Free Mind Slide by Glenn Bullion Page B

you okay?”
    Hearing his name was like a punch to the gut.
    That old bitterness started to rise up once again. She held onto it like a long lost friend. It was far easier to be bitter than it was to cry.
    Mason shook his head and looked into Kelly's eyes. He had vomited in the bathroom just ten minutes before, and felt like he could again. His emotions were causing him physical problems.
    He couldn't believe Doc was gone. He almost fell to the floor when Brian called him. It took standing in the same room with his dead corpse before it finally became real.
    At odds with his grief were the butterflies in his stomach from being in the same space with Kelly again. He knew she would never know it, or probably even see it the same way, but they went through a very traumatic experience together. He was with her in that dark, terrifying basement. No one else could say that.
    It was silly, but he felt like they had some kind of connection.
    Kelly felt no such connection.
    “Hi. I'm Mason Thomas.” He extended his hand. “I've heard a lot about you. I've always wanted to meet you.”
    She didn't shake his hand. All of those lonely nights at the dinner table came rushing back to her. All because little Mason had a screw loose. She had no idea why he was at Yingling, and didn't care.
    “I wish I could say the same.”
    The tension was thick. Mason let his hand fall to his side. Brian looked around awkwardly. He wanted to stay with his best friend, but saw Barry motioning for his attention.
    “You gonna be okay?” he asked Mason. “That guy is signaling me over there.”
    Kelly turned around. “That's Barry, my father's lawyer.”
    “Yeah, I'm fine,” Mason said, looking at Kelly and Brian both. “I won't be long. I just want to say goodbye to Doc.”
    Kelly scoffed at the nickname.
    The three went in different directions. Brian walked over to talk to Barry. Kelly sat in a chair against the wall while Mason slowly approached the open coffin.
    She crossed her legs and smoothed her skirt. She double checked her panty hose to make sure it covered the scars on her foot. The biggest scar, the one that stretched from her big toe almost to her ankle, was nearly visible. She uncrossed her legs and moved her bad foot behind the other.
    She didn't mean to eavesdrop. The room was small and everything was so quiet.
    “Now you get to mind slide, Doc,” Mason said. “I always liked the Eiffel Tower, myself. I'll miss you.”
    Kelly narrowed her eyes and stared at Mason's back. He seemed sane at first glance, but she reminded herself he spent a long time in her father's care at the nuthouse.
    Strangely, he was the only one of her father's patients that showed up to pay his respects.
    That eased her bitterness. Just a little.
    He turned around and caught her staring. She stood up and walked toward him. He actually flinched and backed up a step. They moved away from the coffin. She stood next to him and watched Brian and Barry talk on the other side of the room.
    How did Brian and Mason meet? It had to be through Yingling, no doubt after the kidnapping. Her father spent a lot of time with Mason, and Brian spent time after the kidnapping with her father. They probably bumped into each other somewhere along the way, and became friends.
    Did Mason know of her kidnapping?
    “The funeral is tomorrow,” Kelly told him, an edge still in her voice. “At ten in the morning.”
    He swallowed and nodded. She intimidated him. The truth was simple. He wasn't good with women. He was not the dashing, confident man that took charge of a room.
    “I know,” he muttered.
    He wiped a tear from his face. Kelly caught him out of the corner of her eye.
    “You knew my father a long time.”
    “We had a...weird relationship.”
    She gave her father a quick glance and felt the familiar sadness she carried her whole life.
    “Well, whatever it was, it was more than we had.”
    Mason looked at her. He remembered Doc's face on the night of her kidnapping. The