CHAPTER Twenty Two
Life had finally gotten back to normal for Nolan Mosser.
The incident he thought would kill his career actually made him more popular, and business was booming.
His newfound success and the fact that Shane Simpson was out of his life put Nolan in a really good place.
He was happier than he had been in a long time.
Nolan’s increased case load put him at work much earlier than usual these days, but he didn’t mind.
He loved being there uninterrupted for the first couple of hours.
He was definitely the busiest lawyer at his firm, and getting there ahead of everyone else gave him the extra time and solitude he needed.
Just like any other day, Nolan arrived at the firm early and began unlocking the outer door when he heard a menacing voice from the past. “Hello, Nolan.”
Nolan was nearly frozen with fear. He glanced in the direction of the voice and saw Shane inside the bushes, glaring at him, sweating and bleeding. “Hurry up and get that unlocked. I need to get inside,” Shane said, flashing his knife, stained with his own blood.
Nolan fumbled with the keys a bit but finally got the door open, and Shane instantly rushed in behind him and locked it from the inside.
“What the fuck?” Nolan asked, looking at Shane’s blood-stained shirt and gaping wound on his right shoulder blade.
“Just get something to clean this up!” Shane had endured just about all the pain he could take.
Wounded and pissed, he knew he only had one place he could go for help— Nolan Mosser.
True, Mosser had given the police a statement, but Shane knew Mosser was weak and easily frightened.
He knew when push came to shove, he could persuade his former prison “buddy” to help him in his time of need.
“I’m not sure I have anything here, Shane. This is a law firm, not a doctor’s office,” Nolan said, being truthful, not sarcastic.
“Even paper towels? Water? You don’t even have paper towels and water?” Shane sounded desperate. He had lost a lot of blood.
“Yes, I think so. Wait here,” Nolan said.
“I’m coming with you. No offense, Nolan, but I don’t trust your bitch ass.”
Nolan led Shane to the break room, where he heated some water in the microwave and took several paper towels off the roll. “Take your shirt off,” he said.
Shane had trouble raising his arm high enough to get the shirt over his head. Finally, in frustration, he took his knife and cut it off with one rip, making Nolan’s eyes widen.
When the water was hot enough, Nolan took it out of the microwave, poured some salt into it, and let it dissolve.
“What happened?” Nolan finally had the nerve to ask again. “Janelle.”
Nolan tensed. “You didn’t …?” “No, she got away.”
Nolan breathed a sigh of relief and began wiping the wound with the water-soaked paper towels.
“It’s pretty much stopped bleeding, but it needs stitches. Otherwise, especially with no antibiotics, it’ll get infected,” Nolan said, still wiping dried blood.
“Well, it’s not like I can go to a doctor,” Shane replied, gritting his teeth in pain as Nolan resumed cleaning the wound that had started bleeding again.
“I have some leftover antibiotics and painkillers at my house. I can go get them for you,” Nolan offered.
“Is anyone home?”
“No, Nicole had an early practice at school, and Jessica would be at the gym by now,” Nolan answered.
Even though Nolan wanted this to be a solo trip, he knew Shane would go with him.
“Put a makeshift bandage on this and let’s go,” Shane said.
Once at the house, Nolan made a futile attempt to go inside alone. He was not at all happy about Shane coming inside his house. He knew all too well that criminals like Shane took in every detail, and if Shane knew the floor plan, he was one step closer to coming in uninvited.
“I’ll be right back.”
“The fuck you will! I told you: I don’t trust you. You fucked me over once. I’m not dumb enough to let you do it again,” Shane said, getting out of the car.
Inside, Shane was doing exactly what Nolan suspected, taking in all the sights and filing the details away in his mind. In the main floor bathroom, Nolan fumbled through several pill bottles, pulling out the remainder of the antibiotics and painkillers he had from his dental surgery.
“Here,” Nolan said, handing Shane the bottles. “I’ll take you back to your car, and then I want you to please leave me alone.”
Shane stood and stared menacingly into Nolan’s eyes, making him regret his boldness. “Hum … I see,” Shane replied, nodding his head. “Well, this was the least you could do, you know, since you sang like a fucking canary to the cops.”
Nolan could see the anger building in Shane’s eyes, but he stood his ground, even though he desperately wanted to back away.
Shane’s voice was cold and calculated this time. And Nolan felt an ominous chill as he spoke. “After I found out you were a rat, I promised myself you’d never do that to me again.”
Now, Shane’s eyes were delivering a menacing glare, and right when Nolan Mosser figured out what that glare meant, his time was up.
Shane swung viciously, connecting his knife with Nolan’s throat, making a deadly slice.
As his old prison buddy lay on the bathroom floor, Shane focused on the desperation in his eyes.
Nolan Mosser was taking his last gurgling breaths.
Shane had never killed a man, and the grotesque fix was just what he needed.
Watching the life drain from Nolan Mosser’s body was extremely satisfying.
As Nolan helplessly peered up, the last thing he saw was a faint, satisfied smile on his old buddy’s face.
When Nolan was dead, Shane grabbed the key fob from his sports jacket, stepped over him, and proceeded to take a tour of the house.
In the main bedroom, Shane flipped through Nolan’s shirts in the closet, picked one, and put it on.
Before leaving the Mosser home, Shane made his way to the kitchen, took a couple of the pills Nolan had given him, and then made a snack.
Sitting in Nolan’s car, Shane shoved the last bite of his ham and cheese sandwich into his mouth and said his goodbyes to his old friend Nolan Mosser.
“Yeah, Nolan. I bet you wish you weren’t a rat.”