drank it slow so she wouldn't get sick.  It seemed the stress that was going on was mainly the cause for her nauseousness, but she wanted to be careful.  She let Teegan sleep in, she felt him tossing and turning last night just like her.  Martha's head hurt and she felt like crying again. The house seemed so empty, so depressing. 

As a mom, she knew she couldn't give up, but at this point she really wanted to.  It was all her fault.  If she would have left Richard alone, he would probably still be alive.  Carter and Brick would still be here, and Jasper would be home.  They would all be sitting around the table having breakfast by now, laughing and eating before rushing out the door for school.  Teegan has been missing so much school, but Martha couldn't bare to have him go.  She would be worried about his safety, and she knew he wouldn't be able to focus on his studies anyways.  He can go back when he is ready.  Summer school is always as option too, Martha wouldn't mind bringing him back and forth. 

"Mom, how are you doing this morning?  I could tell you couldn't sleep last night."  Teegan came down the stairs and Martha realized that she was crying.  "It's OK mom.  I am here for you.  I won't leave your side."

"What did I ever do to deserve a son like you?  I made the biggest mistake and it created a lot of damage.  Why are you being so nice to me Teegan?  Why didn't you go with your dad?"  Martha blamed herself for everything.  She even blamed herself for Jasper leaving.  She didn't blame him one bit. 

"I know you made a mistake, but it can be forgiven.  You have a good heart mom and I trust you.  You raised me to be a good kid and I appreciate everything you do for me."  Teegan gave Martha the first smile she's seen from him in two weeks.  She smiled back and gave him a big hug, crying into his neck. 

At that moment, the doorbell rang.  Martha waited for Brick to come barking, but then realized that he would never be able to do that again.  Martha wiped away her tears and headed to the door.  Officer Marc had paid Martha an early visit.

"I am sorry to bother you at such an early hour, but I knew that you wouldn't be able to answer your phone since it is at the station, and Mr. Critch wouldn't answer his.  Can I come in?  I have some information I need to discuss with you."  Marc looked serious.  Martha let him in and offered to make coffee.  Marc accepted and went to sit at the dining table.  Martha started the coffee while Marc continued, Teegan sitting next to him with a glass of orange juice held in his hand.

"Did you find out who the truck belonged to?"  Martha started the conversation.  She wanted to know what was going on. 

"Actually, I heard about your dog and I am here to discuss the autopsy report with you, I don't think his death was a mistake, Mrs. Critch."

Martha looked at Teegan,  "Teegan, are you sure you want to be here to hear this?"

Teegan nodded.  "I will hear about it eventually.  I want to know what happened to Brick."

Officer Marc cleared his throat and took a sip of the coffee that Martha had set in front of him.  "We believe, that Brick has been poisoned, like your son Carter.  We've been doing some investigating on Carter's death and we understand that everyone in town knew about his fatal gluten intolerance.  The officers down at the station also believe that Carter's death was not a mistake either."

"Are you trying to tell me that someone has murdered Carter and Brick on purpose?"  Martha couldn't believe what she was hearing.  Yes, Marc was right, everyone knew about Carter's gluten allergy, so it would make sense.  Why would someone intentionally give him gluten.  He was at school the day that it happened.  Everyone in school knew about it.  Wouldn't someone have seen the danger and stop it?  "I don't get it.  Why would this happen?  Do you have any suspects?"

"Since Carter was at school at the time, we've got officers down at the school now interviewing everyone, especially the teachers.  If any students come forward, we will interview them too.  Now, what is really interesting to me is what we found out about Brick."  Marc took another sip of his coffee.  "We found rat poisoning in his system as well as razor blades.  Now whenever a dog eats rat poisoning, you know that you are suppose to make him drink hydrogen peroxide to make him throw it up.  In the rare cases where they accidently ingest it and it stays in their system, it normally takes about a week for it to take effect."

"We don't have rat poisoning in our house.  I wouldn't know where he would find it.  I watch him while he is outside, I just don't understand..."  Martha stopped.  She thought of the day when her and and the boys came home to Brick locked in the bathroom, he was foaming at the mouth when she found him.  Foaming at the mouth like he had just eaten something.  Someone had broken into her apartment and intentionally gave Brick rat poisoning, knowing that it would eventually kill him.  The timing would make sense.  As for the razor blades, that was a new mystery.

Marc continued.  "Now has for Richard, the only thing that connects Richard to the rest of the happenings is the flour that was spread around his house.  It is an odd 'murder weapon' I would say, but we believe that whoever killed Richard has also killed Carter.  Where is  your husband?"

"My husband,"  Martha began.  Does officer Marc really need to know about their fight?  "My husband, went out of town, to see family."

"We need to bring him in for more questioning.  We found evidence from his place of employment and we've already interviewed everyone else that he works with."

"Jasper had nothing to do with these crimes.  Why would he kill his own son?  Or the family dog?"  Martha got upset at Marc.  It was bad enough that she accused him, now the officials were thinking the same thing.  She had to protect him. 

Marc reached for his pocket and pulled out Martha's phone.  "We've got all of the evidence from your phone copied to another device down at the station.  We've factory reset this one and you can have it back.  I suggest you call your husband and tell him that we are looking for him."

"You never told me who the truck got sold to."  Martha changed the subject. 

"That's another strange thing.  It got sold to a Robert Flicket about five years back, but Mr. Flicket disappeared about three years ago.  We are investigating this as well.  Going to talk to family members, ex coworkers, things like that.  Now if you will excuse me Mrs. Critch.  I have another case I need to interview for.  Please let me know if anything else pops up.  And please get a hold of your husband.  He won't answer my calls."

"Thank you Marc."  Martha didn't mean it, but she was always taught to be polite no matter what. 

Marc left and Martha was relieved.  She never liked law enforcement.  She knew he was trying to help, but she also knew that Marc didn't need to question Jasper.  She knew in the back of her mind that he would never do something like that. 

"Teegan, let's go clean your room.  I will help you put your clothes back."  Martha had realized that they had left Teegan's clothes laying all over the floor yesterday and didn't care to put them back after Jasper left them.  Being productive would keep their minds off of the negativity in their lives.

"OK mom.  Can we go out for pizza later?" 

"Of course."  Martha was glad Teegan was getting an appetite back. 

They head up to Teegan's room.  Walking inside, it looked like a tornado had run through it.  Martha didn't think it looked this bad yesterday, but her mind hasn't been working right anyways.  She started picking up clothes and folding them to fit in Teegan's dresser.

"Mom, does Anne have a brother?"  They've been cleaning in silence that Martha got startled by Teegan's question.

"Anne's brother disappeared few years back.  She doesn't like to talk about him.  They were very close and she misses him dearly.  His name was Robert."  Suddenly it clicked.  Robert Flicket, Anne Flicket.  The white truck belonged to Anne's brother.  Should she call Marc?

She continued cleaning while she thought about it.  Is Anne behind all of this? She started picking up trash that Teegan has left in his room.  She didn't punish him, she knew when people were depressed they never cleaned up after themselves.  She found the left over protein bars that Anne had made for Teegan.  She was about to throw away the entire container when she spotted something shiny in them.  She poked her finger in them and ended up getting cut.  Martha had found the razor blades that were in Brick's system.

Anne was planning to kill Teegan.