A Fear of Clowns (The Greasepaint Chronicals) (22 page)

Lynn was probably not a good and
healthy person, at any rate, and Jason Hadley had just left a girl that he
thought of as his own to her. Like she didn't matter. That wasn't the truth,
but he fully expected to be hated for that one. Gasping softly enough that he
hoped no one heard him, he waited for the door to open. When it did he barely
recognized the girl behind it. She was young, but tall and thin. About five-six.
Pretty, but very normal looking. Her hair was a soft brown, and so were her
eyes. She looked nice, and was wearing blue jeans and a sweater. She didn't
seem to have anything but her ears pierced, and no visible tattoos. For some
reason he expected her to have pink hair and be dressed like one of the street
girls from Vegas. That she wasn't, that her face was polite and adult seeming,
shocked him to no end.

Then she moved around McNab, to
look at him. The FBI men both got out of the way, neither smiling.

"Daddy?" She didn't
seem to recognize him. He was ready for that. It had been a long time and she'd
been young. Not a baby, but...

The hug that came then was nearly
a tackle.

"Daddy!" There was real
happiness in her voice then, as he found himself patting her back.

"Hey, honey. Sorry it took
me so long." Too long by far. That rang out in the subtext of his words,
he hoped, but strangely, at least so far, the girl didn't seem to be requiring
him to explain it all. That would come. Even if she didn't ask, she deserved to
understand why.

The problem there was that, while
he could go over everything, all his actions, thoughts and feelings, none of it
was really good enough. It was the answer, but a weak thing, that wouldn't
satisfy anyone. Most of life was filled with things like that, wasn't it? He
struggled to find answers and always had, but most of the time they eluded him.
The best he did, in most cases, was find out what had happened, by digging and
researching hard enough.

Now he searched his daughter's
face, and noticed how much she looked like her mother. Carl too, through the
nose and eyes. Like Mills.

It was another piece, wasn't it?
She really did look like the man. The one that had taken his boss, and her
mother. A man that had been kidnapping men and women together, practicing for
this thing that he was doing now.
If
Jay was right. It was a guess, but
it felt correct. It made a certain amount of sense. Then, theories always did,
or they wouldn't have been tried out in the first place.

Daniels smiled, and looked at
both of them as if it was a good thing. A real reunion, made bitter only by the
missing woman. Lynn. Jay couldn't really care about that however. It would have
been best if he did, but it wasn't something he honestly felt. Even with her
being in the clutches of a serial killer, it seemed fitting. Especially if what
he suspected was right.

If that was the case however, he
wasn't going to talk about it in front of Alex. It was his job to protect her
from things like that. Hard truths and bad things that would make her possibly
think less of her own mother. Then he shook his head. That was the mistake that
everyone always made, wasn't it? They lied, or held back things that were
probably best put out instantly. People could cope with the truth, but they had
to know it first.

"Alex?" Standing back
he took a deep breath, and then looked at the girl. His daughter, no matter
what some test said. Then he glanced over at the FBI men. "Can you pack a
bag? We need to get out of here. To someplace safe. I have friends we can stay
with. It... Your mother, and Carl Morse, they may have both been kidnapped. By a
serial killer. Carl Mills? The deputy?" It occurred to him that his
daughter might actually know the man. She knew Richmond.

Jay just hoped to God that she
didn't have a crush on him, or something.

"What? I know you said, but...
he was always so nice. We talked about stuff. What a crummy mom I have and how
pathetic the Sheriff is, with what they both did to you. Like, real friends,
you know?" She seemed concerned at least, but then made a face. "He
always told me I was like the little sister he never had. So, it wasn't all
creepy or anything. He was just... nice."

Jay nodded and looked at the FBI
men, who both seemed closed off. A bit brooding really, but neither of them
seemed to blame him for giving all of that away.

So he went on. That last bit fit
too well, didn't it? Why would some Sheriff's Deputy call a young girl his
sister like that? Well, so that she wouldn't get the wrong idea and start
writing his name with hearts around it on her school binders, of course. A good
man might have done that just for that sort of reason. Mills wasn't a good man,
strictly speaking, was he? Maybe being bad in one way didn't translate to every
other part of his life, but it really did fit.

"I... I don't know for
certain, but I think he might have taken your mother and Carl for abandoning
him when he was a boy. Probably dumping him on someone else. He mentioned
having a mean step-mother to me once. We should probably find Lynn's parents
and ask about that. They live in the area, but... I've only talked to them a
few times. At the wedding, then when you were born, Alex. After that... Well,
they weren't the kind of people to just pop over for a visit."

He was trying to break in the
idea gently, but everyone standing there got what he meant, instantly. They
were all smart people, after all.

McNab looked away, and then made
a hard face.

"That... Well, we don't have
proof
that it's the case. It's a place to start. Can you get names and
numbers for them? Those parents. We also need to run down anyplace that
connects to any of them. All of you. He has to have taken them somewhere. My
guess is that it will be someplace meaningful to him. Mills. He always picked a
certain kind of property. Isolated places that-"

It was Alex that guessed the next
bit, her lips going white with stress.

"So that no one would hear
the screams?"

Daniels grunted, but didn't
shield her either. "That's the thought. We need to get to work. McNab,
start making calls. We can drop you two someplace, if it isn't too far out of
the way?" That was addressed at Jason, and he really only had one place in
the world to go. Well, two now, but they'd have to catch a ride back to Las
Vegas, when it was time to go. He didn't know how he was going to keep his
daughter with him, but he planned on doing it. Even if he had to break the law
to get it done.

Carlos and Wendy, to his vast
surprise, were still there, not having left yet for the day. They were gearing
up for it, packing their van, when Daniels pulled up to the house. The short
man looked over, his face hard at first, until he saw Jay. Then he smiled and
raised a hand in greeting, walking over as Jason got out. Alex followed him,
her single little bag in her hand, clearly planning for at least an overnight
stay someplace. They could get a room for her at the casino, if they could
catch a ride.

"Jason! Is everything all
right? We got a call from Max..." He looked at the FBI men, distrustful of
them, as if they weren't the good guys. They really were though. Smart enough
to figure things out too. They just had different priorities. Their goal was
trying to save Carl and Lynn. Jay's was looser than that. He wanted to find out
why, of course, but needed to protect his girl first and foremost.

So he shorthanded everything as
Daniels pulled out, McNab still on the phone in the passenger's seat, having
research done even if they didn't have a computer with them. Having resources
like that had to be nice, didn't it?

"This is my daughter,
Alexis. Her mom and the Sheriff have been kidnapped by a serial killing clown.
Deputy Mills. He might be their son. I'm not certain of that." It felt
right, but some family resemblance aside, he'd need a DNA test for
confirmation.

Wendy had walked up to hear all
of that, and looked at Carlos, nervously. She didn't ask them to leave though,
just looking at Alex and then walking over to give her a hug.

"I'm Wendy and this is
Carlos. I guess we're family? We kind of adopted Jay, so... What do you need?
You can stay here, or... we have some money saved up." She looked at her
husband, who nodded, as if to let her know that was exactly the right thing to
say.

Jay had to swallow, tears
threatening to come then.

"I... Could you take Alex
with you? To Vegas? I have some work to do here. The FBI men are smart, but I
think I might find some things that can help too. Coming at this from another
angle. I just don't want her to be a target." He meant his daughter, which
they all understood. It was, in the end, the most important thing. Getting her
out of the way.

If she was with Carlos and Wendy,
well, that wasn't invisible, but it would take a while to track her down and
hopefully between the FBI and him, they could keep Mills busy enough that he
wouldn't think to go after her. It might be a little dangerous for him, if he
got in the way, but for some reason Jason didn't think that was the truth. The
insane killer wanted him to do something.

To try and understand why this
was all happening. To be the witness that would live on, and make it all
worthwhile.

Still, the man wasn't exactly
right in the head, was he? Dressing up like a clown to commit his crimes like
he did. That had to be unbalanced. Definitely bananas, Jay thought, looking
down at his bare feet. He needed shoes. Probably a change of clothing too, but
he didn't have anything left there, having planned to never come back. He'd
live.

Carlos looked at his feet too and
frowned, so he explained.

"Mills took my shoes. The
new ones that I'd gotten for my act. He drugged me and left me duct taped in my
hotel room. Luckily security came to check on me."

The little man nodded, as if that
made sense. It
did
, because they were nice shoes, if only for someone
like him. They were totally wrong for killing people in. Big and floppy, making
squeaks as you walked.

Wendy patted Alex on the shoulder
again, her red hair waving a little in the light wind, the day bright and
warming already, as early as it still was.

"Of course she can stay with
us. We should get going now. You should come too, Jay. Let the FBI handle this.
It's their job. I can't see that it's even your business." There was a
slightly scared, but matter of fact air to the words, and Carlos seemed to
agree, but Jason knew that he couldn't live with himself if he didn't at least
try to do something. Even if it wasn't much, the act of attempting to help was
enough for his long term peace of mind.

"Don't worry, I'm not
planning to do anything too stupid. Just make some calls and possibly visit
some people. Nothing too big. When this is all over, we're going to want to
understand why it happened. Things are hazy still. So, you know, it's time for
me to step up and do what I do best. And no..." He smiled at his friends
and then winked, using his silly stage voice to say the words. "That isn't
being a clown. I'll get a rental car and meet you in the city, probably later
tonight. This won't take long. Tomorrow at the latest. I don't want another run
in with the wacked out clown, so being far from
here
sounds like a great
plan." Smiling, he nodded, trying to convince them of his sanity.

Not that he was all that sure of it
himself. Really, if he had more friends, he could do what McNab had done and
call information in. Who did he have though? Greg back at the casino? He might
help, but there probably wasn't a lot that the man could do for him. No, he had
to do his own footwork. It meant stopping to buy some shoes first.

He helped them finish loading the
van, the silver and blue thing that didn't say anything on the outside. For all
they'd been willing to take him too, it was a good thing that he wasn't going,
since Alex had to sort of squeeze in, being partially buried under a few of the
softer props. There was no way that he'd fit too, without leaving things
behind. Before they could take off again, Carlos came over and put his hand up,
to shake. It was a very formal thing, and different than what he would have
expected.

"Be careful. I get the idea,
that you need to see this through, but don't be a hero. Or if you have to be,
do it the smart way, and get the professionals to do the heavy lifting. You
loved her, once, so I guess you have to do what you can now, but remember to
think of yourself, too. You're important to us." It wasn't said
grudgingly, but sounded choked off at the end and a tiny bit dismal. Like he
thought Jay was going to rush in and fight the man himself or some piece of
stupidity like that.

If so, then his best friend in
the whole world didn't know him that well. For one thing, he seemed to think
that this was about Lynn. It wasn't. It was about the mystery. The how and even
more, the why, of it all. Wendy gave him a hug, and so did his daughter, who
whispered in his ear.

"I'm sorry. This isn't your
problem. You should come with us." Her voice was so reasonable he nearly
just did it. It really wasn't anything he needed to be worried about, was it?

"Go, go, I'll be along in a
bit. I only have two or three things to do, anyway."

They went, which made him feel a
bit sad. He'd just gotten his daughter back, only to send her away. To protect
her from a sicko killer, but alone, with people that she'd never even met
before. Good ones, but how was she supposed to process everything? It probably
felt like he was abandoning her again.

This was what he considered as he
called to set up a car delivery, only to find that it was harder than that. In
the end he had to weather strange looks from the cab driver he called, and then
the disdain of the woman at the rental place. It took from nearly six in the
morning to noon, just to have a car and shoes on his feet. He wore them out of
the store, a Wal-Mart. The black running shoes were the kind that hooked in
place with Velcro. Easy to put on, and dorky enough looking to fit his hobo
appearance. Not that he cared about that. Except that he did. His shopping was
all done in character. It made it easier, somehow. Less silly, by turning it
into part of a show.