Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 05 - Monroe Beach (3 page)

She quit talking and sat with tears streaming down her face.
I put my arms around her. She turned to me and put her head on my shoulder, crying silently.

“How many has there been, Sarah?”

She raised her head and dried her eyes. “There have been four in all,” she said. “All of them were found washed up on the beach. The first one was ruled an accidental drowning. Now, of course, Robert knows someone is drowning these women. He has found out that this has been going on, up and down the beach, in Florida and Georgia for two and a half years that they know of.

“That’s why you guys have been called in.
I’m glad you’re here, Judith. I know you will be able to help me. Even though I was really messed up when I met you before, I remember you. Dr. Anna speaks very highly of you.”

CHAPTER 3

That evening the four of us, Rober
t, Sarah, John and I, went to a new restaurant overlooking the beach. It was named Roger’s and it had some of the best seafood I had ever had anywhere, including New Orleans.

“To catch everyone up,” Robert began b
etween mouthfuls of sea bass, “as far as we can tell, this whole killing spree started about five years ago.”

“Wait a minute, Robert,” Sarah said.
“I thought you said two and a half years.”

“John
here found some more that fits the same M.O. It appears it all started in Virginia Beach, about five years ago. There were three there, and then he moved down the beach to South Carolina and killed two.

“For some reason he then moved over to the West Coast of Florida and started killing in the area of
Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, and New Port Richey. He worked his way down the coast, and then went across to the Miami area and started north, up the coast. He is now killing here in Monroe Beach, unless he’s moved on.”

John’s cell phone
rang and he excused himself as he walked off down the beach to talk. Robert put his hand on top of mine and asked, “How are you, Judith? I was sure sorry to hear about Ben. I never met him, but I know John spoke highly of him.”

When he saw the tears in my eyes he didn’t tell me not to cry
, like some people do, instead he said, “You’ve had a rough time this last month, losing Ben, and then almost getting killed by Jupiter. Cry all you want. You’ve earned it.”

I was surprised that
I still had so many tears left. I thought I had used them up, but as soon as he showed so much sympathy I broke down. Sarah came over and squatted down by my chair and wrapped her arms around me.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” John said, walking up from the beach, “but I’ve been reassigned.
I have to leave right away. So, I’ll leave everything in your capable hands, Robert, and you too, Judith. They said another agent will be assigned from the Atlanta office, probably your friend. Simon.” He said to Robert.

Robert stood up and reached for his wallet while saying, “I’ll drive you to the airport.”

“I got supper covered,” I said. “Y’all go ahead on. Just put the wallet back in your pocket, Robert.”

After they left
, Sarah and I sat back and enjoyed an after supper coffee while we watched the waves, both lost in our own thoughts. I felt more at peace than I had felt in months, but not for long.

Suddenly, Sarah jumped up and started running down the beach.

“Sarah, wait,” I called while grabbing money from my purse and throwing a handful of bills on the table.

I jumped off the porch
, not bothering with the steps, and ran after her. By the time I caught her, she was wading out into the surf. I grabbed for her, but she laughed and dodged me, like a little girl, giggling the whole time. I kept trying to catch her and she kept dodging me and giggling.

Then in a little girl’s voice she said, “I remember you, Doctor Judith.
You came to see me before.”

I knew that voice.
I recognized it from a few years earlier when I was called here to do a psychological evaluation on Sarah. She had been suspected of being Twoon, the psychopathic killer who had been stabbing women on the beach.

This was one of Sarah’s personalit
ies. Her name was Beth, and she was four and a half years old. I knew in that moment that Sarah had relapsed and that this personality had come out again.

“I need to call Dr. Anna,” I thought as I watched the Beth personality run back to shore and start digging in the sand.

I sat down on the sand and watched her until she looked up at me, “You want to help, Dr. Judith? I’m building a sandcastle.”

She had gotten sand all over her just like a small child, even in her hair.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I took some of the sand off the pile she had made by digging the hole. We worked in silence, while I went over in my mind how to approach her.

“So, what brings you out, Beth?” I asked while watching her out of the corner of my eye.

“I have to help Sarah. I have to make sure Elizabeth doesn’t come back.”

“And why do you think Elizabeth might come back?”

“Because Sarah doesn’t understand what’s happening and she’s scared. That’s when Elizabeth tries to come out, when Sarah’s scared.”

Elizabeth was the oversexed, evil personality who teamed up with Twoon and helped him escape on a stolen boat to an unknown island.

Sarah ran down to the water’s edge and filled her hands with water and tried to bring it back. I watched her, noticing that she ran just like a small child. When she got back, almost all of the water had leaked out of her hands. She poured what little she had over the castle I had started building.

I watched her pat the sand and I asked her, “Do you know what’s going on, Beth?”

She nodded, “Uh huh.”

Just like a kid, I thought.
I was going to have to pull the words out of her. “Tell me what’s happening with Sarah.”

She didn’t answer
. I looked at her and noticed she had quit working on the sandcastle and was staring out to sea.

Then she looked around her and said, “Judith, what in the hell are we doing out here?”

“Sarah?” I said.

“Yeah, it’s happening again isn’t it?
I just lost time. Who came out?”

“It was Beth.
She said she had to come out to protect you, and to make sure Elizabeth didn’t come out. She said that when you get scared Elizabeth comes out. She said she knew what was happening with you, but before she could tell me, you came back.”

Sarah
looked so scared. She said, “Judith, will I have to be hospitalized again? Please don’t tell Robert about this, not yet anyway. He will start watching every move I make, and I can’t stand that.”

“Sarah, I’ve seen this over and over in working with patients
. In times of great stress, they will have a tendency to go back to their old way of handling things, in your case the multiple personalities.

“This doesn’t mean you’re getting sick again.
It’s probably just a little relapse. I doubt very seriously that you’ll end up back at Ocean Sands. I think what we need to do is to get you more comfortable with this special gift you’ve developed. When was the last time you talked to Dr. Anna?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know.
It’s been awhile. It’s so hard to do therapy over the phone. Can you stay here until I can get comfortable with what’s going on with me?”

“I’ll stay as long as you need me.
I think the FBI will be okay with that. Will that help take some of the stress off you?”

She bre
athed out a long sigh of relief. “Yes it will. Thank you, Judith. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

CHAPTER 4

Sarah was quiet throughout supper.
She had fixed a dinner of scallops in a garlic/butter sauce, baby peas and salad, but ate very little of it herself. I had spent the rest of the day with Robert, going over what little evidence he had. He told me that Simon, the agent from Atlanta, I had met when I was here before, was coming in to replace John.

After I got into bed that night I racked my brain trying to figure out how to help Sarah.
I felt like I was out of my element. I had experience with multiple personality disorder, and had worked with several during my internship, but I didn’t know anything about this paranormal phenomenon that was going on with her.

Just as I was dozing off, I sat up in bed with a start.
I suddenly knew exactly who to call. I looked at the clock. It was ten forty five but nine forty five in New Orleans.

Picking up the phone, I
started dialing. Delilah answered after the first ring. She sounded wide awake. When she heard my voice, she laughed. “I was just thinking about you and wondering what you needed.”

Delilah
is a beautiful tall black Creole woman, who was raised in the bayou of Terrebonne Parrish, Louisiana. She is the cook and housekeeper of Dave Boudreau, who took me in, when I was a runaway, at age fifteen. She is one of my best friends. She has remarkable insight and I thought she could help us.

“
Delilah, I do need your help, but I’m in Monroe Beach, Georgia. Do you think Dave would let you come over here?”

“What you mean, Dave let me?
He don’t tell me what to do, no. I spank his little bottom, me. Where I fly into?”

I felt so relieved, “Really,
Delilah? Are you coming?”

“Sure nuff, my friend need me, right?”

“Thank you so much, Delilah.  You can fly into Jacksonville, Florida. I’ll make the reservations for you and call you back.”

Hanging up immediately, I
called the airlines and made arrangements. She would be coming in the next afternoon. I dialed her back with the information. Then I was ready to sleep.

“I also want to call Dr. Anna,” I was thinking as I dozed off.

The next morning I found Sarah running down the beach. She stopped when she saw me, talking a towel from around her neck and wiping her sweaty face.

“You’re up mighty early, aren’t you, Judith?” She asked as she sat down on a sand dune and patted the spot next to her, inviting me to join her.

“This is early, for me,” I said as I joined her. “I hoped to find you down here. Do you want to go with me to Jacksonville, Florida to pick up Delilah?”

“I would love to. What time does her flight get in?”

“Not until 12:00 noon”

“
Could we leave early, so we can shop while we’re there?”

I agreed.
We planned to meet Delilah in Jacksonville, have lunch and then go out to Ocean Sands to see Dr. Anna. I had called her early this morning and she suggested that we stay in one of the cottages on the grounds of the psychiatric center. She said she would try to take some time off and join us.

We left the next morning at nine.
Shopping at The Avenues Mall, I was reminded of Mimi and how she took every opportunity to shop. The last time she and I had shopped together at the Avenues, was when we were waiting for Julia to come out of a coma.

Sarah and I were running late as we headed for the airport. As it turned out,
Delilah’s flight was delayed. It didn’t get in until 2:10 p.m. I had told her to wait and have lunch with us, and not eat on the plane.

This was only the second time Delilah had flown, and the second time she had been to Jacksonville. The first time had been when she had been asked, by the FBI, to come here to identify a dirty judge. I spotted her and
waved. She looked frazzled from the flight, but when she saw me, she became more relaxed and hurried over.

She grabbed me in a bear hug.
“How’s my baby? I’m so sorry about Ben, me. I didn’t know him long but I loved that boy.”

I got
chocked up, knowing everything was going to be all right now that Delilah was there.

“You must be Sarah,”
Delilah said as she held both of Sarah’s hands. “Don’t worry; this is a good thing you’re going through. I know it feels awful, but you will accomplish great things.”

Gazing more deeply
into Sarah’s eyes, Delilah continued. “You, Beth, Elizabeth, and the mute boy will fix everything. The folks in the mirror are benevolent. The man in your dreams? Something tell me he be the killer, but it ain’t clear. It’s like someone else is telling me he be the killer. I’m sorry. Sometimes I sees things I don’t understand.”

Sarah looked at me with a surprised look in her eyes.

I shrugged. “I didn’t tell Delilah anything. Before I knew I was a twin, she told me I had another side. Then it turned out I was a triplet.”

After we were settled in the
restaurant with our food, Sarah looked at Delilah. “I can’t remember the man in my dreams. It’s so frustrating. I see the women getting killed, but I can’t make out the man. He’s just a dark figure.”

Delilah
shrugged, “No matter, you’ll see him when you’re ready.”