The Other Side of Perfect (6 page)

As she opened the door, she was surprised to see two well-dressed men with their official badges drawn.

             
“Mrs. Wilson?” asked one of the men.

             
“Yes.”

             
“I’m Agent Steven Paul and this is Agent Morris Drummond of the FBI…”

             
Her heart quickly sank. “The FBI? What can I do for you?”

             
“It’s about Mason, your husband.”

             
“What about him?”

             
“Are you aware of his activities?” asked Paul.

             
“Activities?”

             
“Out of work activities.” Drummond confirmed.

             
“He reads to the kids at the children’s hospital on occasion, if that's what you
             
mean…but I don’t think that’s illegal, is it?.”

             
“No, but murder is…”

Her heart skipped another beat as she felt the blood flush from her face.  She suddenly felt the room spinning. “Murder!?” she gasped. Her legs became weak as she began to collapse, and Agent Paul put his hand out to catch her impending fall.

             
“I'm sorry to shock you so, ma'am.” he now realized she was clueless to Mason's
             
wrong-doings, as well as his double-life.

             
“I don’t understand.”

             
“You’ve never seen his angry side?” Drummond asked.

             
She was alarmed.  Did they know something she didn’t? 

             
“Everybody has an angry side, so I don’t know how to answer that without
             
sounding trite, agent Drummond.”

             
“Look, I’ll cut to the chase.” Drummond said.  “Your husband is a suspect in at
             
least forty-seven murders.”

             
“47?!”

             
“His quiet little bar? It’s a front front the Granger gang.”

             
“The Granger gang? How can that be? You must be mistaken!”

             
“Ma’am, you need to take care.  Mason is dangerous.  He’s the gang’s top hitman
             
and he’s virtually untouchable, so far as we can tell.” Drummond stated.

             
“But we will get him, eventually…”

             
“I don’t believe you! Who put you up to this, Robert? I swear, I'll kick his lily ass!” she insisted.  “In all the time I've known mason, he's lost his temper only once and it was short lived, I can assure you.  He’s a good man and he’s been very good to me and my daughter…”

             
“I'm glad he's been good to you and your daughter, but we're here because you could be in danger nonetheless. What you see when you're with him is much different than others see when they have to deal with him out in the world.”

             
“If you’re so sure he’s the man you’re looking for, then why not arrest him and be done with it?” Jennifer demanded.

             
“We haven’t got the evidence. The witnesses we’ve had in the past have all disappeared or turned up dead. All we have right now are the witness statements they all left behind, but without their testimony we just can't move forward in the case. That doesn't mean he isn't who we say he is, and that's why we wanted to pay you a visit today.”

             
“Well, I am sorry you're dealing with this unfortunate matter…” Jennifer offered. 
             
“But I'm sure you have the wrong man.  He’s not a murderer.”

             
“Ma’am…”

             
“I think you should go now.” she insisted.

Agents Paul and Drummond knew they couldn’t push it much further, but didn’t want to leave her helpless. “We'll go, but please take care of yourself and your little girl. This man is dangerous, believe me. If you ever need to talk, about
ANYTHING
, then don't hesitate to call us.” Agent Paul handed her his card.

As they drove away, her head began reeling with the information she’d just had dropped on her like a bomb. They had to be mistaken, right? There’s no way Mason was a murderer. She’d seen him read to the children at the hospital and hand out all those toys.  She’s seen him open doors for seniors. And, she’s been treated like a queen by him since day one.

The moment of Mason's angry outburst was an isolated event. There was no chance she was married to the Granger’s number one hitter.  No Way! Her mind flickered about, reviewing all the facts she knew about Mason. Should she dare mention the FBI stopping by and asking about him?  What would he say? Or do, for that matter?

Unsure of what to do with this new information, she decided to quietly disregard it and simply move on with her day-to-day life.  Mason had done nothing to warrant her suspicion, so she would not judge him off what seemed to be random heresay. After all, if they knew that Mason was such a threat to her and Chelsea, then why didn't they step forward and warn her before the wedding?

TEN

Before she knew it, four years had passed and Chelsea was about to turn nine, Mason James Jr, fondly called MJ, was about to turn three, and she was expecting their third child.
             
Mason hadn’t shown many more personality traits that overly concerned her, though the conversation she’d had with agents Paul and Drummond stuck with her and occasionally popped into her mind.

In fact, she’d gotten used to seeing them in their cars ‘watching’ the house from time to time.  Still, she played dumb.  She wasn’t about to cause undue stress on their marriage or their family life.

As she continued to flip the pancakes in on the flat griddle, Mason sauntered into the kitchen with Mason Jr. hoisted on his shoulders. 

“
Weeeeee!” he shouted as he whirled the boy like an airplane and then proceeded to plant him into his booster seat.

             
“Pancakes!” shouted M.J.

             
“Ready for breakfast?” Jennifer asked, placing the brunch
fixins
on the table.

             
“I can’t stay…” Mason said.

             
“What?” Jennifer questioned. “You’re going somewhere?”

             
“Only for a bit.” he affirmed. “Gotta do some work at the bar. Be back in a couple
             
of hours.”

             
“Do you want me to pack you something to eat?”

             
“Nah…coffee’s fine.  Sorry for the short notice, beautiful.”

             
“Hope everything’s okay…” she said.

             
“Fine.  Just work, ya know.”

Chelsea continued to pour syrup on the pancakes as Mason kissed M.J. good-bye, practically shunning her in the process.

             
“Bye Daddy.” she said with a sticky wave.

             
“See ya., kiddo.” he tussled her hair a bit and then left the kitchen.

Jennifer ran after him quickly to give him a kiss good-bye, but he barely acknowledged her as he stepped outside the door, practically shutting it in her face. She was hurt, as it seemed he barely noticed her any longer.  He’d been so attentive when she was pregnant with Mason, and until lately had been a devoted husband and father, but something was keeping him distracted these days.

As she watched his car back out of the driveway, she spotted the two agents sitting in their SUV.  Then, as Mason drove off, Agent Paul exited the car and another agent left the back seat and joined Drummond in the front. Then together, they drove away, following Mason no doubt.

             
Paul walked back up to the house. 

             
“Hello again.” he said.

             
“You're here to convince me that Mason’s a murderer, aren’t you?”

             
“We are locking in on him, but we still haven’t got concrete evidence just yet. 

             
We just had two eye witnesses go missing again.  I wondered if you’d recognize
             
them.”

             
“Doubt it, but okay…”

             
Then, Agent Paul proceeded to pull the pictures from his folder.  “Recognize
             
these men?”

             
Jennifer took the pictures and began to flip through the various shots.  “That’s
             
Gary, Mason’s cook.  He’s missing?”

             
“Yes, and so is Amber Swartz.”

             
“The waitress?”

             
“Yes, neither has been seen in almost a week.”

             
“Maybe they quit…”

             
“They haven’t been to their homes either.  The last person to see them was James
             
Coleman, and he turned up dead this morning.”

             
“James!” she gasped. “James is Mason’s accountant!”

             
“Yes, I know.”

             
“But this doesn’t make sense.  It’s a bar.  Not a gang…”

             
“Just a front dear, just a front.  The
illegals
happen down the street at 2451 Walnut Court. We’ve got surveillance photos of Mason entering the house, but we haven’t been able to link him to anything specific. We just know that a lot of people have been turning up dead or missing lately, and well… at the bottom of these reports is Mason’s name, as you can see.”

             
“Listen, I know it seems like you have a case against my husband, but Mason is not a murderer. He’s a great husband and father!”

             
“Ma’am, you could be in danger. If he suspects for a moment that you are a risk, then he will kill you, or make you vanish, just the same as he did all the others. Nothing will stand in this man's way, I can assure you.”

Jennifer gulped. She couldn’t deny there was damning evidence all around Mason, but her mind said they were wrong to point the finger at her husband. “I appreciate that you must be frustrated, Agent Paul. I’m surprised Mason didn’t tell me that his workers were missing, but I do know he was going there to fix something this morning.  Maybe if you talk to him…”

             
“He doesn’t talk to us.  He Just mocks our advances.”

             
“Look, I’m sorry, I just can’t…”

             
“Do you still have my card?”

             
“Yes.”

             
“If anything changes, please call me!”

             
“Fine. But don’t expect me to. Mason’s innocent!”
             

             
“Just be careful, okay?”

Jennifer agreed and watched as Agent Steven Paul walked to the end of the driveway and got into a second unmarked vehicle. He was handsome and kind, but he had to be a fool to think that Mason could be a murderer.

The thoughts ran through her mind like wild horses and it was more than she could deal with, so she made arrangements for Helga to take the children for a few hours.  Then, after dropping them off at the old apartment, she made her way to Mason's bar. 

Given that it was still early, the place was locked, but she knew the back way in. She didn't want to disturb Mason by knocking, so she headed around the side of the building toward the rear.  As she began to approach the back door, she could hear voices coming from the office window. At first she thought nothing of the voices, but when she heard Mason say, “Where’s the money, Gary...?” things changed.