Deadly Sins

by Stacy M Jones

  “What are you thinking, Luke? Maime’s not dead, not really missing?” Cooper asked incredulously.

  “That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Luke said defeated. He pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table with Emma and Cooper. “I think we missed the signs. Maime’s been gone long enough that her body should have turned up. Not to mention, we’ve been so focused on George and the fact that he had motive for each woman. If you think about it, Maime had just enough motive, too.”

  Cooper said, “It would explain her dropping off her car and leaving voluntarily. It would also explain the jewelry. Unless George is a really good actor, he really didn’t know about the jewelry.”

  Then he asked, “You said Riley left with George?”

  “I’ll interview the kid again to double check,” Luke said and then turned to Cooper and asked, “Can you go relieve your other investigator and keep an eye on Norwalk to see if he leads you to anyone?”

  Cooper agreed and headed for his truck.

  Luke made one more call before leaving Riley’s house. “Send a unit over and bring in Dean Beaumont immediately.”

  CHAPTER 82

  I SLOWLY OPENED MY EYES. They slid closed again. It was a struggle to keep them open. Squinting, all I saw was a dusty hardwood floor. Feeling was starting to come back to my limbs. My arms and legs were burning and itching. I couldn’t focus on a thought. It was a little like how I felt once waking up after surgery. My mouth was dry and my head throbbed.

  As I struggled to wake up, I realized I couldn’t move my arms or legs. My arms were tied behind my back. My legs were tied at my ankles. I tried to right myself into a sitting position, but it was a no go. My right shoulder throbbed from holding my weight on my side. My neck was resting at an odd angle to the floor.

  I shivered against the cold air. I had been stripped of my clothes and laid there wearing only my bra and panties. My exposed skin had a rash of goose bumps. Wherever I was, it wasn’t heated. The cool air danced across my bare skin.

  I stretched my body around and rolled onto my back. Staring up at the ceiling, all I saw was the same kind of wood beams that covered the floor. It was almost like being stuck in a very large wooden box. I laid there looking up at the ceiling trying to recall the last memory I had. I was in the truck with George. I worked over time trying to grasp for details. A voice jolted me back to the present.

  “Oh, so you are alive. I thought he might have killed you already,” a woman said off to my right. I couldn’t see her and

  couldn’t quite make out the voice. It was familiar.

  The floor creaked. There was a distinct stomp of a high heel against the floor. Wherever she was, she seemed to be gaining ground coming closer to where I was lying. I felt the cold nudge of a shoe against my bare side. I forced open my eyes and looked up. Maime was looking down at me.

  It took me a few seconds to take her in. Maime was dressed in jeans and a long sleeve purple shirt with a white lacy tank under it. Her hair looked freshly washed, her make-up was done. She was even wearing jewelry. I got the impression she was fine and in control. Far from dead or the kidnapped victim we believed she was.

  “You’re fatter than I remember,” she said, looking down at me.

  There’s a lot she could have said to me, but leave it to Maime to take the easy insult. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. I also had to admit a part of me wasn’t really surprised to see her alive. She was holding a gun in her left hand. It looked similar to my Glock, which I should have brought with me. I left it in my dresser not thinking I’d need a gun with George.

  “What is going on?” I asked, forcing myself up and into a sitting position. It took more strength than I realized I had left. “Where are my clothes?”

  “We took them off of you while you were unconscious. Didn’t you find all the other women like that? You know you’re next,” Maime taunted me, waving the gun at me.

  Bile rose in my throat. I didn’t think there was anyone I hated as much as her — for the things she was doing now and the things she did to me then. I wanted nothing more than to take a swing at her, but tied up, I didn’t stand a chance.

  I leaned back against the wall for support and took in my surroundings. I was on the floor against the back wall of some kind of cabin. It seemed to be one big room with a kitchen off to my left. The room in front of me had some sparse furniture and a bed off to the far right corner against the opposite wall. The door leading outside was directly across from me in the middle.

  As I scanned the room, my eyes rested on George who sat in a chair in the middle of the room. So far he hadn’t said a word. He had been so quiet, I hadn’t realized Maime and I weren’t alone. George looked like someone had beat him within an inch of his life.

  “Who did that to you, George? Why did you bring me here?” I asked angrily. I was surprised how hoarse my voice sounded, like I hadn’t spoken for hours. Maybe I hadn’t. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

  He didn’t answer. He looked pretty messed up. There was dried blood caked on his face. His right eye and nose was badly swollen and bruised. More dried blood covered his shirt.

  Maime walked over and kissed him on the lips. I couldn’t tell if George kissed her back or not. He hardly moved. I realized then that he was bound as well. His arms remained behind his back, and his ankles were also tied. He at least was still dressed.

  “Maime, what is going on? What do you think you’re doing?” I groaned.

  “Kissing my husband. What does it look like I’m doing?” Maime quipped back at me.

  I didn’t have time for games. I knew there was no way she could kidnap and kill all these women by herself. I was struggling to make sense of it all.

  “George, answer me. What is going on? Why did you bring me here?” I asked.

  I struggled against the ties on my wrists. I didn’t have much room to wiggle them around. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get loose. They were tied pretty tight. I worked my hands anyway. I could feel the rope cutting into my wrists, leaving marks and probably making me bleed. I didn’t care. I needed to untie myself.

  Maime walked over to me. She squatted down and pointed the gun directly at my forehead. I felt the cold metal against my skin.

  “You don’t tell my husband what to do anymore. Got it? You’re a man-stealing loser.”

  She didn’t pull the trigger. Instead, she cuffed me on the side of the head hard with the gun. She drew blood. It trickled down the side of my temple and down my face. My vision blurred, but I remained conscious.

  I watched Maime closely. I noticed her eyes. Her pupils were dilated. She looked a little twitchy. It was obvious then she was high on something.

  She walked back to George who still hadn’t spoken. If I hadn’t seen his eyes on me, I might have thought he was dead. He hardly moved as Maime climbed onto his lap and kissed his cheek.

  Maime held up George’s chin and forced him to look over at me. She whined, “Look at her. She’s a mess. She’s never been as pretty as me. How could you choose her instead of me, Georgie? Tell me.”

  “Maybe because I’m not a psycho,” I spit out barely above a whisper. She was getting on my last nerve.

  She abruptly stood, aimed the gun at my head, and squeezed off a round that passed so close to my ear I could feel the rush of air against my face. The bullet lodged in the wall behind me. Either she intentionally missed or she was a horrible shot. I was only a few feet from her. I didn’t think I wanted to try again.

  “If I’m such a psycho, why did George trade you for me?” Maime asked with a cold, cruel smirk on her face.

  CHAPTER 83

  “WHAT IS SHE talking about, George? You traded me?” I yelled as loud as my weakened voice would allow.

  This was getting ridiculous. I wondered if Luke or Cooper or even Emma realized I was missing. There was only one visible window, but the blinds were drawn. I guessed it was late afternoon as hardly any light came through the blinds, whi
ch must have been white at one point. They were now covered in so much dirt, they looked brown.

  “Yep, he did,” Maime answered for him. “We called him and said that if he brought you here, I’d be released. I don’t think it was more than a couple hours, and George brought you right to us.”

  She turned back to George, a sick smile on her face and asked rhetorically, “Didn’t you, Georgie? That’s how much he loves me. He was willing to let you die so I could come home.”

  I stared hard at George. His eyes were averted. He wouldn’t look at me. The coward still didn’t have anything to say.

  “Who are you doing this with, Maime? Did you kill the other women?”

  “Of course, I had help. I couldn’t do all this myself. I might break a nail,” she responded, holding out her hand checking her manicure.

  “Who helped you?” I asked again impatiently.

  “I’m going to let that be a surprise. He’s looking forward to seeing you. He’s been saying that this whole time. Seems you are really popular with the boys, Riley. I can’t really understand why. It’s not like you’re pretty.”

  I ignored her insult. As long as she was insulting me, I was still alive. I wanted to keep her talking and find out as much as I could. I wondered if I could convince her to untie me.

  “Maime, you know if you had help, if you didn’t do this all alone, you’re still a victim. We can get out of here before he comes back,” I said. I was still struggling with the bind on my wrists. I didn’t think I could get to a standing position like this.

  “You can’t outsmart me, Riley. He already said you’d try. But since you’re going to die anyway, I can tell you what we did,” Maime said. She took a seat in the chair next to George and set the gun down on the small wooden end table between them.

  “See George can’t keep it in his pants,” Maime said, patting George’s thigh. “No matter what I did at home. No matter what I tried. It wasn’t good enough for George. He always needed other women. I got tired of it. I couldn’t stop George, but I can stop y’all.”

  I’m sure she thought she was being rational. She sounded crazier by the minute.

  “You can’t just kill every woman George is interested in. Why not just divorce him and find someone better?” I asked what I thought was a logical question.

  “So you can have him?” Maime scoffed.

  “I don’t want him, Maime. Trust me. He isn’t that great,” I said sarcastically.

  I wasn’t going to rehash what happened or didn’t happen between George and me years ago. If anything, he was going to get me killed. I swore right then if I got myself out of this George wasn’t going to have any equipment left to entice the ladies. I was going to rip it off his body with my bare hands.

  “Where is Laura?” I asked, suddenly realizing she was still missing. My eyes darted around the room. I wondered if I missed her tied up somewhere. I didn’t see her.

  “She’s dead,” Maime said matter of fact. “We killed her last night. She was the most fun to kill. She wouldn’t shut up until we drugged her. All that begging and pleading, like it was going to change my mind. She deserved to die.”

  “Where’d you get the drug, Maime?”

  “Vet’s office, just outside of Hot Springs. Got enough to last for months. My little helper can slip in and out of places undetected all the time. It’s a special skill of his. That’s how he kidnapped all the women. He got near them and drugged them, carried them out, and no one was the wiser.”

  It was sick. Maime’s voice was full of pride.

  I could feel the temperature dropping inside the cabin. My muscles ached from not moving.

  “Tell me about them. Tell me about the women you killed. What did Sara do to you? She was just a real estate agent.”

  “I know, but she was helping George leave me. I couldn’t have that. Plus, she looked a little like me. It was only a matter of time before he slept with her, too.”

  I tried asking more questions. The little energy I had was fading fast. The drug they had knocked me out with was still affecting me. I saw Maime’s lips moving, but I couldn’t focus enough to hear her answers. My eyes would slide shut, open briefly, and slide shut again. I couldn’t force myself to stay awake long enough to get the answers I needed. I couldn’t think straight.

  I didn’t know how much time was passing. It could have been minutes or hours. I was losing all sense of time. Maime kept talking and walking around the cabin. She’d go from yelling at me and pointing the gun at me, jolting me awake and then letting me sleep again. George remained silent the whole time.

  In one of my more lucid moments, I yelled at George, “Say something dammit. Don’t just sit there and not speak.”

  His silence was maddening.

  George didn’t raise his head. He continued to look down. He wouldn’t look me in the eyes. Finally, he said, “I love my wife. I’ve made mistakes. I have to support her now.”

  They both were insane.

  “What about your affair with Dean? You’re not so innocent, Maime.”

  She didn’t respond right away. She walked towards the outdated kitchen, opened a cabinet, and pulled out a glass. Maime went to the fridge and poured herself something to drink. She walked back towards me, drinking what looked like iced tea. My mouth was parched. I didn’t ask for some. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of denying me.

  “I used him. I knew it would drive a wedge between George and Dean. I did what I had to. But Dean wasn’t so fun anymore. He was always getting on me about the drugs. He was worse than George. Ran to my father with every little thing I did.”

  “You two are sick, you know that? You deserve each other,” I said disgusted. I wished I had never laid eyes on George.

  Then it hit me. There was one woman we hadn’t talked about.

  I called out to Maime, “Who is the woman they haven’t identified yet?”

  CHAPTER 84

  “ANY IDEA WHY YOU’RE IN HERE?” Luke asked as he lead Dean into the interrogation room. He sat down opposite Dean at the table.

  Luke had been waiting for Dean to arrive, but let the uniformed officers walk him through the building to the interrogation room. Dean wasn’t under arrest. Luke just wanted to make sure Dean knew he needed to cooperate.

  The officers told Luke they found Dean at the Country Club gym just about to run on the treadmill. This was the most casually dressed Luke had ever seen Dean. He had on running pants and a Razorback tee-shirt.

  Taking a seat, Dean answered, “No, I have no idea. What is it? Have you found Maime?”

  Luke thought Dean seemed genuinely concerned.

  “Possibly, we aren’t quite sure. Do you know where Riley is?”

  Shaking his head, Dean said, “No. I haven’t seen her since we were all at my place on Saturday.”

  Luke believed him.

  “What about George? When did you last speak to him?”

  “The same. What’s happening, Detective?”

  Luke took photos from his file and laid them on the table in front of Dean. There were photos of Shannon, Sara, Lisa and Laura smiling and happy in life. Side-by-side to each, Luke laid close-up shots of Shannon, Sara and Lisa lying on the morgue table. He had another photo of the unidentified woman.

  “What are these photos?” Dean asked, looking down and then back up at Luke.

  “We’ll get to that in a minute,” Luke said, waving off the question. “Riley is missing. We have reason to believe George went to Riley’s house this morning and left with her. We believe Riley left without a struggle, but we don’t know how voluntarily she left with him. Her cellphone, which she’d never leave, was found on her kitchen table.”

  Dean grew noticeably pale. He spoke after a few seconds. “I really have no idea where they are. I really don’t.”

  “How did Maime feel about Riley?”

  Luke believed Dean didn’t know where Riley and George were, but he suspected Dean might know more than he even realized.

 
“She didn’t like her. Probably more than any other woman. George had a lot of affairs. They never meant much to him. I think George was truly in love with Riley. That was the biggest threat to Maime. There was a time when I think if Riley had pursued it, George would have left Maime for her.”

  “Is it fair to say Maime hated Riley?”

  “Yes, actually very much. She still talked about how much she hated her after all these years. What are you getting at?”

  “We have no reason to suspect Maime is dead or has been kidnapped. Actually, if we look at the evidence, we have reason to believe she is participating in the kidnappings and killings. She has as much motive as George, maybe more,” Luke explained.

  He paused and waited for strong denials from Dean, but they never came. Luke watched Dean sit back and take it all in.

  After a moment, Dean shrugged and said quietly, “It’s possible.”

  Luke pointed down at the photos and said, “I need you to look through these and tell me if you know any of the women or anything about them besides what you heard on the news.”

  Dean studied the photos and commented on each of them. Luke could tell it was hard for him to look at the photos of the victims in death, but he did. With each one, Dean told Luke what he knew and what he knew from George and from Maime. When Dean got to the last victim, the still unidentified woman, he surprised Luke.

  Picking up the last morgue photo and taking a closer look, Dean said, “This is Michelle Banks. We went to college with her.”

  “You know this woman?” Luke pressed him. “We’ve been unable to identify her. Are you sure?”

  Dean laid the photo back on the table and said confidently, “I’m positive. She was involved with George in college. I would know her anywhere.”

  “Tell me about her,” Luke urged.

  “I just remember that she was dating one of our fraternity brothers but came home from a party with George. She spent the night with him. The boyfriend caught them in the morning and there was a big scene. Her boyfriend had a violent temper so it was a big blow out. She wasn’t around much after that. I thought they probably broke up. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen her since we graduated.”