Linwood Barclay - Parting Shot

Albert shook his head.

“I don’t think so. Now, I don’t want you having a fit about what I’m about to say, but—”

“Good God, what’s happened?” Constance asked.

“They don’t know where he is.”

Constance, wide-eyed, said, “They’ve lost Brian?”

“No, it’s not that. It looks like he left.”

Monica said, “Oh, shit.”

Constance said, “You let him walk out of here?”

“I didn’t let him walk out. When I came back, he was gone.”

“We only left him for a minute,” Constance said. “He must have walked right past you.” She looked at the ceiling. “This is unbelievable. While you’re here, you should have your eyes checked.”

“Maybe,” Monica said, “he went outside for some fresh air. Maybe he took a walk around the block.”

“I’ve looked,” Albert said. “I’ve looked all over. I think he just walked out.”

“You’re hopeless,” Constance said.

“He can’t have gotten far,” Albert said, trying to put the best face on things. “He doesn’t have a car, he’s got no money. Unless he managed to call a friend to come and get him, he must have left on foot.”

“We should split up,” Monica said. “Let’s go home first. We’ll each take a car and see if we can find him. And who knows, maybe that’s where he is.”

“At least someone is thinking,” Constance said.

They got in the car and went back to the house. Constance ran inside, hoping her son would be there, but he was not.

Monica said she would get in her Beetle and search the streets around the hospital. Constance would check Brian’s apartment and Knight’s. That left the car detailing shop to be checked by Albert.

Ten minutes later, he was there. He parked and ran inside. They knew him here. This was, not surprisingly, where he brought his pickup to have it washed. Whenever Brian was on duty, he’d hit the hot wax button without charging his dad for it.

When he entered the office, a heavyset man behind the cash looked up and said, “Hey! Where the hell’s Brian been? I’ve been calling him for two days!”

“Hi, Len,” said Albert. “Brian’s in the hospital. Well, he’s supposed to be in the hospital, but—”

“Oh, shit, no, what happened?”

Albert shook his head, a “don’t have time” gesture. “Have you seen him? I mean, in the last hour?”

“Nope. I’d just about given up on him. Figured he didn’t want the job. I didn’t know he’d got hurt or anything.”

“If he comes in, will you call me?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Len handed Albert a used envelope so he could scribble his cell number on the back. Once he’d done that, he turned around and went back to his truck.

He debated calling his wife and daughter to see if they’d had any better luck than he’d had. But he knew Monica would call him if she found Brian. And if Constance found him, she’d probably tell Monica, who’d pass the news on to her father.

Two blocks from the detailing place, Albert spotted him.

Brian was walking slowly along the sidewalk, his back to Albert. But he knew his son, even from behind. The boy had always had a bit of a slouch. He slowed the car as he came up alongside, powered down the window, and shouted, “Brian!”

Brian stopped, turned his head slowly, as if in a daze, then bent over slightly so he could see in through the window.

“Oh, hi, Dad,” he said.

He threw the car into park, got out, and ran over to his son. When he went to hug him, Brian raised a cautious hand.

“I’m kinda hurt,” he said. “My rib’s really sore.”

“What happened? Where did you go? You scared us all half to death.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Why’d you leave the hospital? What were you thinking? Why is there grass all over you?”

“I fell down.” He reconsidered. “I got beat up.”

“Christ, what’s happened to you?”

Brian carefully pulled up his shirt to show the bruising around his ribcage. “I sort of got kicked.”

“What? Who kicked you?”

“She’s married,” he said.

“Who’s married? Brian, start at the beginning.”

“She never told me she was married. I didn’t have any idea.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jessica.”

“Who’s Jessica?”

“Can I sit down? I’m really tired.”

“Come, get in the car.”

Albert led him to the passenger door, opened it, got him settled. He came around the other side and got back in behind the wheel.

“You hurt bad?”

“Sorta,” Brian said.

“I’m taking you back to the hospital.” He moved to put the truck into drive.

“Not... yet. Can I sit here a minute?”

Albert turned the ignition key to the off position, killing the engine. “Sure. What happened, Brian? Talk to me.”

The young man was struggling not to cry. “So I met this girl. Jessica. We went out a few times. I thought she was kind of nice.”

“Okay.”

“I was supposed to call her. But then this thing happened, and this shit got written on my back, and I lost the last two days, so I didn’t call her.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand.’

“Yeah, well...”

“What?”

“I wanted to explain to her why I didn’t call. They... they stole my cell phone and my wallet and everything, so I decided to walk to her house. I knew where she lived. But she didn’t know that.”

Albert had questions, but decided to let Brian tell the story his own way.

“A little girl answered the door. And I thought, whoa, has she got a little sister or something? And then Jessica came to the door, looking all scared shitless, you know. Telling me to go. And then this guy appears.”

“Oh oh,” Albert said.

“It was her husband.” His eyes searched his father’s. “I didn’t know. Honest. I wouldn’t go out with someone who was married.”

“I believe you.”

“You raised me better than that.”

“Sure.”

“I wanted to explain. But then Ron—”

“Ron?”

“That’s her husband. He wouldn’t let me, and then he pushed me off the front step. And then he kicked the shit out of me.”

Albert felt a hot wave of rage wash over him. “No,” he said.

“He said something like I deserved everything that happened to me. I think he knew that Jessica was seeing me. He called her a whore. I think... I think maybe she was seeing other guys, too.”

Albert was replaying in his head what the man had said to his son.

“He said you deserved everything that had happened to you?”

“Something sort of like that. I got what was coming to me, I think it was. Maybe, if he knew Jessica was foolin’ around on him, he’d been following her around. Maybe he saw us when we went to the BestBet.”

“The hotel?” Albert said. “On the highway to Albany?”

Brian looked sheepishly at his father. “Don’t be mad. I wouldn’t want Mom to know I did that. Going to a hotel with a girl without, you know, being married.”

“It’s okay,” Albert said softly, putting a hand on his son’s arm.

Brian sniffed. “I liked her. I thought maybe there was something there.” He bit his lip. “I’m such a dumbass. I should have known better. Maybe she thought I was good enough to cheat with, but really, why would anyone want to be with me for the long term?”

Albert squeezed his arm. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that.”

Brian sniffed again. He popped open the glove box with his free hand, found a tissue, and dabbed his cheek. “I’m a nothing.”

“Stop it. Stop it, Brian.” Albert paused, then said, “Tell me again about Ron, what he said and what he did. Everything you can remember.”

Brian went over all of it again.