Dying Scream

by Burton, Mary

  Miller ran out of the house, his face a tight mask of fear. “She’s not there. But that old lady, Marie, is there. No pulse. I called nine-one-one.”

  Gage and Vega unholstered their guns and ran toward the front door. They paused, checked to make sure no one was in the house, and made their way back toward the kitchen. They found Marie.

  Gage holstered his gun and rushed toward her. He checked for a pulse. Nothing.

  Sticking out from her clutched right hand was his business card. “She sent us the tapes.”

  Vega was already on his phone calling for backup.

  Gage spotted Adrianna’s purse lying in the center of the room. Beside the purse were her keys.

  “Shit, where is she?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Saturday, October 7, 5:00 p.m.

  When Adrianna awoke, her stomach churned with nausea and her head felt like it was going to explode. Disoriented, she tried to shake the fog from her brain. What had happened to her? Had she passed out?

  Eyelids heavy, she moistened her dried lips and tried to swallow but found the simple act made her stomach all the more unsettled.

  Roll to your side. Put your feet on the floor. But when she tried to shift her position, she quickly realized she couldn’t. She forced her eyes open only to be assailed by a bright spotlight that made her wince and turn her head.

  Panic ignited and burned through the haze coating her brain. Oh, dear God, where am I?

  Squinting, she allowed her eyes to adjust as she tried to remain calm and figure out where she was. With growing horror she realized she was tied to a bed. Her gaze darted around the room. It was large and made of gray cinderblock. There appeared to be no windows and a slight dank smell that mingled with cool air suggested she was in a basement.

  Underground.

  “Help!” Her voice sounded hoarse and rusty and her tongue felt as if it had been wrapped in cotton. “Help!”

  Her pulse thrummed in her neck as she listened and prayed help would arrive. For several tense seconds, she couldn’t hear anything. “Please. Someone find me.”

  But no one came or spoke.

  And then out of the silence arose an eerie sensation that made her skin crawl. She wasn’t alone. Someone was watching her.

  She forced herself to stare beyond the light. “Who’s out there? What do you want?” Her voice cracked, betraying her fear.

  Silence.

  Her skin tingled. “I know someone is there,” she said. “Help me get out of here.”

  “It’s okay, babe.” The familiar voice came from beyond the light.

  She curled her hands into fists. “Who is that?”

  “Don’t you recognize my voice?” Amusement dripped from the words.

  The voice was familiar, but growing terror combined with whatever drugs she’d been given had rattled her. “Just tell me.”

  There was a long pause and she thought he’d not answer and then he said, “It’s Craig, babe.”

  Craig. No, that couldn’t be right. Craig was dead. And the voice didn’t match. “You are not Craig. Who are you?”

  “Yes, I am.” The voice was a little like Craig’s but the silhouetted figure that appeared at the edge of the light was too large to be Craig. “You didn’t find my body.”

  The voice was familiar, but the speech pattern sounded stilted, as if forced. “Who are you?”

  Out from the shadows stepped Ben Wells. Ben. Ben. Her brain couldn’t process the information, which made no sense.

  Adrianna tried to shake the fog from her head as she stared at him, a mixture of shock and horror shooting through her body. “Ben. I don’t understand. What are you doing here?”

  Smiling, he walked up to her and gently stroked her hair. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Immediately, she was struck by the thick, coiling scent of his aftershave. Craig’s aftershave. He’d replaced his faded jeans, work boots, and Wells Moving T-shirt with khaki pants, brown loafers, and a blue sweater with a white button-down collar underneath. And he’d cut his hair and slicked it back. The outfit and the hairstyle were identical to what Craig would have worn.

  Oh, God, oh, God. What game was Ben playing?

  “Ben, why are you dressed like that?”

  Ben brushed his hand over his hair. A signet ring winked from his pinky finger. God, it looked just like the ring Craig’s father had given him when he’d graduated from prep school. “Like what?”

  “Like Craig!” A rising hysteria underscored the words.

  “I am Craig.”

  Adrianna searched his eyes, looking for any hesitation, any hint of sanity, something that told her he didn’t really believe what he’d just said. “You’re Ben.”

  “No, I’m not,” he said easily. “I’m Craig.”

  His calmness frightened her more than if he’d ranted like a madman. She tried to keep her voice calm. “You’re Ben Wells. You’re my friend. Craig, my husband, is dead.”

  “The old Craig is dead.” Ben smiled as if to comfort her. “It was his death that allowed me to step out of the shadows and take my rightful place.” He came so close she could feel the heat from his body. “The old Craig was weak and foolish. And I promise you that you won’t miss him. I am a much better Craig. You’ll see.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. How could she not have seen that he was so insane? Ben Wells had always been so kind and so rational. She’d always relied on him to get the tough jobs done. And yet under all his calm smiles was a madman.

  She softened her voice as if talking to a child. “Ben, you aren’t Craig.”

  His smile didn’t fade but his eyes hardened a fraction. “You need to stop saying that. Of course I’m Craig. And I’ve proven time and again that I am more of a man than he ever was. He made messes while I cleaned them up.”

  Adrianna thought about the graves. She didn’t want to know what he’d done but knew she had to ask. “What messes?”

  Lightly he stroked her hair. “There were women, evil women. They wanted to hurt you.”

  His touch disgusted her but she resisted the urge to twist her head away from him. “The women in the graves?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did they do that was so horrible?”

  His eyes shone with pride. “The first, Jill, was Craig’s prom date. She got him into trouble—got him arrested for drugs. I knew you would have been so humiliated if you’d known. Even then I saw the way you looked at him—you liked Craig. So I made her go away. In fact, they’ve not even found her body yet.”

  A tear rolled down the side of her cheek. He’d killed a teenager. A child. Dear God. She tamped down her terror.

  “The next one was that stripper. Kelly Jo something. You and Craig were broken up then but I knew you’d get back together. But if that stripper-whore had her way, you wouldn’t have. She even told Craig she was pregnant, which of course she wasn’t. Faker. I was afraid when I killed that first girl, but not Kelly Jo. I liked it—even took my time with her a bit. And then I got the idea to bury her in the Thornton cemetery. So close and easy and I figured it would be the last place anyone would look. Plus I could visit her grave from time to time.” He winked.

  She swallowed, doing her best not to get sick. “And Rhonda?”

  “She was making those forgeries for Craig.”

  “Forgeries?”

  “Craig was copying the best paintings in his collection and selling them overseas. He needed money just like he always did. And like always, Craig was taking shortcuts.” His nostrils flared with anger and for a moment he said nothing. Finally, when he seemed to get his anger under control, he said, “Rhonda wanted more money and when he wouldn’t pay, she threatened to go to the cops. You know she even showed up at your wedding? Came in through the kitchen. I spotted her and was able to take care of her. Then there was Tammy. The worst of all.” He kissed Adrianna lightly on her brow. “She killed your baby.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “Oh, Ben.”

  �
��Shh. Honey, it’s all right. She can’t hurt you anymore and you’ll have more children one day.” His warm breath brushed her cheek. “Maybe we’ll have more children.”

  She tensed. “No! Ben. We can’t do that. We can’t have a child.”

  As if she hadn’t spoken he said, “I also killed Janet for you. She hated you. She wanted to drag you through the mud and destroy you.”

  Adrianna hadn’t liked Janet but never would have wished such a grisly fate on her. “Ben, please, let me go.”

  “I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.” His smile was gentle, as if he were her lover.

  Adrianna had never looked into the eyes of insanity. Until now. “Ben, I need to leave.”

  “I can’t let you go, Adrianna. There’s so much we need to do together.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. He tasted of beer and cigarettes. “We have our whole lives ahead of us.”

  “Ben, please.”

  “I’m Craig.”

  “Why? Why do you want to be called Craig?”

  “Everyone loved Craig. He was the star. The one people wanted to be with.”

  She swallowed the bile rising in her throat. “Your parents loved you.”

  Ben shook his head. “My father loved Craig more. My father always talked about him. How smart he was. How handsome he was. He never talked about me. Craig. Craig. Craig.”

  She had always known that Mr. Wells had a fondness for Craig. She’d never realized his affection for the younger man would have bothered Ben so much.

  In a flash, Adrianna remembered Marie lying on the floor. She’d been so cold and still. “What about your mother? Did you hurt her?”

  He shook his head, his gaze vacant for a moment. “I thought she loved me, but she turned out to be the biggest liar of them all.”

  “I know Marie loved you.”

  “She betrayed me.”

  Sweat pooled at the base of her spine. “I know you loved her. I saw the way you looked out for her.”

  “Of course I loved her.” Anger tightened his features. “She turned on me.”

  “What could she have done that was so horrible? She was your mother.”

  His gaze grew vacant at if he’d gone to a faraway place. “She took one of my tapes and sent it to the cops.”

  As Adrianna strained against her bindings, the rope started to rub her wrists raw. “What tapes?”

  He glanced toward the bright light. “I’m taping us now just like I taped the others.”

  Adrianna glanced toward the light. Beyond the brightness she spotted the red glow of a camera’s power button.

  Oh, God. Think. Stay calm. “You filmed those women as you killed them?”

  “That and other things I did to them. I didn’t want to forget. I wanted to remember our special times together.”

  Her thoughts turned to Marie, who must have been horrified as she watched the tape. “She never knew about the women you killed?”

  “Oh, she suspected. But she kept quiet out of her loyalty for Miss Frances and my father. She was always good at pretending problems didn’t exist. For some reason, this time she decided to go to the cops.”

  Her bindings hadn’t budged. “You’ve got to let me go.”

  “I can’t do that. I brought you here to keep you safe.”

  She focused her gaze on his face. “I don’t want to be taken care of.”

  “But I want to take care of you. Craig never appreciated what he had in you. He kept making such bad choices.” His eyes shone with admiration as he stared at her. “I am going to look out for you. Forever.”

  Fear clawed at her heart. “What are you going to do?”

  “We’ve got all the time in the world to get to know each other.” He glanced around the room. “I built this room for us. No one will ever find us.”

  The room. Cinderblock. Dark. Dank. Underground. Buried alive.

  “Let me go. We don’t have to do it this way.”

  “It’s the only way, Adrianna. Out there, people get in our way.”

  “Ben, please.”

  “I’m Craig!” he shouted.

  Tears spilled down her cheeks. She wanted to close her eyes and shut out this nightmare but she didn’t dare. “You sent me those cards. You were in my home.”

  “Yes.” Pride shone in his eyes.

  “All those times I thought someone had been in my house.”

  “It was me. I stole your assistant’s keys, which had your house key on the ring. I made copies before I gave the keys back.”

  He’d been stalking her. Watching her. For months or maybe even years. Suddenly she couldn’t contain her fear any longer. She screamed until her voice was hoarse.

  Ben watched, partly amused, as if witnessing the tantrum of a small child. “Scream all you want, Adrianna. It’s not going to help. No one is going to hear you. I made certain the walls were soundproof.”

  “Ben, please don’t do this.”

  “My name is Craig! Say it!”

  Adrianna twisted her hands, trying to free them. She would not give him what he wanted. “You’re Ben. You’re my friend.”

  He snatched up a small handheld device and flipped a switch. Electricity snapped and popped between receptors. He moved toward her.

  She tugged harder at her bindings and tried to roll away from him but there was nowhere to go. He pressed the device to the tender flesh on her side.

  Jolts of energy shot through her and her entire body jerked with pain. “My name is Craig.”

  She gritted her teeth, realizing she was just as angry as she was afraid. “You’re Ben.”

  “A fighter. Good.” He touched her again and she jolted again.

  The door to the room banged open and she turned toward it, screaming even before she even saw who it was. “Help me! Help me!”

  Dwayne Wells rushed in the room, his face flushed with anger. A quick survey of the scene had him zeroing his gaze on his son. “Ben, what the hell are you doing?”

  Adrianna twisted against her bindings. She’d never been happier to see anyone in her life. “Mr. Wells, please help me.”

  Dwayne moved toward them. “Damn it, Ben!” He pushed his son to the side and reached for the binding of her right hand. “Adrianna, it’s going to be fine.”

  Ben curled his hand around the stun gun. “You can’t do this. She’s mine.”

  Dwayne’s face twisted with anger as he turned on his son. He grabbed Ben by the throat and squeezed so hard Ben coughed and sputtered. “She ain’t yours. She’s Craig’s and always will be.”

  “Craig is dead,” Ben choked. “I’m Craig now.”

  Dwayne looked at his son. “You are not Craig. You never will be half the man he was.”

  “Don’t say that!” Ben howled.

  Adrianna’s muscles burned as she forced her attention to the rope binding her right hand. Dwayne had untied it partly. If only she could get free.

  “And Adrianna will always be Craig’s wife.” Dwayne Wells spoke through gritted teeth. Eyes bulged with rage. “I’ve always told you that she was off-limits.”

  That infuriated Ben. He’d dropped the stun gun to his side but held it in a white-knuckle grip. “I don’t give a fuck what you want or what once belonged to Craig. Craig was a spoiled little shit who got what he deserved.”

  “Don’t talk about him like that,” Dwayne said. “He was your brother.”

  Adrianna froze. “His brother?”

  Dwayne nodded and some of the anger bled from his body. “I was his father. No one knows, except his mother and me. I promised her I’d never tell. But Ben heard me talking to Frances once and figured it out. I made him swear not to tell.”

  As Ben paced frantically back and forth, Adrianna kept her sights on Dwayne as she twisted under her bindings. “I don’t understand.”

  “His mama came to me. Said she needed to give her husband a child. They’d been married so many years and hadn’t had any children. She knew she could have children. She’d had a baby l
ong before she’d met Mr. Thornton and given it away. She knew he was the reason they couldn’t have children.” He tugged at the binding on her left leg and it came loose. “I wasn’t thinking long term that night when she stood in front of me. She was so damn beautiful. I knew I just wanted her.”

  Adrianna’s left leg came free and she watched with desperate anticipation as he started on the other leg. Her right hand was nearly loose. “Did Marie know you were Craig’s father?”

  Dwayne nodded. “She figured it out when Craig got older. Saw some similarities that Craig shared with Ben. But she never told.”

  “I wish she had now.” Ben shouted an oath. “After Craig was born, I just vanished. It was always about Craig from then on. He was your favorite son. All you did was talk about how smart he was, how handsome he was, how great he was. I got so damn tired of sweating my ass off working in your business while he sat by the pool at his damn country club pissing his life away.” He shoved his father’s hand from Adrianna’s bindings. “You aren’t taking her.”

  Dwayne faced his son. “You can’t do this to her, Ben. You can’t.”

  “Why not? You let me have the others.”

  “They were whores. Trash. And they wanted to hurt Craig. She’s different. She was Craig’s wife. She carried his child.”

  Adrianna went very still. You let me have the others. “Dwayne, you knew?”

  Ben sneered. “He knew, all right. He’s the one that sent me to take care of them. He didn’t care how or what I did with them as long as the problems they’d created just went away.”

  “They wanted to hurt my son,” Dwayne said. “They wanted to destroy his life. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  Ben shook his head. “So you came to me to do your dirty work.”

  The old man’s gaze narrowed. “You never complained. You were always glad to help.”

  Ben shrugged. “Lucky for me, that stupid little shit brother of mine kept getting into trouble with whores and you kept sending me after them.”

  Dwayne nodded, his shoulders slumping a fraction. “Maybe. Maybe Craig had some growing up to do. But I never sent you after Adrianna. Adrianna isn’t like the other women. She was loyal to my boy.”