He shrugged. “Sure.”
It took a half hour to return the truck and get back to her house. Mason enjoyed riding shotgun while she drove.
He lifted an eyebrow when she parked in her driveway and headed toward the front door. It was clear she expected him to follow.
She stopped in the middle of the living room. Mason stayed a few steps behind her.
“This is all still just so weird.”
Mason was quiet. He looked at her as he slowly closed the front door.
“Do you want to order a pizza?” she asked, turning to look at him. “Maybe watch a movie?”
He frowned. “You want to hang out with me?”
“Yeah. What's wrong with that?”
“Nothing at all.”
Except beautiful women normally didn't want to hang out with him.
It was something he didn't see coming. Sitting on the far end of a sectional couch, with Kelly on the other side, eating pizza and watching Toy Story.
Maybe she was finally moving past whatever negative feelings she had for him.
He tried not to smirk as he stole glances at her. She sat on the couch with her shoes off. Then she must have felt self conscious about her foot, or her legs, or both, as she curled them up on the couch and covered as much of herself as she could with a large pillow.
Clearly she didn't know how beautiful she was.
When the movie was over she leaned carefully toward the coffee table to grab the DVD remote, not wanting to shift the pillow from her legs.
Mason held in laughter.
“Kelly.”
It was the first time he said her name. She liked it.
“Yeah?”
“You can stop trying to hide your foot.”
It was a bold thing for him to say. He didn't plan on seeing her after the night was over, so he could be braver than usual. He was shy around women, but he felt like he had nothing to lose.
Her cheeks colored a little as she flashed an embarrassed smile. She slowly pulled her legs from under the pillow and set her feet on the carpet.
“You noticed?”
He nodded. “I'm a private investigator.”
She was quiet as he drank the last of his soda.
“You're not gonna ask me what happened?”
“Will you ask me why I was in the nuthouse?”
“I wasn't planning on it.”
“Well, there you go.”
She lowered her head slightly, afraid to look him in the eye. “You don't think it's the most disgusting thing you've ever seen?”
He shook his head. “It's actually very sexy.”
He wasn't lying. Her scarred foot reminded him of how strong Kelly was.
Kelly laughed at the obvious pickup line.
She looked at Mason. He didn't smile, didn't give any sign that he was romantically interested in Kelly. Or interested in getting into her pants.
He was simply stating a fact.
Before she could thank him, he stood up. “It's about time for me to head out.”
Mason had seen her yawn a few times during the movie. He had a great time, but knew he should leave before he embarrassed her any more.
She rose with him. “Okay. It's definitely been a long day.”
She walked with him to his Jeep. She didn't bother putting on socks or shoes. It felt liberating. Someone had seen her foot, and didn't recoil in horror.
He even thought it was sexy.
He smiled from behind the wheel of his Jeep.
“I'll see you around.”
That was it. Kelly wasn't sure what she expected. No exchange of numbers, no plans to hang out in the future.
He just drove away.
Kelly was confused, mostly at herself.
She hated Mason all her life. Now she wanted to know more about him.
Chapter 12
Ronald Fuller stretched his arms over his head as he stepped into his living room. The light was on its lowest setting, a sign his wife and son were out of the house and didn't want him breaking his neck walking around in the dark.
He hung his coat up and went into the dining room. There was a note on the table.
Taking Bradley to basketball practice. Then going to book club. Dinner in fridge. Love you. T.
He smiled. His wife always took care of him.
He opened the refrigerator to see a plate of spaghetti with plastic wrap over it. His belly moaned at the sight of the delicious food. He heated it up in the microwave as he turned on the television.
He forgot all about Theresa's book club. It was time to put the game on, kick his feet up, have a nice little relaxing night to himself.
The game was on for only five minutes when the phone rang. He grabbed it and muted the television.
“Hello?”
“You didn't even go to his funeral.”
Ronald sat up and shifted the phone to his other hand. He thought he recognized the voice, but it couldn't be him.
“Who is this?”
“Oh come on now, Doctor Ron. You have to know who this is.”
He felt his chest tighten. “Gabriel?”
“Yeah! Have you missed me?”
He tried to keep calm. Images of Gabriel's past violence in the lab flashed through his mind. One time Gabriel managed to get his hands around Ronald's throat.
“They're letting you make outside calls?”
Gabriel laughed, a sound that made every hair on Ronald stand up.
“I know you've been away for a while, but no one told you? I escaped.”
Ronald nearly dropped the phone.
He jumped up from the couch and ran to the front door. He locked the knob and turned the key in the dead-bolt.
“That's right, Ronald. Lock all those doors.”
He ran to the back door next to the kitchen. It should have already been locked, and it was.
He ran upstairs, past Bradley's bedroom and the bathroom, to the master bedroom. Gabriel taunted him on the phone.
“How does it feel, Ronald? How does it feel to know something bad is about to happen to you, and there's nothing you can do to stop it? Take my word for it. It isn't fun.”
Ronald searched the shelf over the clothes in the closet for his gun. The bullets were in the shoebox under his favorite suit.
“I hope you know how to shoot that thing.”
He was being watched.
He spun around with the gun outright. There was nothing there.
He felt silly, knowing he had to keep in control. Gabriel could be anywhere in the world.
Still, he felt a pair of invisible eyes on him.
Should he call the police? That would be pointless. There wasn't anything in the world that could protect him from Gabriel.
“Come on, Ronald. Do you really think I'm in the house?”
He let the gun fall to his side.
“Is this the part where you threaten me, Gabriel?”
“Don't pretend you know me. Don't pretend you have the faintest idea of what I want.”
He slowly walked down the hallway.
“You volunteered, Gabriel. It was your decision to join the project. You can't blame me, or Albert, or...”
Ronald trailed off as he thought of his best friend. Surely it wasn't coincidence that Gabriel was free, and Albert was dead.
“You killed Albert, didn't you?”
He was struck hard on the side of his face as he passed Bradley's room. He fell against the wall, knocking down a few pictures, and slid to the floor. His eyes teared up in pain, but he held the gun out anyway. A foot kicked his wrist, sending the gun down the hall and down a few steps.
Ronald's vision cleared enough to let him see Gabriel standing above him. He held one of his son's trophies, a bit of blood from Ronald's cheek on the base.
Ronald hadn't seen him in nearly a year, but Gabriel looked exactly as he remembered. He had one or two more scars on top of his bald head, but that was it. He wore jeans and a Baltimore Orioles tee shirt. If Gabri
el wore a hat, he would blend in anywhere.
Ronald looked into the eyes of possibly the most dangerous man in the world.
Gabriel had a cell phone clipped to his belt and a Bluetooth headset around his ear.
“Lacrosse state championship. I bet you're proud.”
Ronald said nothing. He tried to sit upright.
“I lied about not being in your house,” Gabriel said with a sick smile. “You didn't go to the funeral. Your best friend. Your partner-in-crime.”
Ronald was strangely calm. He knew he was going to die. His past had finally caught up to him. To all of them.
“I went to the first viewing. I...wasn't strong enough to go to the funeral. You killed him.”
Gabriel only smiled. “Only two people actually went. Can you believe that? Some guy and a woman. You should have seen the lady, Ronald. Red hair, skin like a vampire. His daughter, maybe?”
Ronald saw no use in lying. But maybe he could still save a few lives.
“Yes. That was his daughter. Please, she has nothing to do with any of this.”
Gabriel dropped the trophy to the floor. Ronald noticed he didn't even wear gloves. Why would he? Gabriel didn't have fingerprints. They were removed long ago.
“Who is T?”
Ronald's jaw dropped. Gabriel had read the note downstairs.
“Please, Gabriel. Please don't hurt my family.”
Gabriel knelt in front of him. “What kind of monster do you think you made? I'm not gonna kill your wife and son. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Gabriel sat across from him and leaned his back against the wall. Every instinct told Ronald to crawl away, but he knew it was pointless.
“Let's get very serious,” Gabriel said. “I am going to kill you. Now, how you die is completely up to you. As much as I want to hook you up to a nice generator and watch you fry, there's bigger issues here. Where is it?”
“Huh? Where is what?”
“You were his best friend. He would have given it to you, or told you where it is.”
“What, Gabriel?”
Gabriel shot forward and slapped Ronald across the face. The doctor curled into a ball and cried. Gabriel slapped him until his face was completely red.
“Listen, Ronald. You don't know what sick thoughts have been going through my head. Cutting off your feet. Boiling you alive. Ripping out your fingernails-”
“I don't know what you're looking for! Albert never gave me anything! What the hell would he give me?”
Gabriel slapped him one more time across the face, then stood up.
“You're either the strongest man in the world, or you're telling the truth. And since we both know you're a pathetic weakling...”
He walked to the steps and grabbed the gun where it fell.
“You've earned a quick death,” he said with a smile. Then his smile turned into a snarl. “But believe me, you deserve much more.”
“Well, I guess we all get what we deserve in the end.”
“Oh, trust me, I'll make sure of that. Goodbye, Doctor.”
Ronald closed his eyes, trying not to cry. He thought of his wife and son. He last saw them in the morning. She kissed and hugged him goodbye in the kitchen, before he left for the office. Bradley was eating cereal at the table, and just gave his father a wave.
He opened his eyes to see the barrel of his own gun, inches away from his forehead.
Gabriel pulled the trigger.
The recoil hurt his hand as Ronald's head fell limp to the floor. Blood poured from his head and soaked into the carpet.
Gabriel dropped the gun and shook his hand. He never fired a gun. He walked down the stairs slowly. There was the chance someone heard the gunshot, and he had to get moving before police showed up.
His hand was on the doorknob when guilt began to settle in.
He tried to imagine what Ronald's family would go through when they got home. Halfway up the steps they'd see his body, his eyes wide open, staring at them.
He took a deep breath and looked around the living room. The couch had a slip cover. He pulled it off and carried it up the stairs. With one motion, he covered the body of Doctor Ronald Fuller.
“More than you ever did for me.”
He left through the front door.
Chapter 13
“How does it feel to have two million dollars?”
Mason looked at Brian over his burger and fries. It was lunchtime, so the diner crowd was more dense than usual. Mason looked around to make sure no one heard his loud-mouthed friend.
“Keep it down. It doesn't feel any different, really. It'll be nice to not have to blackmail parents anymore.”
Brian shook his head. “I can't believe it. Old Doc Rierson. Left both you and Kelly all that money. How is she doing, by the way?”
He shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”
“You haven't seen her? Or talked to her? Anything?”
“Nah.”
“Why the hell not?”
“You saw her at the funeral home. I thought she was gonna bite my head off. She didn't have the best of relationships with her father, and probably blames me for it. The man did spend every waking minute in the lab.”
“You said you had lunch, and everything was fine. She was all smiles when we were moving her.”
“We watched a movie and ate a pizza after you guys left.”
Brian smiled. “See? I don't see hate there. You should give her a call. Maybe you two could actually become friends.”
Mason was quiet.
“What is wrong with you?” Brian asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You know I love that you watch my daughter after school, and swing by on the weekend, and all that fun stuff.”
“But?”
“You're twenty-three. You should be out getting drunk, hitting on women, maybe even having a little sexual intercourse. Get out of this shell you're in.”
“I'm not in a shell.”
“Yes, you are. You have a chance here to actually make a friend. Maybe not a girlfriend, or whatever. But maybe she has friends she can introduce you to.”
“Friends aren't easy for me. You know this.”
“Only because you make it hard.”
Mason sighed. They had this argument many times, usually using different examples and angles. The point was the same each time.
“Okay, so, let's pretend me and Kelly become friends. When do I tell her her father put me through the wringer in the name of science?”
“Look, you want to keep finding excuses to stay in your hole, that's fine. All I'm saying is at the funeral home, she definitely had an attitude. By the end of Saturday night, you were eating pizza with her.”
He thought of Kelly. At first, he thought maybe she was just lonely. She wanted another body there to help ease her thoughts about her father, and moving into his house.
But maybe she actually enjoyed his company. She definitely laughed at his dumb jokes.
“Mason, you've been out of that lab since you were eighteen. Don't let it keep running your life.”
Mason looked at his friend, and finally let out a smile.
Brian's gaze fell on the television mounted in the corner behind Mason. Mason noticed his stare, and turned around in his seat.
The news was talking about a missing girl.
Her name was Nancy Schumaker. Thirteen years old. Last seen with her estranged father, Harold Schumaker, outside her middle school. Her mother cried as a reporter interviewed her.
They showed clips of the girl. Dancing on stage in a school play. Posing for a picture with her mother.
Those shots faded into pictures of her father, Harold.
“If you have any information on the whereabouts of either Nancy or Harold, police ask you to please contact the number below.”
Brian looked at Mason without saying a word. After working a uniform and pulling people over for traffic violations, he'd spent the last five years working homicide cases. On
e of the bonuses of having Mason as a friend was occasionally stopping a possible homicide before it happened.
“I'll be in my Jeep,” Mason said, leaving money on the table. “I'll call soon.”
Brian nodded.
*****
Kelly, for the fifth time during the week, told herself she was going to quit her job.
She ran around the restaurant like she was on fire. It was a good tip night so far, but she desperately wanted to go home.
The couple at table five was starting to get under her skin. It was a husband and wife, and the husband, in plain view of his wife, was actively flirting with her. The other waitresses told her to flirt back. She would get a better tip.
That wasn't her style. She should get tipped well because she did a good job, not because she smiled and batted her eyes.
Against her will, her thoughts drifted to Mason throughout the night.
She had done something earlier in the week that was unlike her. She looked up his address and phone number. It was remarkably easy, considering he had a website dedicated to his business.
She wasn't interested in a relationship, attractive guy or not. But she was curious about him. She was comfortable around him, which was definitely new. Hanging out with him at her new house wasn't as difficult as she thought it would have been. The two of them could become friends, if she ever saw him again.
It would be her first real friend since high school.
She thought back to the last man she undressed in front of. Upon seeing her foot, and the five ugly scars scattered on the top and sides, his face took on a noticeable look of disgust.
Mason didn't even blink.
No wonder he was in a mental health center.
She wondered how late he stayed up, and if a phone call after work would be okay.
“Hey guys!” George called from behind the bar. He pointed to the television above his head, which a moment ago was showing the hockey game. “They found that girl earlier today.”
Kelly watched the news conference. A man was standing behind a podium, answering questions about the kidnapped girl, Nancy Schumaker. Every time she saw a kidnapping on the news, she couldn't help but watch.
Not everyone was as lucky as she was.
She smiled as the man behind the podium announced Nancy was safe with her family. He answered a few questions for the local reporters, then the cameras followed him as he walked into the police station.
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