Gary slowly pulled onto Oak Street in Mr. Kelly's old Honda. He’d been living a room down from Michael and Stuart the whole time, but decided not to reveal himself. Within the first week of being in the hotel, he'd found that an attic connected the shops all the way down Broadway Street and ultimately connected to the hotel. He'd researched each of the shops and their owners and settled on Mr. Kelly and his mercantile. Mr. Kelly was single, lived alone, and had no immediate family. His shop had few check-ins, and he seemed like an individual that nobody would check on.
He watched Mr. Kelly's movements from the ceiling. He timed when he arrived when he left and videotaped his walk, and then did his best to replicate it in his mirror. After four days, Gary murdered Mr. Kelly and took over his life.
The same day he killed Mr. Kelly, Gary posted a "closed for renovation" sign in the window and went on the prowl. It took him three days to find the killer. In such a small town, there's only so much revenue to be made. Porsche's don't belong in Cottonwood Falls.
He'd driven past the killer's plantation on the outskirts of the Kansas town several times. He'd seen the vans posted a few streets in either direction. The house was on 24-hour surveillance. The kill was a necessity, but it needed to be clean. It needed to be done in such a way that Quint Morton would know he'd been outsmarted. Gary was choosing to cooperate. Quint owned a nationwide army. If Gary ran, he'd always be on the run. He needed to prove his worth to Quint so he could work for The Company. He wasn’t
As he pulled down the street, he was pleased to find the first van was not in its regular post.
They'd taken the bait.
He continued down the road and checked the other two spots and was pleased to find them gone as well. He turned the car around and made his way back down the street. He turned off the headlights and pulled behind a grove of trees one hundred meters past the house.
Oh, the fun is happening.
Gary smiled. Eight kills in one month. It wouldn't be a first, but it'd been a while. He readjusted the pistol and blood-stained knife.