Terror on the Beach Read online

  I knelt down next to her and lifted out a little girl’s toddler sized bikini. It was in pink. “Tory, please tell me you ordered these.”

  She was looking at me funny, “I’m sorry, Sarah, but I didn’t.”

  “Get on the computer and see if you can find any indication as to how this was ordered without either of us knowing it.”

  Tory was the computer whiz and was the one who had taught me what little I knew about computers. I knew how to log into our suppliers and order but I didn’t know how to follow up. If an order was late, Tory could track it.

  I looked over her shoulder and saw my name in the blank that asked who ordered it. “Tory, couldn’t anyone put my name there if they knew all this other stuff about me?”

  “They could and they could even do it from a different computer as long as they knew your password.”

  “You don’t even know my password, Tory. Could someone good with computers get my password?”

  “There are hackers who could do it. I don’t think I could but I’ve never tried. What would be the point of it though? I mean, what would someone gain by ordering stuff for your store? They’re not going to make any kind of profit from it. Are you sure you didn’t order this stuff yourself, Sarah and maybe forgot.”

  I lost my temper. “Hell no I didn’t order children’s swimsuits and then forget. I said when I opened this shop two years ago that it was going to be all women’s. The shop is too small to carry something for everyone.”

  Tory got tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Sarah, please don’t be mad at me.”

  I hugged her, “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I haven’t been living in this town very long and I don’t know that many people. I moved here two years ago and I spent most of my time setting up the shop and working my butt off. Why is someone doing this to me?” I started crying and now Tory hugged me.

  “It’s going to be all right, Sarah, We’ll figure this out. I’m here for you, you know that.”

  Tory would graduate that year and I only had her for the summer before she left for college. She was the only woman friend I had.

  I told Tory I was going home, change into my new bathing suit I had bought out of the batch that had come in a few days before, and run on the beach. I usually walked but I felt I needed to clear my head of all the cobwebs in there.

  I ran until I was tired and I was beginning to feel better and then started walking. I had ended up a lot farther down the beach than I had ever been. There was no one in that area and the sun was going down.

  I sat down on a sand dune and before I knew it I must have fallen asleep. But what scared me more than I could possibly describe was that, I don’t know how much later, I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing.

  When I answered it was Robert.

  “Where in the hell have you been? I was just getting ready to come over there.”

  I looked at the clock, it was 8:42 p.m. I looked down at myself, I was naked. At first I was confused, but then I was so terrified I couldn’t concentrate on what Robert was saying.

  He was yelling now, “God damn it Sarah. Can you hear me? Are you all right?”

  “Stop yelling at me, I can hear you just fine. I went for a run and came home and fell asleep. I lost track of time.”

  “Freddy has been ringing your door bell. He didn’t have a key and called me when you didn’t answer. I had called him to check on you after we found another body on the beach.

  “The teenage couple who found the body, and called it in, described it as a young woman and the description sounded just like you. It scared the crap out of me.

  “I’m almost at the location now and I’ll tell you the truth, Sarah, I’m so relieved I finally got you I could come over and kiss your feet. I’m coming over after we process the scene. Wait up for me.”

  I mumbled an okay. How had I gotten home and taken my clothes off? I didn’t remember it at all. I was missing two hours of time. I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I was ghost white even after being on the beach for almost three hours.

  I was going to take a hot shower but when I stepped into the shower it was wet as if someone had taken a shower there already. On reflex I touched my hair and it was wet. I must have been the one to take a shower but I didn’t remember it.

  In a daze, I went to get my favorite pair of pajamas. They were from Disney World and Robert had bought them for me on a trip we took there last summer. They had Donald Duck on them and they always made me feel better if I was down.

  I couldn’t find them and went to check the dryer even though I couldn’t remember wearing and washing them lately. When I got to the laundry room I noticed the lid to the washer was closed. I always left it open so it would stay dry and avoid mold.

  I opened the lid. There were clothes in there, my navy blue sweatshirt with a hood, a pair of my jeans, and the stocking cap and black leather gloves. Someone had put these things through the wash cycle.

  I got so dizzy I sat down on the floor of the laundry room and put my head between my legs. When I felt better I raised my head and my eyes fell on the shelf above the washer/dryer unit. I got up and pulled the item down. It was a blond wig. I fainted.

  CHAPTER 10

  The next thing I knew I was running down the beach. Someone was chasing me. It was Kevin Payne, the artist. I didn’t understand how I got there but I knew I was going to die.

  Freddy came running over a sand dune in front of me and I knew I was now safe. He had his gun out. I ran toward him and he yelled, “GET DOWN ON THE GROUND, GET DOWN ON THE GROUND. It took me a few seconds to realize he was talking to me.

  When I did realize he was talking to me I started to get down on the ground even though I didn’t understand why he wanted me on the ground unless it was to get me out of the way so he could have a clear shot at Kevin.

  He then yelled, “DROP THE KNIFE, SARAH!”

  I looked down and saw the bloody knife I was holding. I brought it up to eye level to look at it just as Kevin tackled me from behind and I dropped the knife.

  Freddy put his knee in my back and handcuffed me. The sand was scraping my face and I began to cry. I still didn’t understand. I was so scared.

  “I need Robert,” I cried.

  “Oh, you’ll get to talk to Robert all right. I can’t wait to see his face when he sees you. All this time we were looking for a man. Low and behold the Beach Front Stabber, our own little ole Sarah.” I fainted again.

  PART

  TWO:

  ROBERT

  CHAPTER 11

  I was worried about Sarah. I had gotten hung up at the office filling out reports about the crime scene we had just processed. Freddy had asked if he could stay down on the beach and patrol for awhile.

  I was just finishing up the paperwork and thinking about heading out and checking on Sarah when I heard Brenda yell from the front desk, “Hey sheriff, Freddy just called and, you’re not going to believe this, he said he’s got the Beach Front Stabber.”

  Freddy had said he had a hunch about something, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was. I hadn’t taken it seriously, I still considered him a rookie.

  I put my report in the file and left my office. As I was heading down the hall I heard loud voices. All the deputies on duty were gathered around Freddy’s desk congratulating him. The perpetrator was sitting by his desk cuffed to the chair arm and I could only see the back of him.

  He had a stocking cap on over what was obviously a blond wig. The stocking cap was red like the one Sarah was missing and he had on a long-sleeved navy blue tee shirt and jeans. As I got closer, more and more deputies saw me and quit talking. By the time I got to Freddy’s desk, you could have heard a pin drop.

  Freddy looked up and saw me. “I’m sorry, sheriff,” he said.

  I think there was a part of me that knew what he was apologizing for, but my mind didn’t want to accept it. When I came around in front of t
he perpetrator he looked up at me, only it wasn’t a he, but a she. It was Sarah wearing a blond wig.

  I became so angry I snatched the wig and cap off her head and then noticed she was wearing blue contact lenses and I went for her eyes. I think I would have gauged them out if the deputies hadn’t stopped me. It took five of them.

  I think I believed that if I could get rid of the disguise I could have my Sarah back, the woman I loved and wanted to marry and eventually have my kids. I shook the deputies off and fell on my knees and, for the first time since I was a little boy, I cried. Brenda, the dispatcher, came and put her arms around me and led me back to my office.

  She left and came back with a cup of coffee and some Kleenex. I wiped my eyes and felt like I was in a state of shock.

  I blew my nose and looked up at Brenda, “Thanks, Brenda, would you call Simon for me and tell him we have the murderer? Oh, and tell the deputies not to question her, her until Simon gets here.”

  While I waited for Simon, I tried to make sense of all this. It had been Sarah all the time. That’s why there was never any sign of forced entry at her condo. But who was this person she turned into?

  I kept going over and over in my mind all our time together and I couldn’t come up with any explanation. I wondered if she was possessed. She always seemed so normal when we were together and even her sexual hang ups appeared to be over. I had such high hopes for us and now this.

  Simon called me from the doorway to my office several times before I heard him. “I know this is hard and confusing for you buddy. I just stopped by her cell and right now Sarah has come out and she is scared and confused. You might want to go talk to her now before Twoon or maybe some other personality comes out. They haven’t read her her rights yet.”

  “Wait a minute, wait a minute, you mean to tell me you think Sarah is a schizophrenic?”

  “No. I think she has MPD, Multiple personality disorder. They use the term schizophrenia in movies and books because it sounds more dramatic than multiple personality disorder.

  “I’ve called in a woman who has been doing consulting for the FBI for about 15 years now. She’s a psychologist and she teaches classes in Quantico twice a year on different types of criminal minds. I took one of her classes last year and that’s where I learned about MPD.

  “She should be coming in this evening to talk to Sarah and evaluate her. Some people try to fake MPD but Judith McCain is so good she can spot a fake from a mile away. If you don’t mind, I’d like to wait until Judith gets here to question Sarah.”

  “I want to go see her in the meantime,” I said.

  “Just a word of warning, if Twoon is out, be careful. He’s got to be smart to have been eluding the police for this long. If it’s the same person we think it is, he’s been killing people for years on the West coast and Panhandle of Florida before coming here.”

  CHAPTER 12

  When I got to her cell, Sarah was lying on the cot with her back to me. She had her knees drawn up to her chest and she was crying so hard she was gasping. It broke my heart. Sarah was obviously “out.”

  “Sarah, honey,” was all I said and she jumped off the cot and ran to where I was standing. The front of her shirt was soaking wet with tears.

  “Robert, what am I doing in jail? I’m so confused. I was looking for my Donald Duck pajamas and then I was running on the beach and that artist, Kevin Payne, was chasing me. I think he’s the Beach Front Stabber, Robert. Did y’all get him? I thought he was going to kill me.”

  “Was that the last thing you remember, Sarah?”

  “No, then Freddy came out and he had a gun and I knew I was safe and so I am. But I have no memory of the time between then and waking up in this cell.”

  She started crying, “There’s something I haven’t told you before, Robert. I have been having memory lapses for awhile now. And I must have ordered things for the shop I don’t remember ordering. What’s wrong with me, Robert?”

  “We have a Psychologist coming in later today to talk to you about all that.”

  “Oh, you already know about it? Why can’t I stay at your place if you’re worried about my safety until you catch Kevin? I don’t like it here. People can see me when I pee.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Sarah. No one’s watching and you’re better off here.”

  “Okay but would you tell Tory to mind the store for me”

  “Sure,” I said. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Tory was dead. Sarah had stabbed her to death right before she had stabbed the old lady.

  “Thank you, daddy,” Sarah said in a little girl’s voice. She went over to the corner and sat down on the floor and started singing, “Jesus Loves Me,” still in the little girl’s voice.

  CHAPTER 13

  Judith McCain flew in from Houston and I picked her up at the Savannah airport. I thought she was beautiful and reeked of class. She was tall with long straight shiny light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.

  She was wearing a business suit and high heeled pumps. When I introduced myself she shook my hand.

  “I’m sure glad you’re here, doctor McCain.”

  “Oh, please, call me Judith and I’ll call you Robert.”

  On the drive into Monroe Beach I filled Judith in on what had been going on with Sarah as best I could but was beginning to realize I knew very little about her.

  “Simon told me some and told me you have been involved with Sarah.”

  “I love the part of Sarah I know is Sarah, if that makes any sense. I don’t understand any of this. I always thought when someone has more than one personality it was called schizophrenia. Simon tells me it’s called MPD.”

  “Please understand, Robert, you would rather Sarah have MPD, it is very treatable. Schizophrenia is a thought disorder, is progressive, and there is no cure, although the symptoms can be controlled with an antipsychotic drug. It is one of the most serious mental disorders. The individual hears voices that they can’t control and sometimes these voices will tell them to kill themselves or others.”

  We were coming into Monroe Beach and Julia looked around, “You know this is one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever been in. Where was I?’

  “You just described what sounded like Sarah and now I’m getting worried.”

  “When you described Sarah to me, Robert, you didn’t mention anything about her hearing voices. But you did mention the loss of time or memory lapses. That is one of the first things I look for when trying to evaluate a possible MPD.

  “I’d be willing to bet that Sarah doesn’t know anything about this Twoon personality. But that Twoon knows all about Sarah. He obviously tried to frame Sarah.”

  I had more questions, “If schizophrenia is a thought disorder, then what is MPD?”

  “MPD is one of the dissociative disorders. You have amnesia, depersonalization, psychogenic coma, fugue, and MPD.”

  “What causes it?” I asked.

  “Usually it is caused by some sort of trauma. The mind of the person that the trauma happens to can’t handle it, so it develops another personality to handle it, in this case Twoon who gets even. Usually there is also a personality whose age is of that when the trauma happened. Sometimes it is the personality of a child. Have you seen this one?”

  I thought back to the first time Sarah and I had slept together, “Yeah I’ve seen it twice. Once was today in her cell when she called me daddy and curled up in the corner. The other time was the first time we made love.

  “I thought she was playing with me. She started talking in this little girl voice and calling me daddy. I’ve seen women do this but I’ve never thought it was cute and it kind of turned me off.

  “I started to tell her to quit but then she started doing things most women refuse to do and I forgot about the little girl voice. She wasn’t talking anymore anyway. I had forgotten all about it until you mentioned it just now.”

  Judith paused like she was hesitating to ask me something personal. “Go ahead,” I said. “I’
ll talk about anything in order to help Sarah.”

  She took a deep breath, “I’ll bet she did anything to please you in bed but didn’t seek any pleasure for herself.”

  “That’s true, until recently she had never had an orgasm with me. Come to think of it this happened about the same time that stabbings escalated.”

  “Really, now that’s interesting. I can’t wait to talk to her. Did she lose more time after the murders escalated?”

  “Yeah, but she didn’t tell me until tonight. I think the loss of time scared her more than fear of being murdered. Twoon smokes by the way. He left butts in her ash tray the first time she noticed someone else had driven her car. Sarah hates to be around anyone who smokes.”

  She nodded, “I’ve know some MPDs who were allergic to certain foods but one of their other personalities could eat that food with no reaction.”

  “Judith, I know you teach courses. Would you be willing to give my deputies a crash course? Some of them think Sarah played me for a fool.”

  “I’ll be glad to do so if there’s time. I don’t want to take some of my time from Sarah.”

  I took Judith to Lily’s Bed and Breakfast, “We have motels but I thought you’d be more comfortable here. You’ll like Lily. No one knows how old she is but she’s ancient. She’s one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet.”

  She looked up at the old house, “I’m sure I’ll be comfortable here. May I drop off my luggage and get checked in and go right to see Sarah?”

  “I already checked you in and I’ll take you in to meet Lily and take your luggage upstairs. Then we can go right on over. Are you hungry? We could at least get a burger first.”

  “No, I ate that God awful food on the plane so I’m good to go. I can’t wait to get started.”

  We both went into the cell Sarah was in. I brought chairs for each of us. When Sarah saw us she jumped up and ran to me and hugged me. I was glad Sarah was “out” but a part of me had been hoping Twoon would be “out” so that Judith could see “him.”