Page 55 of Every Breath

A chill went down Mason’s spine. “Karen? She told him all this? Has he had contact with Ben? Why didn’t you tell me?” He paced in an angry circle. “As a matter of fact, where the hell have you been? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“Are you okay, sir?” A little old lady walking her dog stopped to stare at him as though he had two heads.

Mason realized it probably appeared as though he were talking to himself. He heard Paul’s soft chuckle. If his friend weren’t already a spirit, he would have choked him.

“I’m fine, ma’am. Thanks for asking.”

Her little terrier barked in Paul’s direction. “Rex, behave yourself. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Well, if you keep talking to yourself, young man, people will start to wonder. Come, Rex!” She pulled the little dog along with her as it continued barking.

“Paul, if you were flesh, I’d strangle you.”

“But I’m not.” Paul smiled.

“Some guardian angel you’ve turned out to be,” Mason muttered.

“Would you rather go this alone?”

“I’ve been alone for the past few weeks. What would be the difference?” He sighed. “Tell me how Rodney has wormed his way into Karen’s life.”

“Take it easy. He was using her for information, nothing more. Now that she’s no longer useful to him, you needn’t worry, and, no, he never came into contact with Ben.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I had a few other things to take care of.”

“I thought you were supposed to be helping me.”

“I have been helping you.”

“How?”

“Rodney has been keeping tabs on Tina Reed since the night of your murder. The poor child has hardly said a word since that night.”

Mason had an awful suspicion that something bad happened. “Dammit, what did he do?”

Paul shook his head, almost as if he couldn’t believe what happened.

“Rodney went to see the Thornton’s because they told him that she was getting better. He was afraid Tina might have said something to them. They were all sleeping when he broke in and torched their house.”

“Shit!”

“The Thornton’s got out, but their house didn’t make it. Rodney had doused the house with gasoline, so the house lit up like a match. They tried to get to Tina, but the fire was already out of control.”

“That monster! He got Tina?”

“That was the plan, but Tina didn’t die.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“The kid was trapped, and I, uh, guided her out of the house.”

Mason closed his eyes in relief. “So she’s okay then,” he said hopefully before he caught the look in his friend’s eyes.

“Unfortunately, the only escape route was through the window; although I cushioned her fall, she fractured a couple of bones, but it could have been a lot worse. Right now, she’s in a light coma.”

“But if you hadn’t helped her, she could have died.”

“I know. Peter wasn’t happy about my meddling, but I couldn’t let her die. It wasn’t her time and she’s the only one other than you who knows what happened that night.”

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