The Perfect Son Read online

  He’s my son, after all. No matter what.

  “They had to be pulled apart by two teachers,” Mrs. McMillan says. “It’s one of the worst fights I’ve seen during my time as principal.”

  “It was his fault.” Tyler pulls the ice pack away from his face, revealing a split lip. “He started it.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Liam says calmly. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “The hell you didn’t!”

  “Boys, calm down!” Mrs. McMillan snaps at them.

  But Tyler isn’t about to be subdued. “You started it when you murdered Olivia Mercer, you psychopath. Everyone knows you did it!”

  Liam doesn’t respond to that. He just stares straight ahead.

  “That’s enough,” Mrs. McMillan says sharply. “Tyler, I don’t care who started it. Both of you were involved in this fight.”

  “He deserved it.” Tyler nearly spits the words. “That and more.”

  Mrs. McMillan looks between the two boys, her eyes narrowing. “Tyler, Liam, I’d like both of you to step outside while I speak with your mothers.”

  Liam immediately obeys, while Tyler tries to protest. But Mrs. McMillan has her secretary escort them outside and apparently babysit them while she talks to the two of us. Once the door closes, her lips form a straight line and she peers at us over the edge of her spectacles.

  “Obviously, there’s no excuse for this behavior,” Mrs. McMillan says. “Fighting is not tolerated. We can’t have a repeat performance of this.”

  “Of course not,” Jessica says. “I’m so sorry about Tyler’s behavior. He just got… emotional.”

  I keep my mouth shut, just as my son did.

  “Tyler will be suspended for a week,” Mrs. McMillan says. She looks at me and hesitates. “Liam will receive one day’s suspension.”

  A week ago, I would’ve been worried about how this would affect Liam’s college admissions. Now I couldn’t care less. She may as well have suspended him for a week. I can’t send him back to school after this.

  But Jessica is absolutely furious. A pink spot forms on either of her cheeks. “A week? How come Tyler gets a week and Liam only gets one day?”

  “For one thing,” Mrs. McMillan says, “this is Tyler’s second offense. I told you after he was in that fight last year that it couldn’t happen again. Also, there were several witnesses who confirmed that your son initiated the fight. Liam has an impeccable record. He’s a straight-A student—”

  “But he’s crazy!” Jessica bursts out. She glances at me, then quickly looks away. “I’m sorry, but that’s the elephant in the room. Liam is crazy. He kidnapped that girl, and he’s probably going to kill her. Tyler was just upset about it.”

  I stare at my former friend, shocked she would say such a thing. Even when Tyler and Liam stopped being friends, she never said a negative word about Liam.

  “I’m sorry, Erika,” she says. “But you know it’s true. Liam has serious mental health issues. The reason he and Tyler stopped being friends was because Tyler was afraid to have him in the house. I was afraid to have him in the house.” She shakes her head. “He needs to be in therapy. Or better yet, locked up.”

  “Mrs. Martinson!” Mrs. McMillan exclaims. “I know you’re upset, but please. This is uncalled for.”

  I stare down at my hands. I don’t know what to say. I want to defend my son, but the truth is, I agree with her. But before she can say another word, we hear shouting outside the office. Mrs. McMillan rises to her feet and we follow her. What is it now?

  Liam and Tyler are still sitting right outside the office, but another girl has joined them. She has dirty blond hair that’s loose around her chubby face, and she has tears streaming down her cheeks. She’s pointing at them, her hand trembling.

  “Where is she, you asshole?” she shouts at Liam. “Tell me what you did with Olivia!”

  “Madison!” Mrs. McMillan snaps. “Please settle down right this instant!”

  The girl’s hands curl into fists and I’m scared she’s going to come at Liam. But instead, she stomps her foot against the ground. “He did this! The bastard did something to my best friend. And look at him! He doesn’t even care!”

  I look at Liam, who is watching Madison’s temper tantrum without any expression on his face. He hasn’t said a word in protest. He just stares at her like she’s an insect crawling on the wall. Like he really doesn’t care.

  They end up having to call the school security guard to take Madison away, because she won’t stop shouting at Liam. Mrs. McMillan takes me aside, a concerned look in her eyes. “It may be best for Liam to stay home until this blows over.”

  “Yes,” I murmur. “I was thinking the same thing.”

  She frowns. “Liam is a good boy. It’s terrible that he got caught up in this tragedy.”

  As it turns out, Mrs. McMillan has been successfully charmed by my son. During his two years and change in high school, he has been very well behaved. There have been no incidents during this time. The last incident he had, in fact, was involving that English teacher in eighth grade. I don’t like to think about that. But Mrs. McMillan clearly doesn’t know about Mr. Young. She only sees what Liam allows her to see.

  “Good luck,” she tells me.

  Chapter 36

  Transcript of police interview with Tyler Martinson:

  “Tyler, how long have you known Liam Cass?”

  “Forever. Like, first grade.”

  “And you used to be friends?”

  “Best friends, actually. I was always going to his house, or he’d go my house. We used to be really tight.”

  “And what was your opinion of him at that time?”

  “Well, he was my best friend. So obviously, I liked him. He was cool. But he had a dark side, if you know what I mean.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like, he was really good at manipulating people to get what he wanted. Especially teachers. He could blow off his homework and he would never get in trouble. I couldn’t get away with anything.”

  “And what did the other students think of him?”

  “They liked him too. Especially the girls. They were all, like, in love with him. It was really annoying. But Liam just thought it was funny.”

  “Were you jealous of him?”

  “Me? No. I mean, I wasn’t interested in girls back then. Now it’s more annoying. They all still love him. He’s like Ted Bundy. Wasn’t he that serial killer women liked so much?”

  “You mentioned he would manipulate other people. How did he do that?”

  “So here’s an example. In fourth grade, we had this roly-poly farm in our classroom. Liam got this idea to dump the farm on the floor and smash all the worms. That was his idea of fun stuff to do. And I went along with it because… I don’t know. I thought it was fun too, I guess. Anyway, there was this other kid in the class named Michael. Nobody liked Michael because he was gross and fat and picked his nose. But Liam invited him to come with us, and Michael was so happy. But it was all a trick, you know? Because the only reason Liam wanted him to come was so Michael would get blamed for what we did. And it worked. Liam told the teacher Michael did it alone, and she believed him. And Michael didn’t even rat us out, probably because he was hoping we’d still be friends with him after. But we weren’t.”

  “Did you feel bad about it?”

  “No. I mean, not at the time. But looking back, yeah, it was a shitty thing to do to Michael. But it was Liam’s idea.”

  “At what point did you stop being friends with Liam?”

  “Um, that would probably be sixth grade.”

  “Was there a particular reason?”

  “Hell yeah. So Liam came to my house, and he had this little chipmunk trapped in a piece of Tupperware. He poked a couple of holes in it so the animal could breathe. And he told me he wanted to cut off the air and watch the chipmunk through the glass as it suffocated.”

  “…”

  “Yeah, exactly. I was freaked out, and I to
ld him I didn’t want to do it. He tried to convince me, but I refused and told him he was a weirdo. Finally, he got angry and left.”

  “Did you tell anyone about it?”

  “I told my mom because I wanted to make sure he didn’t come over again.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She didn’t look that surprised. She just told me to stay away from him.”

  “You mentioned before you had another interaction with Liam that was very unsettling for you.”

  “Yeah. That was last year.”

  “What happened?”

  “Okay, so Liam’s sister—you know, Hannah—she’s a huge pain in the ass. She got all pissed off at me for some reason, and I guess she told him about it. So he felt like he had to avenge her or something. Even though I didn’t even do anything wrong.”

  “What did he do?”

  “So there was this stray cat that used to hang out by our house. My sister used to feed him, so he kept coming back. I didn’t really care either way. I never fed the cat—I mean, that’s not my responsibility, to feed a damn stray cat. And sometimes he’d be right in front of the door, so I had to kick him out of the way. Anyway. I got home from school one day and the stupid cat is in my bed. Can you imagine? I thought Emma let him inside. But then when I tried to shoo him away, he didn’t move. So then I tried to pick him up to move him and…”

  “Yes?”

  “His insides fell out.”

  “…”

  “Shit, I feel sick thinking about it. Somebody sliced him through the belly, and then when I picked him up… BAM, cat guts all over my bed!”

  “That must have been very upsetting.”

  “Damn right. Oh, sorry. Am I allowed to say that?”

  “Say what?”

  “Damn. Because it’s, like, a curse word.”

  “It’s okay. So what did you do next?”

  “I told my parents obviously. And I told them I thought Liam did it. But they asked if I had any proof, and I didn’t. So we didn’t do anything. My mom just kept saying to stay away from him and his family.”

  “And that was your last serious interaction with Liam?”

  “Yeah. Well, if you don’t count me kicking his ass the other day.”

  “Tyler, how do you know Olivia Mercer?”

  “Oh, just from around. She was in my year. And she was friends with Madison Connor, who’s dating my buddy Aidan.”

  “Are you friendly with her?”

  “I don’t know. A little.”

  “Did you ever ask her out on a date?”

  “No…”

  “Some of your friends from the football team said that you did ask her out. And she told you no.”

  “That’s not… That’s not what happened at all. Some of us were going out for burgers and I just invited her along. No big deal. And she was busy.”

  “Did it bother you when you saw her out with Liam?”

  “Hell no. She’s not even that hot. She could go out with whoever the hell she wants. Liam… half the football team, for all I care.”

  “So you weren’t jealous?”

  “What the… I thought we were talking about Liam. Liam is the crazy one.”

  “Tyler, how many times have you been suspended for fighting?”

  “Jesus Christ, just twice. Is that a lot?”

  “It’s more than any of your peers.”

  “Yeah, but… The first time wasn’t my fault. The guy stole my girlfriend. You don’t do that to someone.”

  “But you threw the first punch.”

  “Yeah. I did. But—”

  “And you were the one who punched Liam in the hallway first. Weren’t you?”

  “Fine. Yes. Look, I was mad at Liam because I thought he killed Olivia. That’s the reason… I’m not crazy like he is. Yeah, we used to be friends. But after I realized what he was like, we stopped being friends. I’m not like him. And I sure as hell didn’t do anything to Olivia.”

  Chapter 37

  Erika

  Jason texts me that the police are still searching the house, so I take the kids to McDonald’s for lunch. I want to warn Liam about what’s happening, but I’m not quite sure how to tell him.

  Hannah agonizes over the menu at McDonald’s, complaining about how it’s going to ruin her diet. Then she goes ahead and orders a bacon double cheeseburger with large French fries. Liam says he’s not hungry, but he reluctantly orders a Big Mac and Coke. I don’t have much appetite either, but I pick something randomly from the menu. We’ve got to eat.

  Hannah is the only one who manages to eat anything. She stuffs French fries into her mouth absently, almost automatically. Liam stares at his burger. His right cheek looks worse than it did in Mrs. McMillan’s office. I can only imagine how bad it will look by tomorrow.

  “Do you want me to get you some ice for your cheek?” I ask him.

  “No.”

  “It’s going to get more bruised if you don’t ice it.”

  “I don’t care.” He regards his burger with a look of disgust. “Mom, I’m not hungry. Can I go sit in the car?”

  Somehow I get the feeling I shouldn’t let Liam out of my sight right now. “No. We’re all going to stay right here.”

  “But, Mom—”

  “You don’t have to eat, but you have to stay here.”

  “Fine.” Liam slumps down in his seat and pouts. Wow, the kid’s acting like a real teenager now. Hannah has always been the expert at moping when we tell her what to do, but Liam always accepted everything without argument.

  “Also,” I add, “there’s something you should know.”

  Liam lifts his eyes.

  “The police are at our house right now. They’re searching the house and my car.”

  Hannah puts down her burger, eyes flashing. “What? Don’t they need a warrant or something to do that?”

  I nod. “They do. And they came with one.” I look at Liam again. “They also want your phone. And just so you know, they’ll be able to read anything you’ve deleted.”

  He’s quiet for a moment, playing with the wrapper on his sandwich. “Fine.”

  “How bad is that, Liam?”

  Before Liam can say a word, Hannah speaks up, “Liam didn’t do anything. So they’re not going to find anything incriminating.”

  I’m not so sure about that. But Liam doesn’t give anything away with his expression. I get the feeling that my kids have been discussing this together. Sometimes I wonder what sorts of things Liam says to Hannah. Clearly, he trusts her in a way that he doesn’t trust me or Jason. If only I could be a fly on the wall.

  “We’ll go see the attorney Dad hired this afternoon,” I say. “He’ll tell us what’s likely to happen next.”

  I force myself to chomp down my salad. I don’t have any appetite, but I need to eat if I’m going to get through what’s going to happen next.

  Chapter 38

  Olivia

  I have catalogued the inventory of the bag.

  He has left me two plastic water bottles, four slices of bread, two apples, and a granola bar. If he’s coming back within a day, I’ll be fine. But he made a comment about how he wasn’t sure when he could get back here. So how long is this food going to have to last me? Two days? Three? A week?

  He could have brought me more food. He did this purposely. Maybe to make sure I was weak enough that I won’t be able to fight him off or escape. As if being plunged into darkness twenty-four hours a day isn’t bad enough.

  I have divided the corners of my small space into their various purposes. One corner is for Phoebe. You can bet I’m not touching her. A second corner is for me to do my business. I was able to hold off for several hours, but you can’t stop bodily functions. Of course, it’s not making this dank hole smell any better. A third corner is for the food. And the fourth corner is for me to sit or sleep. I amazingly managed to sleep last night, although it was broken up and interspersed with nightmares.

  I woke up sobbing. All I can think
about is my home. How much I want to be back there. How much I want my mom.

  I’ve got to find a way out of here.

  In the meantime, I have divided the food into rations. I’m allowing myself one slice of bread total per day, half an apple, and half a bottle of water. I’ve already eaten the granola bar—I couldn’t help myself. But the rest needs to last me for several days. It’s not going to be nearly enough, but it will be enough to live on. Until I can get out of here

  I’ve been devising a plan.

  If he dug this hole, he did it when the soil was warmer and more pliable. And presumably, he had a shovel. But I can make a dent in the soil with my fingers. If I scrape at it hard enough, it comes free. My plan is to dig out enough to form a mound for me to stand on to reach the trap door above me. And once I can reach that, maybe I could find a way to break the lock.

  He’s never going to let me go. I saw the look in his eyes yesterday night. He’s crazy. He wants to keep me here, for whatever reason. So that means if I’m going to get out, I’m going to have to do it on my own. I can’t count on the police to save me.

  I’m getting out of here. If it’s the last thing I do.

  Chapter 39

  Erika

  Jason texts me that the police are almost done, but they still need Liam’s phone, so I herd the kids back into the car and head home. The kids both look startled by the number of police cars around our house. I can’t even imagine what the neighbors are thinking. But if they’ve been reading the local papers, they could probably take an educated guess.

  Detective Rivera is talking to Jason when I unlock the door. She looks at Liam’s bruised face and her eyes widen. “What happened?”

  “Just a little scuffle at school,” I say. I hate that she has to see him like this. Liam has never been in a fistfight before in his life. He’s not a violent kid. At least, not in the way that Tyler is.