The Perfect Son

by Freida McFadden

  Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that. That sounds super guilty. And we don’t know for sure Liam did anything. After all, he’s a sixteen-year-old kid.

  “No, that shouldn’t be necessary,” Rivera says. She seems to be the spokesperson. “We just have a few quick questions.”

  “What’s this about?” Jason speaks up, his brow furrowed.

  “We’re just trying to get some information about the girl who disappeared this morning,” Rivera says. “We’re speaking with some of her classmates who might be able to help us. We just want to find Olivia.”

  “Well, Liam says he doesn’t know her.” Jason folds his arms across his chest. “So I think you might be wasting your time here.”

  Detective Murphy flashes Jason a disarming smile. “Then this will be real quick. We just want to make sure. A girl’s life is at stake, Mr. Cass. We need to do everything we can to find her.”

  “I’ll go get him,” I say. I hurry out to the dining room, where Liam and Hannah haven’t moved, but Hannah is straining to see what’s going on. I put my hand on Liam’s shoulder, and he flinches at my touch. “There are a couple of officers out there who want to ask you some questions.”

  Hannah’s eyes widen. “Shouldn’t he have a lawyer? Aren’t you supposed have a lawyer present if you’re being questioned by the police?”

  It disturbs me how quickly Hannah—Liam’s sole confidante—came to that conclusion. I shake my head. “They say they have a few quick questions. Just tell them the truth, Liam.”

  “All right.” Liam gets to his feet. “I’ll talk to them.”

  Hannah’s eyes widen but she doesn’t say a word.

  When I return to the living room, the two officers are sitting on our loveseat, while Jason is on the couch. He’s talking to the officers, but he doesn’t look nervous or anything. He doesn’t look like he’s going to throw up any second, which is the way I feel. He truly believes Liam has nothing to hide.

  Liam sits down beside Jason on the couch, sitting up straight as he always does. He doesn’t look nervous either. He doesn’t fiddle with the hem of his shirt or the hole in his jeans—his hands are completely steady and he flashes the officers a brief, disarming smile. It almost makes me wonder if I’m worried over nothing. If Liam could look that calm around two cops, he must have nothing to hide.

  “Liam?” Detective Rivera says.

  Liam nods. “Yes.”

  “Would you mind answering a few questions for us about Olivia Mercer?” she asks.

  “I already talked to a police officer at school,” he says. “I told him everything I know.”

  “Yes, but we have a few more questions. Just routine stuff.”

  “Of course.” Liam looks her straight in the eyes. “I’ll do anything to help find Olivia. Please go ahead.”

  Rivera crosses her legs as she leans forward slightly. “Do you know Olivia Mercer?”

  “Yes. She goes to my school.”

  “And are you friendly with her?”

  He doesn’t hesitate. “She’s in my math class. I’ve spoken to her before.”

  His answers sound rehearsed. As if he knew what they were going to be asking him and had mentally prepared for it the same way he prepares for his debates. I wonder if they notice.

  “Is Olivia your girlfriend?”

  “No.”

  Rivera raises an eyebrow. “No?”

  “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

  Rivera lets out a laugh. “A good looking boy like you? That’s hard to believe.”

  “He’s only sixteen, Detective,” I say.

  “When I was sixteen, I had two girlfriends!” Murphy says. His ruddy cheeks grow pinker.

  Liam doesn’t react to any of this. He flashes a brief smile, but says nothing.

  The smile vanishes from Rivera’s face again. Her eyes are so sharp, it scares me. I want to tell Liam to be careful, that she isn’t going to be taken in by his charm. “So Liam, when was the last time you saw Olivia?”

  “Some of the people from track team were hanging out at Charlie’s. She was there too.”

  “Was it a date?”

  “No.”

  “I see.” Rivera nods. “And that’s the last time you saw Olivia?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you have any idea at all where she could be right now?”

  “No,” he says without hesitation. “I’m really sorry. I wish I did.” And then, in an incredibly sincere voice, “I’m worried about her. I really hope she’s okay.”

  “We do too,” Rivera says.

  And then it looks like they’re about to get up. And maybe this is over. Maybe they have absolutely nothing on Liam, and he was telling the truth when he said he barely knew Olivia. Maybe they’re just going around and questioning everyone in the school. Maybe this is nothing but routine.

  But then just as she’s about to get up, Rivera sits back down again like she thought of something she had forgotten. “One more thing, Liam,” she says.

  He raises his eyebrows. “Yes?”

  “One of Olivia Mercer’s neighbors saw her in her backyard at around two in the morning, talking to a teenage boy.”

  My stomach sinks. This isn’t over after all.

  “Do you know who that boy was, Liam?” Rivera asks.

  He doesn’t answer, but his body stiffens almost imperceptibly.

  Rivera smiles grimly. “After some of your friends told us you had brought Olivia to that diner yesterday, we showed the neighbor a few of your school photographs. And guess what? She was able to correctly identify you. She also was able to identify the Toyota that is now out in your driveway.”

  Liam’s eyes widen for an instant, but he quickly regains his composure.

  Rivera leans in and looks him straight in the eyes. “Would you like to revise your answer to the question I asked you about when the last time you saw Olivia Mercer was?”

  Liam opens his mouth like he’s about to answer, but before he does, Jason jumps up from the sofa. “No! No more questions. Not without a lawyer.”

  “We’re just trying to find the whereabouts of a sixteen-year-old girl, Mr. Cass,” Rivera says flatly. She looks at Liam. “Liam, if you can tell us where she is—”

  “Liam, don’t answer them.” Jason glares at Rivera, a vein standing out in his neck. “This is a sixteen-year-old boy. He’s a great student and a great kid. He did not do this.”

  “With all due respect, Mr. Cass—”

  “No, you listen to me.” Jason points a finger at them. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him this upset. Even during the times I was most freaked out about Liam, he always seemed so calm. If I wasn’t so panicked myself, I would think it was a little bit sexy the way he’s protecting Liam. “My son has told you everything he knows. If you want to speak to him again, it will be with our attorney present.”

  Rivera rises from the love seat and Murphy follows. “As you wish, Mr. Cass.”

  It isn’t until the officers are gone that I feel like I can breathe normally again. Of course, this whole thing was a disaster. It is now confirmed. Liam was visiting Olivia Mercer last night. He was probably the last person to see her alive. And he lied about it to the police.

  “What the hell, Liam?” Jason snaps at him.

  Liam had been maintaining excellent eye contact while the officers were here, but he finally drops his eyes. The mask of affability he usually wears is gone, and he looks absolutely miserable. I almost feel sorry for him.

  “Liam,” I say quietly as I sit down beside my son. “Do you know where Olivia is?”

  He shakes his head. Lying again. I wish Jason hadn’t stopped the officers from questioning him. I wish they had done their police thing and wormed the answer out of him.

  “But you were at her house last night…?” Jason prompts him.

  Liam’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “Yes. I was there. Okay?”

  “You took my car?” I ask.

  “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  Jason
runs a hand through his graying hair. I think he got ten new gray strands during the last twenty minutes. Of course, if not for my hairdresser, I’d be all gray now, thanks to my son. “What were you doing there?” he asks.

  “I just…” Liam squirms on the sofa. “I like her, okay? I wanted to see her. And she came down and… you know…”

  Jason frowns at him. “No. I don’t know.”

  Liam’s ears turn pink. “We made out a little. That’s all.”

  “And then?”

  “And then Mom called. So I came home. And that’s it.”

  Jason narrows his eyes at Liam, but I can tell he believes the story. He was genuine in what he told the police officers. He does not believe his teenage son could possibly be responsible for the disappearance of a young girl. He knows Liam is capable of lying, but he doesn’t know what else our son is capable of. Only I know the truth.

  “Go to your room,” Jason says to Liam.

  Liam doesn’t need to be told twice. He jumps off the sofa and scrambles up the stairs. I wish we could keep questioning him, but it won’t make a difference. Whatever else he knows, he’s told us all he’s going to.

  Jason drops his head back against the sofa and lets out a long sigh. “We have to get him a lawyer, Erika. This doesn’t look good for him.”

  “Yes…” I chew on my lip. “It’s kind of a big coincidence though, don’t you think?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, he just happened to be around this girl’s house on the night she disappeared? Do you really believe that?”

  He frowns. “What are you saying?”

  “You know what I’m saying.”

  He raises his eyebrows. “What? You’re saying you think our son murdered this girl? Really, Erika?”

  “Maybe not murdered…”

  I wish I had a wife, so I could keep her deep in a hole. I can still hear Miss Williams’s words in my ear. Liam said a lot of disturbing things, but that one was way up there. That was one of the ones I won’t forget. Or his answer when I asked about him about it later that night:

  I’d just like to see what would happen to her, Mommy. If I put her in a hole and didn’t feed her, what would happen? And if she were my wife, I could do what I wanted and no one would even look for her.

  That was the day I made our first appointment with Dr. Hebert.

  “You know the kind of comments Liam has made in the past,” I remind Jason.

  He shakes his head. “You’ve always made too much of that. He’s precocious. It’s just words.”

  “It’s not just words.”

  Jason blinks at me. “I can’t… I can’t have this conversation with you, Erika. This is our child we’re talking about. He didn’t do it. And I’m not going to let them pin it on him.”

  “Fine,” I say. “Get him a lawyer.”

  Jason spends the rest of the night looking up criminal attorneys. He’s convinced that a good lawyer can make this problem go away. But I know he’s wrong. The only one who can make this go away is Liam.

  Chapter 28

  Olivia

  I don’t know how long I stay crouched in a little ball on the ground, sobbing my eyes out.

  When I’m done, my eyes are raw and my face feels puffy. There’s dried snot on my cheeks and hands. But that’s the least of my problems.

  I can’t sit here feeling sorry for myself. If I don’t want to die here, I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to figure out a way to escape. Or at least, figure out a way to survive until I’m rescued.

  I’ve got to be smart. It’s the only way.

  I feel along the ground, hoping to locate something that might give me a clue as to where I am or how to get free. I have to crawl, because my ankle hurts far too much to put any weight on it. It’s definitely got to be broken. Even when I’m not putting weight on it, it’s throbbing like crazy.

  I discover another wall across from me. I would guess this hole is about four feet by four feet. Maybe six or seven feet deep. Not very big. I wonder if he dug it himself. It would’ve taken him a long time if he did. I remember reading that book Holes when I was in ninth grade. It was about some kid who had to dig holes as part of a punishment. It was pretty good, as I remember. I think they made it into a movie.

  In the third corner I check, my heart leaps when my fingers close around a tiny thermos. I pick it up, and it makes a noise when I shake it. There’s liquid inside! I fumble with the cover, desperately trying to open it, even though I can’t see a thing. If I spill this thermos, I’m toast. It’s not much water, but I want it more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. Even more than I wanted Liam to kiss me when we were at the diner.

  I hear a pop, and my fingers make contact with a straw sticking out of the container. I put my lips on the straw and take a sip. Oh my God, it’s heavenly. Even though it has a slight metallic aftertaste, it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. The water is cold in my mouth and my parched throat and my empty stomach. I want to guzzle the whole thing, but at the same time, I’m not sure when I’ll get more. I should save it. Ration it. That’s what a survivor would do.

  I reluctantly close the top and gingerly put it back in the corner, now half empty. I’m not going to drink more until I feel really desperate. I need to know what the situation is. Will he come back? Will he give me more water? Food?

  With the water tucked away, I explore the final corner of the hole. This corner isn’t empty either. I feel something there, something long and smooth. My fingers close around it. I squint as hard as I can, desperate to see something. Anything. But it’s too dark.

  I keep feeling around, and I realize there are more objects in this corner. They have a similar feel and consistency. Sharp or round edges. Mostly long and thin.

  Then I come across something that feels a little different. It’s round, roughly the size of a melon. But it’s not a sphere. As my fingers round the curve, I feel two large holes. My chest tightens as I realize what I’m touching.

  It’s a skull.

  I can’t stop screaming, even though nobody can hear me.

  Chapter 29

  Transcript of police interview with Dr. Alice Hebert:

  “Thank you so much for speaking with us today, Dr. Hebert.”

  “I thought it was my obligation to do so.”

  “Can you state for the record your profession?”

  “I am a child psychologist. I’ve been in private practice for the past twenty-three years.”

  “So I guess you’ve seen it all then?”

  “Just about, yes.”

  “And what made you come forward?”

  “When I found out a young girl’s life was in danger, I felt it was my moral obligation to say something. To save her life. Even if it meant breaking patient confidentiality.”

  “That’s the reason we were so eager to speak with you today. We don’t know how much time Olivia has left. We’re desperate to find her.”

  “I understand. I’ll do what I can.”

  “Based on the fact that you’re willing to speak with us about confidential issues, I assume you believe Liam Cass is responsible…?”

  “Obviously, I can’t say for sure. It’s been many years since I treated Liam. But… yes, I believe he’s capable of this.”

  “When did you start treating Liam?”

  “When he was seven years old. His mother brought him to me because of several disturbing statements he made in class and at home.”

  “What kind of statements?”

  “More than once, he mentioned the idea of wanting to trap a girl and watch her starve to death. He actually did play this out once when he was in kindergarten. He duct-taped a girl in a closet.

  “I spoke to the principal at the school, and she told me about that incident in the closet.”

  “It was very disturbing, obviously, and his mother was quite upset over everything.”

  “What about the father?”

  “I only met him once. He had a very
busy job in the city, and he seemed to think we were making a big deal out of nothing. He didn’t get it. But the mother was almost hysterical. We had a session without Liam, and she ran down a list of things he had done that had scared her.”

  “Such as?”

  “Liam was, in many ways, mature for his age. He was very responsible. For that reason, Mrs. Cass was persuaded by him to purchase a pet hamster. Unfortunately, the first hamster allegedly escaped and she had to buy him another. Liam told her the second hamster escaped as well, but then she caught him burying it in the backyard.”

  “Was the hamster dead?”

  “Yes, but Liam finally admitted that he was the one who killed the hamster. He let it slowly starve to death.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Yes. It was quite upsetting. After a few months, it was very clear Liam was suffering from antisocial personality disorder. Do you know what a sociopath is, Detective?”

  “That’s the personality disorder when you don’t feel emotions. Weren’t Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy sociopaths?”

  “Most likely. As early as the 1800s, doctors who worked with mental health patients noticed some patients demonstrated outwardly normal behavior, but they had no sense of ethics or empathy. These patients were called ‘psychopaths,’ but then it was later changed to ‘sociopaths’ because of the effect these people had on society. Now both terms are used but ‘sociopath’ generally refers to a milder form of the disorder. Psychopaths are much rarer.”

  “So what does that all mean?”

  “Well, for starters, sociopaths don’t have normal human emotions like empathy. They have no concern for the feelings of others. They also have a very high threshold for disgust, which has been measured by lack of reaction in these patients to photos of mutilated faces. But sociopaths don’t care about faking emotions. Psychopaths, on the other hand, are excellent actors. They’re intelligent, charming, and fantastic at manipulating emotions. They can make you believe they care, when in fact, they feel nothing.”

  “So they’re good liars.”