Chapter 4
Tennyson
Tennyson woke up feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed for the first time since his arrest. He wasn’t sure if his mood had to do with Carson apologizing for being a dick lately, going two rounds with Ronan the night before, or the fact that he felt as if he was in the middle of an important investigation.
If his hunch was right, he would be able to help right a fifty-four year old wrong.
The smell of bacon had greeted Ten when he got out of the shower. He knew Ronan was on breakfast duty for the kids. Everly was coming with them to the cemetery and Ezra was getting dropped off with Jude and Cope who would get him and Lizzie to preschool.
“Good morning, everyone!”
“You’re just in time, babe.” Ronan set a plate of fluffy scrambled eggs and crisp bacon at his seat. Everly and Ezra were happily eating their breakfast.
“ROAR!” Ezra shouted, before jamming a slice of bacon into his mouth.
“We’re gonna need to do something about our little Tyrannosaurus wreck,” Ten said. “Ezzie can’t keep roaring like that through every meal.”
Ezra reached for his spoon and scooped up a mouthful of eggs. “ROAR!”
“Damn,” Ronan said, looking guilty. “I meant to tell you I got a call yesterday from Mrs. Jamison, Ezzie’s teacher. She said that thanks to Ezra, all of the kids in his class are now roaring through lunch and snack time.”
“What does she want us to do?” Ten imagined it had been hilarious the first time all fifteen kids in Ezra’s class roared in unison, but as Ten had quickly learned, the roaring got old fast.
“Find some way to stop it, I guess.” Ronan shrugged. “Hey, Ezzie, do you want to go to get a new truck after school today?”
“Me fuck!” Ezra announced. “Me love fucks!”
Ten snorted. “I have a feeling Mrs. Jamison will soon be yearning for the days when her biggest problem was a class full of roaring kids.”
“Here’s the deal, buddy,” Ronan said, sounding as if he was about to crack up, “we’ll go get you a new truck after school if Mrs. Jamison says you stopped roaring. Got it?”
“Two fucks, Dada!” Ezra held up two greasy fingers. “Then me no roar. Got it?”
Ronan barked a laugh, quickly covering it with a cough. “You drive a hard bargain, little man. You’ve got a deal. No roaring equals two trucks.”
“Deal! Two hard fucks!” Ezra said, happily, before quietly digging back into his breakfast.
“We’re gonna have to apologize to Mrs. Jamison in advance.” Ten snickered, as the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Ronan bounced out of his seat and went to the front door.
“It’s Uncle Jude,” Everly said, grabbing her empty plate and putting it in the sink. “If Ezzie gets two trucks, can I get two books?”
“Definitely,” Ten agreed. As far as he was concerned Everly could never have too many books.
“Hey, big guy. You ready for another happy day at school?” Jude asked Ezra.
“Me two fucks!” Ezra announced proudly.
“Oookay!” Jude scooped the boy out of his high chair and brought him to the sink to wash his hands.
“That’s trucks,” Ronan said. “If Ezzie doesn’t roar in class, I said I would buy him two trucks.”
“Maybe next time think of a reward that won’t get him sent to the principal’s office for inappropriate language, again!” Jude rolled his eyes.
“The last time wasn’t my fault. I never taught him those Nine Inch Nails’ lyrics. I have no clue where he heard that song.” The guilty look on Ronan’s face told Ten that his husband had indeed been the culprit.
“Okay, we’ve got to get to the cemetery. Everly, put on your shoes and grab your backpack.”
“I’m coming too,” Jude said. “I want to be there for Everly, just in case something goes wrong.”
“Thanks, man. I really appreciate that.” Ronan slapped a hand on Jude’s shoulder.
Ten was glad Jude was coming along too. He could cry thinking about visiting a part of the cemetery that was filled with dead children.
There was no telling how Everly would react if the place was swarming with kid ghosts.
Most likely, she’d jump in like a triage nurse and help every child she could.
Ten minutes later, they were on the road to Angel of Mercy Cemetery. Everly had gone around the neighborhood picking all the dandelions she could find. Ten knew it was her plan to leave them on the graves.
Ronan crossed himself as he drove into the cemetery. Ten had told Ronan where the unconsecrated graves from the St. Agnes House were located the night before. It didn’t take him long to navigate to the lonely spot. A dilapidated sign read, “St. Agnes House 1955-1975.”
Everly gasped when she got a look at the small area loaded with row after row of small, stone markers. “These are all graves for babies?”
“They are, honey,” Ten said, reaching out for his daughter’s hand. “We can leave anytime you want. If you’re scared or if this is too hard.”
“I’m okay, Dad.” Everly unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.
Ten followed behind her. He stopped at the first row of stone markers. They were made from unpolished granite with only a plot number carved into each stone. The last piece of granite was number 57. Fifty-seven dead babies. It was more than his heart could bear.
“According to what I read last night, the St. Agnes House closed in 1975 thanks to Roe v. Wade,” Jude said.
“Makes sense,” Ronan agreed. “A lot of girls who would have been forced to live at a home for unwed mothers to deliver their babies would have opted for a safe, legal…” Ronan trailed off.
Ten was thankful Ronan hadn’t said the word “abortion.” It was hard enough explaining homes for unwed mothers the night before, the last thing he wanted was to explain this particular medical procedure to Everly.
“Fifty-seven babies died during the twenty years that St. Agnes House was in operation?” Ronan asked. “What’s that, three babies per year?”
“Give or take,” Jude muttered.
“I found Amanda’s grave, Daddy!” Everly called out.
As Ten approached her, he saw Everly sink to her knees and leave a flower by the stone.
She reached out for the stone marker. He could see she was tracing the numbers with a finger.
After a moment or two, Everly frowned and got up.
She went to the next marker down the line and repeated her movements, leaving a flower, kneeling, tracing, frowning, and getting back up.
Eventually, she touched every marker in that part of the cemetery.
“What’s Everly doing?” Ronan whispered.
“I’m not sure,” Ten said. He reached out to read his daughter, but he wasn’t getting any information about why Everly was acting this way.
Several minutes later, she ran back to Ten and Ronan. “Amanda’s grave is empty, just like we thought it would be.”
Relief flooded through Ten’s body. At the very least he would be able to give this information to Natalie. “I’m so proud of you, honey.”
“We’ve got a bigger problem than Amanda’s grave being empty,” Everly said, her eyes soft and unfocused.
“What’s that, little miss?” Ronan asked.
“All of the graves are empty, Daddy.” Everly smiled up at her father. “I checked each of them. There’s just empty boxes in the ground.”
“You’re absolutely sure?” Ronan asked.
Everly nodded.
“We’ve got to call Fitz and Cisco. This is one hell of a cold case. Fifty-seven empty infant graves. What the hell happened here?” Jude asked. “More importantly, where are all these babies?”
“All good questions.” Ronan reached for his phone. “You think Cisco’s gonna let us investigate this?”
“I think he will if we promise to keep a lid on what we’re doing. If the priests at St. Agnes find out what we’re doing, there could be trouble.”
“That’s nothing compared to the trouble that would break out when mothers like Natalie find out their children aren’t resting peacefully in this cemetery,” Ten said.
“What do you think happened?” Ronan asked Ten. “Two or three babies a year died in that house and were allegedly buried here, but there are no bodies. Where did the infants go?”
“I don’t know, Ronan.” Ten’s head was spinning. “Before we get Cisco involved, we need to figure out a plausible reason for us knowing these graves are empty.”
“Christ, I never thought of that.” Ronan shoved his phone back into his pocket.
“That’s easy, Daddy. Uncle Cisco will believe me. He knows my gift is real. You and Dad have to tell Natalie that Amanda’s grave is empty and she can ask to have it assumed.”
“You mean exhumed?” Ronan asked on a snicker.
Everly nodded. “You and Dad had a case like that last year, remember?”
Ten absolutely remembered. He had no idea Everly knew about the Masterson case or that there was a word to describe a grave that was dug up in order to remove the body. This was one of those days where it felt like Everly was seven going on forty.
“I’ll call Fitz,” Ronan said and headed toward the car.
“I’m so proud of you, honey. You did an amazing job.” Ten hugged his daughter.
“Thank you for letting me come this morning. I know you think I’m too young to be involved in cases like this, but I’m not. I want to help people not be sad anymore.”
“I know you do. I do too.” Ten wanted nothing more in his life than to use his gifts for the betterment of people’s lives. It should come as no surprise that his daughter would want to do the same thing.
“That’s why we’re such a great team.” Everly wrapped her arms around Ten and hugged him tightly.
Tennyson couldn’t agree more. Whatever steps that followed Everly’s discovery were going to have to be carefully navigated.
He knew Ronan’s team would do everything in their power to give answers to the mothers whose children were not lying at peace at Angel of Mercy Cemetery.
He hoped this discovery would heal more than it would hurt people.