The Perfect Son Read online

  Sociopath.

  He doesn’t feel empathy like you do. He doesn’t feel love. He’s just faking it.

  As a mother, it was one of the worst things anybody has ever said to me. Your son doesn’t love you. He’s not capable of it. At the time, I refused to believe it. But as the years passed, I realized how true everything Dr. Hebert told me was.

  “Where is she, Liam?” I say. “Where is Olivia?”

  He looks me straight in the eyes, the same way he did to the officers as he lied to their faces. “I don’t know.”

  “Liam…” A tear escapes from my right eye and I wipe it away before he can see it. Being vulnerable in front of a person who has no empathy is always a mistake. “The police know what they’re doing. Whatever you’ve done… They’re going to find out. If you tell me where she is, I can help you. I’ll let her go. I can pretend I just stumbled onto her…” I take a shaky breath. “But if you kill her…”

  “Mom.” He scrunches up his eyebrows, which makes him look younger. “I swear to you. I didn’t do anything to Olivia.”

  “I don’t believe you, Liam.”

  His eyes darken. There are moments when I feel frightened of my son. Such as when I found him with that hamster when he was only six. He let it starve to death right in front of his eyes. The poor hamster was so withered, you could see all of its little bones sticking out. You could tell it had suffered. And Liam didn’t care. No, worse—he enjoyed it.

  “I didn’t do it, Mom.” His voice is firm, almost angry. “I don’t know where she is. Now can I go back to studying?”

  I nod wordlessly, and Liam swivels on his chair to turn back to his history book. He starts outlining again, like his mother wasn’t just in the room, accusing him of kidnapping and murder. That’s how Liam is. He doesn’t let anything bother him.

  After Dr. Hebert came up with a diagnosis, I asked her how this could have happened. Liam grew up in an upper middle class, happy household. We provided firm, but very fair discipline. He had a wonderful childhood. How could he turn out this way?

  “There’s often a genetic component,” she had said.

  But that didn’t explain it any better. Jason and I were about as boring and normal as you could get. It didn’t make any sense. How could a nice, normal couple like us produce a child like Liam? I never got it.

  Not until this morning. When I found out my father had been in jail for murder for over forty years.

  Chapter 33

  Olivia

  I have no idea how long I’ve been down here.

  I finally stopped screaming. It went on for a long time. And even after I stopped, I was still shaking. I sat down in the corner of the hole, across from the skeleton, and just hugged myself. For hours, maybe. I don’t know who this skeleton belongs to, but I can’t kid myself it’s a good sign that it’s here. Somebody else was down in this hole. And that person died here.

  Or more likely, was murdered.

  The memories of how I got down here start to return more vividly. The handkerchief shoved in my face that smelled funny. Not being able to breathe. And then… nothing.

  He’s going to kill me. That’s why I’m here. And I can only imagine the reason he put me here instead of killing me outright is that he has other plans for me before he kills me.

  But everyone has got to be looking for me. My mom… I want her so badly, it hurts. I can’t imagine how scared she must have been when she came into my bedroom and found me missing. She would have called the police immediately. She’ll never stop looking for me. She’ll have every policeman in the whole state out searching.

  And then when the police find me, they’ll throw his ass in jail. And I’ll get to go home to my warm, comfortable bed. And Mom will make me chocolate chip pancakes. And I’m not leaving my bed for a week. Well, maybe I’ll go to the doctor to have them take a look at my ankle, which is still throbbing.

  I’m going to get out of here. I know it. My parents will find me.

  My stomach lets out a low growl. I’m starving. And thirsty. So thirsty. I finished the water an hour ago. I knew I should ration it more, but I couldn’t help myself. I picked up the thermos and emptied it down my throat without a second thought. And now it’s gone.

  I wonder how long it takes for a person to die from dehydration.

  Maybe that’s how Phoebe died. That’s what I have named the person who the bones in the corner belong to. Mom and I used to watch the TV show Friends in reruns, and Phoebe was my favorite character. So that what I have called her. Phoebe. She deserves a name. I wonder if her parents are still looking for her. When I get out of here I’ll tell people she’s down here. Maybe her parents can have some closure.

  I’m going to get out of here. I will.

  I’m going to find a way. I won’t give up.

  I hear a noise coming from above. Is that footsteps? Is it the police? I start to scream, but my throat is so parched, I have one false start before anything comes out.

  “Help! Help me, please!”

  It’s footsteps. Definitely footsteps. There is a sound of metal just above my head, and then creaking of hinges. Finally, a bright flash of light fills my vision.

  After sitting in the dark for so long, the light is agonizing. I clasp my hands over my eyes to shut it out. It’s a flashlight. Someone is shining a flashlight on me.

  “Olivia?”

  It’s him. It’s not the police. He’s come back.

  “Help!” I shriek, hoping a neighbor or passerby might hear. “Somebody! Help me! Let me out!”

  He cocks his head to the side. “I’m afraid you’re wasting your breath, Olivia. We’re in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Nobody’s going to hear if you scream.”

  I stop screaming and stare up at him as I catch my breath. I’m not entirely sure I believe him, but he doesn’t seem at all concerned that I’m yelling. So it’s probably true.

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you,” he says. Although he doesn’t sound sorry. Actually, there’s no expression at all in his voice, like he’s a robot. He sounds so different than usual. It’s freaky. “The police are everywhere. I had to wait until night.”

  “Please let me out,” I croak.

  I peek through my fingers, up at his face, squinting through the bright light. I can’t believe I ever thought he was handsome. I must have been out of my mind.

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he says.

  Tears spring to my eyes, but I try to keep them from falling. I have a feeling me crying won’t make him feel any sympathy. “Why not? I won’t tell anyone. I swear. I’ll just say that I ran away. I promise.”

  “Yes. I’m sure.”

  “I swear!”

  He smiles in a way that makes my skin crawl. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I can’t let you out.”

  I take a deep breath. “Please… if you let me out, I’ll… I’ll do anything you want. Anything.”

  He lets out a laugh, loud enough that I know he must be telling the truth about us being the only people out here. “You’ll do whatever I want anyway. It’s not like you have a choice.”

  That’s probably true. He’s not a big guy, but he’s much bigger than me. He could overpower me easily, even if I wasn’t weak from lack of food and water with an injured ankle.

  “What do you want then?” I ask in a tiny voice.

  He doesn’t answer me.

  I glare up at his face. “You better let me out right now. If you don’t, when the police find me here, I’ll tell them everything.”

  He flashes that smile again. “Oh, will you?”

  “You bet I will!” A muscle twitches in my jaw as I shout up at him. “I’ll tell them what you did! You’ll go to jail for the rest of your life!”

  I watch his expression, waiting for him to react. But his face doesn’t show even a flicker of fear.

  “Are you threatening me, Olivia?” he says. “I really hope you’re not threatening me.”

  There’s something in his eyes t
hat’s even more terrifying than the rotted corpse in the corner of the hole. My mouth is so dry, I’m not sure I can even manage a response. But I clear my throat. “I’m not threatening you. I’m just telling you what’s going to happen.”

  “Well,” he says, “I better make sure they never find you then.”

  I clutch my knees, my heart pounding in my chest. He means it. He’s never going to let me out of here. Ever.

  Oh God…

  He lifts a large brown paper shopping bag into the air and drops it into the hole. It falls beside me, making a loud enough impact that I flinch and let out a yelp.

  “That’s food and drink,” he says. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back here, so you better make it last.”

  And then the light goes out.

  “Wait!” I cry. “Wait!”

  His voice again, cutting through the blackness: “What?”

  I swallow, hoping I can appeal to his sympathy one last time because threats obviously don’t do the trick. “Can you leave me the flashlight? Please?”

  He’s quiet for a moment, as if considering it. Dare I hope he might say yes? I would give anything for that flashlight.

  “It’s so dark down here,” I say softly, “and it’s so hard to tell what everything is. It’s driving me crazy. If you could leave me the flashlight—”

  “No,” he says.

  And then the trap door above my head creaks shut. And I hear the sound of the lock being turned, trapping me down here once again. I bury my face in my knees and let out a sob.

  I don’t want to die down here. There’s got to be a way out.

  Chapter 34

  Erika

  I considered keeping the kids home from school, but both of them wanted to go, and Jason said we should try to keep things as normal as we could. But Jason did stay home from work. He locked himself in the spare bedroom to work from home, even though I know he’s in the middle of an important project and has a ton of meetings. He’s trying to do all his meetings on the phone.

  “You can go to work,” I tried to tell him. “Liam will be okay.”

  “I think it’s better I stay home,” he insisted.

  I didn’t want to admit how grateful I was that he stayed. Nothing else happened after the police stopped by last night, but the whole night I kept jerking awake after having nightmares. I couldn’t remember any of them when I woke up in the morning, but my body was covered in sweat.

  I try to get my own work done, but it’s difficult. I’m supposed to be writing an article about the best local playgrounds, but my head isn’t in the game. Besides, Hannah and Liam have been too old to go to playground for years. I’d like to be nostalgic about the simpler times, but I can’t. Ever since Liam was four years old, he was a ticking time bomb.

  I hope they find Olivia. That’s all I can think about. I hope she ran away. I hope they find her in some motel, tearful and wanting to come home.

  What little concentration I have is broken by the doorbell ringing. When I see Jason coming down the stairs, I realize that the doorbell has been ringing for several minutes. I don’t know what’s wrong with me if I don’t notice a doorbell ringing ten feet away from me.

  Jason reaches the door before me. He squints through the peephole, and his face turns pale. “Shit. It’s the police.”

  Jason squares his shoulders and cracks opens the door. It’s Rivera and Murphy again. But there are more people behind them. This doesn’t seem like a good sign. When the police come with a squad of people behind them, you know you’re in trouble.

  “Hello, Mr. Cass.” Rivera doesn’t bother smiling this time. “We have a warrant to search your home and your wife’s Toyota.”

  I step forward. “Liam is at school.”

  “We don’t need Liam right now,” she says. “But we do have a warrant for his phone.”

  God only knows what’s on his phone. I don’t want to think about it. “Can you come by later for the phone?”

  Jason is busy inspecting the warrant, but I’m not sure why he’s bothering. These are police officers. If they need to inspect our house, we’re not going to stop them. I only hope Liam was smart enough not to leave something behind.

  My own phone starts ringing within my pocket. I pull it out and see the name of the high school. My stomach sinks. “Detective, can I take this call? It’s the school.”

  She nods curtly and I swipe to answer. “Hello?”

  “Mrs. Cass? It’s Principal McMillan. I’m afraid we have a situation.”

  She has a situation? She should see what’s going on in my house. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need you to come here as soon as possible. Liam and another student were involved in a fistfight in the hallway. They’re both in my office.”

  Oh God.

  “Is Liam okay?” I say.

  “He’s fine.” Her voice softens slightly. “But we don’t tolerate fighting on school property. I’m going to need you to come here right away.”

  I don’t know how I’m going to manage that, but I can’t say no to Mrs. McMillan. “I’ll be right there.”

  Jason has lowered the search warrant and is staring at me. So are the two detectives. I wish I didn’t have to have this conversation in front of the detectives. The timing couldn’t be worse.

  “Liam got into a fight at school,” I say, trying to ignore the way Rivera is looking at me. “I need to go there to pick him up.”

  “Jesus.” Jason frowns. “Okay. I… I’ll stay here and you go get Liam.”

  I look behind the detectives at the team of people who are going to rip apart my home. I wish I could stay. I can’t deal with Liam fighting at school on top of everything. I’ve gotten a lot of calls about Liam over the years, but nothing like this. He’s never done anything to get his hands dirty before.

  I grab my purse, but Detective Rivera stops me. “You can’t take the Toyota. We need to search it.”

  “But I’ll just… I’ll be right back…”

  “Take my Prius, Erika.” Jason grabs his keys off the hook on the wall where he keeps them and tosses them to me. “Send me a text after you talk to the principal, okay?”

  I nod. It’s probably better anyway. I have a feeling this is not a conversation that will be quick.

  Chapter 35

  Erika

  When I get inside the school, my daughter is waiting for me by the entrance. I’m sure she’s supposed to be in class, so I assume she’s skipping. But that’s the least of my problems right now. Hannah has red-rimmed eyes and her auburn hair is in disarray—even more than usual. She looks like somebody just died.

  “Mom!” she cries. And she throws her arms around me, which is something she hasn’t done in public in a very long time. Although to be fair, I don’t think there’s anyone else in the hallway. “I saw the whole thing. It wasn’t Liam’s fault.”

  I pull away from her. It’s hard for me to believe that anything that’s happening right now isn’t Liam’s fault. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes!” She swipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Tyler jumped him out of nowhere. What was Liam supposed to do? Just stand there while Tyler beat him up?”

  “Why did Tyler do it?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Hannah blinks at me. “Everyone thinks Liam is responsible for what happened to Olivia. But he isn’t. I know it.”

  I’m not sure how Hannah knows it. I sure don’t.

  “Tyler is telling everyone that Liam is some kind of psychopath,” Hannah says. “Tyler should be suspended. It wasn’t Liam’s fault.”

  I have a bad feeling Mrs. McMillan won’t see it that way. And either way, Liam can’t go to school right now. That’s very obvious. Not until this whole thing blows over.

  “I’ll see what I can do, Hannah,” I promise her. I don’t tell her about the police officers at our house, who are currently searching through her brother’s belongings. And my car. There’s no point in making her even more upset. “I’m going to go talk to the
principal now. But you need to go back to class.”

  But Hannah clearly has no intention of going back to her class. She follows me to the principal’s office and I don’t stop her. This is hard on her too.

  When I get into the administration office, Jessica Martinson is already there. The last thing I want right now is to have a conversation with Jessica, but the principal’s door is shut, so I have no choice but to sit down next to her to wait. I still feel the burn of how she shunned me at the PTA meeting. After all those years, how could she do that to me?

  “Hi, Erika,” Jessica says in an unreadable tone. “Quite a scuffle our boys had, didn’t they?”

  “Yes,” I say vaguely. I don’t mention the fact that my daughter told me that her football player thug of a son jumped my kid. Somehow I suspect Liam will get the blame for all of this. “Boys fight, I guess.”

  Jessica smiles tightly. “Yes. I’m sure they’re making too much of this. Hopefully, they’ll just get a warning and that will be the end of it.”

  That’s impossible. They were fighting in school. There’s no way they won’t be punished severely. But I appreciate Jessica’s optimism.

  The door to the principal’s office cracks open and Mrs. Kristen McMillan stands at the entrance. She’s around my age, but much taller with a strong jaw and her hair styled into an immobile shoulder-length helmet. The last time she and I spoke was during parent teacher night, when she ran into me in the hallway and told me how brilliant Liam was at his last debate, and how he’s on his way to becoming valedictorian. She’s not smiling this time as she waves us both into her office.

  The two boys are sitting in chairs in front of her desk. Tyler is slumped down, holding an ice pack to his face, but Liam is sitting up straight, staring at the wall. He doesn’t look great though. Tyler got in a good punch to his cheek bone, which is dark red, on its way to black and blue. His shirt is ripped and his usually neat dark hair is in disarray. He looks like a kid who just got beat up. In spite of everything, I wanted to throw my arms around him.