Page 32 of Mason

One has thick, sausage-like fingers, the kind you’d expect to belong to a butcher or a man who kneads dough for a living. The other has a perpetually hunched posture, as if he’s been carrying the weight of too many secrets on his back.

They look like they could be professors. Maybe pharmacists. Maybe two kindly grandfathers out for a midnight stroll.

But they aren’t.

And something about their entire demeanor makes my skin crawl.

Mason doesn’t even blink at their arrival. He steps aside, barely acknowledging them as they walk through the open door and immediately assess the situation.

They don’t flinch at the sight of David’s body.

They don’tneedto.

They’ve seen death before. Probably more times than I want to imagine.

One of them crouches beside David’s corpse, pulling on a pair of latex gloves with practiced ease, while the other begins unpacking a collection of tools from his bag.

Not just cleaning supplies.

Scalpels. Bone saws. Plastic tarps.

I feel my stomach turn.

“We should leave the house for a while,” Mason says, his voice calm, casual—like he’s asking me if I want to step outside for a cigarette.

My head snaps toward him, eyes wide.

“Why?”

It’s a stupid question.

I already knowwhy.

I just need to hear him say it.

His gaze flickers to me, then down to David’s body, and despite the sheer madness of the situation, I can’t help the way my eyes follow his.

David is still lying there, frozen in death, a dark pool of blood seeping from the wound in his forehead, staining the carpet beneath him.

His presence is wrong.Allof this is wrong.

Mason’s jaw tightens. He steps closer, his voice dropping just low enough that only I can hear him.

“Because you don’t need to see this.”

There’s something in his tone—something final.

My stomach knots.

I swallow hard, forcing myself to meet his gaze.What happens if I stay? What happens if I watch?

The answer is obvious.

If I stay, I will see something I can’tunsee.

Something worse than murder.

Mason must see the hesitation in my eyes because he exhales slowly, stepping closer, lowering his voice further.

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