The Secrets of Taylor Creek

by Michael Merson

  “What are you doing here?” Sheriff Carter said right before the knife sliced across his throat. His eyes widened, and he reached up with both hands trying to close the gaping wound as blood spat out from his carotid artery into the air.

  He dropped to his knees and reached out for his killer’s legs. Nathan maneuvered himself up next to the door, peered out the window, and down at the ground where Sheriff Carter was rolling from his stomach to his back as blood continued to spray into the air. Nathan then looked at the killer as he slowly opened the back door.

  “Amos,” Nathan said before passing out.

  Chapter 47

  Nathan woke up to find himself still handcuffed sitting in a chair across from Ben Arrington, who was tied to another chair. He was in a bedroom that was nicely decorated. The room smelled of gasoline and liquor. On the wall across from him just above Ben, was a painting of the Arrington House. Nathan believed that he was in one of the bedrooms of the Arrington House, but he didn’t know how he had gotten there or what was going to happen to him.

  “About time you woke up,” Ben said drunkenly from his chair.

  “What’s going on?” Nathan asked as he looked around the room.

  “I think that damn nigger is going to kill us,” Ben said.

  To Nathan, it appeared that Ben Arrington had been in the chair for a while now, and he had accepted his inescapable fate. Nathan tried to sit up more, but he couldn’t find the strength.

  “You ain’t going nowhere, boy. You’re white as a ghost. I’m betting there ain’t much blood left in you. You don’t know it, but you’re knockin’ on Heaven’s door as we speak.” Ben said and then lightly laughed.

  “Yeah, well, what are you doing then?” Nathan asked.

  “I think we both know it ain’t Heaven’s door that I’m knockin’ on, now is it?” Ben remarked just as the two men heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

  A few seconds later, Amos darkened the door carrying a can of fuel. He didn’t look at Nathan. His attention was solely on Ben Arrington. Ben looked up at Amos and started laughing out loud. Amos walked over to him and poured the fuel over his body.

  “Yeah! Baptism by fire! Burn the sins away!” Ben yelled out and tilted his head back as Amos poured the fuel over his head.

  “Amos, why are you doing this?” Nathan asked.

  “Because he made me who I am! I don’t like who I am,” Amos stated as he set the can down.

  “How’d I make you, boy?” Ben asked.

  “When I was sixteen, I was accused of raping a white girl. You was my lawyer. You came to see me in jail in your fancy suit and them shoes with silver buckles on the top. You said, don’t worry that you’d make sure I was all right. But they still came and got me later that night. They all came dressed in their white gowns and hoods coverin’ their faces and all. They took me to the woods and tied me to a tree. I was screamin’ for ‘em to stop.” Amos explained.

  “I remember that, but I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t even know what they were going to do.”

  “You sure about that, Mr. Ben?”

  “Yeah. I’m sure,” Ben answered while Nathan sat there and listened.

  “I don’t thinks you’re telling the truth. Because when they pulled down my pants and backed that truck up to me with that torch on it, I saw you climb out of the other side of that truck. I knows it was you because you were still wearing those same fancy shoes with the silver buckles.” Amos said as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a lighter.

  “Amos, I can help you. I have evidence that can put him away for a long time.” Nathan tried to explain.

  “No, no. You see Mr. FBI man; I did rape that white girl all those years ago. I liked playing with girls like that, but Mr. Ben and his friends saw to it that I’d never be able to use my man parts anymore to play with girls when they took that torch to me!” Amos said and lifted the lid to the lighter.

  Amos looked over at Ben and then back to Nathan.

  “Just because you remove part of the man parts, it doesn’t stop the urges. I still liked girls, but now I enjoy killing them more, and I don’t like that. I’m a monster,” Amos admitted as he placed his thumb on the wheel of the lighter.

  Nathan knew it was now or never. He looked at Ben, who was looking up at Amos.

  “Let’s go, boy! Let’s give the devil his due!” Ben yelled and then started laughing madly.

  Nathan jumped from his chair with all the strength he could muster and found his way out the door just as Amos lit the lighter. The room exploded, sending Nathan over the rail to the floor below. He landed hard, knocking himself out as fire swept through the house. Preacher ran to the front door and saw Nathan on his back covered in flames. Without thinking, he ran in and placed his arms under Nathan’s shoulders and dragged him out of the house.

  Once outside, Preacher rolled Nathan over and over, desperately trying to extinguish the flames. He saw Willie and Sam speeding down the driveway, and he waved them over. The burns were horrible along Nathan’s torso, face, and legs. His arms and hands were practically unburned as they were behind his back, still cuffed together.

  Willie drove across the lawn as the fire raged on out of control, engulfing the once beautiful home. Preacher yelled for Willie to help him load Nathan into the car. From inside the inferno, Preacher and the boys could hear Benjamin Arrington still laughing madly, and then they listened as the laughter turn into horrific blood-curdling screams.

  “Amos killed the girls, and he just killed Ben Arrington,” Nathan whispered before passing out.

  “What do we do Pops?” Willie screamed while Sam looked on.

  “Get in and drive,” Preacher ordered as he climbed into the back seat with his dying friend.

  Chapter 48

  Regina was getting ready for work when she heard a knock on the door. She went over to the window and saw three men dressed in suits standing in front of the house. She went to the door and opened it slightly, and one of the men introduced himself as Agent Smith with the FBI and showed her his credentials.

  “I’m looking for a Mr. William Turner. Do you know where I can find him? Agent Smith asked.

  “That’s my husband, and he’s at the hospital.” She answered.

  “I hope everything’s okay,’ Smith said and then looked back at the other two agents.

  “Yes, a friend of ours was injured, but she’s recovering,” Regina added.

  “Well, that’s good to know. We’re here looking for Nathan Emerson. Do you know where we can find him?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Well, he’s a dangerous man. We’re here to arrest him for murder. Sheriff Carter contacted us and let us know that Agent Emerson killed some people by the names of Jack Walters and Judge Ridge. We got here as quick as we could. I know that your husband has been in contact with Agent Emerson, so we decided to come by here,” Agent Smith explained.

  “Yes, he has, but we haven’t seen him in a few days now.”

  “Well, thank you for your time.” Agent Smith said and walked away.

  The three men left and got into their car. They quickly drove away. They were in a hurry to get to the hospital. Agent Smith wanted to know who the injured friend was, but he didn’t want to ask Turner’s wife.

  “Why are we going to the hospital, Agent Smith?” The agent driving asked.

  “I want to know who Pastor Turner is seeing at the hospital. We didn’t see or pass a police car on our way down here. We should’ve seen them.”

  “Maybe they went a different way,” the driver suggested.

  “No. The sheriff sounded really excited on the phone. He was very determined to get Emerson out of here. He would’ve taken the quickest route, and that’s the route we came in on,” Smith explained.

  “We better find him. It’s not looking good for us in this investigation. If we go down, then you go down Smith,” the man in the back seat declared as he looked out the window.

  “I know. We’ll get Emerson and kill hi
m before we get him back to Charlotte.”

  “It sounds like he’s got himself into some trouble while he was here,” the driver added.

  “Damn sure does. Good for us, though!” Smith agreed.

  Regina took a shortcut to the hospital and went straight to Stormie’s room and found her still unconscious. Sissy had gone outside for a break. She was standing at the corner of the building when the three FBI agents arrived. Sissy saw one agent go inside while the other two came over and smoked a cigarette near the corner where she was, but they did not see her.

  “This better be quick. I want this all over, and I want that rat Emerson in the ground tonight,” Sissy heard one of the men say.

  “Don’t worry, I think Agent Smith will get the information we need. We’ll find Emerson, and we’ll be out of here pretty soon. Then we’ll be back in Miami doing what we do best; making money. Agent Emerson will be dead along with any other loose ends in this town,” she heard the other one say.

  Regina was coming downstairs when she saw Sissy hurrying along the hallway. Regina told Sissy about the FBI men coming to her house, and Sissy told her what she heard the FBI men say outside.

  “What do we do?” Sissy asked frantically.

  “I don’t know, but…” Regina said when she looked over and saw Sam coming in through the emergency room. She ran over and hugged him.

  “Where’s your father?” She asked.

  “He’s in the car with Willie and Mr. Nathan. He’s hurt bad,” Sam said.

  “Who’s hurt bad?” Regina asked quickly.

  “Mr. Nathan is. He’s been burned, and I think he was shot,” Sam said through the tears.

  “Sissy stay with him,” Regina said as she ran out the doors while Sissy comforted the distraught Sam.

  When Regina got outside the hospital, she found Preacher and Willie getting ready to take Nathan out of the car. She ran over and stopped them. She looked at the severely injured Nathan in the back seat and didn’t recognize him.

  “You can’t bring him in. There are three FBI men here, and they’re here to kill him,” she explained.

  “Why?” Preacher asked in amazement.

  “I don’t know, but they are.”

  “He needs help now!”

  “I know! I got it! I’m going back inside to get some supplies. Stay here until I get back.”

  Regina ran inside, and a few minutes later, she returned with a gurney and bandages. She wrapped Nathan’s face and torso. Then she and Preacher loaded him on the stretcher.

  “I’ll take ‘Mr. Arrington’ inside,” Regina announced and looked at her husband for approval. Preacher looked up and didn’t know what to say at first.

  “I got it! You take good care of… ‘Mr. Arrington,’” he responded and then kissed her.

  “This is all on you now. Come up with a good story,” Regina advised as she took the injured ‘Benjamin Arrington’ inside.

  PART III

  SOME SECRETS MUST BE TOLD

  Final Chapter

  Saturday, June 1,

  The Present

  Jaxson had stopped reading and just sat there listening intently to the two of them tell the story of FBI Agent Nathan Emerson. When they finished, Jaxson sat there for a moment, looking off toward Taylor Creek deep in thought. Stormie picked up the photo once more and looked at the clearly visible University of Oklahoma class ring that Jaxson had found on the finger of the man whose face was bandaged. The man that Stormie had fallen in love with so many years ago.

  “So, your father, William Turner, Preacher, came up with the cover-up story?” Jaxson asked.

  “We all did,” Stormie answered. She then told the secret that had to be told.

  “Preacher told Agent Smith that he and his sons had gone over to the Arrington House that night to look for Ben. They saw Sheriff Carter fighting with Amos in the front of the house. Amos got loose and ran into the house, and Sheriff Carter followed. A few minutes later, without warning, flames were coming from the upstairs area of the house, and then there was an explosion shortly after. Preacher, without thinking about his own safety, ran into the house and found Ben Arrington lying on the floor covered in flames. Preacher dragged him out of the fire, and that’s when Ben told Preacher that Amos had kidnapped him and was going to kill him when the sheriff arrived and stopped him. During the commotion, Agent Emerson somehow got out of his handcuffs and shot Ben, who tried to stop him from escaping. He then ran away, never to be seen again.

  Agent Smith stayed in town only long enough to take photos and to collect what evidence he needed to point blame onto Nathan for multiple murders. He left Beaufort with the other two men. He eventually returned and questioned me a few weeks later when I was conscious. I confirmed that I had a brief affair, regrettably, with Agent Emerson and that I tried to end it. Agent Emerson became violent and tried to kill me. They also tried to speak to Ben. Unfortunately, Ben’s throat was damaged by the fire, and he had to write his statement. He remained in bandages for the better part of six months, healing from the burns to his face. Agent Smith took those photos of me and Nathan.

  The bodies of Amos, Sheriff Carter, and the real Benjamin Arrington were never recovered from the fire. Rhett Jenkins helped remove the fire debris from the property, and he, along with Preacher and his sons, dumped it all somewhere deep in the Atlantic Ocean. Rhett admitted to Preacher, sometime later, that he was the one that had discovered Ida Freeman’s body and that he had called the sheriff anonymously.”

  “What about Agent Emerson’s car?” Jaxson asked.

  “My father took Nathan’s car and hid it in the woods. He kept its whereabouts a secret until the day he died. The car remained hidden until a few days ago when the road crew found it and alerted you,” Will explained.

  Stormie then described how she and Nathan moved with Sissy to California, where they lived as Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Arrington. Nathan went into real estate law, where he was very successful. She told Jaxson that it was easy for them to start over in California because no one knew them there. Sissy eventually married her man friend in New Bern, and the two of them lived in California as well, until Sissy passed away ten years ago.

  Nathan still had many scars from that night, but Stormie never saw anything except the man whom she had fallen in love with on Taylor Creek. Will told how his father had secretly married Nathan and Stormie on the dock of their home overlooking Taylor Creek a year later. Stormie never sold the home, and she and Nathan occasionally returned in secret to Taylor Creek and cruised the waters in her boat.

  Jaxson thanked Stormie and Will for sharing the truth with him, and the three of them decided that it was time for it to be told. It was time for Agent Nathan Emerson to be found. Agent Locke returned to Charlotte, and he began a follow-up investigation and found that Agent Smith had been executed by drug smugglers along with three other agents in Miami in 1971. At the time of his death, he was under investigation by the bureau.

  After a lengthy review by his supervisors, Agent Locke, Stormie, and Will were able to resurrect Agent Nathan Emerson posthumously. Mrs. Nathan Emerson was presented with a plaque from the President of the United States in recognition of her husband’s selfless sacrifice in the pursuit to correct an injustice done to others.

  The marriage certificate that Preacher had completed was also recognized and accepted by local officials finally officially recognizing Stormie as Mrs. Nathan Emerson.

  Epilogue

  Jaxson sat in his recliner, relaxing while he watched the National Evening News. He was finally finished with Agent Nathan Emerson’s case and was looking forward to starting something new in the morning. He expected that he would be back in his office tomorrow. There he would review unsolved cold cases or new cases that different law enforcement agencies needed help with in finding answers or new leads.

  “In National News, law enforcement officials are still searching for the former police officer, Jacob Mean, who is wanted for questioning in the murder of at least three
people.”

  “Wow! I bet Axel is going out of his mind right now.” Jaxson whispered to himself.

  “In other news from around the nation, the body of a young woman was found earlier this morning under a beach house in Pensacola, Florida. The beach house belongs to a missing woman, but authorities are not saying if the body is that of the missing woman,” the female news correspondent announced live from in front of the yellow and black police tape that protected the crime scene in the background.

  Television viewers had a great view of the large beach house that was illuminated in the darkness with the use of large floodlights.

  Jaxson was intently listening to the news when suddenly his cell phone alerted him to a text that he had received. He reached over and picked it up off the end table.

  I was pleased with how quickly you solved the Nathan Emerson case in Beaufort, North Carolina, after nearly fifty-five years. I look forward to seeing how fast you solve your new case in Pensacola, Florida.

  SKO

  Jaxson was confused by the text, and for a few seconds, he thought about everyone he knew with those initials but couldn’t come up with anyone. He was looking through his contacts in his cell phone when suddenly it rang.

  “Hello,” he answered.

  “Jaxson, Steve Overton here,” the male voice on the other end announced. Jaxson quickly recognized his boss’s voice on the other end.

  “Steve, what can I do for you?”

  “Sorry to call you so late, but we need you down in Pensacola, Florida.”

  “Yeah, I just saw on the news that a woman’s body was found under a beach house. Why am I going out to investigate a single homicide?” Jaxson asked because usually, his involvement in a homicide required that there be something serial in nature which needed three or more victims.

  But, before Steve could answer, Jaxson knew the answer to the question.