She was sitting up now, the gag removed and she’d pulled her dress down modestly. He heard her hiccuped sobs. The moment she noticed him coming, the crying stopped and her eyes grew wide with terror.
He raised the boulder high above his head, her mouth opened in a scream, but no sound came out. The rock crashed down on her head. He heard the crunch of bone as it hit her skull, over and over again. The thrill spurned him on.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
A scream tore through her throat. Maddy woke gasping for air. She bolted straight up in bed, trying to push the heavy rock away. The dream was so real; she still smelled the scent of pine, the top of her head felt wet.
Out of nowhere a pair of arms encircled her, Maddy slapped them away. “No!” Her body wriggled to get free.
“Babe. Stop.” She felt herself pulled into an embrace, tying her flailing arms to her side. She struggled against her captor. “It’s okay, you’re safe.” She knew that voice.
“Doug?” She turned her head and he was there, holding her. Protecting her. The tension in her body eased a bit.
“Oh, Doug!” Maddy choked back a sob. With trembling hands she latched onto him. “It was so horrible.” She buried her face in his chest, tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Shh, I’ve got you. Everything will be alright now,” he whispered, then kissed the top of her head. Rocking her back and forth, he murmured in her ear until she felt herself gain some control.
She pulled out of his arms and gazed up at him. Gently, he brushed the tears from her cheeks.
“You feel like talking about it?” he asked softly.
“He killed her,” she managed through gasps for air.
“Who, babe? Who killed who?” He pushed her hair back over her shoulder, his brows knit together.
“The girl who was running down the beach. He raped her and murdered her viciously. Oh, Doug, he’s pure evil!”
* * *
By the time Tim and Jane showed up with a couple of pizzas for dinner, Doug and Maddy had showered and changed. Doug answered the door, while Maddy finished setting the table. Her head was buried in the refrigerator when they entered the kitchen. Maddy swung around with a jar of pepperocinis in her hand and almost bumped into Jane.
“Oh my God, Maddy, what happened?” Jane’s face turned to Doug, breathing fire.
He raised his hands in surrender as if to say, it wasn’t me. “She had a nightmare.”
“What?” Jane said, her hands fished on her hips while she gave Doug the evil eye.
“He’s telling the truth,” Maddy said, as she placed the jar on the table along side the Parmesan cheese and crushed peppers.
“But, your eyes…your eyes are so swollen and red. What kind of night--oh, the fire,” Jane said the last part almost under her breath.
Worry lines creased her face.
“No, I didn’t dream about the fire. Look, can we just drop it for now. I’m not exactly ready to talk about it yet, okay?”
“Sure, honey,” Jane said, then patted her shoulder.
Quietly they took their seats around the table, everyone selected a slice of pizza.
The chewing noises were making Maddy nuts. “Hey, why don’t you guys fill us in on what you found today?”
There was a collective sigh of relief.
Jane spoke up first. “I’ve gotten through half the journals. Damn, your aunt lived through hell. Her in-laws were horrendous, yes, but I swear she was married to the devil incarnate. Jesus, if I were her, I would have eaten a bullet long ago. That girl sure had grit-”
“Okaaaay, thank you, Jane, for that colorful monologue. I guess I’ll go next.” Tim said rolling his eyes as he interrupted her. “As you know I went to the police department. I told them I was a journalist interested in doing a story on the Seaside Strangler.” Tim beamed as if proud of his tall tale.
“I thought I was going to be tossed out on my ear when the desk sergeant walked away without a word. To my surprise, he came back with a grizzly looking cop trailing behind him. He had gone to get Joe Flynn, the son of one of the detectives on the case.
“The case haunted his father. The poor man lived the case even after retirement. He promised his father on his deathbed that he would find answers. Joe was just as familiar with the case as if he’d worked it himself.
“The guy retrieved the files and shared them with me. He was glad of the renewed interest. He hoped an article might shake something loose. Although he realized the killer might be dead after all these years, he felt he owed it to his father just the same.” Tim patted a manila folder lying on the table to his right.
“You mean the guy actually let you take the file with you?” Doug asked with raised brows.
“No, he copied the original for me. I even have pictures of the victims.” Tim grinned.
“Great, let’s see them.” Jane piped in.
“Did they ever have any suspects?” Maddy asked.
“Just the usual, unfortunately, they couldn’t get enough evidence against anyone to make it stick. I want you to take a good look at the photos, Maddy, and see if any of them look familiar to you.”
Tim opened the folder, slid six, eight-by-ten black and white glossies across the table. Maddy looked at each of them slowly, then shook her head.
“Nada?” Tim’s brows hiked up. “What about this one, she’s blonde,” He slid the first picture back in front of her.
“No, I’m sorry,” she said, sadly.
“How can you be so sure?” Tim’s face deflated.
“I finally got a good look at her face,” Maddy replied, then told them all about the nightmare she’d had in vivid detail. When she was done, you could hear a pin drop in the room. Mouths stopped mid-chew.
Jane found her voice first, “Oh, Maddy, no wonder you were so upset. That would be like killing her yourself.” She put her arm around her friend’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug.
“Okay, now bear with me,” Tim said. “What if this girl was never found?”
“Yeah, so?” Doug said.
“Well, she’s got to be a missing person, right?” Tim added.
“Again, so?” Doug said.
“We know where she’s buried!” Tim blurted out.
“What? No way! Maddy only saw the murder, she didn’t witness the guy burying the girl,” Doug said.
“Yeah, but what are the odds? What else is he going to do with her? He can’t risk carrying the body out of the woods, someone might see. He’s already standing in the perfect place to bury a body. Remember, he was huffing and puffing? He could barely keep up with her. The only reason he caught her was pure circumstance. Luck on his part you might say.”
“Jeez, Tim. Really?” Jane glanced at Maddy.
Tim’s face fell. “Sorry, Maddy.”
Maddy shook her head, instead of telling him it was okay.
“So, what you’re saying is we should all go out into the woods and start digging on the off chance there might be a body out there?” Doug said sarcastically.
“You have a better idea?” Tim asked.
“Yeah, go to the police with our suspicions. Let them take it from there,” Doug answered.
“Right, and where do we tell them we got our information? Come on, Doug, they’d laugh us out of the building.” Tim was hot now.
“He’s right,” Maddy said, quietly.
The room grew silent, all eyes on her.
“We have to find the girl. It’s the least we can do. She had a family that loved her. They deserve to know what happened. To finally give her a proper burial so they can move on,” Maddy said.
“And her spirit can move on as well,” Jane added.
“Then maybe she’ll stop haunting you,” Tim finished.
* * *
The next morning after breakfast, Doug found himself lugging a pick ax and shovel up the beach as he trailed behind the others. Maddy took the lead. He wasn’t too happy about it, but if it would put her mind at ease, he would do it. Anything to
bring her spirits back up. He almost laughed at his choice of words.
“Come on, Doug. You’re lagging!” Tim called.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Doug answered and picked up the pace.
* * *
Maddy was halfway down the beach, shovel in hand. As she skimmed the shoreline, she noticed several more houses than had been in her dream. Progress, of course. She was almost certain that if it had happened today, someone would have heard the girl’s screams. Maybe then she would still be alive. She wondered where the girl’s family lived now. Were her parents still alive, or had they died of broken hearts?
Trudging up the incline toward the forest, she noticed how much the trees had grown. Then again, it had been roughly fifty years since the murder. She entered the woods approximately where the girl had, hiked straight-ahead several feet, then turned back toward the water to get her bearings. She could still see too much of the beach, so she swung around and continued a hundred more feet, then stopped.
Jane came up behind her. “Is this the spot?” she asked eagerly.
Maddy looked around the ground. “Uh.” She looked back at the beach. “Well.” She started wandering around searching the ground, then the trees around her. By then the men had caught up.
“So, where do we dig?” Tim asked.
Maddy didn’t answer, instead she walked around in a large circle.
“She’s getting her bearings,” Jane explained.
All eyes were on her as Maddy wandered around the woods. She was beginning to think it was a lost cause. Sweat dotted her upper lip. What if she couldn’t find the spot? Everyone was counting on her. She stood facing the water, then began walking backwards. But the woods were much thicker than in her dream and it was day, not night.
The view wouldn’t be the same.
Suddenly Maddy fell back on her rear end. Doug rushed over to help her up, but before he could get there, she was on all fours clearing away leaves, pine needles and debris from the ground where she’d fallen.
“Here!” Maddy announced, excitedly.
“What makes you so sure?” Doug asked.
“I didn’t fall by accident. Something or someone pushed me,” Maddy answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
“That’s good enough for me.” Tim said as he raised his shovel.
Maddy had this sudden feeling in her gut, pulling her, as if the girl were urging her on. She was so excited she was digging with her hands.
Doug pulled her up. “Here, let us do that.” He lifted the pick and started breaking up the ground. Tim and Jane shoveled the broken piles out of the way. Maddy picked up her shovel and followed suit.
“Do you have any idea how far we would need to go after all these years?” Doug asked.
“Naturally it depends on how deep he buried her in the first place. My bet is not too deep. Then add time, rain, nature in general, surely more dirt would be deposited onto the spot. I don’t think we’ll need to go much further than say…four to six feet?” Tim answered.
Doug sighed.
* * *
Daylight had shriveled away little by little. Shadows stretched along the east side the trees. The mosquitoes were out in droves. Maddy smacked her arm, then her leg. The guys stood in a deep round hole shoveling, while the girls watched from above. They had dug down about six feet before they decided to start digging into the sides of the dirt making the hole wider.
Maddy sat with her back to the trunk of a massive evergreen, her knees up tight against her body, her chin resting on them. Exhausted. She was sweaty, gritty and so sore she didn’t think she could move another muscle.
They had been at it all day.
Doug stopped digging, placed his hands on top of the shovel and looked up at Maddy. “I’m sorry, babe. She doesn’t seem to be here.”
Tim kept digging even though he’d lost his enthusiasm. Doug reached up to the edge of the hole and pulled himself up. He brushed his hands off on his jeans, and wiped his face off with his tee-shirt. He sat next to Maddy while they waited for Tim to give up. Doug looked down at his hands and Maddy noticed they were blistered.
“Hey, I found something!” Tim’s voice rang out.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Everyone moved to the edge of the hole and peered down.
“It looks like…” Tim brushed some dirt away from the side wall with his hands. “A skull maybe?”
He continued to dig around it with his fingers. He brushed at it some more, then spit on it, but the surface didn’t change. “It’s just a rock,” he said, defeat evident by his tone.
Doug and Jane groaned and sat back. Only Maddy stayed put, staring into the hole. Tim stood up, obviously ready to abandoned the search.
“Wait!” Maddy said.
Tim looked up.
“See if you can dig out that rock,” Maddy finished.
Tim looked at it, then back at her with raised brows.
“Humor me,” Maddy added.
Tim shrugged and began to clear the dirt from around the rock. It grew larger the longer he worked.
“Stop! What’s that?” Maddy pointed.
“Here?” Tim asked rubbing at a discoloration on the side.
“Exactly, I think that brown stain is blood. That’s the boulder he used to crush her skull.” Maddy winced when she realized what she'd just said.
Doug jumped into the pit and helped Tim dig.
An hour later, the body had been unearthed. Not only had they found the victim, but the murder weapon as well. Doug used Tim’s cell phone to call Grady.
After he hung up, Doug walked over to Maddy. “Hey, what’s the matter? You should be happy.”
“I am. It’s just that…" She brushed at a tear. "This whole thing is so sad, you know? That poor girl, her family. Seeing her like this just makes it all so real.” Maddy laid her head on his chest and was comforted when he closed his arms around her.
“Yes, I do know,” Doug answered.
When Grady and his men showed up, he sent them home. He said it was going to be a long night, he'd get their statements the following day. Exhausted, filthy and hungry, Maddy was more than happy to oblige.
* * *
The following morning, the girls left the guys to clean the kitchen, as was the deal. The girls cooked, the guys cleaned. The plan worked perfectly. Maddy ran into Doug’s office to make some calls, while Jane went next door to immerse herself in the last journal.
Anxiously, Maddy waited for her grandmother to pick up the phone. The answering machine came on instead. Disappointed, she hoped she'd have better luck with the lawyer. Unfortunately his secretary informed her he was with a client. Zero for two. She wondered what to do next. Then it came to her, she'd go next door and finish cleaning out the house. That would also give her some time with Jane.
“I'll be next door!”
Maddy practically skipped down the road, she was so happy the nightmare was finally over. The girl would soon be identified and her family would be able to bury her. Now she could sell the house with a clean conscience. She was singing the Beatles song, Good Day Sunshine while looking up. White clouds lazily rolled along in an azure blue sky.
She tripped, caught herself and chuckled. She looked around to see if anyone had witnessed her stupidity. That's when she noticed the elderly woman.
Maddy halted.
A chill raced up her spine and her body broke out in a million goose bumps. The woman stood a mere ten feet away, right in front of the driveway that led to the old Heller place.
Maddy told herself to keep her in her sights this time. The old woman looked the same, same clothes, same hairdo , in fact the only thing that had changed was her expression. She looked afraid. But of what? Her arms extended in front of her with the palms up as if telling Maddy to stop, which of course she did.
“Can I help you? Is something wrong?” Maddy's voice trembled and she only hoped the woman didn't notice. The woman’s eyes implored Maddy. But, to do what? She refused
to speak.
“Are you all right?” Maddy stepped closer. “I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.”
The woman's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Maddy kept inching her way toward her. There was something familiar about her that niggled at the back of Maddy's mind. Finally she found herself in front of the driveway, yet the woman stayed exactly ten feet away without ever taking a step. To check her theory, Maddy walked two steps forward and watched as the woman seemed to float backward the equal distance.
Maddy's heartbeat kicked up triple time.
The woman opened her mouth again. Maddy waited, anxious to hear what she had to say. Again no sound was heard, but something did come out. A large spider with long spindle legs crawled out and crept along the side of the woman's face.
Gasping, Maddy stepped back, but like a train wreck, she couldn't avert her eyes. Several more spiders trickled out. Maddy gave herself a mental shake and got moving. Giving the woman a wide berth, she raced down the driveway toward the house. The woman gave chase, yet kept ten feet behind no matter Maddy's speed.
Maddy took the front steps two at a time and flew through the front door. When she looked back the woman had stopped at the base of the stairs. The look she gave Maddy unnerved her, she slammed the door. “Jane, where are you?”
“Up here!”
She made a mad dash to the second floor. Maddy finally figured out who that woman was, she had seen her picture on the mantel in the living room. It was Ray's mother, Ruth Heller.
* * *
Maddy’s grandmother, Mary, was shocked awake by a bloodcurdling scream. Her sister, Madeline, had been practically comatose the last couple of days and running a high fever. Now she was sitting up in the hospital bed staring straight ahead, her eyes glassy.
“No, Ray, leave her alone. It’s me you want. It’s me!” Her arms thrashed about in front of her, as if tussling with an unseen assailant.
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