That’s exactly what he’d been doing, too. Each time he claimed a new victim.
He’d overpower them, because he could never actually overpower his own mother. He’d punish them—for what she didn’t know yet, but she would.
Then, when he was done making her pay, he’d kill the women he took. He’d kill, in his mind, his mother.
And after a while went by, he’d start the cycle all over again.
“I haven’t been killing my mother!” He yelled. “Those women...” He continued pacing. “Those women I killed werewhores. They were trash, littering the streets of my beautiful cities.”
“They were human beings, Greg,” Riley continued poking the bear. “They were someone’s daughter. Someone’s sister.” And then it hit her. “Those women you killed, there’s a chance they were someone’smother.”
Hayes stopped moving. He spun on his heels and stormed toward her. “If they were mothers, then maybe they should’ve been home taking care of their kids instead of getting into stranger’s cars to do unthinkable things. They should’ve been feeding and bathing their children, not slumming around on the streets at night, so high they forgot they even had a kid.”
Oh, my god.
“That’s it,” Riley whispered. “Your mother forgot about you, didn’t she?”
“For thirteen days.” Hayes blinked, his body standing straight as he slowly stepped backward.
Thirteen.
The final clue to the Gregory Hayes puzzle.
Forcing her voice to stay low and steady, Riley used a soft, motherly tone. Playing on his narcissistic tendencies, she asked him to talk about his favorite subject...himself.
“Tell me what happened, Greg. Tell me what it was like for you during those thirteen days.”
Cold, empty eyes stared back at her, now. But Riley could almost see the little boy he’d once been.
“I was only seven.” He took the bait. “At first, it wasn’t terribly awful. I got to eat whatever I wanted. Watch as much television as I liked. I even stayed up past my bedtime.”
“That sounds nice.” Riley managed a small smile.
“It was. In the beginning. But by the fourth day, I’d run out of food. I went two full days without eating, but then I got so hungry, I went outside, to the alley behind our building and hid.”
As crazy as it seemed, Riley’s heart ached for that little boy. She thought her upbringing was rough, with a dad who only cared about money and a mom who only cared about her social status.
She couldn’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for the little boy Hayes used to be.
“Who were you hiding from?” She asked quietly.
“Everyone. My neighbors. The building superintendent. I didn’t want them to see...” His voice trailed off.
“See what?”
He hung his head, too ashamed of what he had yet to say.
“What didn’t you want those people to see, Greg?”
Anger replaced shame when he raised his gaze to hers. “I didn’t want them seeing me crawling into the dumpster and eating their leftover garbage like a fucking rat.”
“You did what you had to do in order to survive.”
“I did what I had to do because my mother was a strung out junky and a whore!”
He left her line of sight again. Riley could hear him moving around...unzipping a bag, maybe?
Come on, Riles. You can do this.
