“Well I didn’t say I wasn’t afraid. This stuff scares me too, but I have you, Anna and Ramon to watch my back.” Alex could see Oliver was not thrilled.
“What are we going to do now?” Oliver could see in the dark well enough, but didn’t think Alex wanted to go looking for dead people in the dark.
“Come back tomorrow right after lunch. We have some computer people coming in to upgrade our computers so we get the afternoon off while they work. This is perfect, but mums the word when it comes to telling Sam. This is just our little adventure until it’s time to bring Sam up to date.” Alex hoped she would be able to find the fallen tree tomorrow and help the ghost in the cabin move on.
“But what will you tell Sam if we find the bodies. She’ll know you were keeping a secret from her.” Oliver didn’t want to lie if Sam asked.
“I know this is going to come back at me with her being very upset. But it could all be just a crazy dream and then how would it look?” Alex hoped he’d be satisfied with that answer.
“All right, but if she asks me I’m telling the truth that I knew from the start about the bodies. I just hope she doesn’t ask.” Oliver jumped in his seat and waited for Alex to do the same.
“Then it’s agreed – what Sam doesn’t know won’t hurt us – Right?” Alex looked for confirmation from Oliver.
“Right.”
Chapter 35
Sam walked in and found the kitchen not only empty, but void of any dinner preparations. As she was about to give a holler she heard something coming from the guest room and found Alex cleaning out Eva’s litter box, but all the while wondering where dinner was.
“Are we going to go out to dinner?” Sam now wondered what Alex had been doing since she got home from work.
“TJ is bringing Chinese. I just didn’t feel like cooking and Chinese sounded good to me.” Alex hoped it sounded good to Sam too.
“Chinese sounds great. But why is TJ bringing it?” Sam yelled out as she went in to take a shower.
“I thought about it after I got home. So I called her at
work and she said she’d pick it up if I called it in. Don’t worry
she isn’t eating with us. She’s just the delivery girl today.”
Alex had already anticipated Sam’s next question.
Sam was happy to hear that, but also knew that Alex
was aware and that’s why she made the comment about TJ not
staying. Sam would need to work on her jealousy of TJ – it
wasn’t a good trait to have and with the temper issue she was
starting to paint a very unflattering portrait of herself. Not to
mention why she was assuming that it was Alex’s job to have
dinner on the table every night since she worked too. Alex had spent the past hour contemplating how to
avoid letting Sam find out that she was going to be the
anonymous source who located the remains of yet another
dead body. The random hiker scenario sounded good as the
one who was usually credited with stumbling upon the remains
of missing people all the time. Then when the authorities move in to canvas the area they would find the others. No one needs
to know who found them; only that they were found. TJ dropped off the food while Sam was still taking her
shower. TJ was aware of why she wasn’t being asked in to
chat for a while and she tried not to let it bother her. Maybe it
was wrong of her to have let Sam know she would move in on
Alex if she messed up their relationship. She was just being
honest, but sometimes honesty isn’t the best policy. At least
not all the time. But on the other hand it would keep Sam on
her toes and not likely to take advantage of her relationship
with Alex.
Alex thanked TJ and paid her a little extra for her time
and gas to go out of her way to provide them with dinner. A
wink and “I’ll call you tomorrow” was whispered to TJ as she
walked out the back door.
Alex had the food all served up when Sam came out of
the bathroom in her pajamas and robe.
“How was your day? Alex thought Sam seemed a little
more energetic than the day before.
“We spent half the day in class learning about our side
arm and the other half firing it. It was a lot of fun.” Sam loved
this part of academy training.
“That must have been an enjoyable way to spend your
day.” Alex was somewhat disappointed Sam was so wide
awake; she’d been looking forward to having more alone time
to do research on missing persons in the area.
“Yeah, it was great. I really like the instructor and
Zane and I had a little competition going on who got the best
score.” Sam had a .22 when she was a kid and thought that
aluminum cans trembled in fear when she approached. “So who won?”
“She did. That girl has a great eye, but she told me
she’s been practicing for the past few months. So I guess I
have nothing to be mad about. She didn’t beat me by that
much.” Sam was going to practice every chance she got and
ask for a rematch.
“Maybe you two could practice after class tomorrow. I
only have a half day and I was going to spend sometime in
town visiting with Carol and then drop by the Sheriff’s office
to visit him. I feel like it has been ages since we talked – you
know just talked.” Alex felt that was enough info to explain
her plans – sort of.
“Hey maybe you could ask him if he’s heard anything
about me from Cap?” Sam said it before she thought how it
sounded.
“Yes, I’ll be sure to ask him about what he’s heard
about your progress.” Alex tried not to let Sam see her roll her
eyes, but she did.
“I can’t believe I said that. I mean if I come up in the
conversation could you please inquire?” Sam took her seat at
the table and started to eat.
“I guess I need to feed you more at lunch.” Alex was
just getting out the glasses for her Plum Wine and Sam’s
water.
“Oh sorry, I forgot my manners again.” Sam shook her
head and wondered where her mind was, because it wasn’t
working as it should.
Alex poured her wine and Sam’s water and took her
seat. The remainder of the dinner conversation was about
Sam’s day and what was going to happen in class tomorrow. Sam helped clear the table and quickly dried the dishes
before going in to turn on the TV. Alex did have some work to
do, but not as much as she implied. She wanted to spend some
time in front of her computer without having to explain why. Alex hadn’t realized how much time until she heard
the TV go off and then she quickly jumped off the internet.
She was very disturbed at the lack of reported missing people
in their little area. Most of the reported missing person reports
were still open since no bodies had turned up and most people
assumed they had just left the area. Either to find fame and
fortune elsewhere or to just get away from a stale marriage or
an abusive spouse. But there were more than five and they were spread out over a period of twenty years. How old was that guy in Alex’s dream – mid-forties? Had he been doing it all that time. She would need to pick the Sheriff’s brain and maybe tie all this up quickly, but where was this killer now? A lot closer than Alex would want, if she knew.
Chapter 36
Meanwhile in the ment
al hospital’s recreation room JT was now aware of Sally’s plans to get out of NEIMH and head for the West Coast with her daughter. Her ranting was getting old, but what had her husband done to her, besides been foolish enough to love her and his biggest mistake marry her. No, the evil person here to JT was Sally and he felt he needed to watch her closely just in case she needed to end up in the company of others who hadn’t appreciated what they already had.
JT remembered back to the time he met the woman of his dreams – or so he thought. She made him feel like he was the only man for her and that they would never part. But he soon realized that she had another motive and that was to have him kill her husband so she could have her freedom and his estate. The day JT found himself with a rifle in his hands and detailed instructions of where to find this woman’s husband hunting was the day he felt his once loving heart harden and a darkness take over his soul.
He tracked down the husband and instead of killing him came up from behind and knocked him out. Then he took his wallet and jewelry to make it appear like it was just a robbery. Tying him up would keep him from going home and thus giving his wife the impression that JT had done the job. Now he would be able to see just how she took the news and if he was going to be in her future plans or be kicked to the curb like a stray dog. It was as he expected, the latter, and that decision also sealed her fate as well.
The husband was able to untie himself by the next morning and found his empty wallet on their dresser when he returned home. When he reported what happened to the police, they assumed, as JT had hoped, that the wife had left her husband for another man and that they had taken the contents of his wallet. At least that is what the authorities assumed as there was no other evidence of foul play. No other money had ever gone missing, one thought was the husband had been quick to close their joint checking accounts before she could empty them and cancelled all credit cards before they could be used. But the truth was that all of the contents of the husband’s wallet and her jewelry were buried with her. Her utmost desire had been to have her husband’s money and her freedom and so JT gave her exactly what she had longed for, just not the way she would have liked.
She had been his first victim, but not his last.
Chapter 37
Alex followed Sam to bed for some quality time between the sheets, but only after checking on Eva and the kittens. Oliver had taken over feeding and cleaning the litter box and Alex greatly appreciated his help.
It was like old times, and Alex let her mind go and only thought about what Sam was doing to her at that moment. She didn’t want Sam to realize something was on her mind and then ask twenty questions, as she assumed she would. Fortunately tomorrow was a work day and both women were tired so the fun was cut short with a promise to pick up where they had left off come Friday night.
Sam was asleep within minutes of her spooning Alex and her deep breathing was further evidence she was sound asleep.
Alex stared into the dark and wondered why she was keeping this dream a secret from Sam just like she did with Dez. Was it really because she thought Sam would freak out and demand she not proceed or make her wait until the weekend? Did she feel this change in Sam’s behavior was the real reason? Right now she wanted to wait and see if Sam would emerge from this police training her old self and not this self absorbed jerk that she seemed to be right now. Maybe that was too harsh, but she’d only been at the academy for five days and her personality was already changing. This jealousy of TJ was totally uncalled for; after all the two of them had been through together – really?
But then the reality of just how long Alex had known Sam came rushing to the front of her mind. They met the end of October and it was the middle of January now, so two and a half months give or take a day. Not that long really to be where they were now, living together and married – sort of. But it felt right so take a deep breath and just give it time. They still needed to get used to each other’s quirks – right?
It seemed like only a second had passed but Alex was well aware she was in another dream because she was back in the woods.
As she looked around nothing looked familiar from the last dream. This was all new because it was a different time of year. It was spring and the vegetation was full of color with the sun shining through the trees. It was a beautiful day and too pretty to be the scene of another body being buried. The sound of voices drew Alex to a small clearing where a picnic was taking place. The couple was having an argument and this lovely romantic idea was turning into an angry lovers quarrel. It was the man from her first dream but he looked a lot younger and this had to be one of the women who had gone missing so many years ago. He suddenly grabbed her by the throat and began to choke the life out of her. Before Alex could try to stop him she felt herself lurch forward and she was in another part of the forest. This time by a small pond, but the scene was almost exactly like the last. An argument followed by him strangling yet another woman. This scene repeated itself three more times, each time with a different woman. Alex then found herself standing by the tree stump, but there weren’t any marks on it yet. She then heard heavy breathing come up behind her as he ran up to where she was standing. Tears running down his face he stopped by the stump. He took the small shovel, the one she had seen him use before, and then he changed out the spade end for a saw blade he’d pulled from the shovel’s carrying case. He cut the first notch, she hoped not like a mark of a kill but maybe a mark to help him find the spot where he’d buried someone he loved. But somehow this first time had turned into a series of killings of women he had fallen in love with or at least that was what Alex was getting from these scenes. But how does one man meet so many women who end up dead and no one seems to see a pattern and therefore start an investigation into their disappearances? But the time frame seemed to be over a period of at least twenty years from what she figured by the newspaper articles. That could have been why no one saw the connection.
Alex was grateful that Sheriff Taylor was aware of Anna and Ramon so it shouldn’t be that hard to explain why she knew all this. She still needed to bring him up to speed on Oliver’s presence and how he was involved in all this. Alex felt like she’d been asleep all night when she felt Sam jerk. The clock said 11:30 which meant she’d only been asleep for a couple of hours. How do you fall back to sleep when you are ready to get up?
Alex quietly slipped out of bed now that Sam’s sudden jerk caused her to move a few inches away. Alex put the covers in her place so the lack of her body heat wouldn’t wake Sam up. Alex grabbed her robe and headed for her computer, maybe some more research would help to make her sleepy.
No new articles came up and Alex could only hope that the Sheriff’s criminal database had more search options that could narrow down the number of missing women for the Hasting’s area. Alex felt a presence and then realized it could be Oliver since she was in his room technically.
“Oliver, am I disturbing you?” Alex couldn’t think of what else to say since he told her he didn’t really sleep at night.
“No, but are you okay?” Oliver wasn’t used to her being up at this hour.
“I had another dream and now I can’t sleep. I thought maybe some reading would help make me sleepy.” Alex was also hoping that being in the guest room might let Anna and Ramon know that she could use more help locating this killer.
“Does this happen all the time?” Oliver had only been living here for a little over a week and wondered if this was normal.
“Well not all the time. I met Anna and Ramon several months ago and that is when this all started.” Alex thought now was as good a time as ever to bring Oliver up to date.
Alex went through the whole story from first meeting to this last adventure with Robert Monroe. Oliver listened wide eyed as he never would have imagined that any of it was at all possible. Alex expected a few questions, but Oliver just smiled and thanked her for sharing her experiences. He was looking forward to an adventure of his own with Alex.
Alex shut down the co
mputer and was ready for some sleep, which wouldn’t be much since the alarm was scheduled to go off in just a few hours. But hopefully those few hours would be a sound restful sleep; she had a very emotional day ahead of her. If luck was with them, she and Sheriff Taylor could have a starting point and bring closure to those five poor murdered women very soon.
Chapter 38
Alex didn’t hear the alarm go off, but the gentle shaking from Sam did bring her out of la la land. As she grunted her good morning she stumbled off to the bathroom to get the shower going and use the toilet. Alex could have used a few more hours of sleep, but she would just have to wait until tonight to recoup those lost zzzz’s, if all went well today.
“Are you all right?” Sam lifted Alex’s chin as she was staring at the floor with her eyes barely open.
“Oh, yes. Still a little tired I guess. But a nice cup of coffee will take care of that.” Alex gave Sam a quick kiss and headed for the kitchen to start her morning chores.
“Uh huh.” Sam was beginning to feel that just maybe her new personality quirks could be affecting Alex more than she was letting on.
Alex was on autopilot as she prepared breakfast and Sam’s lunch. Her mind was on what she was doing after she finished her half day at school. How would she start her conversation with Sheriff Taylor? Just tell him like it was an everyday thing? Or joke around with him and then segue into her dreams and the possibility of finding several bodies?
The appearance of Sam startled Alex and that her gasp and then laughter helped her blow off the fact that her mind wasn’t on the tasks at hand.
“Sorry” Sam wasn’t expecting that response.
“Just thinking about my day. What to do with a bunch of hyper girls who know they are only there for a few hours.” Alex felt Sam would buy that.
“Well you have fun with your afternoon off. I’m sure you, Carol and the Sheriff will have a lot to catch up on.” Sam picked up her lunch sack and took a bite out of her egg sandwich breakfast. She gave Alex a kiss on the cheek and grabbed her thermos cup and was out the door.
Not A Good Reason Page 21
