by BJ Bourg
“Oh, so he didn’t kidnap her?”
“No, man, didn’t you hear me? She left me!”
Relieved, Abraham exhaled the breath he was holding. “What’s your wife’s name?”
“Debbie.”
“And how do you know this guy knows where she is?”
“Because I paid a private investigator to follow her, that’s how,” Gerard said. The hurt was evident in his voice and his chin quivered as he continued. “She waits until I go to sleep and then she sneaks out and comes to this house. She’s come out here at least eight times in the last two months.”
“I see,” Abraham said thoughtfully. “Does she have a car?”
“She does. It’s a gray Nissan Sentra and she usually hides it in his garage.” He nodded confidently. “I know it’s in there, but he won’t open it so I can see.”
Abraham hefted the bat in his hand. “What were you planning to do with this?”
“I just brought it for protection.”
“From what?” Abraham was skeptical.
“Just in case the man tried to fight with me.”
“Well, when I arrived you were the only one out here and you were swinging the bat around with bad intentions.”
CHAPTER 29
After strapping Gerard into the back seat and telling him to stay put, Abraham walked toward Kim Berry’s house. He had almost reached the door when a man gingerly stepped out onto the back patio.
“Is he locked up?” the man asked.
Abraham nodded. “Are you Kim Berry?”
“I am.” The man rubbed sweat from his bald head and wiped his hands on his pants. “I don’t know what’s going on, but that man just showed up and started swearing at me and swinging a baseball bat around. He was talking crazy and saying things I couldn’t understand.” He paused and licked his lips. “You know, he didn’t do any damage or anything, so I don’t really want to press any charges. I’d be satisfied if you gave him a warning. I’d just like him to leave and not come back, if that’s okay.”
Abraham nodded slowly, studying the man. “So, you didn’t understand anything he was saying?”
“Not really.” Kim licked his lips again. “He was talking crazy, you know? I think he’s got the wrong house.”
“Did you understand him when he asked about his wife?”
“His wife?” Kim’s brow furrowed. “I don’t recall hearing anything about his wife.”
“Do you know a woman named Debbie Brister?”
He shook his head. “Never heard of her.”
“That’s strange,” Abraham said, taking a step closer to Kim’s house. “Mr. Brister claims his wife has been here at least eight times in the past two months. He said she hides her car in your garage.”
Kim chuckled nervously. “That’s the craziest thing I ever heard.”
“I have to agree…it does sound pretty farfetched.” Abraham pointed casually toward the garage, which didn’t have any windows. “Do you mind if I have a look inside? Just so I can prove to Mr. Brister that his wife isn’t here and he can leave you alone?”
Kim hesitated.
“Is there a problem?” Abraham asked. “You’re hesitating.”
“I mean, I don’t know what’s going on. I’m the one who called the law and now you’re asking to search my garage.” Kim pointed to Abraham’s jeans. “You’re all dirty and not even wearing a uniform. For all I know, you’re working with him and this is a trick to get in my house to harm me in some way.”
“Right…except you called the sheriff’s office and then I showed up.” Abraham pulled his wallet from his back pocket and stepped forward, showing Kim his law enforcement commission. “This is me, Abraham Wilson, and I’m a patrol deputy with the Magnolia Parish Sheriff’s Office.”
After Kim studied the commission card and then nodded, Abraham shoved it back in his pocket. “So, what about the garage?”
Kim scowled. “I mean, you showed me your card and all, but it could be fake.”
Abraham was starting to lose his patience, but a plan suddenly crept into his mind. “Mr. Berry, do you have your cell phone with you?”
Kim nodded, and Abraham detected a look of suspicion on his face.
“Why don’t you walk with me to my truck so I can keep an eye on Mr. Brister?” Abraham suggested. “And then you can call the sheriff’s office to verify who I am.”
Kim nodded his head reluctantly and followed Abraham to his truck. While Kim stood in front of his truck and called the sheriff’s office, Abraham grabbed a glove from his first aid kit and retrieved the cell phone he had located earlier in the morning. He opened it and scrolled to the only contact name on the phone. Keeping his thumb poised over the green call button, he hid the phone behind his back and walked around to the front of his truck where Kim was standing.
“Did you speak to the dispatcher?” he asked.
Kim nodded, but frowned. “She verified you are who you say you are, but I still don’t want you in my house.”
Abraham nodded and pressed the call button on the cell phone behind his back. Almost instantly, Kim’s phone started ringing. He glanced down and then his head jerked up in bewilderment.
“That’s right,” Abraham said, slowly producing the cell phone. “You’re busted.”
The blood drained from Kim’s face. “Where…where’d you get that phone?”
“You need to cut the crap and tell me what you know about Debbie Brister,” Abraham said coldly. “And you can start by telling me where she is.”
“I don’t know.”
“She texted you this morning and told you she was on her way over here, right?”
Kim nodded. “But she never showed up.”
“You do realize that if something bad happened to her, you’re going to be at the top of that suspect list, right?”
“Me?” Kim’s eyes widened. “I didn’t do anything to her!”
“Then you need to start talking and you need to help us find her.”
“I have no idea where she could be. She was supposed to meet me here, but she never showed—I swear it.”
“Yeah, you also told me you didn’t know her, so forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical.” Abraham returned to his truck to secure the phone, and Gerard Brister asked him what was going on.
“Did you find my wife?” he asked. “Where is she?”
“I’m working on it.” Abraham shut his door and approached Kim. “I need to look inside your garage to make sure she’s not here. If you don’t let me in, I’ll get a search warrant and bust through the door.”
Kim exhaled, seemingly deflated. “That won’t be necessary. You can search it.”
Abraham followed closely behind Kim and watched as he punched in the code to open the garage. He glanced back toward his truck once and saw Gerard craning his neck in an attempt to see through the garage door, which was slowly rising.
Abraham bent over slightly as the bumper of a vehicle came into view. He frowned when he realized it was a pickup truck. Once the door was completely open, he stepped inside and glanced around. The parking bay on the right side was empty—except for a small marijuana plant under a lamp against the wall—and the pickup took up the left side.
“Is that why you didn’t want me in here?” Abraham asked, pointing to the marijuana plant.
“I…I…” He clamped his mouth shut and nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s for medicinal purposes. I have glaucoma.”
“I’ll be trading it for a misdemeanor summons before I leave.” Abraham shot a thumb toward the empty parking bay. “Is this where she parks her car when she comes over?”
Kim nodded and hung his head.
“What is it?” Abraham asked, sensing Kim was troubled about something. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“It isn’t like her not to show up. When she says she’s coming over, she does—every single time.”
“What do you think happened?”
Kim swallowed hard and licked his lips again. “Ever since th
at woman was killed—you know, the one they found on the cross?—Debbie has been spooked about our relationship. She said she felt like she was being followed. I thought she was just being paranoid, but when she didn’t show up this morning, I started to worry they had taken her.”
“Who had taken her?”
“The church.”
“What makes you think the church took her?”
“She told me her preacher has been talking about evil women and saying that women who commit adultery should be killed.” He wiped the sweat from his face. “I think they got to her.”
Abraham scowled. “Did Debbie attend the same church as the first victim?”
“She did.” Kim nodded for emphasis. “She thinks the pastor killed that Kathleen lady, because there was a sign over her head that said she was a sinner. She was afraid he would find out about us and kill her, too.”
Abraham walked away from Kim and pulled out his cell phone to call Headquarters. When Martha answered, he asked her to patch him through to London Carter’s cell phone.
“London?” she asked, surprised. “Why? What’s going on?”
“I think we might have another crucifix victim.”
CHAPTER 30
Just off the coast of Dark Sands Beach, Mississippi
I hit the reverse on the Jet Ski when I reached the spot where Vaughn Toussaint had been thrown overboard and then shut off the engine. The water patrol officers were scanning the waves that rolled gently in from the Gulf of Mexico.
“He went down right over there,” one of them shouted, pointing to a spot in the water.
A Jet Ski slowed to a rocking stop beside me and I turned to see Dawn straddling it. Her wet shirt was stretched tight over her flesh and streams of salt water dripped down her face. “That was a rush,” she said breathlessly. “I almost flew off the back when I first gave it the gas.”
I nodded and pointed toward where a hand broke the surface of the water. It was followed quickly by Vaughn’s head. His eyes were wide and he was gasping for air, choking on water.
“There he is!” I shouted.
With a quick flick of his wrist, one of the water patrol officers sent a life ring sailing through the air. It plopped into the water directly over Vaughn’s head and he gratefully wrapped both arms around it. Hanging on like a wet rat on a log, he meekly allowed himself to be pulled toward the boat. While he’d appeared to be a strong swimmer, he was now exhausted and out of breath.
The officers handcuffed Vaughn and sat him in the back of the boat while Dawn and I retrieved the third Jet Ski. We guided it toward the water patrol vessel so they could tow it back to the rental company, and then we all returned to the beach.
Detective McQuarie was standing on the sidewalk beyond the beach eating an ice cream sundae. He smiled when we approached, taking in our drenched clothes. “I don’t run after anybody,” he said, holding up his left thumb. “I just use this to press the button on my radio, and the suspects miraculously appear—handcuffed and ready to talk.”
I grunted in amusement and we followed McQuarie to his cruiser. He raised an eyebrow when we got in all wet, but he didn’t say anything about it.
“We’ll get you guys some dry clothes at the station,” he said. “And then you can interview Mr. Toussaint before we transport him to the county jail.”
I thanked him and reached for my phone to see if we’d heard anything from Magnolia, but immediately groaned.
“What is it?” Dawn asked.
I held up the slender paperweight. “It’s useless. I drowned it in the water.”
Dawn smiled and lifted her phone triumphantly. “You should’ve gotten a waterproof case.”
Cursing myself for settling for the cheaper phone case, I shoved it back in my pocket and stared gloomily out the window. I didn’t like wasting money on things I destroyed. When I was a little boy, and before she died, my mom used to call me Carter the Destroyer, because I broke all of my toys. My grandma, who raised me, kept the name going. It seemed I hadn’t changed much.
CHAPTER 31
Thirty minutes later…
Once Dawn and I were in dry clothes—the shirt and pants they found for me were too tight, while Dawn’s clothes were loose—we stepped into the spacious interview room and sat across from Vaughn Toussaint.
“I don’t understand what you guys want from me. I’ve never been to that place you mentioned.”
“Magnolia?” Dawn asked, leading the interview. “Maybe not, but it seems Magnolia has been coming to you.”
Pulling a photo of Kathleen Bertrand from our file, Dawn slid it across the table. “Do you recognize this woman?”
Vaughn scowled. “Did something happen?”
“You tell us.” Dawn leaned back and folded her arms across her chest.
“I mean, two detectives from Louisiana come all the way down to Dark Sands and nearly drown me in the ocean.” He grunted and rubbed his hands through his damp hair. “Yeah, I’m guessing something happened.”
“What do you think happened?” Dawn asked.
He shrugged. “If I was a betting man—and I am—I’d bet her husband and the preacher found out about us and he sent you guys here to scare me into leaving her alone. The whole, ‘Stay out of my town,’ kind of thing. Well, that’s not legal anymore, you know. I can go wherever I want and I don’t care what any church says.”
Dawn leaned forward. “Why would you think her preacher sent us?”
“Kathleen said the preacher’s real connected down there and he’s got a lot of sway with the locals. She said once you join the church, it’s hard to get out. It’s like a motorcycle gang, but with Bibles.” He shook his head sadly. “It’s depressing to see how much they control her. Everything’s a sin. She can’t listen to certain kinds of music, can’t watch television unless it’s one of those evangelical programs, and they make her wear napkins on her head during mass. Hell, they don’t even want to let her divorce that lazy bastard of a husband she’s got.”
Dawn glanced at me and I knew what she was thinking. She’d worked a case with Brandon Berger ten years ago involving a cultish church and things hadn’t turned out so well. She was starting to think this Father Nehemiah Masters was crucifying his parishioners. At this point, I didn’t know what to think, but I figured he was as likely a suspect as Joey. The only problem? We couldn’t yet prove that either man knew about Kathleen’s affair.
Dawn turned back to Vaughn and asked what he knew about Kathleen wanting a divorce.
“I know she wants to leave her husband, but the pastor won’t let her because he says it’s a sin.” He shook his head. “She’s terrified that the preacher finds out about us, because he said in a mass that you get the death penalty if you commit adultery…”
Vaughn’s voice trailed off and when his expression fell, I knew he had finally figured out why we were there.
“Oh, no,” he said, his hands beginning to tremble. “Is it Kathleen? Did something happen to her? Please tell me she’s okay—please!”
“I’m so sorry,” Dawn said slowly, “but Kathleen was found dead last Wednesday.”
“No!” Vaughn fell to the floor and threw up.
Dawn pulled back just in time to avoid getting his vomit all over her wet boots. I wasn’t so lucky. As Vaughn remained on his hands and knees retching, Dawn and I tried to calm him down. About a minute later, the door to the interview room burst open and a uniformed officer came in with a handful of paper towels. He handed them to Vaughn and the man cleaned off his mouth as he knelt there crying.
The look on his face had to be one of the most pitiful expressions I’d ever seen. Had he not been an abuser of women, I might’ve felt sorry for him. Instead, I knew he was crying because he would no longer be able to freeload off of Kathleen.
“Pull yourself together,” I said sternly. “We’ve got more questions for you.”
Vaughn nodded absently and dragged himself back into the chair.
“Do you guys want to move into t
he interview room across the hall?” the officer asked. “I can get a prisoner to come clean up this mess.”
Dawn nodded and thanked him. We stood and led Vaughn across the hall to an identical room. Before Dawn could resume her questioning, Vaughn asked, “How’d she die?”
“I don’t think you’re ready for details,” she said. “Let’s just stick to what you—”
“No! I want to know how she died or I’m not saying another word.”
Dawn pursed her lips. “Very well…she was crucified.”
“Dear God!” I thought Vaughn was going to puke again, but he managed to keep it down. “Are you serious?”
“Very.”
“It’s that preacher, I just know it! Kathleen said she was afraid of him. She said he gets this look in his eyes when he starts talking about sinful women—I think that’s what she called it. It scared the shit out of her. I mean, we loved each other dearly. I’m the only man she ever truly loved. She was going to leave her husband for me, but she was just too scared to pull the trigger. With my help, she was working on it a little at a time.”
“Did she talk to anyone about leaving Joey?” Dawn asked.
Vaughn nodded. “She put a down payment on a lawyer, but she said before she could file papers she’d have to find an apartment far away from Plymouth East. She said when she leaves, she’ll have to leave all at once and never look back.”
“Come on,” Dawn said, “did she really think the church would stop her?”
“Not just stop her—she thought they would kill her. That preacher man said you get the death penalty for adultery. That’s why she comes here to see me, because she’s too afraid to do anything back home. She won’t bring me anywhere near that place. She can’t risk getting caught.” He paused, but then lifted his hand. “Oh, and get this…she can’t miss a single sermon or she’ll face the wrath of the preacher. She comes out here on Wednesdays, but she can’t leave there until after she attends the mass.”
“What about vacations?” Dawn asked. “Can church members only take two- and three-day vacations?”
