Who Knows What Evil Lurks

Jason didn't hesitate, "Do it!"

Dave, Dwayne and Jason spent another half-hour discussing the details of the investigation. Once again, Dave brought up the option of a bodyguard. Dwayne wasn't available since he'd be in Texas, but Dave had other options. Jason still felt it was unnecessary, but did stop at the outdoor store on the way home and picked up two cylinders of pepper spray.

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When Jason arrived home that evening he couldn't help but have a great big grin on his face as he saw Katie's car in the driveway. It would be great to have her home, even if it was only for three weeks. He walked through the door and instantly Katie gave him a big hug. But he was puzzled when he noticed the stern look on her face.

"When we're you going to tell me about the break-in?"

Jason saw the moisture in Katie's eyes as she looked into his eyes. She didn't wait for his answer.

"If anything ever happened to you or mom, I don't know how I'd survive. Promise me you won't let anything ever happen to you or mom - promise!"

Jason knew Katie was being completely irrational. He looked over her shoulder to see Alexis standing ten feet away; Alexis also had tears in her eyes watching father and daughter. Jason's first thought was how he was going to make it through the next few weeks if the two women in his life were going to be this emotional. Jason's second thought was how lucky he was to have two wonderful women care so much about their family. Could life ever be better than this?

He gave his daughter another hug and told her that he'd do everything he could to keep himself and his family safe.

The rest of the evening was a whirlwind of chatter. Alexis barely had time to eat as she related the events of the past semester, she was especially demonstrative as she told her parents about the 'amazing' young man she was dating. It seems Charles Owen was in his last year majoring in engineering, was in ROTC and would be going into the Army as a second lieutenant right after graduation. As Jason listened to all the wonderful attributes of this young man, he silently told himself he better be prepared for the young man's visit; Jason had a sneaky suspicion that he would soon be introduced to his future son-in-law.

Katie asked about the break-in. This was the moment Jason had been struggling with ever since his meeting with the detectives. On the one hand, he didn't want to scare the hell out of either Alexis or Katie; but on the other hand, he didn't want them to underestimate the potential threat. Jason related the details of the night of the break-in; when he told her how he had threatened the intruder with the shotgun, Katie looked over at her mom, knowing her mom's feelings on firearms. Katie did laugh at Jason's shout down the stairs.

""Come on up - got a little surprise for you"? Dad - that's just too funny; what is that, something out of one of your Bruce Willis movies?"

"I don't know, hon - just sounded like the right thing at the moment. Anyway, it seemed to have the proper effect, two seconds later I heard the screen door slam. Thank goodness; I've never shot a living thing in my life. Who knows how I would have reacted had it come to that." With Jason's last sentence the dining room went quiet for a few moments. Alexis broke the tension by telling Jason and Katie to clear their plates; she would load the dishwasher while they spent some time one on one.

Both Katie and Jason thought that was an excellent idea; they each had something they wanted to say without disturbing Alexis. "Katie, let's walk around the block."

As they walked, Jason spoke first. "Listen, I didn't want to overly alarm your mother, but this Mason character might be a little bit more dangerous than I let on back there. One of the detectives is heading to Mason's last home and place of employment next week. I hope to have more background on this creep before your mother goes back to work in two weeks.

"I've at least gotten your mother to carry a mace canister when she's alone in the parking garage; I bought a canister for you as well. I hope I can convince you to carry it, just in case."

It was Katie's turn to share something she wasn't prepared to share with her mother. "Dad, I hope this won't cause you to think poorly of Charles, but he's taught me how to use a handgun. I have a concealed carry permit and a 9mm semi-auto; I go to the range with Charles and I'm fairly proficient. You keep the mace, I'll keep my Smith and Wesson."

Jason was shocked for a minute, but recovered enough to ask, "So where is it right now? I can't imagine what your mother would say if she knew there was a handgun in the house or the cabin."

"It's in my bedroom with a trigger lock to keep it safe when it's out of my sight. The key is in my pocket."

"Well, I hate to hide anything from your mom, but give me some time to figure out how we're going to convince your mother to allow it in the house. Let's keep this to ourselves for now."

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The more Sandy considered killing Katie Tyler, the more reasons he found for not carrying it out. For one, the framing of Jason for the crime would have to be rock solid, a fairly tough assignment. For another, if Tyler was alive not only would he and Alexis not collect Jason's life insurance, but Jason might waste thousands on lawyers for the trial. All the Tyler's assets would go away. Sandy was counting on those assets and the insurance check to set up their new life. Sandy didn't really like to work and with enough money he could lead a life of leisure.

No, killing Katie and framing Jason was not going to work. Back to Plan A, killing Jason. Keep it simple; approach Jason on the street one night, pretend it's a mugging gone bad and kill the bastard. There was nothing to connect Sandy to Jason, so why would the police suspect him?

Sandy was clever by half. Just to make certain the police looked at the murder as a robbery he went out Saturday night and tagged two buildings with gang graffiti. He was pleased with himself as he watched the local news on Sunday. A lady reporter was standing in front of one of the buildings; she was mouthing the typical hysterical "What does the rise in this gang activity mean to the safety of the citizens in our community?" Thank goodness for slow news days.

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It was Tuesday evening of the following week when Susan Oster walked out of the lounge feeling a little tipsy. Susan didn't believe she was too drunk to drive home; it had been a long day and the evening had been a bust. Sam Martin, her date from the online dating site was supposed to meet her in the lounge for their first get together, but was a no show. Susan was too upset to eat and the two Cosmos went to her head. Susan unlocked her car and was confused when the sweet-smelling rag was placed over her face. As she slumped to the ground two arms held her up and threw her into the back seat before she passed out.

When Susan woke up the first thing she saw was Sandy Mason staring at her from between the two front seats of her car. She tried to move, but her arms and legs were bound; the shoulder strap also prohibited movement. Susan's eyes grew accustomed to the dark until they focused on the gun in Mason's hand pointed at her.

"Sandy, what are you doing? Turn me loose." Susan's voice was strained, but the gravity of her situation was just starting to hit her as her mind came out of the fog.

"Susan, Susan, first tell me why you complained about me at work."

"What are you talking about? I never complained about you. Why are you saying that?"

"Don't lie to me, you bitch! I know it was you that told HR I was harassing you."

"Why would I do that? You never harassed me. It was Alexis that complained to HR when you wouldn't stop stalking her!" As soon as the words left her lips she knew she had messed up, but in her defense, she was still disoriented.

"You're lying! Alexis loves me! She would never do that!"

"Alexis loves you? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that as soon as Jason is out of the picture, that Alexis and I will be getting married."

Susan was stunned by the words coming out of Mason's mouth. How could this imbecile be so delusional?

"Look Sandy, just let me go. I didn't turn you into HR and I promise I'll never say a word about this to anyone. Just please let me go."

Sandy Mason was confused; he needed time to think. He opened the car door and stepped into the trailhead parking lot. Theirs was the only car in the lot at 1:00 AM. They were miles from the nearest person, no need to gag Susan while he walked around the trailhead parking lot trying to get his thoughts together. Ten minutes later he returned, Susan was staring at him before the dome light went out returning them to the darkness.

"OK, I'm going to let you go. But you have to answer my questions and you have to remember your promise not to tell anyone about tonight. Ready?"

Susan could only nod her head in agreement. She did answer the questions, somehow thinking maybe Sandy would let her live if she did, she was frightened and grasping at straws.

Sandy's original plan was to make Susan suffer before she died, but now he felt sorry for her, she was just an innocent bystander in this melodrama. Of course, she still had to die, but instead of placing the plastic bag over her head while she was still conscience, he would put her back to sleep first.

With the information he needed Sandy exited the car, opened the bottle of chloroform and poured some on a rag. For a moment Susan thought she had her wish granted, but as Sandy opened the back-door Susan recognized the smell. "No, don't, please don't." She was turning her head back and forth, but it didn't do any good. Sandy placed the rag over her face and waited until she stopped moving.

"Sorry Susan."

Sandy took the plastic bag out of his pocket, dumped the chloroform soaked rag inside it, then placed the bag over Susan's head. A couple loops of electrical tape to secure the bag tight around her neck. Sandy stepped outside the car and waited ten minutes.

Sandy lifted Susan's limp body over his shoulder and hiked the quarter mile up the trail to where a steep cliff met the trail. Sandy removed the plastic bag from Susan's head and stripped her; with any luck the coyotes and other carrion would delay any identifiable evidence until Sandy was well on his way out of the country. Mexico was not an option, but there were plenty of other places to hide in the world. First things first though; time to pay that bitch Alexis and her family back for their treatment of him. Alexis would stay alive long enough to watch her daughter and husband die before she was raped and killed. Sandy couldn't wait to see the look in Alexis' eyes as her world crumbled in front of her. A madman's smile crossed his lips as he drove Susan's car home to search Google Earth for the address she gave him during her last moments of hope. A cabin in the woods? How much better could it be? This put the whole 'gang-style' murder plan on the back burner.

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Due to an important court appearance, Dwayne Larson didn't get to Houston until Tuesday. The initial firm of attorneys that had been given to him as a reference back in Seattle refused to take the assignment due to a conflict of interest. Dwayne was initially disappointed, he assumed this had been arranged by the Seattle attorneys before he even flew down here. Luckily, the Houston firm was kind enough to give Dwayne a second reference and by Wednesday afternoon Dwayne was in the office of Schuler and Simmons explaining the situation. George Schuler agreed to attend any meetings Dwayne could arrange with the Exxon people.

Feeling better now, Dwayne contacted Exxon and had an appointment with the Vice President of Personnel Relations on Thursday morning. Dwayne confirmed George Schuler was available and used the time before the meeting to do research on the computer at the local library.

Thursday morning found Dwayne and George in Howard Grimley's office at Exxon. Grimley greeted the two men warmly, asked if either cared for coffee, tea or a soft drink, then asked them to have a seat. Given the topic, Dwayne was surprised when Grimley did not close the office door. Grimley's assistant was sitting right outside the door and could hear everything said.

"Mr. Larson, Mr. Schuler; immediately after receiving your phone call requesting this meeting I pulled Sanders Mason's personnel file and met with our in-house legal staff. Unfortunately, I have been forbidden to allow you to review the file or discuss the contents of the file unless we receive a subpoena to do so."

Both Dwayne and George looked at each other, silently wondering why Grimley hadn't saved them the time by explaining this over the phone.

Grimley continued, "That said, let me assure you Exxon will cooperate fully with any subpoena, we will not attempt to block the subpoena in any way. Mr. Larson, I don't know the full scope of your investigation, but I'm not surprised to learn someone is interested in looking into Mr. Mason's background. I can't say more than that, I'm very sorry."

Dwayne couldn't help but read Grimley's body language, it was obvious Grimley was handling the file almost like a trainer dangles a fish in front of an aquarium seal. At least that's the impression he was getting. Dwayne figured the meeting was over, got up from his chair, both men shook Grimley's hand and walked out the door with the intention of obtaining a subpoena. Dwayne knew this would take at least another day and cost thousands; even then, there was no guarantee of success. Dwayne hoped George knew a friendly judge.

As he passed the assistant's desk, she rose and offered to show them out the front door of the building. The elevator ride was quiet, but just before Dwayne exited through the revolving door, the assistant shook Dwayne's hand and said, "Let's have lunch, Mr. Larson; just the two of us." Dwayne felt the piece of paper in his hand and just nodded. While George was signaling a cab, Dwayne took the opportunity to look at the paper. It contained a phone number.

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Two hours later Dwayne was sitting across a quiet table from Grimley's assistant, Elaine Stewart.

"I know your attorney is working to get a subpoena as we speak, but there are things you need to know about Sandy Mason that are not in the file."

"Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble with your boss by meeting with me?"

"No, Mr. Grimley actually asked me to meet with you. He's one of the good guys. His hands are tied legally, but he'll do anything he can to help you protect that lady up north. When we got rid of Mason he was afraid we were kicking the can down the road, but without police action, there was little we could do. When we received the call from the Seattle firm asking for a reference, Mr. Grimley did his best to warn them without violating corporate policy, I heard his end of the conversation, but obviously whoever he talked to up there was either too dense or simply ignored the subtle warnings.

"What's in the file is documentation of the two warnings Mason received regarding his harassment of two females in his department. This included one of the woman's complaint that she was certain he was actually rubbing himself under the table during a conference meeting.

"Mr. Grimley was in the process of terminating Mason when he suddenly submitted his resignation and left with less than a week's notice. We were relieved the entire episode was over, but one week later we received an inquiry regarding Mason from the Houston police, who were following up at the request of a Mexican police department. The Tamaulipas state police were investigating the death of a woman whose body was found in the desert. The police were looking for Mason, he left Texas rather suddenly. Mr. Grimley called the police when he received that call from Seattle, but that's the last we heard from the police or anyone until your office called us last week."

"So, you don't know what happened with the dead woman and the Mexican police inquiry?"

"Well, that's the scary part. Unofficially Mr. Grimley asked me to follow up because my brother-in-law is a cop and here's what I found out."

"The woman was a Mexican national, but had a work visa in Texas. There was evidence she met Sandy Mason on an online dating site and her friends thought she met and dated Mason, but ended the relationship after the second date. The friends couldn't understand why she was found in Mexico, she avoided going across the border except when she visited her family on Sundays, and always returned to the US before nightfall.

"The Mexican police wanted to talk to Mason because their records showed Mason had entered the country a few days prior to the body's discovery by a farmer. There was no record of her entry into the country. There wasn't enough evidence to extradite Mason, but they did ask the Houston PD to question him. Houston detectives questioned Mason once, the day before Mason gave us his notice of resignation. A week later the detective came to our office looking for Mason, they planned to re-question him, but his apartment was empty. We told him what we knew, which wasn't much. Like I said, that's the last we heard from the police. If you know anything about what's happening with the drug gangs across the border, you understand this was not a priority for the Mexican police, although my brother-in-law said if Mason returns to Mexico there is a warrant out for his arrest."

Dwayne and Ms. Stewart finished their lunch, Ms. Stewart filled in a few things here and there in answer to Dwayne's questions. They parted ways and Dwayne called his boss in Seattle with the news. Dave Philips called Jason as soon as he hung up the phone with Dwayne, but his call went to voicemail.

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That same Thursday Sandy was driving past the Tyler cabin wondering why life was so unfair and when he would catch a break. One of the cars that was parked in the drive last night wasn't there, which meant either Alexis or the Tyler girl weren't in the house. It would have been nice to get this over with last night, but as Sandy approached the cabin, the motion activated lights came on and lit up the yard.

This morning Jason Tyler was out front mowing the lawn as Sandy drove past. Google Earth gave him a good idea of where the nearby cabins were located and a quick ride past the neighbors confirmed they weren't around and not a threat to his plans.

Sandy continued down the gravel road and parked his car in the state park lot, pulled the mountain bike off the back carrier and headed down the path along the lake. Sandy assumed the bicycle would draw less attention and easier to conceal.

While Sandy parked the car he thought about how killing was getting easier. When he killed his first person, a woman down in Florida, it made him sick to his stomach. He retched for fifteen minutes in her bathroom before he was able to step over her body and get out of the apartment.

He didn't feel as bad killing that Mexican woman, but then again she deserved it. The bitch ended the second date right in the middle of dinner and called a cab to take her home. She didn't even hear him enter her apartment with the key he found under the door mat - stupid bitch. She woke up while he had his hands wrapped around her throat; the look in her eyes told him how sorry she was for treating him with so little respect.

He drove her into Mexico in the trunk of his car and dumped her body in an irrigation ditch. Just one more victim of the violence down there. He was surprised they even cared enough about one more murder that they sent a detective from the Houston police to talk to him. "I guess only Mexicans can kill Mexicans, " he thought to himself. Nonetheless, after that first visit, Sandy didn't stick around, he gave his notice and headed up to Seattle. Too bad, there were a couple of women in his department that he had his eyes on.