Chapter Nine

"Into the Monster's Realm"

The 1950 Nash Rambler: Wisconsin's answer to the post-war fuel shortage. It was as ugly as it was uncomfortable, and I suspected was never meant to comfortably seat three adults.

Being the gentleman I was, I had opted to take the back seat and allow the girls to sit upfront. My bent knees were close to my ears and having first-hand knowledge of Iris's driving habits, I realized I was in for one helluva ride.

"It's on Admiral," Ami was pointing out, "which is in two more blocks."

Iris was a great kid, but she was easily distracted, especially when she was behind the wheel.

"You missed it," I informed her before placing my hands on the roof to steady myself. I knew what was coming next.

"No, I didn't. Hang on."

I hated to admit the little car performed well. It turned on a dime. As for Iris's driving skills, that was another story. She giggled nervously after she had straightened out the wheel.

"Everyone still with us?" she asked excitedly.

"Just try to get us there in one piece," I suggested. I smiled at Ami who had turned around and was starting to look a little green around the gills.

"Breathe," I mouthed silently to her. In reply, her eyes widened and she reached back with her left arm and wrapped it around my leg. Whether she was looking for comfort or perhaps security, I wasn't sure.

"Here we are!" Iris announced as if she had just performed some type of acrobatic feat; which was a good way of putting it, actually.

I told her to park in the back and she did so, placing us between two enormous sedans on the front row; one I recognized as Mrs. Bernonsky's.

"No good," I told her before she shut off the engine. "Over there is a better spot." I didn't want dear Freyda to wonder who was parking back here in the employee lot and why. It was better to be discrete.

"Do you want to drive?" Iris asked me flippantly.

"Just do what I ask this once," I pleaded with her.

"Fine." The word was drawn out with a growl added at the end. In the mirror, I actually saw her blue eyes roll toward the ceiling. If I had a little sister, I could imagine this is what it would be like.

She pulled the car to where I had insisted; away from Freyda's vehicle and any street light.

"Satisfied?" she asked.

I answered her positively while gazing out the windshield. For our plan to have the best chance of success, we'd need to wait for Bernonsky to leave. I glanced at my watch before darkness made it impossible to see. We needed to wait approximately twenty minutes – that is, if her routine was the same as before.

"What does Mrs. Bernonsky look like?" Ami asked me after a while using a hushed voice.

"Trust me. You'll know her when you see her," I explained.

"Don't be rude, Ben," Iris shot back. "Just because she may be a little overweight doesn't mean that she's…"

Just at that moment, the back door was swung wide with such force that it slammed against the building. Freyda must've had a bad day because her expression this evening was something I'd describe as tense.

"I see what you mean," Iris commented dryly. "If a bulldog were a person…"

"Iris, be nice," Ami scolded, which silenced us both for a while; at least until we observed Freyda's car pulling out of the lot.

"Now. Everyone knows their job. Right? Any questions before we begin?"

"It's a little late for that, Sherlock," Iris commented.

She may be abrasive to some, but I loved Iris. She'd helped me out on more than one occasion, and I imagined would continue to do so whenever I asked.

"All right, my dear Watsons," I quipped back. "Let's head out. If anything goes wrong, just high-tail it back out here to the car. Don't try anything heroic."

"Yes, sir, Captain sir," Iris once again saluted me and opened her door to allow me to squeeze out. Ami exited on the opposite side.

Once I was free of the clown car, I felt a hand grab my wrist and turned to look back at our daring driver.

"Be careful, Ben," Iris said with as much sincerity as she could manage.

Touched by the rare display of her feelings, I smiled and reached for her hand. "I will. Just remember everything I told you and only use the gun if you have to."

There was nervous fear on her face; on both the girls' faces as a matter of fact, although I assured them everything was going to be all right. It had to be or else Quinn was going to kill us all.

Ami and I walked toward the building together but split up once we'd reached the door. She would enter through the front and request a visit with Arnie. During that visit, she would distract the receptionist long enough to allow me to get through the back door. I was concerned about that lock. I'd never tried to pick anything like it before and had already determined I was going to need more time. No world records would be broken tonight.

Once Ami had disappeared around the corner, I waited a couple of minutes and then went to work. I could usually feel the adjustment of the pins inside the locking mechanism, but this beauty had an aggressive bite and required an alternative method. It had taken me nearly three minutes before I managed to bypass the shield and rotate the pins inside.

Success. The door opened and I stepped into a familiar, dimly-lit hallway. Even from this distance, I could hear the excitement in Arnie's voice as he met with Ami in the lobby. Other residents opened their own doors to see what all the commotion was about. I stood still in the shadows and waited. Finally, after they realized it was nothing that concerned them, they returned to the privacy of their own rooms. This allowed me time to sneak quietly down the two hallways which would bring me to Bernonsky's office.

The lock on her door was a cinch compared to the one I'd just picked and I was inside in a jiffy, stumbling my way through the dark. I managed to replace the file this time without the use of my camera and quietly closed the drawer.

I could still hear the animated and excited voice of Arnie drifting down the hall and took advantage of the distraction to roam the opposite direction, hoping a particular patient would be out and about.

As luck would have it, I found the intended patient leaning against the doorframe of his room, smoking.

"You again," he uttered upon recognizing me. "What is a private dick doing hanging around an old folks' home?"

"I'm here to see you, Kade Mooney," I answered. "Or should I say, Kade Smith?"

I was going to have to toss all my aces out at once. I didn't have time for anything else.

Kade drew long and hard on the cigarette which cast an eerie red glow onto his face. A fitting color, I imagined.

"Who's Kade Smith?" he replied, blowing smoke out at the same time.

"You are," I replied. "Your older brother is Senator George Smith from Tallahassee, Florida. Your mother's name was Mary and your father's name was Bill. You were born in Lake City, Florida, and became a resident of Bryce Hospital in 1932."

Kade's smile was as creepy as his demeanor, although his teeth were white and straight. "Somebody's been doing a little reading," he pointed out before tossing the cigarette onto the green linoleum floor and crushing it with his foot. "But why? Why would a gumshoe want to know so much about me?"

"Because," I replied. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my bloodstream and I focused on my voice in order to keep it steady. "I believe you killed someone six nights ago in Nick Walker's apartment."

"I'm glad to see you have a sense of humor. Most private dicks don't," Kade replied cooly.

He hadn't made a move yet, but I was ready in case he did. There was a gun in my right pocket I hoped not to have to use, and a roll of nickels in the other.

I anxiously plowed on. "I think you were hiding in Nick's apartment waiting for him to arrive, and when someone came in, you attacked them. Only this someone wasn't who you were expecting. You killed an innocent man, but for what reason?"

Again, a broad, toothy grin was revealed. "You think you're pretty smart, don't you? You forgot one thing. I'm in here and this place is pretty locked down; It's practically a prison."

"One with minimal security," I countered. "It seems anyone can come and go as they please. I've been in and out of here several times and haven't been caught yet."

"Maybe," Kade answered before taking a step forward. I automatically took one back. "But you're not a patient. The nurses in here take roll every hour and that back door locks as soon as you step out of it."

"Which is why you had to have help on the inside," I explained to him. "Someone was waiting for you to let you back in."

Kade chuckled; a deep-throated gurgle that gave me goosebumps. "Ain't nobody in this joint smart enough to do anything like that," he told me. "They're all a bunch of 'tards. I'm a genius compared to them."

"But you didn't always think that, did you?" I responded. "That's why you befriended Arnie. You hoped he'd be a confidant; someone who would assist you in your crimes. Someone you could threaten and control and when the time came, use as a scapegoat."

"Nah," Kade replied, looking away. "That's too complicated for me. I just liked the guy. But you're right, he'd be an easy one to blame. He's sweet but he's not too bright."

"Not like you," I pointed out. I was running out of time and I needed to irritate him more. For some reason, I hadn't yet been able to do that. "Which makes me wonder how you got here in the first place? Weren't you admitted to an insane asylum? Isn't that what Bryce Hospital is? And your brother; he signed off on all those shock treatments and therapies, didn't he?"

There. That did it. For a second, I noticed Kade had become enraged. His jaw had clenched and his eyes had widened, although he'd somehow managed to contain it. In rapid succession, another smile formed on his face.

"You have no idea what it's like," he told me through clenched teeth, stepping forward, while I matched his movements backward. "To be strapped in and hooked up to a machine while they take away your memories and try to alter your brain. Those nutjobs were hoping to turn me into a better person. What they don't understand is that I like who I am! I'm not going to change, and no amount of electricity running through my brain is going to do that. Those doctors and dear old brother George can both burn in hell before I go through that again. I'm not going back there."

And there it was. Clear as crystal and right in front of me: Fear. Kade was afraid of being sent back to Bryce Hospital – a place his brother involuntarily committed him to. But who was threatening to send him back there? Who other than the person he tried to kill? But how did Kade learn about Nick's intentions unless he had an informant? It had to be someone who was working at Happy Acres; Someone like that pretty receptionist perhaps.