The Serial Killer Whisperer by Pete Earley

Author:Pete Earley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchstone
Published: 2012-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Thanksgiving was coming but Al and Chris were reluctant to take Tony out in public. He had become an emotional tinderbox. They invited their relatives to celebrate with them at their house. Al knew that one of Tony’s uncles didn’t think there was anything physically wrong with him. The uncle had told his wife that Al and Chris had indulged Tony since the WaveRunner accident. They’d babied him, protected him, given in to his every whim. That charge had especially infuriated Al.

“You’d think your own family would understand about traumatic brain injuries and how they completely change a person, how the parts of Tony’s brain that control emotions and impulse don’t work correctly. You would think your own family would support you,” he’d complained to Chris.

Before the relatives arrived, Al warned Tony: “If your uncle starts getting on your nerves, just go into your bedroom and shut the door.”

Chris had just popped two large turkeys into the oven on Thanksgiving Day when Tony appeared in the kitchen saying he was hungry.

“Dinner won’t be ready for several hours,” Chris said.

Al offered to drive Tony to a McDonald’s, and as they were leaving the house, the uncle decided to join them. Everyone was fine until they were sitting in a booth and Tony mentioned serial killers. His uncle said he didn’t want to hear about them. He didn’t understand why Tony would even want to write to them. In his opinion, all they deserved was a bullet to the head.

Al could tell Tony was becoming exasperated, especially when the uncle continued to rant about Tony’s fixation with psychopaths.

“I think there’s a lot we can learn from serial killers,” Tony said, defending himself.

His comment infuriated his uncle, to the point that Tony became so upset that he decided to leave the table to cool off. The moment he walked away, Al asked the uncle to drop the subject. Tony returned and everyone began eating again, but within seconds, the uncle bought up serial killers. He began busting Tony’s chops about why he was wasting his time talking to them when all they deserved was a bullet to the head.

“You don’t know them like I do,” Tony said.

“A gun and a bullet!” his uncle exclaimed. That’s what needed to be done to them.

Tony lunged at his uncle, grabbing his shirt collar and shoving him against a wall. The man’s eyeglasses flew from his nose. Cocking his fist back, Tony was about to hit him when Al grabbed his son’s arm.

“Get outside now!” Al yelled. Tony released his grip and started to leave but stopped when a clerk behind the counter yelled: “I’m calling the cops!” Spinning around, Tony began cursing her.

Rising from the booth, Al said, “This is a family affair. No need to call the police.” He escorted Tony outside and got him settled in their car. Dashing back into the restaurant, Al told the uncle that he would send someone to pick him up.

Not wanting to go home and risk another confrontation, Al drove Tony to Crystal’s apartment and telephoned Chris.

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