Read Online Walk in Darkness - A Thriller (Jon Stanton Mysteries) by Victor Methos - Free Book Online
Authors: Victor Methos
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Just need a couple of hours.”
He shook his head. “People think I’m the crazy one but I think you’ve got some serious issues.”
“Hey,” he shouted as Childs walked out into the hall, “what happened to the receptionist?”
“Fired her. Process server paid her fifty bucks and she told him where you were.”
Stanton rose and shut his door before turning back to the files. He opened Sarah Henroid’s file and a disk dropped out. He held it in his fingers a moment before popping it into his computer. His media player came on and the shot opened to the interior of a house. They were in the kitchen and he could hear laughter. The camera turned to the right and caught a glimpse of a woman in a striped shirt and jeans, setting a table. There were balloons and ribbons up around her. Behind her was a banner that read, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH. Stanton counted the candles on the cake; there were ten.
A young girl came into view and the family began to cheer. She waved to the camera as the voice behind it, her father’s, asked what she wanted for her birthday.
“A baby sister.”
The father turned to the wife and said, “Maybe we should get working on that tonight, honey?”
“Jack,” she said, turning red.
He laughed and she shook her head and continued setting the table as several other children came in from the living room.
Stanton turned it off. He felt embarrassed for them. Embarrassed that such a tender moment had to be shared with him, in this place at this time. He waited five more minutes and then flipped it back on.
Sarah took her place as the guest of honor in front of the cake, a wide grin over her face. Jack led them all from behind the camera in singing happy birthday and she blew out the candles in one blow. The mother began cutting up the cake and asked for Jack’s help. The video ended and turned to a blue screen with numbers on it. Stanton took it out and slipped it back into its jacket and placed it in the file.
I’m so sorry.
Stanton spent the day on the beach, lying around. He read for a while, James Joyce’s Ulysses , and then ate a meal of tacos and a diet coke at a roach coach that had parked near the beach. His back ached and burned and he tried to go into the water to cool it off but it didn’t help. Instead he went back to his apartment and took some of his pain meds and fell asleep on the balcony.
I t was nearly four in the afternoon when he woke. He showered and dressed and headed out the door to his car.
The Fillmore Elementary parking lot was full when he came to a stop in between two rows of cars. He listened to Bach on his CD player a while until someone came out of the school and pulled out. He parked and got out.
The day was hot and bright and he put on his sunglasses. The elementary school had already let out but crowds of people were gathered on the soccer field. Two teams of young girls were battling on the field, the coaches on either side of the grass shouting instructions.
Stanton saw that one of the coaches was male and wearing the blue and gold colors of the home team. He walked over to him and stood quietly by as the coach finished explaining what he wanted done in the next few minutes to some of the players waiting to go in.
He saw Stanton, and his face turned white.
“I’m sorry about popping in like this, Doug.”
“I saw the news. You should’ve called me first. I don’t think I should’ve heard it like that.”
“I’m sorry. The past couple weeks have been a blur.”
“I’m glad you got him and that he’s gone. Truth be told though I wanted to be there when they executed him. To look in his eyes and tell him I’ll see him in hell and that we’d finish it there. But I’m glad it ended the way it did too.”
Stanton looked out over the field, watching the girls as they ran to one end of the field before a player from the visiting team stole the ball and tripped a young girl with the name TAPIAS emblazoned on her jersey. The
He shook his head. “People think I’m the crazy one but I think you’ve got some serious issues.”
“Hey,” he shouted as Childs walked out into the hall, “what happened to the receptionist?”
“Fired her. Process server paid her fifty bucks and she told him where you were.”
Stanton rose and shut his door before turning back to the files. He opened Sarah Henroid’s file and a disk dropped out. He held it in his fingers a moment before popping it into his computer. His media player came on and the shot opened to the interior of a house. They were in the kitchen and he could hear laughter. The camera turned to the right and caught a glimpse of a woman in a striped shirt and jeans, setting a table. There were balloons and ribbons up around her. Behind her was a banner that read, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH. Stanton counted the candles on the cake; there were ten.
A young girl came into view and the family began to cheer. She waved to the camera as the voice behind it, her father’s, asked what she wanted for her birthday.
“A baby sister.”
The father turned to the wife and said, “Maybe we should get working on that tonight, honey?”
“Jack,” she said, turning red.
He laughed and she shook her head and continued setting the table as several other children came in from the living room.
Stanton turned it off. He felt embarrassed for them. Embarrassed that such a tender moment had to be shared with him, in this place at this time. He waited five more minutes and then flipped it back on.
Sarah took her place as the guest of honor in front of the cake, a wide grin over her face. Jack led them all from behind the camera in singing happy birthday and she blew out the candles in one blow. The mother began cutting up the cake and asked for Jack’s help. The video ended and turned to a blue screen with numbers on it. Stanton took it out and slipped it back into its jacket and placed it in the file.
I’m so sorry.
Stanton spent the day on the beach, lying around. He read for a while, James Joyce’s Ulysses , and then ate a meal of tacos and a diet coke at a roach coach that had parked near the beach. His back ached and burned and he tried to go into the water to cool it off but it didn’t help. Instead he went back to his apartment and took some of his pain meds and fell asleep on the balcony.
I t was nearly four in the afternoon when he woke. He showered and dressed and headed out the door to his car.
The Fillmore Elementary parking lot was full when he came to a stop in between two rows of cars. He listened to Bach on his CD player a while until someone came out of the school and pulled out. He parked and got out.
The day was hot and bright and he put on his sunglasses. The elementary school had already let out but crowds of people were gathered on the soccer field. Two teams of young girls were battling on the field, the coaches on either side of the grass shouting instructions.
Stanton saw that one of the coaches was male and wearing the blue and gold colors of the home team. He walked over to him and stood quietly by as the coach finished explaining what he wanted done in the next few minutes to some of the players waiting to go in.
He saw Stanton, and his face turned white.
“I’m sorry about popping in like this, Doug.”
“I saw the news. You should’ve called me first. I don’t think I should’ve heard it like that.”
“I’m sorry. The past couple weeks have been a blur.”
“I’m glad you got him and that he’s gone. Truth be told though I wanted to be there when they executed him. To look in his eyes and tell him I’ll see him in hell and that we’d finish it there. But I’m glad it ended the way it did too.”
Stanton looked out over the field, watching the girls as they ran to one end of the field before a player from the visiting team stole the ball and tripped a young girl with the name TAPIAS emblazoned on her jersey. The
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