In God I Trust, Pastor E. J. Freeman”
“This is the most outrageous story I have ever heard!”
“Let’s put him on the box.” Knight’s voice had a rich, James Earl Jones sound. Some officers had nicknamed him “Danny DeVito” because of his height and round frame. Officers could be cruel! To his knowledge, besides being playfully called a “country bumpkin” because of his faint Southern accent, Troy had escaped unflattering nicknames. He was in excellent shape for his age and was what his wife described as “eye candy.” Jon was noticeably taller than DeVito. To Troy, he looked more like the Caucasian, slightly slimmer version of CeeLo Green. “Once he fails, that’ll give us an advantage.”
“Cool. We need to check him for gun powder residue as well. You handle crazy man while I talk more with the husband.”
In another room, Chad Gordon sat hunched over, bawling, not even bothering to lift his head when Troy entered. Troy waited a second. For a moment, Troy wished he’d traded places with Jon. It was hard enough to see a man cry, but seeing a thirty-four-year-old, six-three and two-hundred-something-pound man shamelessly wailing was an even bigger pill to swallow. His detective instinct said that Mr. Gordon was not involved, but Troy still had to ask him the tough questions. “Were you and your wife having marital problems? Can you think of any reason why someone would have wanted to kill her? What’s your affiliation with Saint Joseph Cathedral?”
Chad Gordon tearfully answered every one of the questions and, once he finished, started asking some of his own. “What am I going to tell our son? How can I raise him without her? Will you please find out who did this?”
“You are free to go,” Troy finally spoke up after a brief pause. No response from Chad, only more tears.
“I’m going to set my card on the table. Feel free to call me if you have any questions or think of anything else that can help us with your wife’s case.” Still nothing. “I’ll leave the door unlocked so you can go out when you’re ready. I’m sorry about your wife and please believe that we are working diligently on this case.”
“Thank you.” Chad lifted his head long enough to choke out those words. Troy backed out and let him be.
A week after the discovery of the Gordon girl’s body, Troy had taken Natalie out to dinner and a movie for her thirty-seventh birthday. Their time together was interrupted when Troy was again called to the station to meet Eric who revealed where the body of a local college student, Myesha Turner, could be found. She’d been abducted several days earlier from her dorm room. A dorm with nearly a thousand students and no one saw a thing! They found the killer’s same calling card in Myesha’s room that was in Lolita’s car, provoking a sickening feeling that a serial killer was on the loose.
The following weeks would replay like a bad nightmare with the disappearances of two other women on separate occasions. The third victim was a soccer mom, Amy Howard, who went missing one evening after she’d called 9-1-1 to report suspicions that someone was lurking outside her home. By the time officers got to the house to check things out, she was gone. The fourth was a physical therapy assistant, Michelle Rossi, who was in the middle of a patient visit when she went out to her car to get supplies and never returned.
Sadly, within six weeks of Lolita’s murder, late-night calls had become the norm as Myesha, Amy, and Michelle all met with Lolita’s same fate. Troy feared that an additional discovery would come soon since another woman, Sarah Matthews, was missing. The killer had managed to escape detection all this time. Though Eric Freeman remained at the top of Troy’s list of possible suspects, there was nothing concrete to tie him to any of the murders. He passed a lie detector test, had alibis during the times of the disappearances, tested negative for gun powder residue, and voluntarily allowed police to search his home which yielded no results, leaving Troy puzzled and frustrated. After the second victim was found, Troy knew that this case would take over his life if the killer wasn’t brought to justice soon. Now, in mid-June, four, perhaps five, victims later, every move he made revolved around this case, making it very difficult for him to balance work and family.
The department had held several press conferences within the past month to provide some answers to a demanding public that was on full alert. News reporters covered some aspect of the murders daily. The most perplexing thing for Troy was the fact that none of the victims had anything in common—different races, different ages, and different stages of life. The killer had been their only connection. They had all been kept alive between three and seven days; all had been stripped naked, but with no evidence of sexual assault; all had been found with a single gunshot wound in the head; and all discoveries were “revealed” supernaturally by God to one Eric Freeman within forty-eight hours of their deaths.
CHAPTER 3: HIGH MAINTENANCE
“It’s been five days since the disappearance of Sarah Matthews and police are no closer to finding her than they are to catching the ‘Bible Butcher’ who, so far, has abducted and killed four women. It was early last month when we first broke the story of Lolita Gordon, who disappeared after dropping her son off at school. Her body was found nearly a week later behind the church where she’d been a member for several years. In the following weeks, the bodies of Myesha Turner, Amy Howard, and Michelle Rossi were also discovered at various locations and now family and friends of Sarah Matthews fear that she may face the same fate. Police are not saying how they are finding the bodies of these women, but sources say that information is coming from an unidentified third party whom investigators are not releasing much information about at this time. The family of Sarah Matthews has issued a twenty thousand dollar reward for anyone who can offer details leading to her safe return. Stay tuned for the latest news and information as we will provide any updates we have about The Bible Butcher the moment they come in. Next up, your weather forecast for the weekend.”
“I don’t like that name,” Natalie said as they sat in bed late Friday night. The killer had been dubbed “The Bible Butcher” after the media learned of the Bibles found on each woman’s chest. “It’s stupid. It makes it sound like he’s cutting up the Bible. They should call him the ‘Mysterious Murderer’ since y’all don’t know who he is yet.”
“You do realize you just poured salt in my wounds, don’t you? I’m trying, babe.” He held up the notes he’d been going through like it was evidence in a trial. Chad Gordon called him on a weekly basis, asking if there had been any breakthroughs.
“I know, honey. I didn’t mean to imply anything. I just think the media goes too far sometimes.”
He wasn’t in the mood for this conversation. She’d get on a roll and not stop. “What time is Corrine bringing Nate home?” Their son was spending the night with his big sister, something that occurred at least once a month. Tonight was technically supposed to be their date night, but neither seemed up to going out. Natalie had gotten a few movies from Redbox® and ordered pizza, but she’d dozed off before the first movie even got started, waking up about forty minutes ago to fuss at him about working when he was supposed to be spending time with her.
“Sometime early tomorrow afternoon. She’s leaving Sunday for a business trip to Chicago, so I’m sure packing will be an all-day adventure. You know how Corrine is.”
“If she’s anything like her mama, then yes, I do know how she is.”
Natalie playfully smacked his arm as he was writing a note to himself. His hand streaked across the paper and he ended up poking himself in his left arm. “Ouch. I should arrest you for assault.”
She kissed him softly on the cheek before whispering in his ear, “If you put your work away, I won’t mind being detained. Matter of fact, why don’t you go ahead and read me my rights.”
Troy smiled. He was more than happy to oblige her request.
• • •
“We found her.” It was after two the next morning when Jon called.
Troy sighed. Sarah… “Same M.O.?”
“Exactly the same. From the look
s of things, rigor mortis has completely set in so she’s been dead at least twelve hours, but we’ll know for sure after the autopsy.”
Troy swore loudly enough that Natalie stirred. She hated when he cursed, but right now he didn’t care.
“Did the whack job report this one, too?”
“Yep. Claims he received another message from God. He volunteered to wait at the station. You’d better get here quick if you want to survey the entire scene. The techs are moving fast. It won’t be long before they take the body.”
Troy got the location from Jon and wasted no time getting out of bed.
“Another body?” Natalie asked.
“Yep.” He didn’t want to let on how much this case was getting to him. “You know the routine.” They’d been married nearly four years, but Troy knew that Natalie didn’t like nor had she gotten used to his job. He enjoyed what he did, for the most part. He’d sworn to protect the citizens and catch those who violated the law. But, he was having a hard time catching the killer or proving that Freeman was guilty. Be it Freeman or someone else, this maniac had killed five women in a little over a month. Time was of the essence.
As Troy dressed, Natalie did her usual routine—she silently prayed while getting up and heading downstairs. “I don’t want any coffee!” he yelled after her. No response. Had she heard him?
Man, he loved that woman! Marrying her was the best decision he’d ever made and he never wanted to take her for granted. He remembered all too well how he almost foolishly lost her when they were dating. But now he thanked God, not only for her, but for their soon-to-be three-year-old son. The two of them brought much needed joy into his life. He hoped they’d fill at least one of the two empty rooms with another little one in the near future.
Nowadays, his wife and son were the only reasons he ever really took the time to thank God. That’s not to say that he didn’t believe in Him. Troy’s faith had been strong at one point, especially when a buddy of his got killed during a routine traffic stop several years back. It was definitely strong when he and Natalie initially married. It went downhill the last few years as all the crap he’d witnessed on his job began to get under his skin. Sometimes he wondered how true it was that God never slept nor slumbered. Where was He when the father shot and killed his two young sons because he didn’t want the mom to get custody? Where was He when the Hampton girl’s murder was being plotted? Where was He during this last month or so when some sick scum bag blew out the brains of defenseless women? He could only imagine what Chad and the other victims’ families were experiencing. So much tragedy in life seemed to happen under the watchful eye of The Almighty that Troy wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.
Troy started to peek into little man’s room before remembering he wasn’t there. Downstairs, Natalie was in the kitchen at the island reading her Bible. Seriously? It was too early in the morning for that. At least there was no coffee thermal waiting for him.
They said their usual good-byes and shared a quick kiss and then he said, “Make sure you lock up and turn on the alarm.”
“Bye, Troy.” She nudged him out the door, rolling her eyes. She hated his “dumb” instructions as she called them. Yes, Troy knew that Natalie would lock the door and turn on the alarm, but with an apparent serial killer on the loose, he needed to say it. If not for her sake, then for himself.
He hopped into his Navigator, cranked up the AC and backed out of the garage, not daring to leave until the door had come down securely. He then peeled out and headed to where Sarah Matthews, aka victim number five, was waiting.
CHAPTER 4: THE MOST HIGH
“Evans! What’s up, man? How’s that pretty-looking wife and son of yours doing?” one of the investigators asked.
Ignoring the question, Troy slipped on shoe covers and coldly brushed his way past everyone to find Jon Knight. He was not one to engage in small talk at moments like this. Everyone should know that by now!
Sarah had been found in an abandoned warehouse on Columbus’s west side. The strong stench of her body was apparent way before Troy reached her. Knight was speaking with Paula when he arrived. “You got any information for me?” he asked while taking pics of her on his cell phone in case it took longer than he wanted to get the official ones.
“Not a single thing,” Knight replied. Troy was actually speaking to Paula, but he really didn’t care who answered him, he was hoping for some new discovery. “As you see,” Knight continued, “her legs have been straightened and her arms spread in cross-like fashion, just like the others.”
Troy nodded. That was the first thing he’d noticed along with the Bible that lay across her chest.
“There’s something interesting about this victim,” Paula chimed in, kneeling next to her body. She pulled loose strands of her blonde hair to the side and took a picture. “She has a bruise on the side of her face.”
“From what?” Troy moved closer to get a better look.
“We’ll have to get her to the lab and let the M.E. analyze it for sure, but it looks like some type of blunt force trauma…maybe from a gun?”
“Anything else?”
“Footprints,” Jon answered. “But you know the deal with that.”
Various sizes had been found at the other scenes, none matching each other or Eric. “Unless we find a print that has Eric Freeman engraved on the sole, we might as well have nothing.”
• • •
Hours later, Troy was at the station ready to interrogate Freeman once again. He was determined to catch this jerk and when he was that motivated to wrap up a case, it was hard for him to delegate questioning to someone else.
Eric Freeman sat in the interrogation room, dressed in an outfit eerily similar to the one he wore when Troy first interviewed him. It was probably ten degrees hotter this night than it was six weeks ago—way too hot for a sweater vest.
“Detective Evans, what a shock to see you.” Freeman’s sarcasm did not go unnoticed.
“I’m surprised you’re not communing with the Father tonight. He must not have any additional dead bodies to secretly reveal to you.”
“I am not a killer.”
“I see someone’s feeling self-conscious.”
“I’m as tired of this as you are. I’ve continuously prayed that you are able to find the person who is hurting these women. I’ve prayed for all their souls, even the lady who was found tonight.”
“Her name was Sarah.” He threw down pictures of her body that he’d printed from his phone. “Eric, why did you do this to her?”
Troy watched as Freeman’s face tensed. A reaction he’d expected. “How many times must I tell you, it’s Pastor Freeman.” Though Troy found humor in the great offense Freeman took whenever anyone called him by his first name, comedy wasn’t what he was after. He wanted to unnerve Eric, get him on edge and hopefully talking. “You really need to learn to respect the Lord’s anointed. I did not do this.” He closed the folder with the pictures and slid them back to Troy’s side of the table.
“How did you know where her body would be?”
“Like I have told you on several occasions about the others, God specifically told me where to find her.”
“You know what, Eric?” Troy’s voice was stern. “I’m not buying this vision crap. You are like any of the other coo-coo birds who come in claiming to be psychic—”
“I am not a psychic!” The table shook when he pounded his fist. “I am a prophet of the Most High, not some devilish psychic. It is my Heavenly Father who makes it possible for me to do what I do.”
This was the first time that Troy had gotten this far under Freeman’s skin. The first time he’d witnessed such aggressiveness that was indicative of his ability to kill. “Is that why you hit Sarah Matthews? Did she call you a psychic instead of a prophet as you claim to be?”
Clenched jaws and short quick breaths, Freeman seethed with anger. “Detective Evans, you are antagonizing me. I’m done talking to you. Since I’m not under arrest, I assume I�
�m free to leave. If not, I’d like to call my attorney.”
The man had never before asked for an attorney. By law, Troy had to oblige. Against his own desire, he softened his tone and played into Freeman’s ego. “Pastor Freeman, you are free to leave or call an attorney so we can continue questioning. It’s up to you. I want this to be over before anyone else gets hurt. If you know more about these murders than what you’ve let on, now is the time to talk—after you call your attorney, of course.”
“What more do you want from me? I’ve been subjected to all kinds of invasive procedures. You’ve searched my home, my car, and I spend hours here each time one of these women goes from life on to eternity. I have told you everything I know. I can only reveal to you what is made known to me by my Father at the time of His choosing.”
“Danggit, Eric! I’m tired of playing this game with you. Five women have been murdered and you have been connected to all of them! Quit screwing around and tell me what you know!” Troy leaped across the table, grabbing Eric by his collar. Within seconds, Jon and another officer burst in the room and pulled him away.
“Evans, chill!” Knight ordered. “You went too far this time.”
Moments later, as Eric was escorted out of the interrogation room, he and Troy glared at each other. Just wait, you fake prophet punk. I will get you! Troy only hoped that no one else had to die before he had the evidence to put Freeman away for good.
CHAPTER 5: PRICELESS
It was around two on Saturday afternoon when Troy finally made it home. He saw his stepdaughter’s silver Eclipse out front and walked into his home to find Natalie and Corrine sitting at the kitchen table playing a game of Leap Frog with Nate.
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