Dead Rise: An Alex Penfield Novel

by Robert W. Stephens

  Emma finally opened her eyes. She tried to think of something that would bring her happiness, but nothing came to her. All she could see in her mind was the man with the deformed face. He would come for her again, and she had no idea what he would take next.

  Chapter 27

  Wilton

  Penfield was halfway to the sheriff’s department when his phone rang. He made a quick right turn into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant as he answered the call.

  “This is Penfield.”

  “You’ll find the next piece at the cemetery.”

  “I know who you are.”

  He expected to get a reply, but all he heard on the other end was the man’s labored breathing.

  “You were there the morning Jimmy died. You saw what happened. Tell me what you saw,” Penfield continued.

  “You know nothing.”

  “I know your name. Isn’t that something?”

  Penfield waited a moment for his words to sink in. The man didn’t respond.

  “Four brothers. One dies as a child. One commits suicide in jail after brutally murdering his father. Another sits in jail as we speak for a crime he didn’t commit. That leaves only one son. I’ve been told that he died years ago, yet the DNA says otherwise. So something that can’t be true must, in fact, be true. Your name is Wilton Tatum. You’re the oldest son of Sally and Bill Tatum.”

  “Wilton is dead,” the man said.

  “Did you know Bobby was going to hang himself? Was that part of your plan?”

  Penfield heard the man’s breathing get louder.

  “Does that upset you? I’m guessing you didn’t know he was going to do that.”

  “He paid for his sins.”

  “Maybe, but what were his sins? What did he do?”

  “Is the detective your friend? Is she more than that? Do you love her?” the man asked.

  “Am I getting too close? Is that why you’re changing the subject?”

  “She’s crying for you. She keeps asking why you haven’t come for her.”

  “Now I know you’re lying. She would never do that. She has no fear.”

  “You haven’t looked into her eyes like I have.”

  “You don’t have long until I find you. You know that, don’t you?”

  “It won’t matter. I’ll be gone soon, and all of this will be just a dark memory.”

  “What did Ben Hall and Lucas Slater do to you? What did your father do to you, or did they all do something to someone else? I can’t help you with Slater if you don’t tell me what you want from him.”

  “The cemetery. That’s where you’ll find it.”

  The call ended. Penfield had listened hard to background noise, anything that might give him some clue as to where the man might be keeping Emma, but once again, he heard nothing other than the man’s breathing.

  Penfield dialed the sheriff’s department and asked to speak with Sheriff Slater. He was told he was unavailable, so Penfield asked that he call him as soon as possible.

  He pulled out of the parking lot and drove toward the cemetery. Fortunately, it was in the same direction as the sheriff’s department. The traffic was heavy, and Penfield hit every red light. He cursed his inability to blow through the lights like he’d been able to do when he was still a police officer. He finally arrived at the cemetery and drove the narrow roads to the back section where Bill and Bobby Tatum had been buried. He climbed out of his car and walked across the soft grass to their gravestones. He expected to immediately find another cardboard box, but there wasn’t one. He looked behind the gravestones, but the box wasn’t there either.

  He walked toward the tree line that bordered the cemetery since it was a similar setting to the one at the marina. He walked along that line for at least fifty yards, but the box wasn’t there. Penfield walked back to the gravestones and kneeled down to the ground. Maybe Wilton Tatum hadn’t left anything in box. Maybe he’d simply thrown it on the ground. Penfield searched through the grass for several minutes, but he didn’t find anything.

  He stood and looked around the area. He still had no idea where Emma was being kept, and he was pretty sure Wilton knew that. It didn’t make sense that Wilton would send him on a wild goose chase. He thought the man wanted him to find the next body part. He wanted to punish Penfield for his involvement.

  Another thought then occurred to him. Wilton blamed Ben Hall for some transgression. Maybe the box was at his gravesite. Penfield jogged back to his car and made the short drive to the other side of the cemetery. He parked again and walked over to the Hall’s gravestone. He saw the names of Ben and his wife. The cardboard box wasn’t there. He looked around and saw a tree just several feet away. It was nowhere near as tall as the one in the Tatums’ backyard, but it reminded Penfield of that one. It had low, thick branches that would make it an excellent climbing tree for children. Penfield walked over to the tree. There was no box sitting beside the trunk on the ground. He looked up and saw the box balanced on one of the lower limbs.

  Penfield was a tall man, so he was able to easily reach the box. He pulled it down and opened the lid. He saw one of Emma’s ears inside. There was blood on and around the ear. The flesh was torn in jagged cuts, so he knew it hadn’t been a quick and clean slice to remove it. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Emma to have experienced that. Then he wondered if Emma was still alive. Maybe these dissections had been done postmortem.

  He tucked the box under his arm and ran toward his car. He would go to the sheriff’s department and meet with Slater, whether Slater wanted to or not.

  Chapter 28

  You Know What’s Happening

  Henry Atwater Interrogation. Twenty-One, November. Audio Transcription. Part 3.

  Slater: Tell me what you’ve done with her.

  Atwater: I don’t know where she is.

  Slater: You cut her finger off and put it in that box.

  Atwater: How could I do that? Your men found me in that hotel. Was she in the room? Did you find any evidence that she was ever there? How could I even hope to overpower her at my age?

  Slater: The hotel is less than fifteen minutes from the marina. It would have been easy for you to get back in time.

  Atwater: I don’t know what he’s doing to her. All I know is that she’s been taken.

  Slater: Who are you working with? Is it Penfield? I’ve heard of that happening before.

  Atwater: You’ve heard of what happening?

  Slater: I find it interesting that you and Penfield were the only ones who claim to have seen the boy. Detective Ross found no evidence of a boy’s presence in the woods and at the gravesite, which makes sense. There was no boy. We all know that’s impossible.

  Atwater: I saw what I saw.

  Slater: Maybe you really believe you did. I won’t pretend to know what’s inside that head of yours. Maybe you’ve convinced Penfield of these things, too. You’ve groomed him. You’ve turned him into your assistant.

  Atwater: You know, don’t you?

  Slater: So I’m right?

  Atwater: You know what’s happening. How do you know the boy? Did you kill him yourself?

  Note: Laughter heard on recording.

  Slater: You think I pushed Jimmy Tatum out of that tree?

  Atwater: You know I don’t have anything to do with this. Neither does Alex, but you’re in here wasting time when you should be out looking for Detective Ross.

  Slater: Don’t tell me how to do my job. I have most of the force looking for her.

  Atwater: What are you hiding? What did you do?

  Slater: You’re obsessed with Alex Penfield. You kidnapped him as a child. Now you’ve created this elaborate show to finally break him.

  Atwater: No one will believe that. You don’t even believe that.

  Note: Sound of door knocking and then door opening in the background.

  Unidentified Female Voice: Sir, I’m sorry to bother you, but an Alex Penfield is here to see you. He said he knows who too
k Detective Ross.

  Chapter 29

  The Map

  Sheriff Slater exited the interview room. He turned to Deputy Baker and pointed back to the door.

  “Make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Where’s Penfield?”

  “I took him to your office.”

  Slater walked past the deputy without saying another word and headed down the hallway. He made two quick turns that brought him to his office. He walked inside and saw Penfield standing beside one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. Slater was about to say something when he spotted a cardboard box on it.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “I’m assuming your team got to the marina and found the first box I called about.”

  “That’s the next piece,” Slater said, as he realized one of Penfield’s other reasons for being there.

  “We don’t have much time before the next call.”

  Slater turned back to Penfield.

  “My deputy said you know who’s doing this.”

  “Where’s Henry Atwater?”

  “He’s in one of the interrogation rooms.”

  “Why did you detain him?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? The man’s involved.”

  “What evidence are you basing this on?”

  “You should know. You provided it.”

  “How’s that?”

  “By what you told Detective Ross. The details of his dream. They perfectly match what’s been happening around here.”

  “He knows things. I don’t know how, but he does.”

  “Do you really believe that? He’s manipulating you. You know that, don’t you?” Slater asked.

  “You should release him now. He can’t help you if he’s locked up.”

  “I’ll release him once I’m certain he has nothing to do with Detective Ross’ disappearance.”

  “Atwater didn’t take her. Wilton Tatum did.”

  “That’s impossible. He died in a car crash.”

  “Yet his grave is nowhere to be found, either in their family graveyard nor the one where Bill and Bobby Tatum are buried,” Penfield said.

  “He was probably buried in California. It can’t be cheap to ship a body back here. I’m sure they didn’t have the money.”

  “His mother said something to me this morning after I asked her about the intruder. She kept saying it was her son. At first, I thought she really believed her dead son had somehow come back to life. Now I realize that I just misunderstood her. She actually told me who he was. She just didn’t use his name.”

  “So Wilton Tatum has the same deformity as his brother?” Slater asked.

  “He’s making people look just like him, and he’s killing them in the process.”

  “Let’s say you’re right. How does this help us? Where is he now?”

  “I need to speak with Charles Ray Tatum. I think he knows.”

  Slater hesitated a long moment.

  Then he said, “Wait here.”

  Penfield watched as Slater turned and headed out of the office. Penfield waited for at least ten minutes. Then a deputy appeared and asked him to follow her. She led him down a hallway where he saw three interview rooms. Penfield looked through the narrow window in the door of the first room. He saw Henry Atwater inside. The old man was sitting at the table and staring ahead. He turned and looked directly at Penfield a second later. His face was expressionless, and his eyes were as cold as ever.

  The deputy took Penfield to the last interview room. She knocked once on the door and then opened it. Penfield saw Slater was already seated at the table. Charles Ray was sitting on the opposite side.

  “You can go in now,” Deputy Baker said.

  She held the door open, and Penfield walked inside. Baker followed him in and closed the door behind her. Penfield walked toward the table but stopped a few feet behind Slater. Baker stayed in front of the door as if she were blocking anyone from coming or going.

  Slater turned back to Penfield. They looked at each other for a brief moment. Then Slater turned to Charles Ray.

  “This is Mr. Penfield. I believe you two have met,” Slater said.

  Charles Ray looked over to Penfield. Then he turned back to Slater.

  “Mr. Penfield has an interesting theory. He thinks your brother, Wilton, is still alive,” Slater said.

  Penfield watched for Charles Ray’s reaction. The look of surprise on his face seemed genuine.

  “That’s impossible. He died when I was still a teenager.”

  “Your mother had been staying with you since the break-in. Is that correct?” Slater asked.

  Charles Ray nodded.

  “Did she ever mention Wilton?”

  “She barely said anything. I think she’s spoken all of five words since she’s been there.”

  “So she never mentioned the possibility that it could have been Wilton?”

  “No.”

  Penfield removed his phone from his pocket and walked over to the table. He found the correct photograph on his display and handed the phone to Charles Ray.

  “I’m sure you’ve seen that picture before,” Penfield said.

  “No. Never.”

  “Your mother was holding it when I went to see her this morning.”

  Charles Ray looked at the photograph more closely.

  “She said it was taken right before Jimmy’s disease started,” Penfield continued.

  “I don’t remember him ever looking like this,” Charles Ray said.

  “How well do you even remember him?” Slater asked.

  “I remember.”

  “Were you outside the day Jimmy died?” Penfield asked.

  “No. My mother said I was inside with her. I know they were crying. I remember seeing the ambulance coming to the house, but I never saw Jimmy. They wouldn’t let me see him.”

  “You should be glad. It’s the only thing that’s kept you alive,” Penfield said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your mother didn’t tell you?” Penfield asked.

  “Tell me what?”

  “That your brother was murdered.”

  “He fell out of the tree. It was an accident.”

  “It was no accident,” Penfield said.

  “Why do you think that? What did my mother say?”

  “She said he was still alive when she came out of the house.”

  “I saw the boy. He was too far gone by the time we got there,” Slater said.

  “You were there?” Charles Ray asked.

  “Your father tried to save him. There wasn’t anything anyone could do.”

  Charles Ray turned to Penfield.

  “You didn’t answer me before. Why do you think Wilton is still alive?”

  “Try to remember. How did your parents tell you Wilton was gone?” Penfield asked.

  “It was a weekend. Bobby and I were watching a football game. I remember it was the Redskins versus the Eagles. My dad came in the room and said Wilton had died in a car accident. Then he walked out.”

  “What did your mother say?” Penfield asked.

  “She wasn’t there. I remember it was strange because Dad said she’d gone to church, but she didn’t come back that night. We didn’t see her until the next day.”

  “Where did she go?” Slater asked.

  “I don’t know. We asked her if she knew about Wilton, and she told us never to talk about it.”

  “Why was that?” Penfield asked.

  “I think it was too painful for her, especially after what happened to Jimmy.”

  “Do you know why the body wasn’t returned to Gloucester?”

  “Dad said Wilton’s girlfriend had him cremated out there. I thought she would send the ashes, but she never did.”

  “What was the name of his girlfriend?” Penfield asked.

  “I don’t know. I never met her.”

  “Why did Wilton even leave for California? That’s a hell of a long way f
rom Gloucester,” Penfield said.

  “He just wanted to get away. He always talked about leaving.”

  “But did he talk about California? Usually when people say they want to leave, they have a place in mind.”

  “No. He never said where he wanted to go, just that he wanted out.”

  “Do you know why?” Penfield asked.

  “Mom said she thought it was because he missed Jimmy. She said he wasn’t the same after Jimmy died.”

  “When was the last time you spoke to Wilton?” Slater asked.

  “The day he left for California.”

  “You never talked to him after he left? He never called the family?” Slater asked.

  “I don’t know. I don’t ever remember them saying he did.”

  “Why did you run from Detective Ross the other day? You hadn’t done anything wrong,” Penfield said.

  Charles Ray looked away.

  “Why did you run?” Penfield asked again.

  Charles Ray turned back. He looked past Slater to Penfield.

  “I saw what they did to Bobby.”

  Penfield saw Slater’s face fill with rage.

  “You think we did that? It was your brother’s guilt that did it,” Slater said.

  “You should have been watching him. How long was he hanging before someone found him?”

  Penfield cut in before Slater could respond and escalate the argument.

  “He took her, Charles Ray. Your brother took Detective Ross. He cut her finger off. He cut her ear off. He’s slicing her up piece by piece.”

  “My brother’s dead. He couldn’t be doing this.”

  “Tell us where she’s being kept,” Slater said.

  “How would I know?”

  “It’s close to the water. Maybe it’s even on the water. Maybe he’s living on a boat. Does your family own another one?” Penfield asked.

  “We did, but we had to sell it a long time ago.”

  “Think of where he might be. Is there a house near the water that you know about where he could be hiding? Do you have a relative who might be protecting him?” Penfield asked.