Blood Red Sundown: Evil Begins

by Allen Gates

  “Is this what you wanted, Honey?”

  His arm tightened around her neck. His other hand enclosed her nose and mouth cutting off all sources of air. She struggled and tried to twist out of his grasp, but it was futile. She tried to reach his eyes and her slaps did little damage. Fighting for air she gave a final all-out effort to free herself, but it only quickened the inevitable. He rocked her tenderly as she sagged against his chest and then hearing one last gasp he knew it was over. Relaxing his arm slowly, he pulled her up slightly and placed his head against hers and hummed while he rocked her.

  “Isn’t the darkness peaceful? You can sleep now.”

  He began to feel a strange new longing arising from his evil side and he knew he could not stop it. Realizing this need was becoming more demanding and not understanding why he began removing her under garments. What had started with his hand resting on her breast turned into an unrecognized urge and he could feel the evil one’s demand surging through him.

  74

  “SUTCLIFF, NEVADA, DEAD ahead partner.” He looked out at the countryside and described the view to Anne as miles of flat terrain with herds of cattle and horses.

  “Well you ought to fit right in here, Lonnie Boy, being you’re a rhinestone cowboy in boots.”

  He ignored her comment with a grunt and continued to watch for the turnoff as they neared their destination.

  “We’re going to be a few minutes early, but I can’t picture Mrs. Radford being upset with us.”

  “Maybe we should call first, Lon.”

  “Nah, we are almost there let’s get this over with and get back to the airport. Maybe we can catch an earlier flight home.”

  Beth Radford was more than gracious as she welcomed them into her house.

  “I prepared some fruit and pastries, figuring you had eaten an early breakfast at the hotel. We can sit in the dining room or on the patio.”

  “I vote for the patio and if you ladies won’t be offended, I’ll carry the tray.”

  “Patio it is and if you will not be offended detective, I’ll hold the door for you.”

  The view was spectacular and Anne stood admiring it waiting for the interview to begin. Lon took the lead and said, “When we last talked, Beth, you were in the mother’s bedroom and describing the contents of a locked case. I remember you were curious and were searching for any information you could find about the senator’s father.”

  “That’s correct and I remember on one occasion, as the three of us sat together in the den, I posed a question of concern to them as to why we never talked about his father. It brought an immediate angry response from William. He stood up defiantly and instructed me that I was never to mention him again. The mother became even more troubled at the question and with an angry leer at me left the room. William just sat and stared at me with that angry expression that made me very uncomfortable.”

  I wanted to escape the situation so I told him I felt it best if I left the room to go and apologize to her, though I didn’t understand why I had offended her. I found her in the library and I was relieved when she accepted my apology. And then, for some reason, she began relating the reasons behind her getting upset. I could feel her emotional stress as she recalled incidents of their history with William’s father. I was feeling both uneasy and sympathetic for her at the same time.”

  “Detectives, she described in detail that he was overly demanding of the two of them and was explicit in detailing the extreme cruelty he plied on William as a young boy.” She stopped to sip from her glass of tea.

  “He would degrade him about being a mommy’s sissy boy and then slap him into heartbreaking tears all the while telling him he had to learn to be a man. Her story of the father became more and more frightening and I became emotionally distraught and wanted her to stop, but she continued on with the story and described severe physical and emotional abuses. Some I won’t even divulge to you. I remember she became tearful at that point and hesitated, holding her chest as she took deep breaths and to wipe her eyes, before she continued. I was crying at this point.”

  Anne asked if she needed to take a break.

  She said it was not necessary and continued on.

  Whenever the Mother would try to intervene on William’s behalf, he would strike her or sexually abuse her and insist William stay and watch.” She said he would immediately leave the house after an incident like that and be gone for several days. The minute his car was gone, she said, William would wind up in her arms, oftentimes for the rest of the night.”

  “Can you even imagine something like that? I remember feeling so uneasy hearing this and I think I may have cried even more than I remember as she described their situation to me. I know I continued to be tearful for several days after. However, let me stop there to make a serious point. It is one thing to console your teen age son, another to let him sleep with you.”

  She looked at Anne for understanding.

  “William, the mother told me, became more and more terrified of his father and his hate for him overwhelmed him, while he became totally devoted to her.”

  “Oh, and I almost forgot this, as a discipline for William he would make him stand and stare at a tattoo on his arm while he sat and read a paper or book. The boy could not move until the father was through reading.”

  Anne looked at Lon at various points of the story wondering if he was grasping the basis for the senator’s problems.

  “The mother suspected that there were numerous outside sexual encounters by the father,” Beth said, “but the mother had never been able to prove it and really did not want to find out for fear of what he would do to them.

  “Then the father began to stay away for days at a time. He would return and force her to have sex with him. The night before the suicide, she and William were going away for a two night trip. At the last minute William got an invitation from a couple of his friends, so he decided to stay home and go to a movie.”

  Beth paused, “I’m sure you two are already ahead of me at this point of the story in your mind.”

  Lon responded. “The old man gets busted.”

  “Correct, she said, William came home and walked in on his father and his lover. They were dancing in the den, she in her under things and his father totally nude.”

  “He beat William severely.”

  “I remember at this point detectives, she became very odd or strange as she paused and began smiling at me. Then she said to me in much louder voice, “Beth, we had finally caught the SOB! He sinned and now he must, ‘Reap what he has sown.’

  “I felt it strange as I viewed her changed facial expression as she was describing this incident. She kept smiling and I think I remember her laughing as she rose and left the room.”

  “What happened to the senator, did he come to find the two of you?”

  “No, Lon, I never saw him again that night.”

  “I remember asking myself, “Did the two of them really commit suicide or did she have something to do with it? Did they both have something to do with it? I was never able to uncover any specific details of the suicide.”

  Lon and Anne were transfixed in the story and said nothing as she continued.

  “Do you recall my describing the father’s tattoo?”

  “As I stood at the foot of her bed and stared at her large picture, I remembered her saying those words the night she told of the incident, ‘Now he must reap what he has sown.’

  “We never discussed that night again. Now I ‘m through talking, do you have any questions?”

  “Anne answered quickly, “I have just two Beth. In your opinion, do you think William and his mother killed the father and his lover and second, was there incest between William and his mother?”

  “I do and yes I feel there was definitely incest. I believe the father was so cruel and demeaning to the two of them that they turned to each other for love and solace. It appears to have started innocently by a scared young boy and a protective mother’s relationship that pro
gressed to full sexual activity until the day she died in that horrible car accident.”

  75

  ARRIVING AT THE hospital, Stephanie intended to avoid contact with Len, but then decided rather than sidestepping the situation she would go to him and offer her apology for the preceding night. When inquiring about his location, she was informed that he had called in sick. She was disappointed and yet relieved that facing him was delayed.

  Walking into a patient’s room, she was greeted with, “It's really getting scary out there, Doc!”

  “She recognized true concern on the patients face.

  “What are you afraid of Alice?”

  “That maniac is still on the loose out there somewhere. He killed another woman last night and only about seven blocks from the hospital.”

  Stephanie turned to the TV and listened as they gave details of the previous night’s killing. She listened intently as they discussed the questions by news reporters on whether this victim was number six or seven?

  “It sounds like the police are unsure if the death of the senator’s wife should be connected to the other victims. There must have been something different in her death to give them doubt?” She continued to listen to the concerns of the media as she concluded her diagnostic examination of the patient.

  “I guess we have to be extra cautious until this man is caught.” She finished her exam and patted the patient on her arm.

  “You’re doing just fine Alice, so we will be sending you home tomorrow.”

  “I feel a lot safer here, Doctor.”

  Taking her hand she agreed with her and walked out to join several nurses standing at the desk all giving their opinions about the latest victim and what the police should do to catch the serial killer.

  “I walk home from the hospital every night. I wish I had a gun I'd shoot him if he came near me.”

  “That could be a problem, Mary. You might shoot someone who you thought was the bad man and what if you are wrong?”

  “Yea, but what if I was right?”

  She stood close by listening to their words and understood their fears and decided she should be a little more cautious with her nightly trips to the shore after work.

  She knew she had taken chances lately and had unwittingly set aside the potential threat in the note, “I followed you home.”

  A nurse walked over and handed her a slip of paper. William had called twice. The message said, “Please call me back.”

  “No thank you,” she said and wadded up the slip of paper and threw it in the trash.

  There were two more messages from him during the course of the day and she handled each one in the same manner. The realization that she would eventually have to see him, played upon her mind heavily. How would she react to him? He would apologize being the perfect gentleman, but she would never forget the look on his face and his claim of the relationship he had with her. This must be a part of his psyche she surmised. A normal person does not change their personality in an instant over something they thought they heard. She stood a minute longer recalling the incident then remembered where she was.

  “Get back to work Stephanie, it’s almost time to face whatever is out there to face. Will he be waiting for you in the parking lot? That could be a better scenario than alone at the beach. Here there will be people all around you.

  “Stop it, she said to herself. Last night you were kissing this man and falling in love with him. Walk out and face him and tell him you’re not ready for whatever he envisioned their relationship should be. But, he has been a perfect gentleman excluding last night. Do I give him another chance?”

  76

  “WE SHOULD BE on the ground in about fifteen minutes folks. The temperature is a pleasant seventy-eight degrees and the chance of precipitation is thirty percent. Fasten your seat belts and we’ll be on the ground soon.”

  The flight had been smooth and due to a strong tail wind they were arriving fifteen minutes early. Lon called headquarters as they walked through the terminal and was greeted by the chief with the news of the previous night’s killing.

  “We’ll be in shortly, chief. We’re walking out of the terminal now. What you’re telling me is not good news. It sounds to me like the coroner’s prediction of this guy becoming more sexually active is coming true. See you in the office in about an hour.”

  Anne listened intently to the conversation until it was over and then asked, “What’s going on Lon?”

  “To start with, he struck again last night. The big guy’s upset that we weren’t around to handle the initial contact, but he had the crime scene guys take more than the usual amount of photos to assist us. He said there was not an angle or view that they did not shoot within a twenty foot radius. Forgetting all that, here’s the kicker Anne, he has stepped up his MO.”

  “What do you mean stepped up?”

  “He has become sexually active.”

  “Oh my God, did he rape her?”

  “They’re still checking on that little detail. This gal was found totally nude. And get this, there are bruising and bite marks on the breast area.”

  “Lon, we’ve got to find this guy and soon.”

  Anne put the flashing blue light on top of the car and pulled out of the parking lot fish tailing when they hit the roadway with Lon holding on and trying to fasten his seat belt. When they leveled off he sat shaking his head from side-to-side.

  “I can’t believe that I let you drive again.”

  Pushing number one on his phone, he heard the voice of his wife say welcome home, Lon.

  “Ally, we’re on the ground, but I can’t get home for a while, they need me at headquarters on a newly discovered female body. The chief is upset that we weren’t here to head up the investigation of the crime scene. I’ll get home as soon as I can. I missed you and can’t wait to see you.”

  “I understand, Lon, we’ll be waiting for you.”

  Anne pulled into their designated spot in front of the station and laughed at the look from Lon. He sat and watched her get out pretending to have the shakes.

  Once inside, his office Chief Brady explained every detail that they had gathered about the victim and handed them the file of pictures and descriptions written up by the first officer on the scene.

  “I hope you can convince me your trip to Nevada was worthwhile. You can fill me in later, but now I want you to get over to the coroner and look at the body. Get his report then go home and get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow when you both get in here nice and early with your observations.”

  They got his meaning and quickly checked in for important messages. Finding none, they decided to stop for a snack on the way to the medical examiner’s building.

  “You know, Anne, we make a pretty good team. I’m a good looking, a lot of fun, hardworking, get it done, good looking type, and you’re a follow the rules, up tight, type that keeps us focused.”

  “Good looking, no, but I’ll admit you are kind of cute, she said.”

  “I know better. You think I’m attractive and would be all over me if I let my guard down for one moment. Now let me hear you deny it.”

  “On the contrary, I think it could be very rewarding if you ever let your guard down, how about you?”

  Her answer confused him. Was she challenging me or actually agreeing with him. He decided it was safer to let her win this one.

  77

  STEPHANIE WAS SURPRISED to see Len leaning against her car.

  “Look Doc. I want you to understand that I never intended for last night to happen. I thought you were alone and I simply wanted to sit and talk with you. I’m determined to be your friend since you made it known from the beginning that nothing else was possible. You’re new to the area and there aren’t a lot of people around for you to talk to and I feel we can get together at work or even outside of the hospital as friends. That’s it, nothing more.”

  “Len it is I who owe you, an apology. I was caught totally off guard with his reaction to you. I’m going to
see him and make it clear that you and I are friends and I want nothing more to do with him.”

  “Well, you’ll get your chance. If I’m not mistaken that’s him in the car that just pulled up. You want me to hang around until he leaves?”

  “No, I’ll be fine, but thank you. I have to face him sooner or later and it may as well be now. See you here tomorrow.”

  Stephanie was not sure how she would react when he spoke to her. She prepared herself by trying to show the agitation she still felt inside for his show of arrogance. Either way, her feelings toward his being there, put her at odds with herself. Walking to his car, she tried to appear amiable when he lowered the window.

  “Hello, William. I received your messages, but thought it best to ignore them and see you face-to-face here after work.”

  “Stephanie, I truly am sorry for my actions last night. I was totally out of line. I felt sure our time on the beach, had created a bond between us and that I had made it clear the extent of my feelings for you.”

  “I do not feel exchanging a few sensual moments on a blanket are a commitment in any way, William. You have assumed way too much on your end.”

  “I see. It appears that I have misjudged you and perhaps over-rated you. I presumed that for you to offer the moment of passion we shared, marriage was a goal for us.”

  “Marriage? My God William, we have only seen each other, what twice now? I was infatuated with our attraction to each other, but never did I ever begin to think of marriage.”

  “I can only draw from this that you have had similar situations with other men. You have lowered your prominence in my eyes Stephanie. I have to reconsider our relationship.”

  “We have no relationship William and any chance of their ever being one ended last night.”

  She turned and walked away.

  78

  THE CORONER WAS expecting the two detectives and was ready with reports and prepared answers for their questions.