Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 05 - Monroe Beach

by Peggy Holloway

  “I’m sorry about the ruined vacation plans, Wade.”

  “I’m not. My heart went out to that poor boy. Imagine your parents abandoning you and then being experimented on, having to watch your friends die then on top of everything else, being framed for murder.”

  “I wonder if the whole staff knew about this,” I said.

  “I don’t know, let Simon and them figure it out. Right now we have to help Sarah and hopefully capture that son-of-a-bitch.”

  He laughed. “A vacation with you would have been nice but I love catching the bad guys, especially when they are hurting kids,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

  # # #

  Sarah was at the sheriff’s office when we got there. After all the hugs and kisses, we gathered in Robert’s office and filled him in on what we had learned.

  “I just got a call from my friend, Simon, and he said there were agents there already with a search warrant. They’re closing the place down and the staff is in the process of calling the parents to come get the kids.

  “The CSI unit hasn’t found any bodies yet but they are digging and searching the grounds for any clues they can find.

  “The press is there and they’re threatening them with jail time if they try to interfere. If the press starts reporting what’s going on, it will drive the doctor underground and we may never catch him.”

  “Robert. I want to act as a decoy,” Sarah said. We all stared at her.

  “No, no way, Baby.” Robert said. “I won’t let you.”

  “You won’t let me? You won’t let me?”

  “Uh oh,” he said. “I didn’t mean it that way. Please, Sarah, don’t do this.”

  She looked at me and I shrugged. I wasn’t getting into the middle of this.

  “Let’s at least hear what she has to say, Robert,” Wade said.

  “That’s easy for you to say. Judith hasn’t volunteered be a decoy.”

  “I would if I could but surely between all of us and all your deputies we can protect Sarah.”

  We argued back and forth until Robert agreed to hear Sarah’s plan.

  “Well, I admit I don’t have anything better,” He said when she finished.

  Okay, here’s the thing. Sarah had been seeing this stuff so much that she had been able to work out a time frame. It was usually a week to ten days between when she had started seeing the women in the mirror and when they washed up on the beach.

  She had started seeing herself but then Dr. Pullen had been distracted when Randolph had been arrested. He had to take care of all that and now he was out there hunting again. Sarah had started seeing herself almost a week ago so he should make his move anytime now, assuming he didn’t have a clue we were onto him.

  The plan was simple. Sarah went to the beach more and more making it look like she thought she was safe. I wore a disguise. I was a bag lady and was walking up and down the beach with a large garbage bag looking for empty aluminum cans.

  I was the only one visible. Wade was worried that Dr. Pullen would try to kill me first just to get me out of the way. I decided to be crazy and not know what was going on around me. I had worked enough with street people to know how they acted. So I walked up and down the beach mumbling to myself and at times laughing like I was sharing a joke with myself.

  Both Sarah and I were wired and the others were close enough to get there before anything could be done to Sarah. I was carrying as they say. I had a small 22 handgun in the pocket of the oversized coat I was wearing.

  It was the end of June and I was burning up. Like many homeless people who wear everything they have all the time, I was wearing several layers and a knit cap. I had teased my hair without smoothing it over the top and smudged my face. I was pretty proud of the way I had fixed myself up.

  CHAPTER 26

  I almost didn’t recognize him. He came down the beach walking like a much younger man. He was wearing a blond wig that was of such high quality that I thought it was his real hair. He was carrying a surfboard and there was no tic or head jerking.

  He walked right by me as if I was invisible and I realized how many times I had done that, walked by a street person without them registering on my radar.

  I didn’t look him straight in the eye, and as he passed I veered off, going over the sand dune. When I got to the other side of the dune, I dropped down and watched as I mumbled, “He’s here and is headed toward Sarah.”

  Sarah was sitting on a beach blanket with her face to the sun and her eyes closed. When he got to her he bent down and said something to her and she laughed as she opened her eyes. It didn’t appear that she recognized him and she was laughing and talking to him.

  As I watched I read Sarah’s lips when she said, “Sure, have a seat.” He put his board down and sat on it. They talked awhile and he stood up and I thought he was going to walk away but just as she turned back to look at the waves, he jumped her.

  It was so fast. He had gotten his surfboard in front of him and fell onto her with the board between them. She was knocked out on the sand before anyone could get to her.

  Wade, Simon, Robert, and his deputies all came over the dunes from up and down the beach.

  We got almost to them when he pulled a dazed Sarah to her feet and held her in front of him like a human shield. He pulled a knife from his pocket and held it to her throat.

  I came over the sand dune mumbling to myself and looking at the ground. Dr. Pullen glanced at me but didn’t see me as a threat.

  I walked in back of Sarah and Dr. Pullen, shuffling my feet and still mumbling to myself, while reaching into my pocket. Pulling the gun, and at the same time dropping the bag of aluminum cans, they made an awful noise and he was momentarily distracted. When he glanced over his shoulder, I calmly shot him in the calf and he went down.

  The men grabbed him, cuffed him, and it was over just that fast. Simon and the deputies took Dr. Pullen in and Robert took Sarah home.

  Wade grabbed me and threw me down in the sand. “I’m higher than a kite,” He said. “Nothing makes me more excited than catching the bad guys.”

  I laughed, “I feel fantastic myself. It’s kind of a turn on, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, let’s get us a room here and finish out our vacation on this beautiful beach. How’s that sound to you?”

  “Well, to tell the truth, I wasn’t that excited about a cabin in the mountains anyway. I like the beach.”

  He laughed, “Why didn’t you tell me? We don’t ever have to do anything you don’t want to do. Besides, I like the beach better myself. I just thought you might like a change.”

  I didn’t realize it at the time but there was one last task to be done before we would be finished with this case.

  CHAPTER 27

  We had checked into the Mulberry Inn, taken showers, made love, and gone back to the beach, where we spent the rest of the day lying on the beach and swimming. We stayed on the beach until sunset and we watched it in wonder.

  When we got back to the room, Robert called and asked us to meet them at a new restaurant called Skinner’s right on the beach and not far from where we were staying. I was happy to see Sarah looking so well after her ordeal and she was kind of pumped up like the rest of us.

  “They sent the feds down, right away, to pick up Dr. Pullen,” Robert said as he broke open a hushpuppy. “And, they took Randolph Edwards to Atlanta because he’s technically still serving time.”

  “But he didn’t do anything wrong,” Sarah said.

  Robert pulled her to him and hugged her. “I know, baby, but he hasn’t been cleared yet, although he will be soon. He has to go before the judge and be granted clemency.”

  Robert looked at me and hesitated. “Judith, I hate to ask you this, but Randolph requested that you go with him to see his parents when he’s released.”

  Wade looked at me and gave me his most handsome smile. “I’d love to go with you, if you decide to go.”

  I nodded while smiling back. “I would love to go. I want to
meet these people and if they don’t want him, I want to take him back to Houston with us. Mimi’s love will fix him right up. When do you think he will be released, Robert?”

  He looked at his watch. “He’s meeting with the judge right now. I’ve booked him a flight for 10:37 tonight and it will arrive in Savannah at around 11:30.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Once again Wade and I checked out of another place we had slept in but not spent the night in and drove over to Savannah. Randolph saw us as he was coming down the portal and got a big smile on his face.

  He shook hands with Wade. “Thank you,” He said.

  Wade slapped him on the back. “Hey, no problem, son, we’re glad to do it.”

  We got Randolph’s luggage out of baggage claim and headed for the car. He stopped at one point and stood there like he was lost.

  I put my arm around him. “Don’t worry, Randolph, if your parents don’t want you, I’m taking you back to Houston with me.”

  With tears in his eyes he threw his arms around me, but didn’t say anything.

  Savannah has several small islands separated from the mainland by small rivers and streams. Randolph directed Wade to one of these Islands. We crossed Moon River and I thought of the Audrey Hepburn movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

  Most of the Island was a gated community and we were stopped by a security guard. He came toward us with a clipboard but when he bent down and looked in, he saw Randolph and waved us through. I wondered if he ever read the newspaper.

  I was glad we had Randolph with us to give directions or we would have never found the place. It was as if someone had taken a bunch of swimming pools and golf courses and blended them in with a bunch of huge houses with winding roads in between. The houses were all built out of pink brick and most of them had several floors and swimming pools. It was a beautiful area.

  We hadn’t called ahead and, unless the security guard had called, they didn’t expect us. There was a party going on and we had to park down the block and walk up to the house. Randolph looked so nervous I put my arm around him.

  We rang the doorbell and I could barely make out the shape of someone coming toward the ornate sculptured oval glass set in the front door. It was a snooty butler.

  “Yes,” he said and then he recognized Randolph. “Why, master Randolph, you’ve come home.”

  He barely looked at us but bowed his head and said, “If you’ll follow me please.”

  He took us to a very formal living room and left us. We could hear a party going on somewhere nearby. I looked at Randolph. “Do your parents give many parties?” I asked.

  He snorted, “Yeah, all the time. That’s why they didn’t want me around after I started looking so weird. They like to surround themselves with beautiful people. You probably think I’m crazy for wanting to see them, but I want to see the look on their faces when they think they have to put up with me again.”

  I patted his leg. “We’re here for you, sweetie.”

  We had waited a half hour and during that time no one had come in and offered us a coffee or anything.

  “I feel as welcome as a hair on a biscuit,” Wade said.

  I was laughing at his statement when the door opened and a middle aged couple came in. He looked like a GQ model. Tall, fit, with broad shoulders and salt and pepper hair, very good looking but not as good looking as Wade. He was wearing a tuxedo.

  She was as tall as he was with her spike heels. Her hair was shiny blond, and in a French twist. She was wearing a shimmery silver evening gown that looked like it was painted on her perfect figure. She wore long silver earrings and a few diamonds on her fingers.

  When they entered we had all stood up and I had to look up to her. She didn’t say anything, as she stared at each of us with her ocean blue eyes. When she got to her son, she didn’t rush to him and embrace him like you would expect a mother to do who hadn’t seen her son for five years.

  “Well,” She said. “After five years of refusing to see us, you’ve come home.” She looked at Wade and me. “And you’ve brought someone with you.”

  Randolph kept his head down the whole time and Wade spoke up, “I’m detective Wade Russell of the Houston Police Department and this is Dr. Judith McCain with the FBI.”

  They both shook hands with us and nodded. Mr. Edwards said, “Do you have any idea what you put your mama through, boy, you refusing to see us?”

  Randolph looked at them with tears in his eyes, “I didn’t refuse to see you. I wanted you to come see me so bad. Dr. Pullen, he said y’all didn’t want nothing to do with me. “

  Mrs. Edwards put her hand over her mouth and stared at her son then she looked at me.

  “It’s true, Mrs. Edwards,” I said, “All these years he thought you had abandoned him.”

  She rushed to her son and embraced him. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “We could have seen you all this time. And he didn’t cure your leukederma like he promised.”

  Mr. Edwards had walked over and embraced his son and buried his face in his neck. The three held each other and cried together.

  “Son, what did you do, just leave?”

  Randolph laughed, “No one just leaves there, dad. I was a prisoner. He experimented on us using drugs that he developed.”

  Mrs. Edwards suddenly stood up and went to the door and opened it. She motioned for the butler and he walked over. “August, Get rid of my guests.”

  He bowed. “Yes, madam.”

  She closed the door and came back in, “Randy, honey, how did you escape?”

  I spoke up, “Y’all don’t know what’s been going on do you?”

  “We’ve been traveling for almost a year,” Mr. Edwards said. “We got in late last night and tonight our friends gave us a surprise welcome home party. What’s been going on here?”

  It was Wade who explained everything while they listened without comment.

  At the end Mr. Edwards simply said, “Thank you for bringing back my boy.”

  CHAPTER 29

  We had left a happy family and I wanted to discuss it all with Wade while heading back to Monroe beach.

  “So, from what was said, his parents thought they were putting him in the Pullen Institute to cure his luekodrema. Then he tells Randolph that his parents don’t want to see him. At the same time he tells the parents that his son has refused to see them.”

  Wade chewed the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, he must have pulled the same number on all the families. If it had been my kid I would have torn the place apart to see him. I was thinking about that poor overweight girl Randolph told us about. Her parents probably thought they were checking her into a fat clinic.”

  We had supper at Sarah’s house that night and Robert cooked steaks on the grill. Wade and Robert hung around the back yard drinking beer and talking cop talk while I helped Sarah in the kitchen with the salad and baked potatoes.

  While we enjoyed the food at a picnic table in their yard, Robert caught us up on what was happening with Dr. Pullen.

  “Apparently, he’s not even a real doctor. He never finished medical school. He went to four different medical schools and was kicked out of all of them.

  “Simon has been on his computer and found out that Dr. Pullen, which is an alias by the way, has been arrested several times for assault and battery, rape, and stalking. His first charge was while he was in undergraduate school, but the girl dropped the charges.

  “He comes from an extremely wealthy family and Simon suspects the victims were all paid off. He never served any jail time and then about ten years ago he dropped out of sight.”

  “I would love to interview him,” I said, “Just to get some background on him. I would love to know about his family of origin.”

  “Oh no, you don’t,” Wade said as he pulled me against him. “Are they going for the death penalty, Robert?”

  “You bet they are. All of those poor parents who thought their kids had run away from there and have been trying to find them and those who believed tha
t their kids didn’t want to see them and some of them were dead. They must feel so guilty right about now.”

  I still wanted to interview Dr. Pullen or whoever he was but I guess I wouldn’t get to.

  # # #

  Dr. Pullen was executed by lethal injection only two months later.

  Wade and I are still seeing each other and he’s still with HPD. I’m still with the FBI and am learning more each day.

  I take Judo and have started running with Wade who is an avid runner. Julia did marry her professor and had a baby boy she named Ben. It brought tears to my eyes when she told me.

  #####

  About the author

  After retiring from three major careers, teaching high school math, exploring for oil and gas as a geophysicist in offshore Gulf of Mexico, and working as a counselor/psychotherapist, I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing. I had read one to two books a day for over forty years and decided to go for it. This is the fifth Judith McCain thriller. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Judith McCain thrillers:

  Blood on White Wicker

  Portrait on Wicker

  Terror on the Beach

  Jupiter Returns

  Monroe Beach

  Mystery/Suspense:

  Double Shock

  Southern Greed

  Time travel/Visionary fiction:

  3037

  Time and Time Again

  Self Help

  The Answers are within

  My Memoirs:

  A Life of Confusion

  All of my paperbacks, e-books, and audio books are available on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=peggy+holloway

  If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review. It is the way we indie authors get recognition.

  Contact me at: peggyholloway62@yahoo.com

  or visit my website at: