Alliance

by S. R. Franklin

  Samantha rolled over hard. She was staring up at the sky. There was blood rolling down her neck on to the ground. Samantha took a deep breath and held up her hand.

  He had only scratched her. It was just deep enough to hurt and bleed hard for a few minutes. Just like in Forrest Ranch a few days ago.

  JJ jumped to her feet and grabbed Lisa’s hand. They took off in the direction Morgan had run. “Go after him, JJ.” Samantha sat up.

  Samantha got to her feet. The cut was already clotting. “Get the map. That monster does not live past today.”

  Tristan picked it up off the ground behind them. “There has to be another cabin. None of this makes any sense.”

  “Wait, Samantha.” Alexis started. “This isn’t right. He cannot be alone. There is no evidence that Morgan is the killer. These murders are brutal.”

  “Alexis, you should know better than any of us that serial killers perfect their skills over years and they hide their true selves. We may never find his true kill zone. But once we find him, you can ask him where it is. Let’s get going.” Samantha took a few hard steps and then was ready to run. She led the others towards the same direction JJ and Lisa ran. It took only a few minutes for them to catch up.

  They were all tense. All except Samantha. She was furious and still weak from the drugs. “Alexis was right. She knew that there were at least two killers, and Bob Davie was not one of them.”

  They walked for several hours. They did not seem to be any closer to the next cabin. Samantha stopped and looked up. They were at the base of a mountain. They had missed something. The fields turned into a grove of trees and brush. “We had to miss something. Are you sure we are going in the right direction?

  “According to the map and the other locations we are exactly right.” Tristan pulled out the map again and showed everyone.

  Alexis sat down on the ground. “Wait, let’s think a minute. We never did find out how the killers were transporting the bodies and moving around so easily. I think someone mentioned a tunnel or something.”

  The others joined her. Diane pulled out the water bottles and passed them around. Samantha sat, too, staring into the forest.

  “What are you thinking, Samantha?” JJ asked as she passed Samantha a bottle of water.

  “What if we were right? What if there is a tunnel that goes under these locations? Something long enough to connect from town to here. I mean right here. Can anyone point out the exact position five miles from the dump site?” Samantha laid the map down on the ground.

  Tristan pointed to the location on the map. “This is exactly five miles from the dump site.”

  “Okay, Miss Navigator. Show me that spot here. Then I need a one-mile radius from that.” Samantha handed a compass to Hannah.

  It took a few minutes for Hannah to find her location. She drew a radius from that point. Hannah laid the map back down on the ground in front of Samantha. “This is where we are now, and this is the exact point five miles from the dump. These dots are one-mile radius. “

  “Great. Now what we’re looking for is an entrance. It will be obscure and probably covered. If it is a tunnel. I need us to split up and look for it. Go exactly one mile and keep looking around you and let each other know you are still alive. If you find anything yell or come get one of the others. Don’t forget for one minute that he has killed 30 women.”

  They all stood and made a circle. Then each walked in the position they were facing. Samantha went in the direction towards the forest. She was still convinced there was another cabin hid further into the forest. There may be a tunnel that he uses to move undetected, but he has a place all to his own. There has to be somewhere he can be himself and show his true colors. She walked for at least half an hour before she stopped again. She was just inside a row of trees. She walked slowly, looking everywhere.

  Samantha stopped when she heard a noise in front of her. She pulled her pistol and moved behind a large tree. She stood very still with her back to the tree for several minutes. She could see or hear nothing. She turned towards the noise and moved forward. It only took a few minutes for her to find a small shack. The front of it was falling down. The steps did not look sturdy enough to hold even the smallest person. She started moving closer, when she heard another noise. She stepped back behind the tree. She slowed her breathing down and closed her eyes. She was trying to figure out what the sound was and which direction it was coming from.

  It only took her a few seconds to locate the noise. It was coming from inside the cabin. She squatted down and moved to the side of the cabin. The side of the small shack didn’t look like a shack at all. It was another cabin much like all the rest. But it was well kept. There were no windows to look in. She moved on to the back. There was a small door that appeared to be open. She walked closer and raised her pistol and pushed the door open wider. The noise she had been hearing was someone talking angrily. She peered inside and could see Morgan pacing back and forth. He was throwing his arms and punching walls, cursing.

  Samantha grabbed her pistol tighter and moved closer. Morgan was ranting and still pacing. Then he disappeared. Samantha froze. She held her breath and slowly looked side to side.

  Morgan slipped up behind her and grabbed her arms. Samantha struggled to get free. “Welcome home, Samantha. I knew you would come to me. Hold still.”

  Samantha held onto the gun as hard as she could. It went off. The bullet went into the far wall. Morgan knocked the gun out of Samantha’s hand. It slid across the floor into the living room. Morgan threw Samantha to the floor. He crawled on top of her. “Hold still.” She struggled harder. He straddled her waist and grabbed both of her arms. “You are so beautiful. I know I picked the right woman. You will make the perfect 31.”

  Samantha stopped struggling. She slowed her breathing and stared into Morgan’s eyes. “How can I be your 31 if you don’t trust me?”

  “What, can I trust you? You haven’t given me reason just yet. But okay. Be good. This is your last chance.” Morgan squeezed her arms tighter. He moved off of her and stood up beside her. Blood was still dripping from his side, but he paid it no attention. He was focused on Samantha. Morgan held out his hand to help her up.

  Samantha reached for his hand.

  “Good.” Morgan smiled. “Now let me show you around.” Morgan led her to a small room off from the kitchen. It was padlocked. He pulled the key from his pants and removed the lock. He reached inside and pulled a chain to turn on a light.

  The light was bright. It hurt Samantha’s eyes for a few seconds. She held her hand up to allow her eyes to adjust. Once she removed her hand she could see the room was full of picture frames. She moved closer. They were collages. One for every victim. The pictures were taken at different stages of their deaths. There was jewelry, driver’s licenses, hair and newspaper clippings telling of their disappearance.

  “Isn’t it magnificent? This represents my life’s work. My real work.”

  Sam didn’t respond. She walked to a desk in the corner. It was full of pictures of an older woman. Samantha didn’t recognize her. She did not fit with any of the other women and she was not maimed. She filtered through the papers and pictures for what seemed like hours.

  She returned her gaze to the framed collages on the walls surrounding the room. There was a space left out and then her collage. It was full of pictures of her, mostly at work, and newspaper clippings of cases they had worked together. Then there was a passage with the number 31 on it. It appeared to be from the Bible. It was old and stained. She could not make out all of the words.

  “You like it, I can tell.” Morgan sounded happy. “Come on, I have more to show you.” Morgan reached for her hand and led her to a downward set of stairs.

  Samantha hesitated.

  “Don’t worry, honey. I won’t hurt you. This is yours, too.” He helped her down the stairs. Samantha noticed that there was a pungent smell, maybe the smell of dirt. But there was a definite smell of death. Morgan led Samantha to the bottom
of the steps. Once again he reached for a chain to turn on a light. There was a distinct smell of gas. Samantha hesitated.

  “It’s just the generator. I’m not going to hurt you. You need to see this. This is yours, too. Our new life together.” Morgan reached for her hand.

  Samantha took his hand and let him lead her into the basement. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings. They looked old. They turned to go to the back wall. It had dozens of hunting knives from large to small hung on it. There was a table under it with chains and ropes. Samantha walked closer. The smell of blood was strong. They moved around under the steps, and just behind them hung victim 30. It was an older woman covered in plastic. The number 31 was written all around her. There was a Bible wrapped with her. She still had tears on her face. She had not been mutilated. Samantha reached for her.

  Morgan grabbed Sam’s hand.

  The woman moved her hand.

  Samantha screamed and then lunged forward. She tried to pull her down and to loosen the ropes.

  Morgan wrestled her away and pulled her towards the steps.

  She fell on the floor. “Let her go! Who is she?” She was pulling hard against him.

  Morgan pulled her up the steps. “Leave her alone. She has to die for you. Don’t you see? You have to be 31. And there can’t be anyone but you. That’s why you took all my property. So it could be just you and me.”

  Morgan pulled her to the top of the steps and slammed the door. He locked it again and reached for Samantha.

  He seemed angry again.

  Samantha laid on the floor crying.

  Morgan started pacing again. He was mumbling over and over. “She doesn’t understand. She has to be 31. I have worked so hard. I picked her over all of the rest. She will not disappoint me.” Morgan reached for Samantha and pulled her off the floor.

  She looked into his face.

  “This cannot be the man I fell in love with. You are not my Morgan.” She pushed away and backed into the living room. She was looking everywhere to find her gun.

  “Looking for this?” Morgan pulled the gun out from his pants.

  Samantha wiped her face and took a deep breath. “You will have to kill me, Morgan. I will not let you live.” She lunged at him. She hit him as hard as she could in the side.

  He yelled. His side bled harder. He fell to his knees and dropped the gun.

  Samantha bent over and grabbed it.

  She could hear JJ and the others yelling, they had heard the gunfire. She turned her head. Lisa was coming in the back door.

  Morgan got to his feet and escaped out the window.

  Samantha yelled to Lisa, “Go to the basement! There’s an older woman down there. See if you can save her.” She followed Morgan out the window. She could see Morgan running through the field beside the house. There were trees on each side. If he got into them, he would be gone again. Samantha ran as hard as she could.

  “Morgan, stop, stop.” Samantha fired a shot in the air.

  Morgan was at the center of the field. He was in pain and leaning over. He could run no more. He stopped and threw up his hands. He turned towards Samantha and smiled. “Okay, Samantha, you win.” He was laughing. “You win.”

  Samantha stopped and tried to catch her breath. She stood up straight and looked at Morgan once again. “I just can’t believe.” She stopped. “I can’t let you go, Morgan.”

  “I can’t go to a cage, Samantha. This is my home. Out here, free.” Morgan raised his arms again. He tried to run again and Samantha fired again.

  This time she hit his leg. He yelled in pain and fell down.

  Samantha moved just far enough away from him so he could not reach her again. “Please Morgan, I can get you help. You can live.”

  “Live in a cage without you? Until they execute me?” He stood once more. “It’s okay, Samantha. I understand. You will have to kill me or I will kill you.” His face turned clouded and dark. He was not Morgan anymore. Now he was The Handyman Killer.

  Samantha raised her pistol and held it tight. She pointed it at Morgan. “Don’t move.”

  “It is a beautiful day to die. So who is it going to be? Me or you?” Morgan started moving towards her.

  Samantha took two steps backwards. She aimed at Morgan. Tears began streaming down her face. She closed her eyes and fired twice.

  Chapter 74

  They gathered at the cabin.

  Samantha was sitting on the back porch holding her pistol. She wouldn’t look at anyone or speak.

  Alexis walked past her into the house. She was followed by Diane and Tristan. The house was a mix between a museum for serial killers and a loving home, complete with the family Bible. It was opened to a passage in Proverbs. Proverbs 31. Now she understood the significance of 31. Proverbs 31 is about the perfect wife, a virtuous woman.

  They ran downstairs to help Lisa. Lisa was trying to pull down a body. They put away their pistols and began to help. They laid her on the floor and began cutting away the plastic. They freed her arms and legs from the ropes and tried to do CPR. She had been there too long. Lisa continued for several minutes. There was no response. She was gone. The sister stared at her, their hearts filled with sadness. She didn’t fit. She was old, at least 70.

  Alexis spoke first. “She was the real 31.” “My guess is she’s his grandmother. Didn’t Samantha say that is who raised him?”

  “I hope Samantha killed him.” Tristan stomped upstairs. She found JJ and Samantha still sitting on the steps. “We couldn’t save her. She was too far gone.”

  “Save who?” JJ looked puzzled.

  “Number 30,” Samantha said. “I think it’s his grandmother.”

  Alexis walked out onto the porch. She knelt down and put her hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “We have to call for help. We need to get this evidence back to Langley. Not to mention burying that poor lady.”

  “No, we will call no one. I want this placed burned to the ground. Take everything we need and burn the rest.” Samantha stood up and put her pistol in the holster.

  “Samantha, we can’t burn this place. We will catch the woods…” Alexis started

  “I don’t care. We can’t tell anyone. I will not have Morgan’s son…” Samantha turned to her sisters. “Please, just take everything we can and we’ll bury his grandmother and tear this place down.”

  They didn’t say anything else. They split up and began working. It took the rest of the day to gather everything out of the cabin and bury Morgan’s grandmother. It was starting to get dark when they started back to the plane.

  “What about Morgan?” Lisa asked.

  “Let the wolves have him. He’s buried the way he wanted.”

  They reached the plane, carrying the pictures and other things from the cabin. They were exhausted by the time they were ready to take off. No one had anything to say. They all sat down hard in the seats. Samantha walked to the back and sat alone.

  Once they were in the air, the phone rang. It was Cameo.

  JJ opened the computer link and sat down.

  “Is everyone safe?” Cameo asked first.

  “Yes, we are all fine and on our way back to Langley. What’s the update?” JJ moved over so Lisa could sit down.

  Cameo began telling everything she had learned since the group was gone. Samantha joined the group. She sat down across from Lisa. Cameo kept talking. She got to the picture Samantha had given her. Cameo named all of the people she had identified. Morgan was, of course, one of them. Only 12 of the women had been ID’ed. The MO was the same in all of them. Cameo continued.

  Samantha’s thoughts wandered. She was still uncertain of what had happened in California.

  “Okay, that’s all for now. When do you think you will be in Langley?” Cameo asked.

  “Wait, one more thing Cameo. Who took the picture I sent you?” Samantha asked.

  “Let’s see, one minute. Oh! Yeah, it was Morgan’s twin brother Dee.”

  Acknowledgments

  To the Morg
an James Publishing team: Special thanks to David Hancock, CEO & Founder for believing in me and my message. To my Managing Editor, Gayle West, thanks for making the process seamless and easy. Many more thanks to everyone else, but especially Jim Howard, Bethany Marshall, and Nickcole Watkins.

  About the Author

  Although SR Franklin has lived in NC all her life, she has had the pleasure of traveling thru most of the US. She has found that each place she and her husband explored was beautiful in its own way. For her travel only helped with her stories. She fell in love with writing at a very young age. It started with poetry, and then moved to short stories and she has been fortunate enough to have several poems published in various Who’s Who of American Poets books. She found that she was always scribbling on pieces of paper ideas for stories and part of poems.

  SR Franklin’s first novel came when she was twelve. It was a murder mystery since she’s always been drawn to the “who done it” movies and books. Just like most authors, writing had to take a sideline to the normal mundane day to day life. But she never stopped writing, no matter what job she had. It has always been her first love. SR Franklin currently resides in Connelly Spring, NC.