The Perfect Son

by Freida McFadden

  “I know.” Her voice is sad. “I followed him here last night. I didn’t… I really didn’t want to believe it.”

  She looks like she’s going to cry, and I can’t blame her. As horrible as this has been for me, it will be really bad for her too. Her life will never be the same after this.

  “I think he’s going to find a way to come tonight,” she says. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Did you call the police?”

  Hannah shakes her head. “I didn’t want to call until I was sure that… Anyway, there’s no reception out here. We’ll have to make a run for it. I’ve got my bike.”

  Run for it? That isn’t going to be possible, given the state of my ankle. But first things first. I need to get out of this goddamn hole.

  “I don’t suppose you can climb out,” Hannah says.

  “My ankle is injured,” I admit. “That’s going to make it difficult.”

  She scrunches her eyebrows together. “If I give you my hand, do you think you could…?”

  I try to stand up again. My right leg is really rubbery. I make it almost to standing, then I accidentally put a tiny bit of weight on my left ankle. The pain is like white hot coals. I scream and collapse on the floor.

  “Olivia?”

  “I can’t stand up,” I gasp. “I can’t do it. You’ll have to… go get help…”

  The thought of sending Hannah away is nothing short of horrifying. It was an eternity waiting for somebody to come here, and I don’t want her to leave. But there’s no way I can climb out of this hole, even with her help. We need somebody bigger and stronger, and possibly a ladder.

  I look up at Hannah, who is frowning. “What’s wrong?” I ask her.

  “I think I hear something.”

  We’re both quiet. I hear my heart pounding in my ears, but nothing else. At first. But then I hear it.

  Rustling of leaves. Followed by footsteps. The sound of hinges creaking.

  “He’s here,” Hannah whispers.

  Oh my God. He’s here. And he’ll kill us both. Well, maybe not Hannah. Maybe he’ll let her live—she’s family. But I’m gone. At this point, I’ve clearly become a liability. It’s probably not worth it to him to watch me starve to death.

  “Hello, Hannah.” His voice fills the room above me. I cringe at the familiar sound of it. “I thought I might find you here.”

  She’s silent for a moment. When she speaks again, her voice is shaking. “Hi, Daddy.”

  Chapter 58

  Jason

  Is it finally my turn? Has Erika finished talking? Or will it go on for another hour or two?

  That’s Erika. Never shuts up. Always worried about every little thing. Obsessed. Especially about Liam. Anytime he opens his mouth, she has to analyze it to death. Half the time, I’m just staring at her, waiting for her to stop talking. Hannah is the same way. The two of them might not look alike, but they are two peas in a pod. Like mother, like daughter.

  Liam, on the other hand. Well, you can guess who he takes after.

  You’re probably wondering why I married Erika, considering she’s certainly far from my favorite person. There is no simple answer for that, but I suppose that some part of me wanted a normal life. When I first met Erika, she was beautiful. That long black hair and dark eyes. She was wearing a fitted white blouse and a skirt that left just enough to the imagination. I wanted her. And not just for that one night and then dispose of the body. I wanted her a second night, which turned into a third, and then a year.

  And for the first time, I could imagine a normal life for myself. Well, as normal as I was capable of. A wife—a family. It didn’t seem like a bad idea, and before I really thought it through, Erika and I were getting married. In retrospect, it was a mistake. But by the time I realized that, it was too late. We already had a baby on the way.

  The easiest thing to do was stash the family away on Long Island. I work long hours. No, not really. I don’t work much at all. I come up with ideas that are great ideas and make me money without having to do much. The truth is I have a lot of free time on my hands, which I do manage to fill with various activities.

  And the best part is Erika never suspected a thing. Not even a little bit. It just goes to show how brilliant I am at acting the part. Liam, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. I suppose I can’t blame him. I was equally careless when I was his age. My parents were not as understanding as Erika and I have been either. My mother was a deeply religious Catholic, and she believed I was punishment for one of her past sins.

  My mother was terrified of me. It probably had something to do with me murdering her cat when I was five. She loved that cat, for reasons I could never understand. It was a cat, after all. It didn’t have real emotions, although it did struggle quite a bit when I held that pillow over its head until it stopped moving. That was part of the fun.

  Erika took Liam to a shrink, but my parents had different ways of dealing with me. After I killed that cat, my mother locked me in the closet under the staircase. She left me there for six hours and ignored me when I banged my fists on the doors and screamed until my voice was hoarse. It didn’t “cure” me. After the next incident, my father beat me with his belt until I cried. Back in those days, nobody at school cared about the welts all over my back. Beating your kids used to be more acceptable. He did it frequently.

  And then when I was fourteen, there was that girl. Michelle. My first. I don’t remember all of their names, but you always remember your first.

  I didn’t get caught by the police. I was too smart for that. But my parents knew. They had no information that could have stood up in a court of law, but it was enough for them. Unfortunately for them, I was too big to be locked in the closet anymore—as tall as my father by then. And stronger.

  That was when my mother hired the exorcist.

  He was a priest—or at least, he had the collar. A middle-aged man with a round, red face. They surprised me when I came home from school one day, and my father, the priest, and his assistant worked together to hold me down and tie me to my bed while they drew the shades. For hours, they shouted prayers in my face and threw holy water at me. The priest demanded I repeat the prayers, and for the first hour, I refused.

  By the second hour, I was willing to say whatever he wanted to let me go free.

  When they finally untied me from that bed, I was the angriest I had ever been in my entire life. There were bruises on my wrists where I had been bound to the bed, and I was soaked in a combination of holy water and my own sweat. I wanted to lunge at that priest and scratch his eyes out, but I was outnumbered. I had to wait.

  That night, I removed the batteries from the smoke detectors in the house. I turned on the gas stove. That night, my parents unfortunately died in a tragic fire that their only son managed to survive. I told Erika my mother died of cancer and my father had a heart attack, but there was really no way for her to know that was a lie.

  And that priest—well, he was mugged a few days later in a dark alley. Poor guy—the police report indicated he suffered quite a bit in the hour before his throat was finally slashed.

  After I buried my parents, I went to live with my grandmother. Nana was eighty years old, demented and half blind. She couldn’t care less what I did with myself. We got along very well.

  Everybody says Liam is a smart kid, but he’s not as smart as me. I made two million dollars selling my first startup company when I was only twenty-five. No college diploma. Just brains. I made a lot more on the second one. So I’ve got plenty of money. Money that Erika has no idea about. She worries about the income from her stupid little newspaper job, and it’s hard not to laugh.

  Yes, I could do without the family. But it’s not so bad. I take a lot of business trips, when I get to have some fun, then I go back home before the police arrive. I’m much more careful when I’m near home. That girl sharing the hole with Olivia was named Hallie Barton—that’s what her driver’s license said. She ran away from home becau
se her mother was a drunk and her stepfather beat her up, and she was hitchhiking when I picked her up. Don’t these young girls know how dangerous it is to hitchhike? I mean, look what happened to Hallie.

  In any case, nobody is looking for Hallie.

  I could have been happy this way my whole life. I could’ve continued doing my own activities on the side, and nobody would have been the wiser. But then there was Liam.

  He did stupid things to attract attention. What was he thinking, duct-taping that girl in the closet? I know he was only five, but it made me sick when I heard about it. They threw him out of the school. And Erika later ended up taking him to a shrink. As many times as I told her that it wasn’t a big deal, she knew it was.

  Liam was a reflection on me. And I knew it was just a matter of time before people figured it out. Before Erika realized Liam didn’t get his personality from her loser, jailbird father.

  Years ago, I saw Liam skulking around the house of that English teacher of his. I had gone to parent-teacher night that year, and I could tell the guy hated Liam. Saw right through him the way my parents saw through me. And now Liam was going to do something stupid and obvious, and probably get himself in just enough trouble that Erika would want to take him back to a shrink.

  So I gave Liam a hand. Broke the radiator to cause the leak in a carbon monoxide. I shorted out the detector. Liam never would have been clever enough to do it himself. They were supposed to be dead by morning. A neighbor would have noticed Liam sneaking around the house, and he would’ve taken the fall. But the teacher didn’t even die, and the police were too incompetent to arrest my son. So that was a bust.

  And now this opportunity came up.

  Sometimes I do listen to Hannah when she babbles on. She mentioned this girl that Liam liked, Olivia Mercer. I wonder if he really likes women or if he’s like me. I am attracted to women, but only in the most superficial way—as a sexual release, nothing more. I wonder if Liam is the same. I would have said he was, but on the night he came back from seeing Olivia, he was grinning to himself like any love-struck teenager. He’s like me in many ways, but he’s also different. The way he’s close with Hannah, for example. The way he’s protective of her. I was never close with anyone that way. Even Erika.

  Although there was a time when I liked Erika quite a bit. Maybe even loved her. I don’t know.

  On the night Liam snuck out to see Olivia, I knew this was my chance. Especially when I saw him pull back into the driveway in Erika’s Toyota. I sent him to bed, then went out myself, following the directions in the GPS. I had been wondering how I would get Olivia to come back downstairs, but it turned out she was already on her porch. Looking up at the stars. Probably fantasizing about my son.

  She recognized me when I waved to her and came over to the car. She flashed me a big smile. I should have lost that extra weight years ago, because it makes a big difference with women. Women trust you more if you’re good looking. Of course, Liam takes after his mother and is more attractive than I could ever be. And that makes him more dangerous.

  But to be fair, I’m extremely dangerous.

  “Liam told us he was heading home,” I explained to Olivia. I pasted that worried expression on my face that I’ve noticed parents get when their children don’t come home when they’re supposed to. “But he isn’t back yet. I’m worried.”

  She frowned, like she was worried too. “Oh my God, I hope he’s okay.”

  “Do you think you could get in the car and help me look for a few minutes? It’s hard to keep an eye out when I’m driving.”

  “Of course!”

  Olivia got into the car without a second thought. I had the chloroform ready. She was out like a light. And before any nosy neighbors could realize it was me driving this time and not my son, I took off.

  Liam’s relationship with Olivia. The neighbor who saw him with her at two in the morning. The hair and blood I planted in the trunk. And then after Olivia died, I was going to make her body re-surface, because it’s harder to get a conviction when there’s no body. I had been trying to think of what else I could plant on her that would be the final nail in my son’s coffin.

  And now here is Hannah, messing everything up.

  Well, that’s what she’s trying to do. And yes, she’s messing up the original plan. The original plan was to have a little fun with Olivia and get Liam locked away for good. I didn’t have any other ambitions besides that. But now that Hannah is here, I realize this plan could be even better than I originally thought.

  Here’s what the police will discover:

  Liam kidnapped Olivia, and when Hannah discovered her brother’s plan, Liam sadly had to kill both of them. And then Erika was so distressed, she took an overdose off the Xanax she keeps in her nightstand. Except they’re not Xanax, but something much stronger than Xanax that I swapped for the Xanax several months ago.

  Or maybe Liam kills Erika as well. I haven’t decided that part yet.

  And I, of course, will play the part of the grieving widower. Who no longer has to deal with a nagging wife, a whiny daughter, and a sociopath son. It will be even easier than when I was fourteen and played the grieving son.

  It’s an excellent plan. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

  That’s the fun part.

  Chapter 59

  Olivia

  I still can’t wrap my head around it entirely. Mr. Cass. Liam’s dad. I had seen him once before when he was picking Liam up early from school, and he seemed really nice. And for a dad… well, he’s pretty hot. Really hot. He looks so athletic and muscular and has a nice smile, whereas my dad is balding and has a potbelly.

  So when he told me to get into the car, of course I did it. I was worried about Liam. And there was no reason to suspect Mr. Cass wanted to harm to me. He was Liam’s dad, after all.

  If people are wondering what happened to me, they must be blaming Liam. He’s the one I had a date with that night. I bet anything my nosy neighbor Mrs. Levy saw us kissing that night. If I never reappear, he’s the one who will get blamed. If anyone goes to jail for this, it will be Liam.

  “Dad,” Hannah says in a choked voice. “Please don’t do this.”

  Do what? Does he have a gun? A knife? I wish I could see what’s going on out there.

  “Hannah.” He speaks in that bland, calm voice that he used when he was asking me what it was like to starve to death. “Do you know what you’re doing? You’re ripping apart our family.”

  “I swear to God, don’t come any closer.”

  “Hannah. Come on. I’m your father. She’s nobody.”

  “Dad…” Hannah is sobbing now. “Please…”

  “I’m going to make this so simple for you, Hannah. She’s not getting out of here alive. There’s no chance. The only one who has a chance is you.”

  My heart is beating so quickly, my chest is starting to hurt. “Hannah,” I say. “Don’t listen to him. He’s evil.”

  “Would you like to finish her off, Hannah? I’ll pull her up and let you do it.”

  “Please, Daddy, don’t…”

  He laughs. It’s a sound I’ve come to despise over the last several days. “I’m just kidding. I know you can’t do it. You’re not like me. You’re so much like your mother, it’s disgusting.”

  I can barely make out Hannah’s face in the shadows. Her cheeks are streaked with tears.

  “I’m afraid this all has to end tonight,” Mr. Cass says. “For both of you.”

  And Hannah screams.

  Chapter 60

  Erika

  “Mom.” Liam shakes my arm, growing urgency in his voice. “Please. Just drive.”

  I have no reception out here. Every bone in my body is screaming that I should call the police. But then what? My son is here. My daughter is apparently here. Something terrible is going on, and I can’t imagine sitting here in this car and twiddling my thumbs until the cop show up.

  Liam is not going to kill me. Sometimes I’m not sure what he’s
thinking, but I know that much. He would never hurt me. And the only thing I can hear in his voice right now is fear. He’s scared of something.

  But what?

  And why on earth is Hannah’s bicycle out here? I can’t figure it out.

  So I push on, into the woods, following his directions. I drive another five minutes on this dirt path, and finally a cabin comes into view. The cabin is dilapidated—the wood is splintered and dirty, falling apart in places. The front door is hanging by only one of its hinges. It looks like it’s been abandoned for years. Except for two things:

  The dim light coming from inside.

  And the Prius parked right outside.

  I don’t know why Hannah’s bicycle is out here. But I can’t even begin to imagine why my husband’s car is parked here when he’s supposed to be at work.

  “Liam,” I say slowly. “What is going on? No more games. Tell me right now.”

  He takes a deep breath. “Dad went out last night and Hannah followed him. She said he came here— she showed me directions she wrote down. She told me she was going back tonight and I wanted to come, but she was worried I’d get in trouble if… well, if she found something really bad. But I was sitting in my room and thinking about Hannah and… I thought Dad might…”

  I stare at him. “Might what?”

  He frowns at me. “You know Dad is crazy, right?”

  I get a horrible sinking feeling in my chest, like my whole world is collapsing on itself. “What are you talking about? Your father is the most normal man I’ve ever met.”

  He snorts. “You don’t see it, I guess. I do. I always have. That’s why it scares him so much when I… well, you know. He sees himself in me. But I’m not like him. Not as much as he thinks, anyway.”

  “This is crazy,” I whisper. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “I thought you knew.” Liam blinks at me. “All those years. You didn’t even… I mean, I don’t know what he’s doing all day, but he’s not at work. I called his company once when I needed to reach him, and they told me he’s never there. You never suspected…?”