Mind Slide (12 page)

“Wow,” Mason said, thinking about the moving truck outside. “Where will you put all your stuff? You just gonna sell it?”

Kelly brought her hands to her face. She was foolish to think she could do this. She thought she was emotionally distant from her father, but this was too soon. Maybe she should sell the house.

“I can't do this,” she said.

Mason almost touched her shoulder, but pulled his hand back. He wrinkled his face at her.

“You're kidding, right?”

She turned to look at him. He shook his head.

This was the same woman who nearly disfigured her foot trying to slip out of a restraint, then threw boiling water in her kidnapper's face.

Seven years after the fact, she was still the most incredible woman he ever met.

“Listen to me. You can do
anything
,” he said. “I don't think there's anything that could stop you.”

Kelly returned his confused look. She thought he was patronizing her at first, but saw the look in his eyes. It made her heart skip a beat.

“You don't know me that well, Mason.”

“I know more than you'd think.”

She wanted to reach out and hug him, but restrained herself. She wasn't good at hugs.

“So, we're putting everything downstairs?” he asked.

She took a breath and nodded. “Yeah. Let's get started.”

They spent the next few hours unloading and organizing everything in the basement. The basement was finished with walls and carpet, but unfurnished. It almost looked like an entire studio apartment when they were done with it.

The sun had nearly set when they finished. The moving truck was completely empty. Mason, Brian, and Dani were in the living room watching a cartoon on television. Kelly and Lisa were in the kitchen.

“Thank you so much for the help,” Kelly said.

“Oh, no problem at all.”

“Get that bastard!” Mason shouted from the couch.

The women peered into the living room. Brian and Dani both stared at Mason. He looked sheepish and embarrassed.

“The coyote and the road-runner,” he explained to the women.

“How can you root against the road-runner?” Brian asked.

“Cause the coyote's a genius.”

“You're out of your mind.”

Dani looked at Kelly and rolled her eyes. It was all she could do to not burst out laughing.

“Mason's a good guy,” Lisa said.

“Yeah. I didn't even ask him for help. He just volunteered. He volunteered you guys too, I guess.”

Lisa looked at her. “He offered help without you asking?”

She nodded.

Lisa stole a glance at Mason, who was engrossed in the cartoon. “Hmm.”

“What? What's going on?”

“Oh, nothing. He keeps to himself, usually.” She looked at her family. “Are you two ready to go?”

“Aww. Do we have to?”

“Yes, Brian. I'm sure Kelly has her own plans tonight. You two can stay over another night.”

Brian gave his daughter a playful punch on the arm. “You hear that? We can stay over sometime.”

“Dad, you're so weird.”

Kelly walked the Lowdrys to their car. She actually got a hug from Lisa. Kelly thanked them all again for the help. She didn't know where she'd be without it.

Mason gave her a smile and crossed the street to his Jeep. She walked with him.

“What are your plans for the night?” Kelly asked.

He looked at his cell phone. It was almost seven o'clock. Dinner. Hang out with Lucy. Then maybe an hour or so of the Discovery Channel.

That was how he rocked a Saturday night.

“I'm not sure. Why?”

“I still have to take this truck back and pick up my car. Keep me company?”

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.

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 Gabriel 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.”