‘He’s being kept in a coma for now,’ said Daniel as he sat beside the bed. He clutched his father’s hand tight because he was afraid that death might drag him away at any moment like it had done with Lawson.
Mason nodded approvingly. ‘So the papers say. I saw a piece about you both on the local news too.’ He clamped a big hand round Daniel’s shoulder and squeezed gently, like a caring uncle might, then leant forward to observe the calm face looking up at him from the pillow. ‘I’m jealous he’s getting so much rest. It’s hard work being me.’
Mason slumped into the chair opposite, lifting up his feet and placing one over the other on the bed. The pale leather soles of his black shoes were dimpled with black and green marks. He smiled and waved to the nurse at her station and she looked away.
‘How much do you think a nurse gets paid?’ Daniel shrugged. ‘Not enough is the right answer.’ And Mason sighed as if he was managing all the worries of the world.
‘What do you want?’ asked Daniel quietly.
‘Blimey, how long have you got?’ Mason laughed at his own joke and then he plucked the silver signet ring from his pocket and held it up, his right eye scrunching tight and the other one staring through it at Daniel. ‘I want you to tell me where my briefcase of money is for starters.’
‘I’m not like Lawson.’
‘Neither of us is. Not now.’ Mason turned and looked through the ring at Daniel’s father like a jeweller inspecting something of great value. ‘Not even your dad.’
‘I didn’t do anything to Lawson,’ replied Daniel softly. ‘It wasn’t my fault.’
Mason hid the ring in a big fist. He looked around the room and then smiled and nodded as if another person was sitting to his left. ‘I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, officer. The last time I saw Mr Lawson he was with a boy about so high with mousey brown hair. I recognized him too, you know; he was the one who fell down that sinkhole. The one in the papers. Sad business that. And with his dad too. Do anyone’s head in, something like that. Least it would me. Send me la-la. I might go and see a psychic too, a charlatan like Lawson, a defrocked vicar who dabbled in the occult, to try and find some hope in such an awful situation. Anyway, officer, maybe you should speak to the boy if you’re looking for Lawson.’
Mason grinned at Daniel, pleased with himself as he rubbed at an itch through his trouser leg. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘I think that means we have an understanding, don’t you?’ He raised his eyebrows and waited for Daniel to say something, but the boy kept quiet. ‘Marvellous. So tell me again about you and Lawson, how it worked.’
‘I don’t know any more than what you saw or what we told you.’
Mason licked his top front teeth like they were made of barley sugar. ‘Then run it by me again. Let’s see where we go from there.’
‘Lawson told me we could make the fit. He said I could help him do things he hadn’t done before. I don’t know anything about it except there’s something inside me. Right here.’ Daniel tapped his chest. ‘Lawson plugged into it like a power cord, and when he did I could feel it happening, warm and golden inside me.’
Mason’s mouth flickered. ‘And that felt good, you said.’
‘Yes. Like everything felt better all of a sudden. Like the fit was something really special and meant to be.’
Mason nodded and then his eyes narrowed. ‘But whatever happened to Lawson means you didn’t fit as well as he thought?’
‘I don’t know why. One moment it was all OK and then the next it . . .’ Daniel tried not to remember how it had been or what had happened to Lawson. He put his hands together to stop them shaking. ‘It just shut off,’ he said quietly.
Mason tutted. ‘I told you Lawson was my go-to guy for the weird. The strange. Whatever you want to call it.’ He raised his hands and clasped the back of his head. ‘So I guess that means now you are, Daniel my boy.’ When Daniel looked up at him, Mason just shrugged. ‘You’re going to fill the vacancy on my books.’
‘But I’m not like Lawson. I told you I can’t do the things he could. I can’t tell you where your money is.’
‘So find someone else like him. Someone who can plug into you like Lawson did. Somebody else to make a fit with, but a better one.’
‘I don’t know anyone like that.’ Daniel felt a black panic rising in his stomach that was making it difficult to breathe. He glanced at his dad and wished he would wake up so everything could be normal again. But the machines just went on blipping and beeping and his father lay there as if nothing untoward was happening at all.
‘You’ll find someone,’ announced Mason. ‘I have every faith in you, Daniel. There are other psychics in the world. My mum was one. She did things you would never believe. And believing it all keeps me top of the pile because people in my line of business tend to be cynical about such things. Lawson was a marvel who helped me no end, bless his cotton socks.’ Mason clicked his teeth as if he was remembering a favourite pet and then sat back in the chair. ‘I’ll give you three days to find someone else.’
Daniel shook his head. His body drooped as he turned away.
‘Look at me, Daniel.’ And Daniel dragged his eyes back to the man. ‘You want your dad to wake up, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘And I want my money back, which means we can do a deal.’
‘You can’t do anything to help my dad.’
‘No I can’t.’ Mason’s big hands made a boulder in his lap. ‘But you can keep him safe while he’s lying here by working for me.’ Mason smiled when Daniel’s jaw began to tick. ‘So that’s what you’re going to do. You lost me a good man, someone I relied on to help with certain things, little projects of mine. So it’s only fair you take up the slack. Lawson was using his talents to search for something very special I want. An antique flask. So, as soon as you find someone to make a fit with and locate my money, then I’m hoping you can get a fix on that flask too. The money can just be a test. A way for you to learn more about this fit and how it works. You want to know as much as you can, don’t you? About this talent of yours?’
Mason braced himself against the chair and something in his spine crackled. ‘Course you do. Back at the house, you and Lawson mentioned making the fit to help your father. So don’t try telling me you don’t want to find someone else now that Lawson’s gone.’
Mason moved forward to the edge of his seat and inspected Daniel’s father again, tutting and shaking his head.
‘If your dad has to stay on a ventilator after the doctors try to wake him up, they’ll start asking questions about what’s best for him. They’ll want to know what he would want to happen and talk to you about what’s in his best interests. They’ll listen to you. But it’ll be their decision about what to do, not yours. They have the power of life and death.’
Mason sat back in his chair and grinned like a toad. ‘I’ve seen how it happens on those documentaries on the telly. I’ve got a plasma screen. Fifty-two inch. You can learn anything watching that. I love tucking into a takeaway in front of it and expanding more than just my mind.’ He slapped his gut. ‘So how about it, you working for me for a bit? Finding my money? That antique flask too? And helping your dad. We can both get what we want, Daniel.’
The boy stared at Mason, saying nothing.
‘Tell you what,’ suggested Mason brightly. ‘You find someone and I’ll break the bad news to them, tell them they’ll be working for me too, do the hard part for you. I’m good at that. Telling people what to do.’
Daniel shifted in his chair, but stayed silent.
‘I’ll take that as a resounding yes then, shall I?’ Mason tousled Daniel’s father’s hair. ‘You’ve got a good son there. Isn’t that right, Daniel? You’re a good lad, aren’t you? Do what you’re told.’
Daniel looked from Mason’s grin to his father’s soft white face. ‘Yeah,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m a good lad.’
Mason nodded. And then his voice dropped. ‘Stay away from Lawson’s house. There’s no need for you to go back there now.’ He kept staring until Daniel nodded that he had understood. ‘Good lad.’ And Mason clapped his hands and laughed. ‘See!’ he shouted at Daniel’s father. ‘I told you!’