The Other Side of Perfect (7 page)

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 and 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?”

             
“Right…”

             
“Right!” her gut wrenched violently. “I think I’m going to be sick.” This wasn’t morning sickness, either. This was, '
Oh My God! What am I going to do?’
sickness. Agent Paul handed her the nearby waste basket as he sat upon the seat beside her.  He carefully held her hair back and rubbed her back compassionately, as the emotion of the day manifested itself in a revolting display of stress.

             
“I am truly sorry you are having to deal with this, Mrs. Wilson. I truly am.” his voice was sincere, and in his heart he truly was being sincere.  In matters such as these, it always seemed that it was the family that really suffered. He did like bringing down the
bad guys
, but never enjoyed watching the innocent suffer for their violent deeds.

             
Finally, Jennifer composed herself and sighed. “You really think he’ll kill us?”

             
“I know he will.” Agent Paul said. “I know he will as sure as we're sitting here.
             
He’s eliminated all of our witnesses so far, so why would he stop now?”

             
“I thought James was a good friend and you say he turned up dead, right?”
             

             
“He did.”

             
“Then I have no choice,  do I?”

             
Paul shook his head.

             
“It won’t be the first time my life was turned upside down.” she sighed.

             
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Wilson, I truly am…”

             
“Jennifer.” she stated.