Page 45 of Absent Feeling

“Whywould he point to his own identity like that?” Simon asked.

“Maybehe feels wronged by having been locked up?” Amber suggested. “Maybe he seesthat room as the source of all that’s wrong in his life. Either way, we need tofind an address for him.”

“Checkingit now,” Simon said. There was the sound of typing in the background. “215Eastward Street is the address the DMV has for him.”

“Thenthat’s where we need to go,” Amber said.

Shetried not to think about how many other medical staff and others might havebeen to that room, how many he might already be stalking. They had to get tohim before that.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Gideonwas back outside Dr. Eamon Sutton’s house, waiting in the hiding spot he’dpicked out, watching as the street grew darker. Night was falling, and soon, itwould be time for him to act.

Gideonhad to hold himself back from doing it now, from rushing in there and killingDr. Sutton straight away. He had to control himself, but he’d had years ofpractice controlling himself, not letting people see the anger that lay insidehim.

Thathad been what finally got him out of the Guisborough Wellness Institute, inspite of the best efforts of the doctors to hold him there forever. They hadlied and hurt him, done everything they could to pretend that he was some kindof danger.

Rightfrom the start of it all, they’d made him look mad. Dr. Banks had been the oneto administer the Rorschach test to him, andof course,Gideon hadreacted to that because it had been so similar to his sister’s blood, spillingover the floor, over his hands. Anyone would have been disturbed by it.

Hissister had been trying to hurt him, lying about him, plotting to kill him. He’dtried to explain it to them, tried to explain that it was all her fault thathe’d been forced to stab her, but they hadn’t believed him. They’d called him mad.

They’dlocked him away.

Gideonfelt his hand tighten on the handle of the knife he’d brought with him at thethought of being turned into a prisoner at the whim of a doctor. He’d wanted tokill Dr. Banks for that. He’d been so angry that the doctor had died beforeGideon was even released that when he’d gone to the man’s home, he’d been leftconfronting his wife instead. Gideon had known, though, that she was at leastas responsible as Banks was. He’d understood then that Constance Banks had beenwhispering in her husband’s ear, that she was at least as responsible as he wasfor what had happened to Gideon. She’d deserved to die too.

Gideonwatched the house now. Dr. Sutton was in there, moving around, the lightsstarting to show where he was in the house as he made dinner and ate it infront of the TV. It was possible, of course, that he would leave the house togo see friends or just to go get groceries. If he did that, would Gideon wait?

No,Gideon decided, he wouldn’t. He would meet Dr. Sutton at the door, push himback inside the house and give him the justice that he deserved.

Noone deserved to die more than Eamon Sutton did. The man had been the cruelestof all his doctors. He had prescribed drugs that Gideon didn’t need, turninghim into a kind of zombie. He had made up infractions against the institution’srules, so that Gideon was punished. He had struck Gideon when he thought no onewas watching, confident that there would never be an answer to the cruelty.

Tonight,there would be.

Gideonhad suffered for almost twenty years in the room they’d stuck him in in theWellness Institute. He’d been stuck in it, and even when they released him, hefound that he couldn’t let go of it. He got the feeling that they’d onlyreleased him because no one could really remember why he was even in thereanymore.

Gideontook out the Rorschach card he’d made for tonight, turning it over in hishands. It was identical to the others, encapsulating the wrong that had beendone to him beginning with one Rorschach test, showing the place where he’dbeen trapped for all those years, demanding justice. It echoed his sister’sblood, asking why Gideon had been locked away for that when he’d had no choice.

He'dhad no choice, just as he had no choice tonight. Dr. Eamon Sutton had to payfor what he’d done, for the monster that he’d been for all those years. No onewould cry for him when he was gone. Any of his patients who heard about hisdeath would rejoice. Gideon certainly would.

Gideonlooked up at the sky, willing it to get darker faster. He wanted to do this somuch now that he could barely bring himself to wait. Only the fact that he’dplanned this out step by step held him in place, hiding among the trees alittle way from the house. He could wait; he could be patient. Soon, it wouldbe fully dark.

Andthen Eamon Sutton would pay for everything he’d done.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Amberraced through the traffic of Guisborough, weaving in and out, trying desperatelyto get to Gideon Adams’s house before he had a chance to hurt anyone else. Itfelt as though she was racing against the growing darkness, trying to get tothe house before it was dark enough to allow Gideon to kill with impunity.

Thedriving was both terrifying and exhilarating, trying to move fast enough to getthere before Gideon could kill anyone else, while also all too aware of thepotential to crash if Amber got even the slightest thing wrong. She’d passedthe driving requirements of her course at Quantico, but there was a bigdifference between passing a test and putting it all into practice. Amber couldsee the lights of the cars coming towards her and tried to time each move shemade, avoiding the other cars on the road without ever slowing down.

Thestreet where Gideon Adams lived was just ahead. Amber took the turn into it, thenforced herself to slow. If he was still at home, then she couldn’t riskalarming him by skidding to a halt right outside his place. She found a spot topark instead, leaving the car behind, and continuing forward on foot as shechecked the addresses on either side.

Finally,Amber found the house that she was looking for. It looked rundown, as if it hadbarely been touched for more than a decade and had only recently begun to haverepairs made on it. Amber realized with a start that this house must have satempty for all the time that Gideon Adams had been incarcerated, and that thiswas the same house in which he had stabbed his sister all those years before.

Thatthought made Amber hesitate because it was a reminder of just how dangerous thisman that she might be approaching was. This was a man who hadn’t hesitated tokill his own sister and who had killed at least three other people since hisrelease. Amber wasn’t even armed.

Evenso, she kept as close to the house as she dared, watching it for any sign ofmovement. It seemed quiet, but it was impossible to say for sure whether Gideonwas in there. Amber started to creep closer, trying to get a better view.

Evenas she did it, she saw Simon pull up. He came out of the car with a handalready on his gun, ready for any potential danger. Amber waved him over, andhe approached, looking as if he was expecting Gideon to come bursting out atany moment, a weapon in his hand.

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