Planning the football hero’s demise gave Deadly a lot of pleasure. It had to be just right for him to get the most out of it and it had to be safe for him. He’d already stashed towels and a change of clothes in one of the open locker spaces in the athletic field house where the football players kept their equipment.
Deadly found Shirley and Joey to be sickening the way they were always touching each other, kissing and acting romantic. Well, they’d better take advantage of their time together tonight because I’m gonna put an end to it. That’s what they get for being what they are … dumb and gullible.
Deadly felt about them they way he felt about everyone else he targeted. They had it coming.
As they neared the football field, Deadly was starting to feel the adrenaline rush he always got when planning something against others. His senses were heightened as he watched the teens. The thought he was jeopardizing his own life entered his mind and was quickly brushed away. I’m smarter than they are. I’m even smarter than God. I can do this. Shirley and Joey may believe they’re in charge of their destiny, but it’s not true. I am. He’d be making decisions that would affect them and others forever. It was heady stuff to be in charge of the lives of others.
Deadly hid under the bleachers in the shadows while Shirley and Joey walked the roadway to the end of the field. When they got near the end zone, he would put his plan into action.
In the dark, the couple entered the football field. Joey backed up against the goalpost with Shirley leaning against him. He wrapped his arms around her to help keep her warm while they waited.
“Look there,” Joey said to Shirley. He showed her where he had scratched ‘Joey loves Shirley’ into the metal goalpost.
“I love you, too,” Shirley said.
Deadly crept out from the end of the bleachers and approached the teens.
In the dark and fog they didn’t see him right away.
“How was the dance?” Deadly asked. He eyed Shirley in particular. She’s so beautiful.
Shirley looked upset when she saw who was meeting them. She pressed even closer to Joey. She didn’t want to spend any time with this horrible boy. Not after what he’d done to her. She was never going to forgive him for that.
“Okay.” Joey said. “What do you want to see me about?” He was ready to get out of there. He felt uneasy and didn’t want Shirley to be upset. He didn’t like the look in Deadly’s eyes. Deadly looked arrogant and confident as if he knew something they didn’t. It was unnerving.
“Joey, I’m going to the bathroom,” Shirley said, wanting to get away from the situation. She looked at Joey then at Deadly and walked to the girl’s bathroom near the entrance. She pulled her purse up and jammed her hands in her pockets. When she and Joey were alone, she was going to tell him to never do that again. She was scared and didn’t like this.
The two boys watched Shirley walk away from them until, in the darkness and fog, they couldn’t see her. They heard the bathroom door slam.
“I have something to show you,” Deadly said. He pulled a photograph out of his back pocket. He could feel the Bowie knife against his right hip, case unsnapped so he could swiftly unsheathe it. He loved the confidence he gained from having the hard metal blade against him.
“What is it?” Joey asked, squinting his eyes.
“Here,” Deadly said. “Turn around so you can get light from the streetlamp to look at it.”
At that moment, someone else walked out of the darkness and towards the teens with a determined stride.
Deadly became concerned he’d have to postpone his plan because of this unwelcome addition.
Joey recognized who it was joining them and wondered what was going on.
“Mr. Adams,” Joey said. “What are you doing here?”
Kenneth Adams ignored him and addressed John Deadly.
“Get out of here now. Don’t look back, and keep your mouth shut.”
Deadly started to protest. “But …”
“I won’t repeat myself, Deadly.”
Deadly saw something different in Kenneth Adams’ eyes tonight. Something he’d not seen before.
When Deadly turned to leave, Kenneth reached and pulled the Bowie knife from its sheath on Deadly’s hip.
Deadly gasped and without another word or a backward glance, he walked away. He settled in behind the athletic field house to watch.
Kenneth held the knife against his leg and moved towards Joey.
Afraid of the look in the older man’s eyes, Joey took a step back.
“I see you’re looking at the photo of you and Shirley,” Kenneth said. “You’re disgusting, getting a photo taken like that of Shirley and you then trying to blackmail me with it.”
Joey was confused. He didn’t know what Kenneth was talking about. He turned and held the picture up to the light. He was close to being able to see what it was when Kenneth struck him hard at the base of his skull with the butt of the knife.
Joey dropped hard to his knees on the ground.
Larger and stronger than his victim, Kenneth was immediately on top of him. He knelt behind the dazed teen, put a choker hold around his neck and pulled him to his chest. He spoke into Joey’s ear, “You will never see Shirley again and you will not take away from me what I’ve earned for myself.”
Kenneth pushed Joey to the ground on his stomach, exposing his back to the blade. He positioned the knife and stabbed Joey repeatedly.
Deadly was enjoying the violence playing out before him. His pulse quickened as he thrilled to the deadly attack on Joey.
Kenneth pulled the knife from Joey’s back and wiped the bloody blade on the ground. He turned the dying boy over and watched him hemorrhaging his future into the frozen ground.
Shirley could be heard closing the bathroom door. In the fog, Kenneth couldn’t see her but heard rustling skirts as she got closer.
Deadly was excited Shirley was now part of the scene.
“Joey, where are you? I can’t see you. Joey? Where are you?” Shirley’s eyes widened when she saw her father.
“Dad. What are you doing here? Where’s Joey? What’s going on?”
“I told you not to go out tonight. I told you I never wanted you to be with Joey again and you deliberately disobeyed me.”
“Mother said I could. You can’t stop us.”
“You won’t be seeing Joey ever again,” Kenneth said. “I made sure of that.” He gestured to something under the goalpost.
Shirley stepped to where Joey was sprawled on the grass, his arms bent in unnatural poses. Fear gripped her and she couldn’t speak. She leaned down to touch him. When Joey didn’t respond, Shirley stood and confronted her father.
“What have you done? I hate you. I hate you, Dad. I’m telling the police and I’m telling mother about you and Mrs. Temple.”
Kenneth’s rage was building. “Shut up and stop calling me Dad. I’m not your father. Your mother was pregnant with you before I married her.”
Shirley’s eyes widened even more and she gasped.
“It’s true. Your real father is the …”
Before he could say anything more, Shirley rushed Kenneth, pounding his chest with her fists.
He grabbed her hands and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming.
Shirley fought back but was no match for Kenneth’s strength. She felt him overwhelming her.
“You’ve been nothing but trouble to me since you were born. You’ll not ruin my life any further. It’s over.” Kenneth used the blade on her over and over again.
Shirley fell on top of Joey, under the goalpost.
Kenneth reached the bloody knife over the spot where Joey had written ‘Joey loves Shirley’ and scratched a line through the words.
Deadly watched everything with pleasure. He was surprised at learning Mr. Adams wasn’t Shirley’s real father and laughed out loud. He considered Shirley’s death to be payback for her revulsion of him. That’ll teach her to look at me the way she did. And for not cooperating and
enjoying our time together on the cot. And I didn’t have to do a thing.
“I know you’re watching, Deadly,” Kenneth yelled. “Get over here and do what I tell you. You’ll earn that money I gave you.”
Deadly stepped out from behind the athletic building. He wasn’t afraid, but was unsure of what Kenneth would do next.
For a split second, Kenneth considered taking Deadly out, too, but concern for his own self was uppermost in his mind. He barked orders of what he wanted Deadly to do.
“And don’t ever think of telling anyone what you heard and saw,” Kenneth said. “I can make the police believe it was you who did this.” Kenneth was sure Chief Bill would do what he wanted because the Chief wouldn’t want anyone to know he was Shirley’s father.
Kenneth gave the knife to Deadly and told him how to dispose of it and the other evidence.
As silently as he came, Kenneth left the field. He returned to his store, showered in the back room and changed clothes. He resumed his evening’s work there without missing a beat.
Deadly bent down and rolled Shirley’s body off Joey’s. He kicked her hard in the side and did the same to Joey. He repositioned the two on their stomachs, side by side, under the goalpost. He noticed blood on his clothes from moving the bodies and enjoyed the smell and feel of it.
The thrill of the evening’s events, the stalking and watching the murders, had aroused him even more than when he had done such things to small animals. He used his flashlight to view the murderous scene once more so he could remember every detail later when he was alone. Replaying the crime scene mentally was always one of the best parts for him. He wished he’d brought a camera.
Deadly walked to the field house and stepped inside to retrieve the stashed clothes and towel. He removed his bloodied garments and wrapped the murder weapon in them. He carefully washed his hands and dried them on the towel and wiped the sink bowl. Placing everything in a bag, he pulled the drawstring around it. He put on clean clothing.
“You thought of everything,” he said to his mirrored reflection and smirked at how clever he was. He looked around at the locker room.
The Ironmen have talent in their sport and I have talent in mine.
Deadly walked up West Mahoning Street to the small cottage where he lived with his adoptive parents. He opened the trunk of his car and threw in the tightly-strung bag of bloodied items. It was a short drive into town and up the hill to the local hospital where he accessed a back door to the incinerator. Deadly had familiarized himself with this phase of their disposal procedure when he had done some work for the hospital.
He opened one of the bags which had been tossed in a bin for burning in the morning. He jammed his bag of bloodied clothing and weapon inside and pulled the drawstrings tight. In the morning when the hospital waste was tossed into the incinerator, everything would be reduced to a pile of ashes. Ingenious. He gave himself a few seconds to enjoy it all before he left. What a great night.
Deadly cruised his Oldsmobile back to the alley behind his home and parked.
He hurriedly walked to the football field to meet Cal and Billy.
TEEN LOVERS: Murder Along the River Page 18