Free to Kill

by Julie Mellon

  Tom gathered the leaders of each of the search groups and brought them over to the city map spread out on a picnic table. Katie leaned over to Michael and asked, “Why were you laughing at Deputy Fuller? It isn’t polite to laugh, especially when we need to keep up our relationship with them.” Katie hadn’t forgotten the incident from before she left.

  It took Michael a minute to realize what Katie was talking about, but as it dawned on him, he smoothed out his furrowed brow and smiled. “Oh, come on. Tom and Jerry?” At Katie’s confused expression, Michael was astounded. “Surely you have heard of Tom and Jerry? You know the cat that chases the mouse in the cartoons?” As Katie continued to look at him blankly, he just shook his head. “I see I’m going to have to catch you up on some of the finer television shows of the past few generations.” He smiled as he said it, but Katie was once again aware that she was different, even when all she wanted to do was blend in.

  Shouting from the lot caught their attention just then. Two deputies were wrestling a man out of the back seat of a police cruiser. Obviously intoxicated, the man struggled and screamed against the manhandling from the officers. “Get your filthy pig hands off of me you bastard! I told you I don’t care what happens to that bitch. She can’t even bother to come get her brats on time. Why don’t you just take them to her mother’s house and leave me in peace?” The man jerked his whole body back attempting to break the hold. Unfortunately, the deputies had just gotten a signal from the chief to release the man and his resistance caused him to fly backward. Tripping over his own feet, the man landed on his butt right next to the car door he had just exited. The two little boys who were about to climb out of the car behind their father quickly shrank back into the interior of the vehicle. Jack Downing just laid his head back against the fender and with one final belch, passed out.

  Geraldine Simons quickly stepped forward and shepherded her grandchildren out of the police car and into her own. “I’m taking them home and getting them fed. If you do find Jenny, make sure she knows I’ve got ‘em.” With that she drove away from the search area. Katie caught Betsy shaking her head as the woman left. “If that was my daughter out there, I wouldn’t rest until I had ripped up every tree in that forest,” Betsy said as she resumed pouring coffee for the searchers.

  Everyone turned away from the unconscious form of Jack Downing and carried on with the business at hand.

  The search continued until midnight, when all the parties had returned empty handed. Michael and Katie sent everyone home with a request for volunteers to return at eight in the morning to begin again.

  The man got in his car along with all the other searchers and headed toward his home. He had barely had time to get an unconscious Jenny undressed and tied to the pillars before he returned to see if anyone noticed her missing. He’d made it back to the parking lot just as the two agents discovered her car left in the lot. He had quickly and quietly slipped through the trees and out onto the street where he’d parked his car. Sitting in the drivers seat, he waited until several other townspeople began making their way back to the church. Calmly, he pulled in behind them and stayed close enough to keep an eye on what was happening.

  He nearly had a heart attack when he learned that he had left footprints in the dirt. As an avid woodsman, he had no trouble being chosen as the leader for one of the search teams. As he led the group along the bank of the river, over the exact trail he had taken nearly two hours earlier, he kept a close eye for any signs that he had been through the area previously. He caught sight of one of his boot prints and surreptitiously wiped it away. He was also careful not to leave any additional prints while walking with the search party. He knew he would have to ditch his work boots once he got out of there.

  His group made it all the way to the camouflaged entrance to his hideaway, right in the bend of the river, before they had to turn back. He made a show of glancing around and made sure to ask the others to do so as well. He wasn’t worried that they would find his tunnel, he had done a masterful job of disguising it. His father had taught him how to weave branches and leaves together to make a deer blind while hunting and no one in the county did a better job of it than the men in his family.

  When no one had seen anything of interest, he turned them around and headed back to the church. They had arrived back just in time to see Jack Downing make his entrance. He tried his best not to be overly antsy as the rest of the searchers returned, but he really wanted to get out of there. Didn’t these people understand that he needed to show Jenny the error of her ways? Didn’t they understand that the only way she would come back was if she confessed and truly repented? She must survive her punishment before he would forgive her sins, for only through his righteousness and mercy could the truly repentant be set free.

  He parked his car in the driveway and made his way inside, turning on lights as he went. Making his way to the master bedroom, he quickly changed shoes and took his old boots along with him as he exited the back door of his house. Entering the woods from the opposite side from the church, he dropped the boots into the river and watched the slow current carry them down. He thought he would have to wade out into the river as the shoes caught on a rock, but they eventually worked free and continued their journey downstream.

  A few minutes later, he entered the tunnel and silently made his way toward the room at the end. Jenny was awake and looking around, struggling to free her arms. He could smell her panic in the sweat that glistened down her back. Removing his own clothing, he slipped the robe over his head and put on the hood. He had borrowed the hood and robe from his grandfather’s closet. The old bastard was dead now and there was no one left to care that the robe and hood from the formerly highest-ranking KKK member in the state were missing. He had also borrowed the Humeral veil from the former priest of Christ the King. The ceremonial cape was the same one Father Nicholas always used when giving the sacraments. It was important that he have this wrap because he wanted the offenders to know he was offering to cleanse them.

  Picking up the whip from the ground beside the hooks that now held his clothes, he approached Jenny. He felt his anger toward Jenny grow as his body reacted to her nudity and fear. She was another man’s wife and yet she still tempted him. He would have to teach her the proper respect for the sanctity of marriage. A woman shouldn’t tempt another man. Raising his arm, he began to rain down blows on her backside. As she cried out and struggled against her bonds, his body heated with excitement making him angrier. Her cries were little mewls that made him ache to penetrate her. But he wouldn’t; no he couldn’t. She belonged with someone else and he would show her that her vows were sacred and ensure she never violated them again.

  Lowering his arm, he walked around to face her. Her body sagged with relief that the blows had stopped. Her breathing came in short choppy breaths as she struggled to breathe around the iron in her mouth; her nose congested from the tears. As her arms began to ache from the weight of her body, she shifted, trying to find a way to curl into herself.

  “You have committed adultery. You have lain with a man who is not your husband,” he whispered.

  She began shaking her head, begging him to understand that he was wrong. Her defiance heightened his anger and once again he raised his arms and let the whip connect with her skin. The whistle of the whip through the air ended in a sharp stinging slap against her breasts, stomach and thighs as she again struggled to avoid the impact. But her bonds held tightly.

  Finally, winded, he lowered the whip and moved behind her again. Removing the lid from the basin, he brought a cloth saturated with water and frankincense and began washing her back. The oil both burned and soothed the cuts. As he washed her, he chanted:

  Have mercy on her, O God,

  because of your unfailing love.

  Because of your great compassion,

  blot out the stain of her sin.

  Wash her clean from her guilt.

  Purify her from her sin.

  For I recognize her re
bellion;

  It haunts me day and night.

  Against you, she has sinned.

  She has done what is evil in your sight.

  You will be proved right in what you say,

  Your judgment against her is just.

  Purify her from her sins,

  She will be clean.

  Though she will be crushed and broken,

  She will be happy once again.

  Jenny recognized the verses from Psalms, though several parts were missing or altered. The closing lines filled her with terror. All she could do was pray that her God truly did intervene.

  Once the man had finished cleansing her body, he untied her, keeping a firm grip on her hands. He led her to a wooden table, placed her on it and tied her arms and legs to each corner. “We will try again in the morning,” he said and walked away.

  He quickly changed back into his clothing and made his way down the tunnel and back to his house. He knew he wouldn’t sleep well, knowing she was waiting for him. He would break her pride and she would admit her transgressions. Turning off the lights, he lay down in his bed and finally took pleasure in reliving Jenny’s silenced screams.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Katie didn’t sleep at all that night. She and Michael had returned to the B&B around one thirty, but try as she might, she couldn’t stop her brain from reliving Barbie’s tale but substituting Jenny’s face. Barbie had only suffered a small fraction of what Elaine Henderson had and Katie had been around enough evil in the past three years that her mind could fill in the blanks between where Barbie’s torture ended and the condition of Elaine’s body when it ended up on her own front porch. Every time Katie started to drift off, she imagined she heard Jenny’s muffled screams. Katie could only hope that the person doing this prolonged the whipping, that he didn’t begin using the other implements too soon. She just had to hope that they found Jenny before he escalated the process.

  Katie gave up the pretense of sleeping at five and wandered down to the kitchen. She made herself a cup of chamomile tea and was stirring honey into the cup when Michael walked into the kitchen. Michael had stayed in the guest room instead of driving the extra distance to his house. He still kept clothing in his old room in the house from before he had moved out. Michael froze as he entered the room. He had never seen Katie with her hair down and didn’t realize the glossy, dark masses extended all the way to her waist. He fought the urge to move forward and feel if them to see if they were as soft as they looked.

  Shaking off the thought, Michael took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway. “Got an extra cup?”

  Katie jumped and nearly scalded herself as the tea splashed over the rim of her cup. “Sure. Guess you couldn’t sleep either, huh?” Katie poured a cup of tea and handed it to Michael. As he turned to add sugar, she quickly scooped her hair up and pulled it into a sloppy bun that she tied with the band on her wrist. She could hear her mother’s voice in her head. A woman’s hair is her crowing glory. Don’t ever show it lightly and never to someone who doesn’t deserve you. Katie had been gone from home long enough to know that her mother’s point of view wasn’t exactly normal, but all the years of conditioning were difficult to overcome.

  When Michael turned back around, she could see the disappointment in his eyes. Choosing not to acknowledge it, she said, “I couldn’t stop hearing Jenny’s screams and seeing what he was doing. We desperately need a break in this case.” Katie began chewing on her thumb as she thought through what they knew so far.

  “Well, I suppose we can rule out Claudette,” Michael said. “She was still in the church with us when Jenny disappeared. I suppose we can also rule out Jenny’s husband. He was pretty far gone last night when he was picked up. I think we should still talk to the kids just to make sure he didn’t leave the house last night. But I don’t think he could have gotten that intoxicated between when Jenny disappeared and when he was brought to the scene.”

  “You’re right,” Katie agreed. “We don’t seem to be getting anywhere with this case. At least this time we know how he got to her. I keep going back to Elaine Henderson. I think whoever took her waited for Evelyn and Father Joe to come back inside. While they were in the back of the church, he had to have snuck out the side door. That is the only door where no one would see him. Of course that still doesn’t tell us where he took her. Maybe tomorrow we should examine the flowerbeds around that door and see if there are any footprints. The rain we had the other night probably obliterated anything that remained, but maybe we’ll get lucky. That seems to be the only way we’re going to get anywhere with this case.”

  Caroline walked in right then. “I thought I heard people up and about. Can I make you all breakfast? You’ll be heading out soon.”

  “Please, don’t go through any bother on our behalf.” Katie hated that they had woken anyone up. She wasn’t used to having anyone in the same house, so her nighttime review sessions didn’t normally disturb anyone. Katie could easily go with only a few hours sleep, though the coming day would be challenging with no sleep at all.

  Katie and Michael arrived back in Shelbyville at 7:30. Father Joe and David were already there, making coffee and setting up a table of donuts for all the volunteers who would be arriving. Within fifteen minutes, two more tables had been set up to hold all the food the elderly women from the community had brought. Betsy showed up bearing three dozen buttermilk biscuits and at least two gallons of homemade sausage gravy. Several other women had brought additional biscuits, trays of scrambled eggs, toast, English muffins, jelly, bacon and sausage patties. By 8:00, nearly a hundred people had arrived and were being organized into search parties. Tom Fuller was once again in charge of the search coordinates and assigning people to various terrain. The temperature had already soared to the low eighties, which promised that this day would be miserably hot and very humid, more like late June instead of mid-May.

  Michael decided to go out with the search parties this morning, which left Katie to stay behind at the church to help with coordination and also to follow up on a few ideas she had. Not wanting to be rude, Katie took an English muffin and added strawberry jelly then made her way to the table which held the sign-up lists of volunteers. Pulling out her laptop, Katie began cross-referencing the names of the volunteers with the women who had been at the gathering the night before. Betsy came to join her a few minutes later. “Can you help me put names to faces?” Katie asked her.

  “Sure, honey, let me see.” Betsy lifted her reading glasses, which were hanging from a chain around her neck, onto her face. “Well, I am sure you remember Claudette, she stormed out last night while I was talking with Jenny in the hallway. That woman just needs some prayer, such bitterness.” Betsy shook her head as she thought of Claudette. Taking up the names again, Betsy listed the women and where they had been sitting the evening before. She commented on when they had left, if she remembered seeing them head out. Finally, she was down to herself, Elaine and Linda. “I think every woman from the meeting has returned either last night or this morning, some of them both times. I don’t know what you hope to find, but I don’t think it’s any of them.” Betsy sent a look toward Katie to let her know exactly how unlikely Betsy thought it was that the person they were looking for was in that group.

  “Thank you, Betsy. I’m just trying to get a feel for everyone here and how they relate. I think being an outsider here isn’t making this any easier.” As Katie finished speaking, two shadows fell across the table. Looking up, she saw Lucy and Andy standing before her with two cases of electronic equipment.

  “Man, it’s so hot I just saw two trees fighting over a dog,” Andy said as Katie looked up. At her confused expression, Lucy laughed.

  “Girl, you’re going to have to learn some southern expressions if you expect to stay around here. Another of his favorites is ‘It’s hotter than two squirrels making love in a wool sock,’ but don’t let him catch you laughing, it just encourages him.” Lucy said all this as she pretended Andy w
asn’t there and she began pulling her computer equipment from the bag slung over her arm. “We’ve escaped the loony bin to pay you a visit, see if we can help out down here. This doesn’t seem to be going your way. Where’s Michael?” As usual, Lucy talked a mile a minute, her hands moving as fast as her mouth. Lucy plopped down in the chair Betsy had vacated and began turning on the power to her laptop. Andy pulled a chair up on the other side of Katie.

  “Don’t you listen to her,” he said. “I happen to know all you need to survive the south. And all that knowledge is yours for the small price of a date with yours truly.” Andy wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he leered at Katie.

  “Now young man, don’t you be getting fresh with the ladies,” Betsy said as she put two plates heaping with food in front Andy and Lucy. “You show them the proper respect.” With that she turned and walked off. Katie and Lucy struggled to contain their laughter at the shocked expression on Andy’s face.

  “At least she let me keep the food,” Andy said as he began shoveling food into his mouth, half afraid that Betsy would come back and take it away.

  Once Lucy and Andy had finished their food, Lucy got down to business. “I did a search on Claudette Lewis. Interesting family. Father Claude Lewis, mother Yvette Lewis. They had four children, three daughters: Claudette, Claudanne, and Claudine; one son, Claude Jr. Kind of reminded me of George Forman, but at least there was some variation. Family owns and operates a horse farm on the edge of town. All four children live at home, only Claude Jr, is married. Now, Claudette is a piece of work. She was on her high school wrestling team and was training at one time to be an Olympic weightlifter. She had an accident involving one of the horses and those dreams were shattered. Apparently she’s been a little bitter since then. She was arrested a few years ago for public intoxication and fighting. She started a brawl in one of the bars here in town. A little community service and all was forgiven. There isn’t so much as a speeding ticket on her record for the past three years.” Lucy stopped to take a breath and Andy picked up.