Disabling Evil: JJ Johnson Suspense, #2

By Elizabeth Crounse

Disabling Evil is  hard-to-put down suspense story with the most unlikely of protagonist.

 

A terrible car crash left JJ unable to move or speak, but inside his damaged body, his mind and spirit were as bright as ever. In the first volume, JJ stopped the murder of his roommate with the use of a communication device that allowed him to speak. In Book 2, he realizes that despite his best efforts, his physical limitations keep him from the education, career and social life he fervently wants. Disappointed and brooding, JJ befriends the young son of a staff member, and soon finds himself in the middle of a child trafficking case. What happens when JJ attempts to protect the boy and finds himself in the crosshairs of the predator?

 

AND DON'T MISS BOOK 3 OF JJ'S ADVENTURES IN HOSTAGE TO A LIE COMING SOON.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Purple Owl Publishing
• Release date: Jun 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201921781

Book preview

Chapter One

JJ watched as the man lit the lighter and looked at him with no expression, just eyes that were cold and intense. He stared back at the man, trying to match the cold gaze with his own, but suspected his quivering lip gave a clue about his true state of panic. JJ tried to calm himself, but his pulse thundered in his ears, and he steeled himself for whatever this stranger intended to do. The man held the lighter in his hand for a moment, seeming to enjoy the vibrant dance of color, then walked slowly to the window and held the flame to the curtains. It singed the fabric, but they did not ignite- group homes had strict rules about nonflammable drapery.

Undeterred, the man walked to the bulletin board and touched the flame to the pictures of a young JJ and his mother at the beach. The photos were more obliging, and after a few seconds burned bright for a moment before they shriveled in the heat, but not before setting fire to the house recreation schedule and a list of emergency phone numbers. The lighter was then held to the pillowcase on the bed behind him, then the shirt in the hamper that he had worn last night, then the medical chart opened on the over-the-bed table. Then, while a half dozen small fires flickered around the room, the man bent in front of JJ’s wheelchair and held the flame to the cuff of his athletic pants. He closed the lighter and walked slowly to the doorway, surveying with satisfaction the growing flames.

Do you want this closed or open? he asked JJ coldly. I’ll keep it open. It’s getting warm here. What’s that they say in the movies? ‘Burn baby, burn.’ After a final visual sweep of the room, the stranger left without looking back.

Alone, JJ let the tears flow freely, seeing but not feeling the flames crawling up his legs. It was just as well, at least it was over. It was a relief in a way. Nothing would have worked out. It never did.

Then he reeled in horror as someone’s hand clutched his arm and a scream pierced his ears. He remembered he was not alone.

Chapter Two

JJ finally extricated himself from his nightmare and woke to a bright and quiet morning. The night staff had started the coffee, and the smell from the kitchen down the hall was almost enough to make him want to get out of bed. He was surprised to see Maria next to the bed getting his meds ready since, these days, she mostly worked weekends. She must have done overtime on the night shift. Maria had been his assigned staff for most of the decade since he had arrived from the nursing home facility where he had lived after the accident.

Still rattled by his dream, JJ tried to compose himself and shake it off before she looked up- Maria had a sixth sense when it came to him. If she noticed his distress, she would demand to know what was wrong. He couldn’t tell her even if he had a voice, which he didn’t. It would be difficult for anyone to describe the helpless terror he felt during the nightmare, but for him, having to select each letter of each word with his eye gaze, it was near impossible. He didn’t have the stamina for such a task, and she didn’t have the time. 

As he feared, Maria raised her head with a big smile and a cheery, How’s JJ this morning...what’s wrong? You look upset.

He tried to feign surprise at her observation, then realized it was futile and locked his eyes on his device to open the screen, scanning the phrases until he got to bad dream.

Maria nodded but didn’t say anything for a moment.

JJ, you have been having them a lot lately. Maybe you should try to talk to Patrick about them. I know it’s frustrating, but the more he gets to know you the easier it will be.

JJ’s face went blank, and he ignored her. It was a sore subject, and she knew it. Patrick, his many-degreed counselor, was an idiot. She let it pass and went back to the half dozen pills he took before breakfast.

Breakfast was delicious.  The staff member training to take over for Derrick, his weekday assigned staff, was a much better cook than Derrick was, and good food was important to JJ. Derrick never let him down in any other way, but some of JJ’s saddest meals were the result of Derrick massacring a meatloaf or a lasagna. Staff members were hired as Direct Support Staff (DSS), meaning they provided for virtually everything the residents needed, from medications to laundry to food, as well as all the physical and emotional care.  In a lesser staff, JJ might have viewed Derrick’s culinary deficits as unforgivable, but Derrick was awesome in all other ways, so he was forgiven, though mercilessly taunted about his cooking.

Cathy, the staff hired to fill the assignment when Derrick left for his trucking job, was lackluster by comparison. She was about 30, though if you judged by her obscure band merch clothing you might have guessed 16. She was too thin to be healthy, and her husky voice would make you suspect she was either a smoker or at least had been. She seemed very earnest about the job, and JJ suspected a lot was riding on her paycheck. She seemed at a loss for words most of the time and would busy herself wiping down a table or doing laundry to avoid any real interaction.

Derrick was a bit cocky lately, smugly assigning all the work to Cathy and standing back as a critic and coach. Cathy was annoyed but bit her tongue, probably because tomorrow was his last day, and because Derrick and her new supervisor, Franklin, were best of friends. She didn’t need to start off on the wrong side of her supervisor. Franklin knew that Derrick was having fun at her expense, so this morning when he assigned Derrick his least favorite job, kitchen clean up, he took Cathy away for some training, and JJ knew he was watching Karma in action. JJ smirked at Derrick as he collected the dishes and Derrick rolled his eyes. 

You’re going to miss having me to mess with all the time, JJ, Derrick said with mock irritation, but you’ve got work to do too, so get busy on that schedule.

House regulations required a schedule of activities for all residents of the house, and for a long time, JJ endured nature movies, bingo games, and mani-pedi nights. One of the first things he insisted on when he received and learned how to use his communication device was the right to develop his own daily schedule. Franklin allowed it but signed off his approval every day to ensure the regulations that dictated the services that were required were being met.

At first, he filled the schedule with all kinds of productive activities: a college class, looking for remote computer work, social groups, ordering pizza, learning Spanish. Everything seemed possible in the early days after he got his device. But the reality of his disability brought most of those dreams crashing down, and soon his schedule consisted of binge-watching Netflix and surfing the web for cat memes, dance videos, and scantily dressed women. Franklin would shake his head and suggest something more wholesome, but generally acquiesced and allowed him to while away his days in meaningless screen time. Franklin was stubborn like JJ though, and before long he had scheduled sessions with Patrick, his clueless psychologist, who attempted to help him cope with his frustrations and set realistic goals.

These sessions were useless. Of more use was the technical support Franklin arranged with a local college’s mechanical engineering class. A group of students met with him and developed technology that would give him more control over his life. That resulted in some improvements, but when it appeared that no more was possible, most of those involved went on their way. The only one remaining was a quirky adaptive equipment specialist named Bradley, who, while he rarely came up with functional solutions, was at least good for some companionship and cynical comic relief.

JJ gazed at HAL, the computer-assisted communication device which had given him back a voice three years earlier. He chose the name because its electronic voice reminded him of the computer in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The classic movie had always been one of his dad’s favorites, and JJ had become a cult follower like his dad.

He stared at the screen and knew he had to go through the motions of what had become a meaningless task. No need to reinvent the wheel. He gazed at yesterday’s schedule, but he could select the day before that or the day before that. It didn’t matter. Select all, copy and paste. Same old-same old.

Franklin brought Cathy back just as a humbled Derrick finished the kitchen. 

So, Cathy, you know that JJ does his own schedule, Franklin said, spinning the device around on its adjustable bracket so he could read it. Let’s see. So, you are going to finish Season 3 of Game of Thrones, eat a snack, watch the beginning of Season 4, eat lunch, surf the web for personal interests, and we all know what those are, eat another snack, and finish up with a couple more episodes of Game of Thrones. You inspire me, Triple J.

Franklin had been the first one to call him Triple J, short for James Joseph Johnson, and JJ liked the familiarity it implied. He couldn’t tell from Franklin’s sarcasm how exasperated he was at the moment but hoped he wouldn’t launch into a motivational speech for Cathy’s benefit. Cathy said nothing and didn’t change her expression, just stood there like a wooden soldier awaiting orders. She was going to be a load of laughs. Please go find a nice little convenience store to work at, JJ thought, but he stared straight ahead and ignored Franklin.

Franklin looked at him for a moment but said OK and spun the device around. We’ve got to talk soon, Triple J. You got to do better than this. You need to use that big brain of yours.

Thank God. JJ was not in the mood for a sermon today. The nightmare still colored his thoughts, and he just wanted to get back to his room, turn off his brain and turn on the TV.

Chapter Three

JJ lay in bed with droplets of sweat on his brow. He had stayed up until midnight watching the comforting slaughter of Game of Thrones until Joe, the night staff, came in and suggested he turn it off, and JJ reluctantly did so.

No wonder you have bad dreams, Bud. This isn’t going to help.  Joe tried to distract JJ as he put away some laundry, chattering about his son’s football exploits and his daughter’s slovenly boyfriend. Joe was nearing 65 and was one of the kindest men JJ had ever known. JJ gave no reaction. He wasn’t feeling social.

Night, JJ, Joe said as he left the room. JJ wished he had asked for the door to be left open, but his device had shut down and Joe would be gone by the time he booted it up.

JJ was in full-blown terror, for absolutely no reason. He tried to figure out where this panic was coming from, why the dreams were coming so often now. He guessed it had to do with Derrick leaving tomorrow, which was upsetting him more than anyone knew. It wasn’t just that Cathy looked about as much fun as a colonoscopy. He was going to miss Derrick as a friend. He knew he would promise to come back and see him, and probably would for a little while, but inevitably people got busy, and the visits would end. Derrick knew him almost as well as Franklin and Maria, and the comfort of that familiarity kept JJ calm. Without people like Derrick, he felt extremely vulnerable. He needed staff that had his back.

Now, laying alone in the darkness, he wished he still had a roommate. His last roommate, Wayne, had been moved to a nursing home six months ago. His health had deteriorated since the attempted murder, and while no one ever said so, JJ believed the months of poisoning he had endured had done long-term damage. The experience with Wayne’s would-be murderer was both the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to JJ and, ironically, his finest hour. He stopped himself from wandering down that memory lane, though. He was struggling with enough strong emotions right now; he didn’t need to pile more on.

Usually, JJ was thrilled to have the room to himself, since now that he had the technology to control his own TV, he kept very erratic hours. Miriam, the cantankerous old woman across the hall, had reluctantly agreed to a roommate, so the spare bed was moved there. She and her new roommate Colleen seemed to get along fine.

He fought sleep until around 4 am, looking forward to the required 30-minute checks when Joe would pop his head in. When he did nod off, he must have been too exhausted to dream, or if he did, he didn’t remember it upon waking.

Derrick came to get him up at 7:30, then again at 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00. Finally, at 9:30, Derrick insisted he get up because he wanted to do something special on his last day. JJ opened his eyes and let Derrick take care of his morning hygiene so he could make the tail-end of breakfast.

Cathy had the day off, which was a relief, and Derrick had been freed up from other responsibilities to spend the whole day with JJ. Franklin seemed to be feeling nostalgic, and after breakfast he and Derrick sat with JJ in the yard, drinking coffee and remembering their exploits over the last half dozen years.

Do you guys remember when you and I wanted to go to the DJ Mayhem concert, but we knew we didn’t have any personal time to cover it? We told Mona that we ate chili dogs and got food poisoning. She was so worried about us that she called during the concert to see how we were feeling. Made us feel even more guilty.

JJ did remember, and was pretty sure Mona, the supervisor back then, knew exactly what was going on and making them feel guilty was her whole point. She put up with a lot from both of them in the beginning. They were both young and a bit wild, but they had great relationships with the people they supported so she tolerated a lot of nonsense. There was the trip to the movie theater with JJ and Wayne when Derrick’s girlfriend showed up with another guy, followed by lots of subsequent drama. They took JJ to watch the Superbowl with a half dozen of their rowdy friends at JR’s Tavern when they were supposedly taking him to the aquarium. Franklin had been promoted three years ago and took his new role of supervisor very seriously. Derrick had grown up, too, and had a new girlfriend he intended to marry. There were no new shenanigans, so they had only the glory days of the past. 

JJ doubted he would ever feel like he did about these two men with anyone else. He had never had brothers, but he suspected this was what it would be like. He felt included by them and respected, and as he enjoyed the company and the sunshine, sipping his coffee from a straw when Derrick held the cup up for him, in the back of his mind he knew it may be the last time he would have this camaraderie.

Derrick took JJ to their usual lunch spot, Harvey’s Burger Place. While they ate, Derrick tried a couple of times to get sentimental, telling JJ how much he liked hanging with him and how proud he was of JJ’s accomplishments. JJ’s lips turned up, but his eyes did not smile. He felt that this was hollow praise - he’d accomplished little. He had prepared a short speech on his device which he delivered to Derrick about how much he would miss him and appreciated all he had done, etcetera, etcetera. But underneath the formal goodbyes, JJ was incredibly sad, and it brought Derrick down to see that.

Derrick switched the topic to his driving job, telling JJ about his new career as a truck driver. He had gotten his CDL

I don’t know, J. Corin said she could handle me being gone three nights a week, but she expects me to put a ring on it now that I’m making more money. Can you believe she wants to marry me?

JJ made disparaging remarks about Derrick’s driving, cooking, and potential as a husband, all phrases he had stored on his computer, and soon the awkwardness had passed. The afternoon ended with a hug and a goodbye, and an emptiness JJ hadn’t felt for a long time.

Franklin stayed late that evening and cooked dinner on the grill. JJ’s dad showed up, probably because Franklin told him it was going to be a tough day for him, and after dinner, they took a long walk, Franklin pushing JJ’s chair, his dad walking alongside. 

JJ and his dad had been estranged for a long while after the accident; his father was guilt-ridden and lost in a world of booze and depression. JJ needed his support desperately but was unable to ask for it. For the past three years, the relationship had been mending, the catalyst being when his dad saved his life during a murder attempt by a man named Gary, his roommate Wayne’s brother. His visits were frequent, though a little less so recently since there was a new woman in his life. He wanted to introduce JJ to her, so it must be pretty serious, but whether because he wasn’t ready to accept a replacement for his late mother, or because he was in a dark place, JJ didn’t feel up to it and kept putting it off. 

JJ said goodbye to his dad, got a pep talk from Franklin, and had a highly desired bath in the Jacuzzi tub.  Franklin must really be worried about him- he was going all out to get JJ through the day.

Finally, he was in bed. He needed to veg out in front of the screen for a while, so he opened his computer and searched for dance videos. Now that he couldn’t move his body at all, the rhythmic movements of dancers seemed miraculous. Not the smooth, polished dance videos of studio-trained dancers, or the frivolous videos of teenagers on Tic Toc, but the raw, staccato moves of street dancing, with its pent-up frustration and unapologetic creative energy. He studied the dancers, trying to find vicarious pleasure and catharsis in their moves. On his best day, he was never this talented, but he had enjoyed dancing. Especially slow dancing.

Tomorrow was Cathy’s first solo day, and he was trying to decide how to handle it. Should he complain to Franklin if she was unbearable? He didn’t want her to lose her job, but there were others who lived in the house who probably wouldn’t mind her lack of personality as much as he did. He tried to be optimistic. Maybe without Derrick watching her and making her nervous, she would loosen up. Time would tell. 

He slept soundly that night. Maybe now that he’d said his goodbyes, he would be able to move on. The dream didn’t start until just before 8:00 am, and Cathy woke him before the terror had set in. 

Chapter Four

Cathy was technically competent in all tasks. He was positioned correctly, bathed thoroughly, fed carefully, moved from point A to point B. She told him what she was about to do before she did it, just as she was trained to do, and uttered not one other word in his presence. By noon he was fuming. Did she learn nothing from Derrick? Or was she truly such a bore that she could think of nothing to say? He would die if he had to spend much more time with her. 

After lunch, he decided that maybe he needed to initiate the conversation. He searched his stored phrases as she cleaned up the room and chose, How are you? 

She seemed surprised and answered, Fine.

He looked further––he hadn’t stored many ice-breakers––and tried, Are you married? 

She hesitated, then said stiffly, Yes, not that I think it’s your concern.

With that, JJ spent a few minutes composing an original observation––You must be a lot of fun at parties. She froze, her back to JJ, then left the room without a word.

JJ’s smug satisfaction with his sarcasm soon gave way to regret. Such rudeness was unnecessary. He was used to having staff who could handle sarcasm, read his moods, keep him company, keep the place upbeat. Not only was she dull, but she was also humorless, and now it seems, thin-skinned. He would apologize when she came back. Sorry was a phrase he had stored, and he used it often, especially lately.

When Franklin walked in he looked very annoyed. JJ turned the TV off and steeled himself for the lecture.

JJ, what’s wrong with you, man? Sarcasm isn’t necessary. You aren’t giving her a chance. She’s not Derrick, but she has her own personality. You’re not being fair.

JJ wasn’t going to grovel. He replied OK, and turned the TV back on.

Franklin looked even more annoyed but decided to drop it and turned to leave, pausing at the door. This isn’t OK, J. I want you to talk to Patrick about why you’re so angry. This isn’t the JJ I know.

When the door closed, JJ gritted his teeth. His frustration with everything and everyone was churning in his gut. The two fingers he had a bit of control over clenched with the pent-up tension, then he worked them over to the bed rail and hooked them, pulling hard to raise himself slightly off the bed and dropping back down: the quadriplegic’s equivalent of smashing his head into a wall. He