“47?!”
“His quiet little bar? It’s a front front the Granger gang.”
“The Granger gang? How can that be? You must be mistaken!”
“Ma’am, you need to take care. Mason is dangerous. He’s the gang’s top hitman and he’s virtually untouchable, so far as we can tell.” Drummond stated.
“But we will get him, eventually…”
“I don’t believe you! Who put you up to this, Robert? I swear, I'll kick his lily ass!” she insisted. “In all the time I've known mason, he's lost his temper only once and it was short lived, I can assure you. He’s a good man and he’s been very good to me and my daughter…”
“I'm glad he's been good to you and your daughter, but we're here because you could be in danger nonetheless. What you see when you're with him is much different than others see when they have to deal with him out in the world.”
“If you’re so sure he’s the man you’re looking for, then why not arrest him and be done with it?” Jennifer demanded.
“We haven’t got the evidence. The witnesses we’ve had in the past have all disappeared or turned up dead. All we have right now are the witness statements they all left behind, but without their testimony we just can't move forward in the case. That doesn't mean he isn't who we say he is, and that's why we wanted to pay you a visit today.”
“Well, I am sorry you're dealing with this unfortunate matter…” Jennifer offered. “But I'm sure you have the wrong man. He’s not a murderer.”
“Ma’am…”
“I think you should go now.” she insisted.
Agents Paul and Drummond knew they couldn’t push it much further, but didn’t want to leave her helpless. “We'll go, but please take care of yourself and your little girl. This man is dangerous, believe me. If you ever need to talk, about ANYTHING, then don't hesitate to call us.” Agent Paul handed her his card.
As they drove away, her head began reeling with the information she’d just had dropped on her like a bomb. They had to be mistaken, right? There’s no way Mason was a murderer. She’d seen him read to the children at the hospital and hand out all those toys. She’s seen him open doors for seniors. And, she’s been treated like a queen by him since day one.
The moment of Mason's angry outburst was an isolated event. There was no chance she was married to the Granger’s number one hitter. No Way! Her mind flickered about, reviewing all the facts she knew about Mason. Should she dare mention the FBI stopping by and asking about him? What would he say? Or do, for that matter?
Unsure of what to do with this new information, she decided to quietly disregard it and simply move on with her day-to-day life. Mason had done nothing to warrant her suspicion, so she would not judge him off what seemed to be random heresay. After all, if they knew that Mason was such a threat to her and Chelsea, then why didn't they step forward and warn her before the wedding?
TEN
Before she knew it, four years had passed and Chelsea was about to turn nine, Mason James Jr, fondly called MJ, was about to turn three, and she was expecting their third child. Mason hadn’t shown many more personality traits that overly concerned her, though the conversation she’d had with agents Paul and Drummond stuck with her and occasionally popped into her mind.
In fact, she’d gotten used to seeing them in their cars ‘watching’ the house from time to time. Still, she played dumb. She wasn’t about to cause undue stress on their marriage or their family life.
As she continued to flip the pancakes in on the flat griddle, Mason sauntered into the kitchen with Mason Jr. hoisted on his shoulders.
“Weeeeee!” he shouted as he whirled the boy like an airplane and then proceeded to plant him into his booster seat.
“Pancakes!” shouted M.J.
“Ready for breakfast?” Jennifer asked, placing the brunch fixins on the table.
“I can’t stay…” Mason said.
“What?” Jennifer questioned. “You’re going somewhere?”
“Only for a bit.” he affirmed. “Gotta do some work at the bar. Be back in a couple of hours.”
“Do you want me to pack you something to eat?”
“Nah…coffee’s fine. Sorry for the short notice, beautiful.”
“Hope everything’s okay…” she said.
“Fine. Just work, ya know.”
Chelsea continued to pour syrup on the pancakes as Mason kissed M.J. good-bye, practically shunning her in the process.
“Bye Daddy.” she said with a sticky wave.
“See ya., kiddo.” he tussled her hair a bit and then left the kitchen.
Jennifer ran after him quickly to give him a kiss good-bye, but he barely acknowledged her as he stepped outside the door, practically shutting it in her face. She was hurt, as it seemed he barely noticed her any longer. He’d been so attentive when she was pregnant with Mason, and until lately had been a devoted husband and father, but something was keeping him distracted these days.
As she watched his car back out of the driveway, she spotted the two agents sitting in their SUV. Then, as Mason drove off, Agent Paul exited the car and another agent left the back seat and joined Drummond in the front. Then together, they drove away, following Mason no doubt.
Paul walked back up to the house.
“Hello again.” he said.
“You're here to convince me that Mason’s a murderer, aren’t you?”
“We are locking in on him, but we still haven’t got concrete evidence just yet.
We just had two eye witnesses go missing again. I wondered if you’d recognize them.”
“Doubt it, but okay…”
Then, Agent Paul proceeded to pull the pictures from his folder. “Recognize these men?”
Jennifer took the pictures and began to flip through the various shots. “That’s Gary, Mason’s cook. He’s missing?”
“Yes, and so is Amber Swartz.”
“The waitress?”
“Yes, neither has been seen in almost a week.”
“Maybe they quit…”
“They haven’t been to their homes either. The last person to see them was James Coleman, and he turned up dead this morning.”
“James!” she gasped. “James is Mason’s accountant!”
“Yes, I know.”
“But this doesn’t make sense. It’s a bar. Not a gang…”
“Just a front dear, just a front. The illegals happen down the street at 2451 Walnut Court. We’ve got surveillance photos of Mason entering the house, but we haven’t been able to link him to anything specific. We just know that a lot of people have been turning up dead or missing lately, and well… at the bottom of these reports is Mason’s name, as you can see.”
“Listen, I know it seems like you have a case against my husband, but Mason is not a murderer. He’s a great husband and father!”
“Ma’am, you could be in danger. If he suspects for a moment that you are a risk, then he will kill you, or make you vanish, just the same as he did all the others. Nothing will stand in this man's way, I can assure you.”
Jennifer gulped. She couldn’t deny there was damning evidence all around Mason, but her mind said they were wrong to point the finger at her husband. “I appreciate that you must be frustrated, Agent Paul. I’m surprised Mason didn’t tell me that his workers were missing, but I do know he was going there to fix something this morning. Maybe if you talk to him…”
“He doesn’t talk to us. He Just mocks our advances.”
“Look, I’m sorry, I just can’t…”
“Do you still have my card?”
“Yes.”
“If anything changes, please call me!”
“Fine. But don’t expect me to. Mason’s innocent!”
“Just be careful, okay?”
Jennifer agreed and watched as Agent Steven Paul walked to the end of the driveway and got into a second unmarked vehicle. He was handsome and kind, but he had to be a fool to think that Mason could be a murderer.
Th
e thoughts ran through her mind like wild horses and it was more than she could deal with, so she made arrangements for Helga to take the children for a few hours. Then, after dropping them off at the old apartment, she made her way to Mason's bar.
Given that it was still early, the place was locked, but she knew the back way in. She didn't want to disturb Mason by knocking, so she headed around the side of the building toward the rear. As she began to approach the back door, she could hear voices coming from the office window. At first she thought nothing of the voices, but when she heard Mason say, “Where’s the money, Gary...?” things changed.
The tone of Mason’s voice sent chills down her spine. She could barely move. She hadn't heard that tone since the day he was denied a hot supper after a hard day at work. She had silently hoped she would never hear that side of Mason again.
“Amber, tell me! You two will not see tomorrow if you don’t turn that money up today. Understand?”
Trembling slightly, Jennifer climbed upon a crate and peeked carefully through the tiny window. Her heart jumped when she saw Mason holding a gun to Gary’s head.
“You have to the count of three to tell me where the money is…”
“I swear Mason, I don’t know where it is!”
“One…”
“Please Mason, no!” Gary cried.
“Two…”
“No sir, no…” Amber cried.
“Three….”
“No!”
“Say good night, Gary.” then as cold as ice, he simply pulled the trigger, killing Gary right before Jennifer’s eyes. Jennifer gasped aloud as she jerked and fell to the ground.
“Who's out there?!” Mason shouted.
Jennifer wasted no time. She ran as fast as she could to her car and drove away. Mason barely made it around the corner to see the tail of his wife’s car. “SHIT!” he shouted. “SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!”
Jennifer had seen him shoot Gary and Mason knew it. Enraged, he kicked a stack of tin cans, sending trash flying through the air. Then in a huff, he returned to his office, where he finished his business with Amber. Two bodies now littered his otherwise tidy office.
“Clean this up!” Mason demanded of his two assistants. “I have business to tend to at home, it seems…” Then, gathering some extra bullets, he reloaded his gun, placed it into his shoulder-holster, and then left to find and face his meddlesome wife. He wasn't looking forward to the confrontation, but business was business.
ELEVEN
Jennifer’s heart was racing like a runaway freighter, almost as fast as her thoughts. She’d just witnessed a murder! Not just any murder, either. Her husband, the man she’d known and loved for over 4 years, was now a complete stranger. Now, he was the killer the FBI had warned her about!
Knowning that he’d kill anyone who got in his way scared her, but the fear was mostly reserved for that of her children. He could not have them, and it would be over her dead body before he would be allowed to hurt them.
Of course, the children hadn't seen the murder, so she would likely be dealt with first, while he conveniently concocted a story to explain why mommy was no longer part of the family.
Quickly, she stopped at Helga’s apartment and loaded up the kids.
“Helga, I have to go away, but if Mason comes looking for me, you haven’t seen me, okay?”
“What happened dear?” she asked.
“It’s best if you don’t know anything.”
“Are you okay?”
“Not yet, but we will be. I promise!”
Then, loading the kids into her car, she began driving aimlessly. She hadn’t thought much about anything aside from their safety, until Chelsea asked…
“Where we goin', Mama?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“We’re not going home?”
“No sweetie, we’re not.”
Chelsea had grown to be a lovely young girl with a mature and instinctive demeanor.
“Something happened, didn’t it? Something bad, mama?”
“Chelsea, I don’t want you worrying about this, but know that what we are about to do is for your safety. Yours and M.J.’s, okay?”
“Okay, Mama…”
Finding a quiet spot to pull over, Jennifer stopped the car and began to fumble through her purse for Agent Paul’s number. She then pulled her cellphone out and dialed it…
“Agent Paul here.” he replied.
“Agent, this is Jennifer. Jennifer Wilson…” he immediately recognized the panic and distress in her voice.
“Mrs. Wilson, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not and I need your help!”
“Okay, okay…are you in danger?”
“Yes!”
“Right, I want you to listen to me carefully. Do exactly as I say and I will make sure you stay safe. Do you have your children?”
“Yes, I grabbed them first!”
“Very good. Now, I want you to drive to the Women and Children’s Shelter at 452 Westbrooke Street. It’s a discreet and obscure location. It looks like a simple house from the outside, but I will notify them that you're coming and we'll meet you there. Once you get to the building, go to the back door and ring the buzzer. Tell them who you are and they'll let you in. Leave your cell phone and keys in the car. I'm going to take them somewhere to hide them, far from you. We don’t want him to find you there.”
“Okay, I’m going….”
Jennifer followed his instructions to the letter and drove immediately to the shelter on Westbrooke. She’d driven by the house a thousand times, but never knew that it was anything other than what it appeared to be. What else had she missed all these years? Pulling into the driveway, she moved the car to the back and then carefully looked around before getting out.
She grabbed the kids and then left the phone and keys inside the car before knocking on the door of the house. She buzzed the door and then heard a woman’s voice say, “Mrs. Wilson?”
“Yes.”
“Come on in, dear.”
The door hummed lightly as she pulled upon the handle and entered through a tiny entrance way. Then, with the door closing behind her, she stood silently in a circular room with three doors. The corridor was full of cameras and each door had combination locks in place. As she stood tall, trying not to tremble, a tall woman entered from the left side door.
“Hello, Jennifer…” she said with her palm open. “I’m Cheryl, one of the intake workers here at the shelter.”
Jennifer didn’t speak, but simply shook her hand.
“I have no doubt you're scared, but believe me, you are safe here, at least for now. Once Agent Paul gets here, we will know better what to have you do, but for now, let’s get you and your children settled.”
Cheryl then proceeded to punch in a series of numbers, and opened a door to another room. As Jennifer stepped inside with her children, she was amazed. It didn’t feel like a shelter at all. There was a large play area, full of toys. The large television was playing an episode of 'Dora the Explorer' and three other small children were mingled inside the space. M.J. took immediate interest and begged to play with the others.
To the left of the play area, there were a number of comfortable chairs, each hosting another woman. “This is the mommy space. You can sit and relax here with the others, while we wait for Agent Paul to arrive.”
Cheryl left Jennifer and her children in the waiting area, while she began some paper work for her stay. Then, what seemed like hours later, Agent Paul buzzed into the shelter to meet with Jennifer Wilson.
***
Cheryl provided a space for Jennifer and Agent Paul to talk, while she arranged to watch the children in the play area.
“I’m so glad you called me!” Paul said. “What happened?”
“Oh God!” Jennifer gasped. “I can’t believe this is happening. My world’s been turned upside down!”
“What happened?” Paul demanded.
“After you left I got to thinking about what you said an
d wanted to find out what Mason was doing at work this morning, so I went to the bar. The front door was locked. As I went around back, I could hear people talking, so I looked in the window to watch what was happening. That’s when I saw Mason with the gun! Oh God! He shot him!”
“Who shot who?!”
“Mason shot Gary! And I think he was going to kill Amber too, but when I saw him shoot Gary I fell off the box and ran for my car. I know he followed me out. He knows I saw him. I know he knows!”
“You did the right thing by calling me.” Paul said assuredly.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do…”
“The first thing we need to do is find a way to keep you and your kids safe.”
“Where? Here?”
“No, that's not practical. But, Witness protection is…”
“Witness protection?! I don’t want that! If I don’t testify he won’t kill me.”
“He won’t ask you which way you're leaning on that matter, trust me.”
“But the kids. We have kids together!”
“He might show loyalty to Mason JR. It’s been our experience that that’s always a possibility. But Chelsea isn’t his child, right?”
The Other Side of Perfect Page 4