Who Knows What Evil Lurks

After the movie ends Sandy cleans himself off with a tissue and thinks back to that afternoon. My God, what a wonderful woman! Sandy realized too late how poorly his Graves' audit report turned out. His mind was elsewhere almost the entire time he was reviewing the Portland office books. It's obvious the only reason Mr. Dolan let Sandy off with just a warning was Alexis' effort to protect him. That must be why she flew to Portland herself, to smooth things over with Graves personally to avoid Sandy from getting into trouble with their manager. Monday morning he'd get his head out of his ass and concentrate on his work to keep from getting in more trouble. If he lost his job it would cost him all of the hours of the day being so close to Alexis. Between now and Monday morning he'd figure out what his next step will be in the elimination of Jason Tyler.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Saturday morning Alexis and Jason were getting ready for a run. Alexis needed to burn off the anger she was feeling right now, all directed at that wimp boss of hers. Jason politely listened as Alexis vented.

"I can't believe Hank let the creep off with just a warning. My entire week was a waste of time due to Mason's incompetence. And when I told Hank about the harassment, he said I needed to talk to HR."

Jason knew when to keep his mouth shut. Most men never get it; how damn difficult it was to be a woman in the workplace, especially a decent looking woman. Jason knew he was one of the lucky ones, married to a beautiful woman who loved him and kept her wedding vows. She may not be one in a million, but she was certainly one in a thousand. Six months after the birth of their daughter Katie, Alexis was back to her pre-pregnancy weight. Within a year you couldn't tell she had carried a baby full term.

Jason remembered that vacation in the Bahamas, their first alone time after Katie was born. Katie was staying with his parents, Alexis and Jason flew to Miami and hopped a boat to Nassau. Six days and nights together in a tropical paradise. Alexis wore the bikini Jason bought her from the Victoria's Secret catalog. Alexis surprised Jason by revealing her belly button piercing; she had it done the day before they left for Miami and he didn't see it until she stepped onto the boat deck wearing the skimpy two piece. That vacation was also the first time he saw Alexis sunbathe topless, first on the boat, later with a group of Germans on a remote European-style beach. Since then Alexis continued to go topless at other beaches where it was allowed or in their own backyard, and once even at the pool in Vegas, but she refuses to consider Jason's repeated suggestions they try a nude beach.

By the time Jason finished stretching and ready for their run, Alexis was starting to calm down. They took off toward the park; the park was a half-mile away and had a nice trail to run down to the waterfront. There was a hill on the north end of the park with a staircase cut out. Two hundred and ninety steps up to the top of the hill. On good days they were able to run the entire distance there and back without stopping.

Jason and Alexis were on the return leg and decided to walk the last mile; the stress of the past week had taken a toll on their energy. Jason was watching the guy sitting on one of the park benches. The guy had a smart phone up to his ear, but the angle was off and then it hit him. Jason had seen men do the same thing more than once on topless beaches, there was often some pervert troll pretending to talk on a cell phone when actually just filming the topless ladies. Twice in the past Jason actually approached these pervs and called them out, "Going to take that back home and jack-off to it?" - embarrassing the shit out of these assholes.

Jason was watching the guy on the park bench, wondering why the guy would be filming the two of them, there was nothing all that sexy about Alexis' running outfit. Alexis was excited about Katie coming home soon and was discussing their plans for next three weeks, so she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings. Jason interrupted her after they passed the man and asked her, "Did you notice that guy with the cell phone we just passed? I think he was using his smart phone to film us."

Alexis turned around and quickly whipped her head back.

"My god, that's Sandy Mason!"

"What the fuck? That's the guy that you complained was harassing you? What the hell is he doing filming us?"

"I told you there was something off with Mason."

"Should I go back and confront him?"

"And do what? He's sitting in a public park and we can't prove he's filming us unless you grab his phone before he runs or erases the image. I'll just add this to my report to HR on Monday morning."

"Alexis, I want you to start being more careful and keep your eyes open. I don't trust this guy. Start carrying that mace spray I bought you. Don't give me any lip now, just do it."

As uncomfortable as Alexis was with the thought of carrying that damn tube of mace, she knew Jason was right. She was even more creeped out now then yesterday.

Jason didn't tell Alexis, but he realized he'd seen the guy on that park bench at least once before. Jason knew the police wouldn't be able to do anything about a guy sitting on a public park bench, even if the guy was using his phone to film. But Jason had other resources; as soon as he returned to the house he called the agency his brokerage firm used for investigations. He left a message for the owner to call him as soon as he received the message, but first thing Monday morning at the latest.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Alexis met with Clyde Walker in HR Monday to tell him about her concerns including seeing Sandy Mason at the park on Saturday and their suspicion that Sandy was using his phone to film them. As expected, Clyde said that this couldn't be used against Sandy, but Clyde would meet with Sandy Tuesday and give him a general warning regarding unwanted attention toward female employees that could be construed as harassment.

"Are you going to tell him it was me that complained?"

"No Alexis, I'm going to keep it anonymous. We're allowed to do that in the case of a warning. If it escalates, we may be required to show him the signed complaint. If he retains an attorney, the attorney will insist on seeing the complaint. Let's hope a warning will be sufficient to correct Sandy's behavior. I'll personally follow up."

Alexis walked out of the meeting hopeful to see a change in Sandy's behavior and avoid further confrontation. Alexis had been taught by her saint of a mother to try and see the best in people. Her mother always tried to excuse peoples' bad behavior by imaging that there had to be a reason for such behavior, it was beyond her that some people could just be plain evil.

Alexis did her best to live by her mother's philosophy; in high school she was captain of the cheer squad and homecoming queen; she tried to be gracious and thought for the most part she succeeded, but assholes like Sandy Mason put her mother's teachings to the test. Since that first day in the conference room six months ago, her nerve ends tingled whenever she found herself near Sandy Mason in the department.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dave Philips, owner of Philips Investigations, met with Jason at eleven AM. Dave always checked his machine throughout the weekend, grabbed Jason's message Saturday afternoon and set up this Monday morning meeting; they both thought the matter deserved immediate attention.

"Dave, I need you to find out everything you can about this Mason character. Where does he come from, what's in his past? Is he dangerous? Alexis tells me he showed up in her department six months ago and never talks to anyone about his personal life. She avoids the guy, but some of the others in the department have attempt to talk to him, without luck."

Dave jotted some notes as Jason spoke, Dave looked up from his pad of paper, "I'll call our attorney this morning and get him to contact Alexis' HR Department. It's in their best interest to give us some background on Mason given Alexis submitted a formal complaint, especially after Saturday morning's incident. Our attorney won't accept 'no' for an answer or we'll file a suit. I don't know how much vetting the company did on Mason, we'll dig deeper."

"Thanks Dave, I don't have to tell you how critical this is to me. I told you about the break-in at our house. That with this puts me on edge and I need answers."

"Consider it done, we'll be moving on it today. I have some free time this week and I'll have Dwayne Larson, one of our best people, working on this. We'll get your answers."

"What about the police?"

"If and when we have something for them, we'll share it with the police. Right now we just have a co-worker who has acted strange and was seen on a public park twice. If they contact Mason right now with what we have, it might drive him underground and make him more careful."

"You know, I just thought of something. Damn! A few weeks ago a drone flew over our property and hovered over Alexis while she was sunbathing. Any chance you can find out if Mason has a drone?"

"I'll look into it, it seems to me I read that some of the bigger ones are registered with the FAA. We'll check up on it. If there's anything else you think of, these little things that didn't click earlier, call me on my cell. Every bit helps if we end up going to the police. In the meantime, would you be more comfortable if we assigned a bodyguard for Alexis?"

"Let's hold off on that for now. What doesn't make sense is, if it was Mason trying to break into our house, why did he do it when Alexis was out of town? He must of known she was in Portland."

"Yea, you're right, that doesn't make sense; but one thing I've learned in this business is most of these nutcases will do things that aren't logical to anyone considered sane. Maybe the break-in and the stalking are unrelated, we'll keep them connected for now until we learn differently."

"Thanks Dave. I appreciate you jumping right on this and your personal attention to our concerns."

"What'd you expect? You're not only a client, you and Alexis have been friends for years."

With that Jason and Dave rose from their chairs, shook hands and Jason left Dave's office and headed down the street to his office. Jason found himself being more observant of his surroundings, including looking at the reflections in the shop windows as he passed.

Dave watched his friend leave and immediately picked up the phone. "Alice, can you please ask Dwayne to come see me? Thanks."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sandy Mason was becoming more and more frustrated and angry. Tuesday morning he was called into the HR department and told there had been a serious complaint of possible sexual harassment against him by one of the other women in his department. He knew who complained, it must have been that bitch Susan Oster, he knew she was jealous of what he and Alexis shared. That bitch will pay for this and he knew exactly how to make her pay.

But Sandy's more critical and immediate issue was getting rid of Jason Tyler. It was almost a week since he attempted to break into the Tyler house and he still couldn't come up with a better plan than the one that failed. Going back into the house was out of the question; Thursday evening he had driven past the Tyler house and saw a new ADT sign in the front. Sandy knew some of these signs were fake, but he didn't think this one was fake and why take the chance?

No matter how much he considered the options for killing Jason, they all had an element of danger or capture after the fact. What good would it do to have Jason out of the picture if he ended up in jail and unable to marry Alexis?

The thought of jail caused Sandy to shudder, just thinking about how close he came to spending time in juvie back in high school always produced the same reaction, but this time it triggered a thought in his head. What if he didn't kill Jason, what if he just got him out of the way by setting up Jason for a crime that would send him away for a long, long time? But the crime would have to be so awful that Alexis would have to divorce him. What would do that?

Sandy was thinking through his dilemma while staring at the terminal in his cubicle. His commitment to buckle down and pay attention to his work was forgotten. Then he saw Alexis' reflection in his terminal, she walked past his cubicle and the solution presented itself. If he killed the Tyler's daughter and made certain that Jason was framed and convicted of the crime, it would assure Alexis' divorce from Jason, and the bonus was Sandy wouldn't be stuck with Jason's spawn. Sandy smiled to himself as he thought about it, "this deserves some more consideration" he thought to himself.

With this new idea in mind, Sandy decided it was time to get back at Susan. Using an alias, he signed on to the online dating service he overheard her mention. Within a half hour he found her profile and 'Mr. Sam Martin' submitted a request to meet Ms. Susan Oster sometime soon. With that accomplished Sandy sat back in his chair with a self-satisfied grin and was finally able to get back to work.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Susan spent the first half of the week auditing the Eugene office and it wasn't until Thursday afternoon that the two friends had a chance to sit down and catch up with their lives. Alexis shared what happened the previous Saturday in the park and Monday morning in HR. Susan couldn't help but notice how Alexis seemed to scan the café before starting to talk. Susan was stunned about the incident in the park, but not at all surprised by Clyde's lack of action. Most of these guys in HR were ball-less. After a while Alexis figured she was dominating the conversation and asked Susan about her date last weekend.

"Another online date, another bust. He was a nice enough guy, but we both knew by the end of the evening that we weren't what each other was looking for."

Just hearing Susan's tale of another poor experience broke Alexis' heart. Susan's first marriage ended after the second time catching her husband cheating. Susan had given the guy a chance after the first time; an office romance with his secretary of all things. The couple went into counselling after her husband begged Susan to give him another chance, but while they were in their second month of counselling, he was caught back in the secretary's saddle. (Actually, he got caught because the secretary blew the whistle on him, hoping this was the best way to get him for herself. Good luck, sweetie.)

"Anyway - since Tuesday evening I've been communicating with what seems like a decent guy. We're supposed to meet sometime soon. He's been on a big project at his work and wants to get that out of the way first. He wrote that it should be within the next week or so."

Alexis looked at her friend and tried her best to sound positive. "Good for you! One of these days the right guy is going to make you a very happy lady. You deserve it." Once more Alexis silently thanked her lucky stars not to be in Susan's shoes.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Considering all the anxiety, most of the week was relatively quiet at the Tyler household. With Dave Philip's pull the security system was up and operational. Katie would be home Friday; her last final for the summer quarter was Thursday and both Alexis and Jason were looking forward to the three weeks Katie had before returning to school for the fall quarter.

Both Alexis and Jason were taking the next two weeks off work to spend time with Katie at their cabin on Lake Wenatchee in Eastern Washington; two weeks of hiking and fishing. The second week Katie's boyfriend was coming to visit. It sounded like Katie was serious with this young man, Alexis hoped not too serious, Katie was only twenty. Jason was looking forward to sitting down with the poor fellow, Jason could be a big, bad poppa bear when it came to Katie, the perfect complement to Alexis' momma lion. Luckily Katie knew her parents acted this way out of love and accepted it with humor.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jason stopped at Dave Philips' office on the way home Friday. Dwayne gave Jason a rundown on what he discovered so far.

"Sandy is a nickname; his given name is Sanders Austin Mason. He's twenty-eight years old, was born in Vancouver, Washington. His previous employer was Exxon in Houston. We tried to get some information on why he left Exxon, but that's harder than breaking into the Pentagon. We did find out he didn't have any arrests or convictions in Texas or any other state as an adult.

"Here's where it gets dicey. We're fairly certain Mason has some record as a juvenile. He was enrolled in the public high school in Vancouver his freshman and sophomore years, but the yearbook for his school doesn't list him as a student the following year. We checked the local private schools, and again, no record of him attending. His parents still lived in the same house during that time, but he's not enrolled in any area school.

"Using the yearbook and a local phone directory, we found a couple ex-classmates. No one claimed to be a friend, but two of his classmates remember some rumors about Sandy Mason taking up-skirt photos, there was even an un-substantiated rumor about a hole in the girls' locker-room.

"He seems to fall off the face of the earth until he's nineteen and in college. If he has a juvenile record, any good attorney would have the record expunged unless it's a conviction as a sex offender. Since we didn't find any of those, it's safe to assume he didn't rape anyone."

Jason let out his breath, he hadn't realized he was holding it the entire time Dave was talking. "Well, I guess that's somewhat comforting, but what do we do now?"

"We'll get to that in a minute. There are two more things we need you to know.

"First, Mason does own a drone, a high end drone with a high end camera. One of the neighbors in the building across the street from his apartment building has seen him on top of the roof with the thing. After it takes off from the roof, he disappears, probably goes to his apartment where he can control it and watch using the camera. He doesn't come back onto the roof until the drone lands."

"Is that legal?"

"Yes, the whole drone thing is a grey area right now. Neither our state legislature or the Feds have caught up with how quickly the technology has evolved. The Feds, as usual, were caught with their pants down."

"OK, you said two things, what else?"

"The second is more troubling. Mason owns a 9mm Glock. Are you familiar with handguns?"

"Enough to know what that is. Can't say what gun I saw the night of the break-in, it was too dark and too far away. Does Mason have a permit to carry?"

"No, but few criminals go through the trouble of acquiring a concealed carry permit. Have you thought about carrying?"

"Not going to happen; Alexis has a fear of guns and especially of handguns. I'm lucky she allows my shotgun in the house."

"Well, I'd never suggest anyone carrying if they're not comfortable with a firearm. Too many bad things can happen if you're not willing to practice and know how to react to a situation. I know you bought Alexis a handheld mace canister. Consider getting one for you and your daughter.

"Now, to answer your previous question. It might cost big bucks, but I'd like to hire a law firm in Texas to access Exxon's records. I figure it will cost us at least a few thousand or more if Exxon does fight us. But with the proper law firm we can get a judge's order for Exxon to release their personnel files on Mason. If we get a judge's order, Exxon can use that as cover to prevent any countersuit from Mason. What do you think?"