from the holster on the chair. He lifted the holster without touching the gun and placed it in one of the cupboards.
He went to his bathroom and undressed. The bathroom was the place he least liked to be. While married he would spend a lot of time there; reading ebooks or newspapers or surfing the internet on his phone. He would hear Melissa outside, trying to gather the kids together long enough to serve breakfast and get them ready for the day. When Jon Junior was young he would pound on the door and yell, “Dada, dada!”
It made Stanton uncomfortable to think of these things here. There was one moment at the end where he closed his eyes and let the hot water run over his head and down his back. The splashing in his ears drown out the rest of the world and he could imagine he was in the ocean, being carried away on a current to some unknown place.
He put on fresh undergarments—the garments bought from the LDS Church for members that had been endowed—and took out a protein shake from the fridge before sitting on the couch in the living room.
He flipped on the tv and began going through the channels. There was nothing on except crime shows and reality television. One show was about the wives of criminals exploiting their husband’s notoriety for profit and he watched it a moment before changing the channel. There were over two hundred channels and he couldn’t remember why he had gotten that many since he was almost never home.
His cell phone buzzed and he answer it. The ID said San Diego Police .
“ Hello?”
“ Jon? It’s Jessica … Turner.”
“ Oh, hey.”
“ I just heard from Tommy that you went to visit our mutual friend. I just wanted to know how it went I guess. Or, just to call and check on you. I don’t know … I guess I don’t really know why I called.”
“ It’s okay. I’m glad you called. I wanted to apologize for not getting together for dinner with you yet.”
“ That’s okay. I was married to a cop once.”
“ Really? I didn’t know that.”
“ No, I don’t really like to talk about it. He wasn’t much of a guy. But I was eighteen and really wanted to get out of my house. At least he did that for me before I left.”
“ How’s your case panning out?”
“ Talked to at least ten people today. No one saw or heard anything and they refuse to cooperate with me. What the hell is wrong with these people?”
“ There was a woman in New York once that was stabbed nearly forty times in daylight. There were over thirty witnesses watching from their windows, but not a single one called the police. A couple of psychologists interviewed all of them and it turned out they weren’t evil, they just all assumed someone else was calling the police. If there had only been one witness, he likely would have called.”
“ You think that’s it? They think someone else will help me?”
“ I don’t know, maybe. Mostly people just don’t want to get involved.”
“ It’s funny though cause I don’t remember that when I was a kid. All the neighbors looked after all the kids so we could play at night. I went back through my old neighborhood once and I didn’t see any kids playing at night anymore.”
“ No, I think parents would have to not care to let them out at night.”
She hesitated and then said, “Um, so do you want to get dinner tomorrow? I’m free.”
“ Sure.”
“ Sorry,” she said, chuckling to herself.
“ It’s okay.”
“ No, it’s just, I just moved down here and I know it’s only like two hours from where I used to live but it feels like I moved to a new state.”
“ I know. It’s okay. I would love to have dinner with you tomorrow.”
“ Okay. You pick the place.”
“ No problem.”
“ Okay, good night.”
“ Night.”
Stanton hung up. He turned the tv off and went and lay down in bed. He stayed up another hour before dozing off, an image of a young blond girl in a University of Iowa sweatshirt burned into his
He went to his bathroom and undressed. The bathroom was the place he least liked to be. While married he would spend a lot of time there; reading ebooks or newspapers or surfing the internet on his phone. He would hear Melissa outside, trying to gather the kids together long enough to serve breakfast and get them ready for the day. When Jon Junior was young he would pound on the door and yell, “Dada, dada!”
It made Stanton uncomfortable to think of these things here. There was one moment at the end where he closed his eyes and let the hot water run over his head and down his back. The splashing in his ears drown out the rest of the world and he could imagine he was in the ocean, being carried away on a current to some unknown place.
He put on fresh undergarments—the garments bought from the LDS Church for members that had been endowed—and took out a protein shake from the fridge before sitting on the couch in the living room.
He flipped on the tv and began going through the channels. There was nothing on except crime shows and reality television. One show was about the wives of criminals exploiting their husband’s notoriety for profit and he watched it a moment before changing the channel. There were over two hundred channels and he couldn’t remember why he had gotten that many since he was almost never home.
His cell phone buzzed and he answer it. The ID said San Diego Police .
“ Hello?”
“ Jon? It’s Jessica … Turner.”
“ Oh, hey.”
“ I just heard from Tommy that you went to visit our mutual friend. I just wanted to know how it went I guess. Or, just to call and check on you. I don’t know … I guess I don’t really know why I called.”
“ It’s okay. I’m glad you called. I wanted to apologize for not getting together for dinner with you yet.”
“ That’s okay. I was married to a cop once.”
“ Really? I didn’t know that.”
“ No, I don’t really like to talk about it. He wasn’t much of a guy. But I was eighteen and really wanted to get out of my house. At least he did that for me before I left.”
“ How’s your case panning out?”
“ Talked to at least ten people today. No one saw or heard anything and they refuse to cooperate with me. What the hell is wrong with these people?”
“ There was a woman in New York once that was stabbed nearly forty times in daylight. There were over thirty witnesses watching from their windows, but not a single one called the police. A couple of psychologists interviewed all of them and it turned out they weren’t evil, they just all assumed someone else was calling the police. If there had only been one witness, he likely would have called.”
“ You think that’s it? They think someone else will help me?”
“ I don’t know, maybe. Mostly people just don’t want to get involved.”
“ It’s funny though cause I don’t remember that when I was a kid. All the neighbors looked after all the kids so we could play at night. I went back through my old neighborhood once and I didn’t see any kids playing at night anymore.”
“ No, I think parents would have to not care to let them out at night.”
She hesitated and then said, “Um, so do you want to get dinner tomorrow? I’m free.”
“ Sure.”
“ Sorry,” she said, chuckling to herself.
“ It’s okay.”
“ No, it’s just, I just moved down here and I know it’s only like two hours from where I used to live but it feels like I moved to a new state.”
“ I know. It’s okay. I would love to have dinner with you tomorrow.”
“ Okay. You pick the place.”
“ No problem.”
“ Okay, good night.”
“ Night.”
Stanton hung up. He turned the tv off and went and lay down in bed. He stayed up another hour before dozing off, an image of a young blond girl in a University of Iowa sweatshirt burned into his
Similar Books
