.

.

John is bleeding again. He pushes past Morgan and Jeffrey and yanks Lester from the wall. "Move," John says. Lester stumbles forward, revealing the mounted first aid kit on the wall.

"Hey John. Hurt yourself again, I see," Morgan says. John glances over and grunts. He sits down at the table and presses a bandage to his cheek. Lester and Jeffrey exchange looks.

"Uh, guys, I think we better..." Morgan cocks his head toward the door and Lester and Jeffrey sneak out of the lunchroom. "Feel better, John!" Morgan says. Lester grabs Morgan by the arm before John can respond.

xXx
.

Morgan is convinced John is either an ex-con, a serial killer,or both. For almost a month, now, Morgan's been following John's every move, tracking him through the store and watching him interact with the customers. "Excuse me," a pretty blonde lady says. Morgan ducks behind the speakers and watches as John fields the customer question. "Where can I find the VCRs?"

John is staring at the TV monitor. The woman taps him on the arm. "Excuse me?"

John whirls around. The woman shrieks. "John, wait!" Morgan says.

John stops. His hand is just inches away from her neck.

John blinks. "Sorry, ma'am," John says, finally. "You startled me. What can I help you with?"

"Nothing, nothing...I'll just ask someone else." The woman scurries away.

In the lunchroom, John doesn't talk to anyone. Even when their lunch breaks overlap, he stands in the corner and inhales his peanut butter sandwich like he's about to get shot at. Morgan even times it: 60 seconds to fold the sandwich in half and bite; another 60 seconds to chew and swallow. John's done eating in less than five minutes and he's already heading back at the storefront. "Whoa whoa, buddy, hold on," Morgan says. "Where's the fire, dude? You just got here."

John growls. "What's it to you?" John asks.

"Nothing...I just think it's kinda weird, you know. Most people usually like to eat." Morgan raises his eyebrows. "You, my friend, eat like you're gonna get blown up. Dude you need to slow down. Smell the roses. Big Mike's out in the back, he's not coming in anytime soon."

"Maybe John's got a hot date," Jeffrey deadpans, and Lester giggles.

John glares and shoves his lunch bag in the garbage. "Idiots," John says. He pushes through the door and leaves.

Some nights, Morgan works closing, pulling down the metal gates and shutting down all the registers. A few times, after the lights are off and everybody's left, he sees John walking toward the back of Orange Orange, dressed in head-to-toe black and hefting a large duffel bag across his shoulder. Four times it happens; once on a Thursday, then twice during the holiday weekend. On the fourth night he grabs Chuck by the arm and pulls him over to his favorite stake-out spot.

"See?" Morgan hisses. "I wasn't being paranoid! He's hiding bodies, dude! What else could he be carrying?"

"How about stuff for Orange Orange?" Chuck says, and he cocks his head. Morgan pulls up the binoculars and sees Sarah taking the duffel bag from John. She unzips it to show several bags of frozen fruit. She takes it from him and smiles. "Sarah gets scared working closing by herself, so John sometimes helps. I'd normally help out if I weren't at work," Chuck says.

"Gee. How noble," Morgan says. "Then why the hell does he dress up in commando head-to-toe black?"

"Gee, I don't know, why do you?" Chuck says, and he gives a pointed look at Morgan's commando vest and commando face mask.

"It helps me blend in," Morgan says, and he sets the binoculars down.

xXx
.

If Chuck doesn't believe him, at least the other guys do. Morgan rounds up the rest of the crew, checking to make sure Chuck and John aren't around. "Guys," Morgan says. "I think John's a serial killer."

"Don't be stupid," Anna says.

"No, dude listen to me," Morgan says. "Every night he has a different injury, right? Cuts on his face, bruises on his arms....scars. Right? And what's the most common type of serial killer out there? I'll tell you what it is: single white male."

"Aren't serial killers supposed to be charming?" Anna says.

"He could be a psychopath," Morgan says. "He could be just someone beating up old ladies on the street! But whatever he is, he can't be good," Morgan says. "I mean, don't you guys think it's weird that someone like John is working at the Buy More? Dude's got a past, he's gotta. We have to find out what's up with John Casey," Morgan says. "That's our mission, guys. That's our raison d'être. Who's with me?"

"You guys are stupid," Anna says. Lester puts out his hand.

"I'm in," Lester says. Jeffrey and Morgan put their hands in, too.

"Okay guys," Morgan says. "From now on, Project John is in effect."

They clap and release. "Wait, he's coming, go! go!"

They scatter throughout the store, before John can see them plotting. Anna rolls her eyes and returns back to the desk.

xXx
.

Morgan clicks his tape recorder:

Project John, Day 1. Time 0800 hours.

Morgan log number 32142 dash 2314.

Subject is currently standing in the corner by the electronics section. Subject hasn't blinked for over six minutes. Morgan wonders if the subject lacks lachrymal glands, and if that's the case, how did that happen? Perhaps the subject of a horrific scientific experiment? Only time will tell.

Project John, Day 1. Time 0900 hours.

Subject is trying to sell a customer a blender. Customer is not interested and subject is getting angry. Morgan notes the subject's neck veins are distending. Morgan notes the subject is walking toward him. Morgan makes a mental note to be more quiet--

"What the hell is this?" John asks. He grabs Morgan by the shoulder and yanks his tape recorder. "What? Now you're spying on me?"

"No! No I wasn't spying, honest, I was just--" Morgan bats his arms against John's chest ineffectively. "John dude, ease up! I promise I wasn't spying--"

John drops him, and Morgan falls like a sack of flour on the floor. John clicks the tape recorder.

"Project John, Day 1, time 0845." Morgan's voice is tinny from the recorder. "Subject is seen heading toward the bathroom. It must be noted this is after having spoken with a hot little red-head looking for a new camera phone. Coincidence? I think not."

"Give me one good reason not to break your face in," John says.

"John John wait!" Morgan breathes hard. "Dude the guys put me up to this, I swear--"

"Oh no," Jeffrey whispers. He and Lester are crouched behind the entertainment center couches. "Morgan's been compromised. We have to get him out."

"Quick, do something!" Lester says. "Go get Chuck!"

"Roger!" Jeffrey leaps up from behind the couch. John turns around.

"Idiot!" Lester says. He pulls Jeffrey back down but it's too late, John's marching toward them, too. "Help!" Lester says. "Oh my god, help!"

Lester breaks into a sprint, shoving customers out of the way. John is hot on his heels. "Help! Help!"

Lester rounds the corner, but John's too quick, he grabs Lester by the arm and yanks him backward. Morgan and Jeffrey run after them. "Help!" Morgan says. "Chuck! Help!"

Chuck turns and sees the commotion. "Oh my god, Casey!" Chuck breaks into a sprint. "Casey! Casey! No don't hurt him! Wait!" He grabs John by the arm and tries to grab Lester, but John won't let go.

"Your idiot friends were spying on me!" John says. He shakes Lester hard.

"Okay, okay, we can deal with that, but right now you need to let him go," Chuck says. "It's like kicking puppies, Casey! Just let him go!"

John drops Lester, who falls to the ground, clutching his neck. He crawls behind Chuck's pant leg and wheezes. "He's a psychopath," Lester says.

"Yeah, I know," Chuck says. John growls. "Just tell them to knock it off," John says, and he turns and heads back to the electronics section.

xXx
.

They're sitting in the lunch room, dejected. Project John was a bust. "Dude this sucks," Morgan says. "Now we'll never find out what the hell is up with John."

"Don't be so sure about that."

The three guys look up and see Emmett smoothly gliding through the lunchroom. "You're referring to Mr. John Casey, I presume," Emmett says.

"Yeah...how did you know?" Morgan says. Lester and Jeffrey watch as Emmett pulls out his lunch and sits down next to him.

"There's much about this...place...that I'm quite familiar with," Emmett says. "Including Mr. Casey's record."

"What? Really?" Morgan's eyes are wide. "Like what?"

Emmett smiles. It's not a nice smile. "Well. That would be breaking confidentiality rules, wouldn't it?"

Morgan sags. "What do you want, Emmett?" Morgan asks.

"I want what I always want," Emmett says. "There's a quarterly employee evaluation coming up, and my employers are quite interested in finding out how well the ship is running....if you catch my drift." Emmett smiles, prettily. "I want all of you to show up, fresh-faced and on time, smiling for our adjudicators," Emmett says. "And in return..."

"And in return you give us access to John's personnel files?" Morgan's practically salivating. Emmett laughs.

"God, no," Emmett says. "But I'll be prepared to answer certain questions. Certain yes/no questions, that is," Emmett adds. "My time is precious and it cannot be wasted any more than it already is."

"Fine," Morgan says. "So what's up with him? Why does he act so stuck up all the time?"

"Well that's easy. He's a military man. A former one, anyway," Emmett says. "Yes, on the application he noted that he served in the Armed Forces for a time. Didn't give a reason why he left....just that he did. My guess is, something tragic happened in the field." Emmett's eyes dim, and his voice grows soft. "Those are dark days, my friends. Fighting by your comrades, side by side...."

"Emmett, what the hell are you talking about? You never served," Morgan says. Emmett sniffs.

"Of course I have," Emmett says. "I've done my duty with the National Guard. And don't you forget it," Emmett says. He looks at his watch. "And now my time's been wasted," Emmett says. "Good day, gentlemen."

Emmett stands and leaves. Morgan stares at Jeffrey and Lester. "Dude that's it," Morgan says. "John was in the military!"

"Yeah, so what?" Lester says. "Now all we know is that he's a psycho and he knows how to use a gun. How does that help us?"

"Dudes, don't you see? We have the answer!" Morgan stands, puffing his chest. "John is harboring a deep secret. A deep dark secret from his past! And it's our job to find out what that is, man! Don't you see?" Morgan says. "If we can help him, he'll snap out of whatever it is that's holding him back! Dudes! We can do this! Who's with me?"

Lester and Jeffrey stare at him.

"C'mon, who's with me?" Morgan asks.

"Uh, John's kind of scary, and...yeah," Lester says.

"Dude can break your neck," Jeffrey says.

"C'mon guys, you can't leave me hanging," Morgan says.

"I think my lunch break is over," Lester says. He gets up and leaves. Jeffrey doesn't move.

"I'm still eating my twinkies," Jeffrey says.

Morgan frowns. "Fine," Morgan says. "Then I'll just have to do this on my own."

xXx
.

Morgan times it just right so that he and John are taking their coffee break at the same time. Standing at the corner, John stirs his coffee; he has another wound on his face, this time a large cut above his temple, and when Morgan edges closer he sees that John's knuckles are bruised up, too. Morgan walks over to the coffee pot and pours himself a cup.

"So, big fight, huh?" Morgan says.

John glances at him and glares.

"Okay, okay, that's fine, you don't want to talk about your night life, I'm cool," Morgan says. "Listen, I just wanted to apologize for earlier, you know. Me and the guys....you know how it is. We just goof around. It was nothing personal, really."

John grunts, but he doesn't look too angry. Good, Morgan thinks. A good start.

"So," Morgan says. "You hanging out with Chuck tonight?"

John gives him a wary look, then takes a sip of his coffee. Morgan stands, waiting. "Yeah I didn't think so," Morgan says. He drinks. "Uh, so John....me and the guys were talking, and we were wondering--"

"What?" John's eyes narrow. Morgan feels his heart leap up into his throat.

"Uh, nothing in particular, we were just talking, you know, and we were thinking, you're just really....uh...aggressive. You know. Like with the customers and the staff and everything. And, uh...."

John crushes the empty cup in his hand and tosses it in the garbage. He starts to leave. "Hey John, wait!"

Morgan grabs John by the arm. John's nostrils flare. "What?" John says. He can see the whites around John's eyes.

"Okay, no touching, I get that." Morgan drops John's arm like he's holding a hot poker. "Look, I was just wondering, maybe you'd like to hang out with the rest of the guys or something? We play a mean game of strip poker...."

John gives an irritated growl. He turns and starts walking out the door.

"John!" Morgan hurries after him. "John, wait!"

John keeps walking. Morgan glances back at the lunch room, where John had just spent the last fifteen minutes by himself. Morgan's heart swells. "John I know you're hurting," Morgan says.

John turns. "What did you just say to me?" John asks. He sounds angry.

"Dude, I know what's in your heart, man," Morgan says. "And if you don't want to open up, that's fine. But just know, we're here for you, buddy. All of us."

Morgan beats his chest, right over where his heart is. John grunts and turns back around.

"All of us!" Morgan says. John ignores him.

Anna comes up to Morgan's shoulder. "What was that all about?" Anna asks.

"Nothing," Morgan says. "Just trying to reach out to a damaged soul."

"Oh," Anna says. "You got change for a ten? 'Cuz I'm jonsing for some cheetos but I don't have ones for the vending machine."

Morgan stares at her. "Well?" Anna asks.

"It's nice to know you care," Morgan says.