Terror on the Beach (3 page)

The dog whimpered while I did the old man.
If you’re going to have a damn dog, why wouldn’t you have one that would protect you? I would have a Doberman if I was stupid enough to walk the beach in the middle of the night.

The old man wasn’t as satisfying as the boy and I have to finish him.
If I don’t things will never be the same.

CHAPTER FIVE

The next night I met Robert at the gym.
He looked so angry he scared me, “While we were having a good time last night, there was another murder. After I teach you how to fall tonight, I’ve got to meet Simon. He said he’s got something for me.”

“
Can I come too, Robert?”

“No, I’ve already included you too much.
Simon thinks the less you know the better.”

“So, what, now he’s your boss?”

“No, I just happen to believe he’s right. You don’t need to know all the gory details. But I will tell you this. The stabber is getting more and more violent.”

“Then, can I have a gun now, Robert?”

“I’m considering it, but I’ll need to take you to the firing range.”

I was so sore when we finished I went home and had a long soak in the tub.
Robert was going to come by when he finished with Simon.

After my long soak, I put on my pajamas and curled up in bed with a good book.
I was reading a mystery. I started dozing and then I had to pee. On my way back to bed, without turning on the lights, I parted the blinds and looked down on the beach. I saw Freddy down there. He was dressed all in black and was moving from post to post under the pier.

It looked like he looked right at me and I moved back
. I got down lower and looked through one of the holes in the blind where the cord is threaded through.

As I watched,
he came toward my condo but stopped on the other side of the sand dune and stooped down. I watched for awhile but he didn’t move.

I hear
d the lock turn in my door and waited to make sure it was Robert. He didn’t come into the bedroom but silently closed my door. I went to the door and put my ear to it. Robert had brought Simon home with him and I could hear them talking.

“So, tell me again what this is called.”

“It’s called a psychogenic coma. It is brought on by extreme trauma. I found the case I was talking about. It was a fifteen year old girl who had been raped, but the perpetrator had used a lead pipe and had torn her up pretty badly.

“When he was caugh
t the defense tried to claim insanity but the jury didn’t buy it. He got the death penalty.

“Damn, I got so much sand in my shoes from walking on the beach, I feel like I’m walking on sandpaper.”

“I told you to take your shoes off,” she heard Robert say. “That way you can wipe your feet off afterward and put your shoes back on. Sarah taught me that.”

“Well, next time I will if there is a next time.
But I think we should be able to find a private place to talk other than the beach.”

I came out laughing, “Don’t tell me you tried walking on the beach with wingtips on.”

Simon grinned from ear to ear. He had a beautiful smile. “I’ll do better next time,” He said.

I kissed Robert on the cheek, “How about some coffee?”

Simon looked at his watch, “I’m going back to the hotel and play on the computer some more. I’m going to try to find the name of that antipsychotic drug that’s supposed to help the boy come out of his coma, but the doctor might already know about it. Never hurts to be prepared.”

Robert slapped him on the ba
ck, “I’ll see you at around eight a.m. tomorrow at the hospital.”

“Did y’all see Freddy down on the beach?
He had on dark clothes and was acting kind of sneaky.”

They both looked at each other and shrugged.
Both said they hadn’t seen him but didn’t act too concerned. That didn’t mean anything. Robert would probably keep an eye on him from now on.

I wondered if he could possibly be the
beach front stabber. He had been in town for about the same amount of time.

  CHAPTER SIX

I didn’t open the s
hop the next morning until eleven a.m. I had slept late. After Simon left, Robert and I had made love and, for the first time in my life, I had had an orgasm. I can’t describe how wonderful it was.

It excited Robert so much he was able to do it several more times.
Once I had one orgasm, it seemed to be easier and easier and we kept it up most of the night.

Robert said that he felt like our relationship had moved to a new level.
I just hated it when he started talking about our relationship, I don’t know why.

I got up this morning and made him breakfast, something I had never done, then went back to bed after he left.
That was why I overslept.

As I was walking by my car on the way out of my condo, I looked inside to see if there were anymore cigarette butts.
There weren’t.

Robert had told me to write down my mileage so we could tell how far someone had driven if it happened again.
I checked the mileage and saw the car hadn’t been anywhere.

When I got to the shop there were several customers hanging around outside looking at the new swimsuits I had just put in the window the day before.
One of the people was a really small guy of about thirty years old and he was studying a pink bikini.

I unlocked the door and everyone came in includ
ing the small guy. He had blond hair and gray eyes. His hair was curly and long, covering his ears. He had a dark tan.

He walked over to where the bathing suits were and started fingering them.
I walked over and asked him if I could help him.

“I’m just looking,” he said and turned and walked out.

I saw several customers go to the window and look out at him and I heard one say, “You know he could be the stabber.” I shivered.

We got a lot of vacationers in Monroe
Beach but I didn’t know if this strange man was one of them or a local. I knew I had never seen him before.

I asked some of the local folks if they knew who he was but no one did.
Later that afternoon, I saw him walking down the beach. He was wearing only a pair of cutoff jeans that were very old looking.

He walked up to the window of the shop and looked in like he was looking for someone.
I was alone by then and I picked up the phone to call Robert. The man saw me and walked on.

Brenda, the dispatcher at the sheriff’s department said Robert and Simon were at the hospital.
I decided to close early and head over there.

One of the nurses in the ICU stopped me at the door and said I couldn’t come in there but Robert stuck his head out and mo
tioned me in.

“It’s okay,” he said to the nurse. “I need her help.”

When I went in the cubical I saw a teenage boy lying there with an IV in his hand. He was looking around like he was confused.

“See if you can get him to talk, Sarah.
He won’t answer any of our questions. He acts like he’s terrified,” Robert said to me as he led me over to the bed.

“Do you know what happened to you?”
I asked.

He looked at me and I saw nothing but confusion in his eyes.
I took his hand and he let me but kept looking at the two big black men.

“Robert, I think he’s scared of y’all.
Why don’t I try to talk to him alone?”

Simon and Robert looked at each other and Simon nodded, “You know, I think she’s right.
You need to record the conversation, Sarah.”

He handed me a tape recorder, “If you get nothing else at least try to get his name.”
He turned on the recorder and they left saying they would be in the cafeteria.

I asked the boy, “What’s your name?”

“Dennis Sikes. I’m 15 years old and I’m from Memphis Tennessee.”

“Great,” I said.
“What brings you to Monroe?”

He started crying, “Nothing at home was as bad as this.”

“You’re a run-away?”

“Yes.
I thought it was bad at home. My mom married a man I hate. He’s a bully. He tells everyone what to do even though he’s not my daddy. I thought I would be better off if I left. So I hitched all the way here. I’ve been sleeping on the beach.”

Once he started talking it seemed he couldn’t stop.
“I’ve been sleeping all day between sand dunes and at night going through people’s garbage to find something to eat. Would you get me some water? My mouth is so dry I can’t hardly talk.”

I got up and poured him some water from the little pitcher and put a straw in it.
I held his head while he drank. He didn’t pause for a breath until the glass was empty.

“Thank you,” He said.
“You’re very kind.”

He took a deep breath, “You want to know what happened
the other night? Wait a minute, what day is it?”

“It’s Saturday.
You were brought in Thursday morning. They think your were attacked sometime during the night Wednesday night.”

“So, I’ve been asleep all this time?”

“You were in a coma. They called it a psychogenic coma caused by severe trauma. Do you remember what the guy looked like who attacked you?”

“All I know is that he was short
. He had on one of those stocking type caps pulled down low and covering his hair, so I don’t know what color his hair was.

“
I didn’t feel threatened at first. I had just gotten something to eat, almost a whole hamburger and fries and I had laid back down and gone to sleep. He nudged me with his foot.

“At first, I was just mad that he had woke me up and I started walking down the beach.
I kept asking him what he wanted and he never said a word.

“When he pulled the knife, I just laughed.
I mean, he was so short, I thought it was a joke. Then he threw me down and started stabbing almost as soon as I hit the sand.

“It seemed to go on a long time with me begging him not to hurt me no more.
I don’t know if I can tell a nice lady like you this part, but he acted like he was having sex every time he stabbed me.

“At one point he actually rubbed himself against me and acted like he came.”

Poor Dennis, his face had turned a bright red. I patted his hand. “Is that all you remember?”

He
nodded his head because by this time he was crying so hard his shoulders were shaking.

A n
urse came in and ran me out. I headed for the cafeteria. Robert and Simon were sitting at a table having coffee. I went through the line and got myself some coffee.

When I got to their table I handed Simon the tape recorder and summarized what was on it.

Robert looked at Simon, “You know if he did come while he was sitting on top of Dennis, we may be able to find some semen on his clothes.”

Simon was staring off into space, “I always thought these attacks were sexual even though he didn’t rape any of the victims.
When I took the profiling courses, I learned that sometimes a perpetrator can’t achieve an erection with someone. The plunging in of the knife represents for him the thrusting action during intercourse.

“I doubt the perpetrator understands this but he is symbolically raping all these victims.”

I spoke up, “Today there was a strange small man who came into the shop. He kept fingering the bikinis and when I asked if I could help him, he said he was just looking and left.

“Later on I saw him
staring into the shop window. I tried to call you, Robert but Brenda said you were over at the hospital and that’s why I came over here.

“W
hat about Freddy? I told you I saw him sneaking around on the beach last night. Did you question him about that yet?”

“Actually, Freddy was on patrol last night.
Why he wasn’t in uniform I don’t know. I’ll have to ask him. He probably didn’t want anyone to know he was a cop.”

I told Robert I was going home and
that I needed to get some sleep tonight so he could sleep at his own apartment. Simon snorted and coffee spewed out all over the front of his shirt. I could feel my face turn red.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Th
e next morning I was got up early. I was putting all the long sleeved tee shirts on sale at half price. They were multicolored with Monroe Beach, Georgia written on the front.

I usually let Tory open for me on Sunday but I wanted to work today so we could get all the sale items out.
Sunday was usually a busy day and would get busier as the school year ended and families headed for the beach.