Chapter 75
Sean stared at the letter, re-reading it in the lobby until he saw Rivers drive up with Emily and Stephen. The pair exited the vehicle, Rivers trailing behind them as they entered the lobby. The moment they saw the bodies, Emily covered her mouth.
Sean had put sheets over them, hiding the gruesome details, but for those who hadn’t seen a body before, it was still a shock.
“I appreciate you two coming,” Sean said.
“Your deputy said it was important,” Stephen said.
“It is,” Sean said. “I need you to follow me.”
Sean led them to the staff quarters and then stopped between Stephen and Emily’s room.
“I wanted to give you two the opportunity to grab your things before the Feds showed up,” Sean said. “They’re going to put this place on lockdown for a while. I know you guys have all your stuff here, so you might want to pack a bag.”
“Thank you,” Emily said.
“Yeah, thanks,” Stephen replied.
The pair went into their rooms, and Sean glanced at Rivers, who nodded knowingly as she positioned herself by Stephen’s door as Sean followed the young man inside.
“It’s crazy what happened,” Stephen said, packing.
“Yeah, that’s one word for it,” Sean said.
“Might be for the best, though,” Stephen said.
“How so?” Sean asked.
“I mean, just for me, you know?” Stephen asked. “Time to get me out of my rut.”
“You’ve had a hard year,” Sean answered. “Losing your father.”
“Yeah,” Stephen said, throwing some pants into a suitcase.
“What did he do for work?” Sean asked.
“Oh, um, he was a machinist in a factory,” Stephen answered.
“That’s hard work,” Sean answered.
“It is,” Stephen said, then quickly, but quietly, added, “was.”
“Did he like what he did? Before he died?” Sean asked.
Stephen shrugged, still not looking at Sean. “I mean, it was a job. It helped him take care of our family.”
“A man does what he can,” Sean said. “How did he die?”
Stephen stopped packing. Then he looked up at Sean. “Why does that matter?”
“I wasn’t sure if it was sudden or?—”
“Yes, it was sudden,” Stephen answered angrily.
“I didn’t mean to make you upset,” Sean said. “Everything all right?”
“I’m fine,” Stephen answered, absentmindedly still staring at the picture of his father.
“What do you think he would tell you, right now, if he were still here?” Sean asked.
Stephen started to tremble a little bit, squeezing the picture of his father a little tighter. And Sean thought he saw tears in the young man’s eyes.
“I’m not sure he would want to talk to me anymore,” Stephen said very quietly.
Sean felt the shift in the room. It was as if everything had gotten colder and Sean’s senses were heightened. “And why would he not want to speak with you?”
Stephen’s trembling worsened, and more tears fell. “I think he would be ashamed of me.”
“Why would he be ashamed of you?” Sean asked, struggling to keep his voice even-keeled.
“He took everything,” Stephen said, still talking to his father. “What they did to you. The way they cast you aside. I’d never seen my dad so depressed. He just…couldn’t get out of it.”
Sean quickly scanned the room for any weapons Stephen might have within reach. He saw nothing, but there was still the boy’s luggage in front of him, and there might be something hidden that Sean couldn’t see.
Sean hesitated, afraid any sudden movement might make Stephen stop talking. And what he needed was for him to continue his train of thought. “What happened to your dad?” Sean asked. “How did he die?”
“He killed himself,” Stephen answered.
“Why?”
“Because of that bastard,” Stephen shouted, angry now, as if all his rage was coming out of him at once.
“Almost forty years at that company, working his ass off, providing for his family, sacrificing his time with us to give us a better future. To show us that hard work pays off. But it doesn’t.
Not anymore.” He gestured around to his room.
“This fucking place. I’m a fucking butler for the rich.
Every day they come here, in their foreign cars, in their expensive tailored clothes, their jewelry and watches, and they expect everything to be handed to them as if they’re royalty. ”
Sean took a careful step closer to Stephen, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“He called me the day before he did it,” Stephen said.
“For the first time in probably a few weeks, he sounded like his normal self.
But he kept telling me how proud he was of me, how much he loved me, and how he wanted to make sure that no matter what happened in the future, I would keep trying and keep working for the life I wanted.
He kept telling me I could do anything; all I had to do was put in the time, learn, and make all my dreams come true.
“I asked him what his dreams were, and you know what he told me? He told me that I was his dream come true, but I never felt like a dream. I’ve only ever felt like a nightmare.
And the day he killed himself, I decided that I really was going to build the life I wanted, and I didn’t care who got hurt in the process. ”
Stephen had almost an otherworldly smile on his face now. The tears streaming down his face weren’t from grief but from joy. The mild-mannered young man had been replaced by the monster Sean had been searching for.
“Where is Karla?” Sean asked.
“It’s too late,” Stephen said. “The oxygen has run out. There isn’t any time for her anymore.”
Oxygen. Sean circled that word, and all at once, he remembered the tanks that had been stored in the basement.
“You buried her,” Sean said, and then he turned to look at Rivers. “The rose garden near the lobby, go!”
Rivers nodded and then sprinted away. When Sean turned, Stephen had already reached for a trowel that was hidden beneath his clothes.
Stephen tried to drive the tip of the trowel into Sean’s arm, but Sean evaded the attack. Stephen was much smaller than Sean and not very strong, so it didn’t take Sean long to restrain him.
“She has to die,” Stephen shouted. “It’s the only way Roman Grayson will ever learn. It’s the only way to balance the scales.”
Sean quickly restrained Stephen and made sure to tie up his hands and ankles and then carried him out into the lobby.
Emily followed him, but as Sean set the young man down, he instructed her to stay back. Sean was fully aware of the darkness outside as he sprinted toward the atrium and the rose garden, praying he got there before it was too late.