The next morning, I arose to an empty house. Happily, I hummed while I baked two apple pies. I set one on the window ledge to cool, then took the other next door to the Shaw’s. What greeted me there was not joy. The sheriff's car was parked in the drive. Through the screen door, I spied Mr. and Mrs. Shaw huddled together in tears. Hap, the town Sheriff, told me that Lacy’s naked body had been found up the beach early that morning.
The poor girl was dead.
He said she was most likely a victim of The Seaside Strangler. The man who had been leaving the bodies of young girls along the shore of the mainland for years. I knew in my heart it was my husband, Ray. I dropped the pie, right then and there. I rushed home and collapsed on the couch in tears. I spent half the day crying and the other half hatching my plan.
It was as if someone else had entered my body and I was watching from above. That afternoon I began to prepare Ray’s favorite dinner. I simmered the beef stew on the stove, but instead of using bay leaves, I substituted oleander from the hedge outside.
I sat at the table for hours, nervously awaiting my husband’s return. By the time he entered the house, I was a wreck. Sloppily drunk, he stumbled into the kitchen and demanded his dinner. Fearfully, I stood with my back to him as I scooped a huge helping of stew onto a plate.
Carefully picking out the leaves, I washed them down the sink. I set the plate before him and sat in the opposite chair. He asked why I wasn’t eating. I simply replied it was half-past nine. I had been too hungry to wait. I was surprised at how even my voice sounded. He glared at me. I feared he would make me get a plate for myself. He hated eating alone.
Instead, he grumbled something I could not make out and swept a heaping fork-full of stew into his mouth. I watched, gripped in horror while sweat poured down the inside of my clothes. I prayed he wouldn’t notice my agitated state. At one point, I almost lost my nerve. I was just about to stop him when I noticed the claw marks upon his neck. A picture of Lacy fighting for her life rushed into my mind. I kept my warning to myself.
Ray shoveled the food so fast, I wondered when he had time to take a breath. I held my hands tightly in my lap so he couldn’t see them shaking. I’d never been more frightened in my life. What if it only made him sick but didn’t kill him? He would kill me then, that was certain.
Then out of nowhere, images of the horror I’d lived in that house came flooding back as if a dam had burst in my head. All the things I had suffered and stuffed deep down for the purpose of survival passed through my mind like a picture show. They filled me with a calm I'd never known.
The spell broke when Ray let out a loud belch. I glanced up. The stew was gone and he was cleaning his plate with a slice of bread. Once finished, he pushed his plate across the table toward me, then sat back and rubbed his tummy.
Disgust filled me at the sight of gravy dripping down his chin. He asked me what my problem was? I couldn't answer. I didn't dare. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, instead of the napkin I had provided.
He stared at me moment, his face turning into a scowl. He called me vile names and told me that he wouldn’t have had to go looking elsewhere for comfort if I hadn’t spread my legs for his daddy. This was nothing new. He’d been making this claim for years.
But now, as the evil bastard slung his insults, I no longer shriveled up in fear of his fist. Defiantly, I returned his stare. He would no longer hurt me or anyone else. He had to have seen the boldness on my face, but he didn't comment.
Just glared at me with a menacing look.
He said if I thought I could make him feel guilty, I had another thing coming. I should never have stuck my nose where it didn't belong. I should have known I’d be punished. Still I kept silent, just stared with unflinching eyes. To my amazement, a look of uncertainty crossed his face.
He pushed away from the table and started to stand. Suddenly, he doubled over, clutching his stomach and groaned. He tried to straighten up, but fell to the floor pulling the tablecloth down along with him. I watched as his mother’s china crashed to the floor, the salt and pepper shakers, his fork, knife and Tabasco, then lastly his bottle of beer.
He begged me for help. I stood back out of reach.
Frozen with fear, I trembled as I watched his body writhe and convulse. I covered my ears against his agonized cries.At long last, the screaming ended and silence filled the house. I fell back onto the kitchen chair where I stayed for some time staring down at his lifeless body.
Out of the blue it occurred to me, I was going to be able to walk out of that house on my own two feet, not in a casket like I’d always assumed. It was I, Madeline Anne Heller that killed Raymond Dean Heller, not the other way around. Surely I will go to hell for what I have done, but I can’t honestly say that I’m sorry.
I hadn’t planned this whole thing out. I had no idea what to do with him now. I thought about calling the sheriff and turning myself in, but the idea of spending the rest of my life in yet another prison chilled me to the bone.
Sometime around midnight, I dragged his body outside and buried him under the oleander hedge that I’d planted last spring. I thought it was an appropriate place for him to spend eternty. To my knowledge, no one would miss him. He had drunk himself out of his job years ago.
So now it's the wee hours of the morning and this is the last time I will write in you, dear diary. If I am picked up by the authorities, or drown and am never heard from again, at least someone will know what happened in this house. Hopefully, they will understand why I had to do what I have done.
My plan, as it stands, is to walk to the other side of the island and borrow someone's boat. If I make it safely to the mainland, I shall take the bus home. I have been pilfering small amounts of money from Ray’s pockets for years in the hope of making my escape. A couple dollars here and there so he wouldn’t notice. I buried it in a jar under the porch. I have over four-hundred dollars. That should get me where I need to go.
I’m leaving with just the clothes on my back and a picture of mama and papa. I don’t want to draw attention to myself. If anyone on the island sees me, they’ll just think I’m out taking a stroll. I must leave now while it’s still dark.
Wish me luck,
Madeline
Jane closed the journal and looked up. Everyone stared back in silence. She pulled out a photo and placed it in front of Maddy.
Doug leaned over. “That’s her,” he said, pointing.
Tim snatched it up to take a look. “Jesus, Maddy, she looks just like you. Who is this?”
“It’s my great-aunt Madeline when she was about my age,” Maddy answered.
“That’s what I thought,” Jane said. “Which is why I brought it for everyone to see. I think we’ve solved more than one mystery tonight.”
“What do you mean?” Maddy asked.
“I didn’t expect you'd see the similarities like the rest of us do, but look at that picture Maddy. I mean, really look at it.”
Tim handed the black and white photo back to Maddy. She held it in front of her face. “What about it?”
“I know that it’s hard to see because the picture is so small, but look at her face, her stance, her coloring. Maddy, it could be a picture of you,” Jane said.
“My grandmother always told me I resembled Aunt Madeline, but I don’t understand what that’s got to do with anything.”
“That entity was Raymond Heller, right?” Jane asked.
“I suppose so,” Maddy said.
“He wasn’t just haunting the Heller house, Maddy. He was haunting you.”
“But why would he want to harm Maddy?” Doug asked.
“He thought she was his wife. He was seeking revenge, teaching her a lesson as he put it. I don’t think he knew he was dead. All he knew was he woke up one day and she was gone. She had left. He was stuck in some sort of limbo until Maddy stepped into that house. She may be wearing different clothes, but what he saw was his wife the way she looked the last time he saw her."
“Whoa,
so he wanted to kill her?” Doug said.
“No, if that’s all he wanted, she would have been dead already. He liked the games, the torture. Remember what a sadistic son of a bitch he was? I think in some sick way he loved her, he needed her. So he slapped her down to break her spirit. He kept on slapping her down to keep her under his thumb.
“That way she was easy to manipulate. It was a control issue for him. He was also trying to get her away from you, Doug. Without you in the picture, Madeline had no one to save her. She would have no choice but to stay with him.”
“That’s freaky,” Doug said.
“You know, that makes sense. He’d been punishing Aunt Madeline since the day she’d told him she was pregnant at the age of seventeen. He was sterile, but kept that to himself. That's how he knew the child wasn’t his. He didn’t believe her when she’d told him his father had raped her," Maddy said.
Jane sat back and crossed her arms across her chest.
“From what I’ve read about serial killers, I think it was young Madeline that he was raping and killing over and over again as the Seaside Strangler. The one thing the girls all had in common was their beauty, their innocence. Just like his young wife, the girl he’d fallen in love with. The girl he hid from the world for fear she’d be taken away, only to have his own father prey on her. He ruined her in his eyes,” Jane said.
“He was fifteen years older than her. That would explain his jealousy when other men talked to her. So in his eyes, he loved her too much,” Maddy said.
“What about the girls we saw?” Doug asked.
“His victims. They must have been stuck here because of him, he was strong and kept them tied to this plane. Once he was gone, they were able to move on as well,” Tim answered.
“But there were so many,” Maddy said.
“He must have killed more girls than anyone ever knew,” Jane added. “They’re free now, that’s what we have to remember.”
Just then the phone rang. Doug excused himself from the table. Maddy watched as he wrote something on a pad. She could hear him speak, but couldn’t make out his words, his back was to her. When he finished, he turned around and addressed the group.
“That was Grady. They’ve identified the girl. Her name was Jenny Mathews, she was seventeen years old. She went missing August of 1964. A year before The Seaside Strangler started his rampage.
“They still have his DNA on file. I told Grady where to dig up Raymond Heller’s remains. Hopefully there will be enough DNA there to make a match. The case might be solved after all. The Mathews family had rented a cottage here the summer Jenny disappeared. They lived in Spokane at the time.
“A year after the girl’s disappearance, the couple divorced. The husband still lives in the Spokane area, but the wife moved back home to Maine where she remarried and had a son with her present husband. The parents are flying in today.”
Maddy sat back and sighed. Now, the nightmare is finally over. Thank God something good came out of it. I will miss you Aunt Madeline and will always be grateful you saved my life and the life of the man I love.
Maddy felt a cold spot on her cheek, a gentle breeze rifled her hair. “Oh!” Her hand flew up to her face.
“Is everything okay?” Doug looked at her, alarmed.
Did you just kiss me, Aunt Madeline? The wind chimes outside the kitchen window tinkled in the still air.
Maddy smiled. “Everything’s just great.”
Two Days Later
Maddy stood by her grandmother’s side next to the grave site. The other mourners had gone on to the house and left the women to grieve in peace.
While listening to her grandmother’s quiet sniffles, Maddy wished there was something she could do to comfort her. But how could one ease the pain of someone losing their only sister for the second time in their life?
Her grandmother blew her nose and stuck her handkerchief into her pocket. She looked up at her granddaughter as if to say it was time. Maddy grabbed her hand and they walked in silence toward the waiting limousine.
Once she had seen her grandmother safely into the car, she walked around to the other side and got in herself.
Maddy asked, “Do you mind if we just sit here a moment? I’m not quite ready to go back to the house and be with all those people just yet.”
Her grandmother placed a hand on her knee and patted it. “Sounds like a wonderful idea. In fact, I wish we could just skip the whole affair altogether.”
Maddy smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, Grams.” She sat back and put her head on her grandmother’s shoulder
“Grams?”
“Yes, Dear?”
“Did you know what really happened to Raymond Heller all along?”
Her grandmother hesitated, with a sigh she simply nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Silence engulfed the car. The limousine driver was outside smoking. Alone. Mary gazed at her granddaughter as if weighing her options.
“I swore on our parents graves never to repeat the story to another living soul. I’m sorry.” Mary looked down at her lap.
“Poor, Aunt Madeline, what a horrible life she lived.”
“I think the nightmares followed her all the days of her life. Thank God for Earl. He showed her true love, and no one deserved it more. When she left that island, she came straight home. For the longest time, she kept to herself. Then, one evening, she came into my room and told me the story from beginning to end.
“She told me she could still hear his screams at night. I tried to console her. I told her she had done the right thing. Then I suggested we go the island, pack everything up and sell the house. She said she never wanted to go back there again. Then one day, after she’d been married to Earl for awhile, I asked her about the house and she told me it had been taken care of. I never brought it up again.”
“She probably just wanted to forget her life there had ever happened. I can’t blame her,” Maddy said.
“Neither can I. Now that it’s finished and done with, we must move on. Have you figured out what we’re going to do with the land?”
“My friend Gisele and her husband want to build a summer home there.”
“That will be nice for you to have her as a neighbor, even if it’s only for the summer. We had better get along now. People are waiting.”
“Yeah, I guess we’ve left Doug alone with a bunch of strangers long enough.” Maddy chuckled.
“Your young man seems quite nice, Maddy. I’m very happy for you.”
“Thanks, Grams, I’m pretty happy for myself too.” Maddy smiled.
* * *
The next morning the three of them stood in the driveway of Maddy’s childhood home.
“We’ll stop by on our way back from Sacramento, it won’t take us long to pack up the truck. I really don’t own all that much.” Maddy laughed.
“You kids drive carefully. And Doug, you take good care of my granddaughter, you hear?” Mary said with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am, I will.” Doug pulled Maddy close.
“I know you will, son. Now you’d better get going, daylight’s a wasting.”
Maddy kissed her grandmother good-bye and hugged her tight.
Her grandmother reached up for Doug. He bent down and she kissed him on the cheek.
He hugged her. “Thanks for everything, ma’am,” Doug said.
“Call me Grams, you’ll be family soon.”
“Okay, thank you, Grams.” Doug kissed her on the forehead.
With that, she shooed them off and stood by as they climbed into his truck.
As they hit the highway, Maddy looked down at the ring on her left hand, then up at Doug. “What do you think about kids?”
“Love them.” He smiled down at her and brought her hand to his lips. “And I love you too.”
Excerpt from SPIRITS AMONG US
Book Two in THE SPIRITS TRILOGY
Jon-Luc Rousseau stared at the woman in front of him. Some might sa
y she was beautiful, if you liked your women emaciated, which he did not. He liked his women with curves. The woman was naked; her clavicles, ribs and hip bones protruded. Her jet black hair was sleek and cascaded over a shoulder, hiding one breast.
She had deep green eyes and high cheekbones. He had to admit it was quite a lethal combination. But this exotic looking creature was soaked as if she’d just emerged from a pool. Blood dripped down her hands in slow motion, landing on the floor in puddles. Each drop splashed as the puddles grew. By Luc’s calculations, half her blood was in the small pools at her feet.She stared at him with a grim expression.
Her ruby lips parted as if to speak.
“Monsieur. Monsieur.”
Her lips hadn’t moved with the words.
“Monsieur.”
Luc blinked and she was gone.
“Please, monsieur!”
When his eyes focused again, he found himself being man-handled by a distressed looking airline stewardess.
“Huh? What?” He blinked again and remembered where he was.
“We are here, in Paris. The plane is disembarking. You go now, oui? ” The pretty blonde relaxed a bit and smiled.
Luc searched the cabin and noticed he was the only one sitting in first class. A few passengers still filed out the door of the plane.
“Oui, merci.” Luc stood up, opened the overhead compartment and grabbed his laptop and carry-on. The pretty blonde walked him to the door still smiling. She had the greatest dimples.
“You will ring me for supper, oui?” Her cute little eyebrows raised.
“Oui.” Jon-Luc glanced at her name tag and smiled. “Jeanette. Oui, I will definitely ring you.” With that he was out the door.
Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading SPIRITS IN THE TREES.
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