Page 49 of Coming Home

“Gus, come look at this.”

He came and listened as she walked him through the design. When she finished, she saw the huge grin on his face.

“That’ll be the best damn wedding cake ever, Ainsley,” he declared. “You’ll need to put it on the website.”

She often replaced photos on the bakery’s website, updating it regularly to showcase what new items she tried.

“I hope I can pull it off,” she said.

“Have faith in yourself,” Gus told her. “You’ll do it.”

Ainsley couldn’t wait to show her sketches to Jackson.

CHAPTER 17

Gerard McGreer looked into the mirror and saw his transformation was finally complete.

He had become Anthony Abbott.

He had done exactly what his attorney had told him to do. The day Gerard was found not guilty, he had filed the petition online to have his name legally changed. His second move had been to Google L.A.’s top plastic surgeons. Cost didn’t matter. He had made plenty of money on the dark web, as well as slowly and methodically taking small amounts from numerous accounts from places he had worked over the years. It was done on a rotating system so that it would escape notice. He had shut down all of that once he had been indicted by the grand jury for rape and murder, not wanting any of his extracurricular activities discovered while he was awaiting trial.

Still, he had oodles of money in numerous offshore accounts, as well as stashes of cryptocurrency under various names. That meant he could book the best plastics man available. He had been told when he called Dr. Knott’s office that there were no openings for consultations for three months, time he wasn’t willing to waste. The brief time of his incarceration had taught him to live to the fullest every possible moment.

He politely asked to be placed on Dr. Knott’s waiting list in case an opening occurred, while scheduling an appointment for the beginning of May. The receptionist told him he would be notified by the scheduling department if anything did open up.

Once he hung up, he immediately hacked into the plastic surgeon’s practice. The first thing he did was move himself to the top of the waiting list. The second thing was to check the next day’s schedule to see who had consultations with Dr. Knott.

He discovered it was a surgery-only day, as was the next one, which worked to Gerard’s benefit because it gave him two days to create an opening in the schedule. He selected the name of the first appointment and then researched everything he could about Timothy Thompson, who held the slot. By the end of the day, he knew more about Timothy than the man’s family or employer ever did. It was a piece of cake to break into Timothy’s house. His alarm system was a simple one, and Timothy slept in a separate room from his wife, due to his excessive snoring. Mrs. Thompson had complained about it enough on social media, citing her husband’s upcoming surgery with the renowned Dr. Knott to have the problem repaired, including a new nose job.

The couple, in their late forties and childless, did have carbon monoxide detectors, but he removed the batteries from them. Many people were careless when it came to smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, forgetting to replace the batteries yearly, or neglecting to put any in altogether. He did the same for the smoke detectors and would let the authorities think whatever they would of that.

He checked each bedroom and found both occupants asleep. Since carbon dioxide was odorless, colorless, and tasteless—and the pair was asleep—they most likely would not know what hit them. Even if they did awaken, they would be disoriented, with a pounding headache, nausea, and an accelerated heart rate. They wouldn’t be thinking clearly enough to know to get out of the house. Before he started a fire in the fireplace, though, he slipped into each bedroom, making certain both Thompsons were asleep and their doors open. The accountant’s snores were so loud that Timothy could sleep through an L.A. earthquake with ease—along with his imminent death.

It only took a few moments to photograph his subject. Timothy was the true kill. His wife was merely collateral damage, and so Gerard wouldn’t photograph her. He enjoyed looking at pictures of his various victims. Usually, he took them before, during, and after death occurred. This time, though, he couldn’t expose himself to the carbon monoxide and would have to make do with photos of the sleeping Timothy before he succumbed to the poisoned air. With Timothy being asthmatic, he would be even more susceptible to the carbon monoxide being released into the air.

Returning to the den and its wood-burning fireplace, he closed the flue and started a fire. Chances of carbon monoxide poisoning were much higher with a wood-burning fireplace, which he had seen on social media posts. He shook his head, thinking how much of people’s lives had become open books, thanks to various outlets where people posted regularly. It had saved him time, knowing he could easily bring about their deaths using their own fireplace against them.

The fire burned cheerfully in the grate as the smoke started backing up into the room. He quietly slipped from the house, his first kill since his trial almost textbook in nature.

The deaths of the couple were featured on the noon news the next day.

The morning after the deaths were reported, he gladly took the call from the person who scheduled Dr. Knott’s appointments, telling him of an opening at eight-thirty tomorrow for his consultation. Gerard eagerly accepted it and met with the plastic surgeon the next day.

He had been honest with the doctor, telling Dr. Knott that he had been unjustly accused of a horrendous crime and how it had ruined his life, complaining how he would never be able to work again because employers would Google his name and read about the trial, which had been splashed across headlines across the country and displayed prominently on every Internet news site. He did tell Dr. Knott how he had already petitioned to have his name changed, which was the first step in separating himself from the crime, but that he also required a new look. He fed into the plastic surgeon’s ego, telling Knott he was the only person who could help save Gerard’s life by creating a new face for him.

Fortunately, Dr. Knott told him only a few adjustments would be necessary to give him an entirely new look. Digital photographs were taken of his current face, with particular attention paid to the nose area. Knott used computer software in order to manipulate the photographs, giving Gerard a better idea of the results. The surgeon walked him through rhinoplasty and how he would alter Gerard’s nose. They also agreed to chin surgery, in order to balance his profile. The surgeon assured him this would give him an entirely different look.

He had decided he would merely shave his head since he was prematurely balding, but Dr. Knott asked him about hair implants, which appealed to Gerard’s vanity. They required little effort on the surgeon’s part, and it would allow him to keep a headful of hair. He readily agreed to everything the physician mentioned and impressed upon Dr. Knott how he wanted these changes done as soon as possible. He told the doctor he could change his patient’s life—literally save it—if he operated on him as soon as possible.

Having already done a deep dive into Knott, he had a suspicion of what might follow next. Gerald offered to double the surgeon’s fees if Knott agreed to operate immediately. He hoped he wouldn’t have to kill again to get moved up on the good doctor’s operating schedule. While he enjoyed killing, he didn’t want to waste precious time doing so, because it would have to be a fast kill. He preferred savoring them. Timothy Thompson had been a necessary exception.

Dr. Knott readily agreed to move Gerald to the front of the line—at triple the usual fees.

He took a few moments to pretend to consider it and then agreed, thinking the man greedy. Gerard decided to let Dr. Knott operate and handle the follow-up appointments. Then he would eliminate him, as well as remove all records of Gerard having been a patient of the plastic surgeon.

Over the next three months, he had the surgery and gradually healed. The first few days he experienced the slight bleeding and drainage of mucus and old blood. Dr. Knott had not only packed his nose internally for a week, but he had also taped Gerard’s nose with a splint for protection and further support. His swelling had been less than most, according to his physician.

Other things had moved smoothly, as if Fate reached out and kissed him. Despite Jackson Martin’s warning of a crowded docket, the court had ruled within six weeks to grant Gerard’s name change to Anthony Abbott, and he had placed the appropriate notices in the obscure newspapers recommended by the court clerk. He had been worried that some eagle-eyed reporter would see these notices in the major daily newspapers, which is why he had been upset upon learning of the publication part of the process and how the notices had to appear for four weeks in a row.

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