Blood Red Sundown: Evil Begins (2 page)

THIS NEW-FOUND SENSE
of freedom she was experiencing away from her senator husband was strong, but not
strong enough to escape the fear of his anger if he became aware of this inappropriate
act. Her hands tightened on the wheel as she recalled his outrage when she had canceled
his planned dinner and movie night out together, to attend this made up business
meeting. His anger had frightened her and for the first time in their twenty year
marriage she feared he might physically harm her. Before she had explained that
she would cancel her meeting, he stormed out of the house in a rage slamming the
door and sped out of the drive. She decided to follow through with her plans convincing
herself he would get over it and they would discuss it calmly later in the evening
when she returned.

Now here she was about to live out a fantasy she would
never have believed possible. Her heartbeat quickened as the flickering lights of
the motel came into view. She slowed the Mercedes to gain control of her raging
excitement. The sound of gravel hitting her car made her realize she had run onto
the shoulder. As she approached the dimly lit driveway entrance she became confused.

“Oh my God, this can’t be right.”

She stopped the car abruptly horrified at what she was
looking at. The Moonlight Motel was a disgustingly ugly one story gray or dirty
white stucco building with red doors designating each room, half of which were only
shadows because of burned out light bulbs. A flashing red lettered vacancy sign
on the marquee was casting flickering light patterns across the overgrown hedgerows
lining the driveway.

“This can’t be right,” she repeated hoping somehow to
convince herself she had made a mistake and was at the wrong location.

She pictured William’s reaction if he thought she would
even consider entering a place like this, much less actually spending time in one
of the disgusting rooms she had pictured in her mind.

She crept ahead slowly along the shoulder of the road
turning her head to avoid possible recognition in the headlights of a passing vehicle
then made the turn onto the hedge lined drive. She stopped and stared at the marquee
with several missing letters which read; “Moonlight Motel,” VACANCIES by the HOUR,
DAY or WEEK. That gave her a chuckle as she thought that an hour might be just enough.

A shadowy something flew out of the darkness close to
her head making her duck and then appeared in the light of the marquee: “Oh, my
God, a bat, are you out of your mind, Marie, what are you doing here?”

Every ounce of good sense left inside her mind screamed,
“Turn this car around and go home. It’s not too late to apologize to your husband
and go to the movies like he had planned and after a romantic evening, take him
home and make love to him.” However that thought passed as she convinced her mind
she had come too far to change plans now. She realized her heart was racing wildly.
Was it the anticipation of what lay within that motel room or the fear of being
discovered and the devastation it would bring to her life and more importantly to
William’s career as senator and his future run for governor?

Despite her better judgment she again turned her mind
to generated images of a stranger seductively undressing her while locked in a passionate
kiss. The pleasure she was experiencing as she visualized his passion caused her
to open her eyes and gasp for breath. The decision was made; she was ready to give
in to her new found wanton desires.

Filled with a determination to fulfil her fantasy, she
prepared for the next phase and pulled into the dimly lit space in front of room
12. She could not curtail a laugh as she stared at the red door with the number
two hanging upside down by one nail. She looked in the mirror and asked herself,
“One last time Marie, are you sure this is what you want?”

Continuing to sit and stare at the door of room twelve
facing the absurdity of a woman of her position being there, but again she allowed
the erotic images to reappear and this time the reality they projected gave her
a sensation that she hadn't felt in months.

“Why has William become so reluctant to make love to
me?” she asked herself, knowing there was no excuse for what she was about to engage
in.

Raising her head from her hands clutching the steering
wheel and still breathing heavily she glanced over at the clock on the dash and
realized she had been fantasizing for over five minutes.

“Now or never,” she said, and grabbed the door handle,
picturing the online description he had given her. He had blond hair, blue eyes,
wore horned rimmed glasses, and confessed to being a little overweight. With the
possible risk to her near perfect life looming in exchange for this one fulfillment
of an erotic fantasy, she opened the car door and walked to the door of room 12.

“HOW GREAT IS
this partner?
Box seats watching the Yankees and the Angels go head to head, and the best part—the
tickets were given to us.”

Detective Anne Cummings looked over at him in amusement
wondering how he could get so excited over a ballgame. She watched him finish the
first of his two hot dogs wondering if he had taken time to chew or had swallowed
each bite whole.

“Are you eating that hot dog, or wearing it, she asked
him?” Taking a napkin, she reached over and wiped the mustard off his upper lip
and chin. He laughed and as he turned to thank her he looked into her eyes for the
first time since she had been assigned as his new partner.

“Thanks Anne,” he said and looked back toward the field.

She smiled knowing that his brief admiring stare was
a positive step toward her acceptance as his partner. She had ignored warnings from
fellow officers that he did not like female partners. All she cared about was that
he was rated as a top notch detective and she wanted to be associated with the best.

His next comment was directed at her, but it did not
have a lot of meaning. “Something has got to happen here, partner, the Yanks need
some runs.”

This revelation had no more than left his mouth when
his cell phone broke into a loud rendition of Dixie. She watched him as he reluctantly
began raising his phone and noticed the muscles in his arm stretch his shirt sleeve.
He was obviously a former athlete or a gym
junkie and he was handsomely tanned
which suggested beach time. Appraising his height she settled on 6’1 or 6’2. His
NY Yankee baseball cap coupled with his black trimmed mustache gave him a special
look that she liked from the very first day they began working together. She figured
him for a wanna-be cowboy wearing pointed boots and tight jeans with a big silver
buckle on the front of his belt. It projected a manly appearance which she liked
and she would have to be very careful to remember they were partners and anything
more could never be considered. He finally placed the phone against his ear during
a lull in the action on the field.

“This is Detective Sanders, on this end, he blurted out,
and this had better be a very important message to interfere with my first ballgame
in years.”

The roar of the crowd momentarily took his attention
from the phone call. A deep fly ball to left field cleared the wall and the Angels
took the lead.

“Not good” he said placing the phone back to his ear.
“I’m back, so what is so important?” He made a whoops expression to her.

“Oh, it’s you Chief! What? Come on chief, can’t someone
else handle the preliminary stages and I’ll pick it up tomorrow?”

“Yea…okay I got it…alright, I got it…look I understand,
I’m on my way!” Placing the phone back in his pocket and continuing to stay focused
on the next pitch he asked, “Why do I love this job?”

He leaned over to his partner.

“Look Anne, that was the chief; it looks like our serial
killer has struck again. Why don’t you take the call and I’ll stay and finish the
game?”

She looked at him quizzically, and asked, “Are you nuts?
There’s no way I’m leaving you behind, Lon, so let’s get the show on the road.”

“Good response, I was just messing with you.”

He gave her the “atta girl” smile and thumbs up, knowing
this was the exact response he expected from her and had felt safe in making the
offer. He wondered how he would have handled it if she had agreed. Then wondered
if he would have stayed in the stadium given the same choice? How often do I get
to see the Yankees? Yes, I think I would have stayed.

Attaching the portable blue light to the roof of the
car and turning on the siren, a deafening sound that Lon had always hated, they
made their way out of the downtown area headed toward the murder scene along the
coast.

As they neared the site described by the chief they saw
the flashing lights of a patrol car up ahead and as they approached were directed
to the side of the road by a uniformed policeman wielding a flashlight. Lon recognized
the officer from working together as a uniform patrolman several years prior and
as they were getting out of the car the officer walked over.

“Hey Lon, it’s been a while.”

“Yea it has Leo. I see your still running the roads.”

“I like the freedom it gives me. Listen; let me explain
what we have here.”

He gave a brief summary of the observations he had made
from his initial examination of the scene. Lon asked several questions there on
the roadside wanting Leo’s description before he asked him to lead them to the body.

The body turned out to be a young Asian female. She was
lying face down which Anne pointed out immediately was not the serial killers usual
MO. The most glaring similarity to all the previous victims was her partially clad
body with the outer garments missing from the scene.

Lon knelt down and leaned close to her face noting her
eyes wide open in a death stare that he had seen too many times. He eye searched
the rest of her visible body then he stood and surveyed the surrounding terrain;
it was a treeless, tall weeded stretch of ugly rolling coastal ground.

“Partner,” he said, still looking over the terrain, “this
was a perfect place to dispose of a body, because barring the unlikely chance that
someone stopped to take a leak and stumbled on the body, it may never have been
discovered.” Lon motioned a let’s go to Anne and they walked over to the patrolman.

“Who found the body, and when?” Lon asked”

“You won’t believe it. She could have been lying here
in this isolated spot for weeks maybe longer, but a hitchhiker walking by stepped
off the road to take a leak and stumbled on the body.”

Lon looked over and smiled at Anne relishing in his astuteness
before he said, “Where is this hitch hiker with the bladder problem?”

“He’s up top sitting in my car, pretty shaken up.”

“What was your initial reading on the guy, Leo?”

“I didn’t get any sense of nervousness in his behavior.
Let’s face it, it’s very dark and he could have taken off running when I approached
him, but he waited and nothing he has said so far connects him in any way to this
young ladies death.”

“I’ll speak to him in a minute,” Lon responded as he
walked away.

He yelled back at Leo, “The chief said the coroner had
been summoned. Is that right?”

“On the way Lon, should have been here by now.”

The sound of “Dixie” suddenly broke the silence. Looking
at his phone he saw that it was his son.

“Hey Tad, what’s going on?”

“Hi Dad, you must be happy with the Yanks up by two.”

“I’m sure glad to know that Tad, but I can’t talk to
you right now. I’ll explain later when I get home, Okay?” Hanging up he turned to
his partner who was still on her knees next to the body.

“What do you think Anne? Is it the same guy?”

“I would have to say yes, although there is one thing
that does not match up.”

“Tell me what you mean.”

“He left this one alive.”

Kneeling down beside the body, he listened as Anne pointed
out the differences. First the fact that she is on her stomach. Then there are the
hands and the feet. Lon realized immediately what she had picked up on. The victims
fingers were imbedded deep into the sandy soil and the feet had created dragging
depressions from what appeared to be her attempt to push or crawl her way for help.

“This could be a copycat using a similar MO, or the killer
simply made a mistake this time?”

“She apparently feigned death, but couldn’t hold on after
the killer left her, Anne added.”

Lon again knelt down on one knee bent close to her face
and looked deep into her eyes. “How did he find you and why did he select you?”
He continued to kneel and stare as if he was actually waiting for her to answer
his question.

Anne was surprised at the concern in his words and on
his face. For the first time she saw a soft side to Detective Lon Sanders.

Loud talking made them aware that the coroner had arrived.
Standing up, Lon turned toward the approaching man, recognizing him from past crime
scenes.

“It’s Lon, isn’t it?” the approaching man asked

When he reached them he extended his hand to the much
taller detective in cowboy boots and blue jeans.

“Yea, that’s right and this is my partner, Anne Cummings.”

Anne acknowledged him then apologized for their lack
of dress code. Lon side glanced at Anne, knowing that it was exactly how his wife
would have reacted. His wife always felt the need to apologize for his cowboy boots.
He figured it must be a woman thing.

AFTER KNOCKING ON
the
door of room 12, she couldn’t resist the need to straighten the upside down number
two. It didn’t last and fell back to the upside down position swinging back and
forth on the small nail. She stepped back with renewed intentions of walking back
to her car then noticed the peephole darken and the rattling of the safety chain
and as she watched the door begin to open she felt a nervous chill come over her
as she saw the shadowed image of the man for the first time.

“I assume you are Marie,” he said, and opened the door
fully stepping back allowing her space to enter. The room was lightly illuminated,
causing a hazing effect on his facial features. Her inner radar system sensed something
was wrong.

It was his hair and the horned rimmed glasses looked
wrong on his face. He was nothing like she had pictured and yet there was a familiarity
about him. When she stepped inside he closed the door quickly and locked it. She
was startled by this and looking into his eyes and for the first time she knew immediately
she had made a mistake.

He wasted no time in letting her know that her fears
were justified. In an instant he swung her around and wrapped her in his arms and
placed his hand over her face preventing her from breathing. His strength was such
that after a brief struggle she knew no matter how much she resisted, she could
not win. Her attempt at escape subsided as the lack of air in her lungs caused her
to slowly lose consciousness. Her body sagged in his arms as he released his hand
from her mouth and nose and tenderly placing his arm beneath her legs he lifted
and placed her on the bed. He stood over her feeling a deep love for her, but she
had sown her mistakes and she had to reap her punishment.

Grabbing a black case from the dresser, he opened the
latched compartment and removed a roll of tape and after tearing a strip he placed
it carefully over her mouth. Then pulling her up to an upright position he propped
her against the headboard all the while glancing at her eyes for signs of consciousness.
He undid the buttons and removed her blouse folded it neatly and paced it adjacent
to the open case. Next, he rolled her on to her side and undid the button at the
waist of her skirt and pulled down the zipper. Her eyes became half open squinting
like she didn’t want him to know she was watching him. As he gently turned her over
onto her back he grabbed the hem line and lifted her slightly and removed her skirt.
The sudden unexpected sound of her struggling for air as she wakened caused a brief
panic in him, so he quickly secured her hands and feet with the tape. A second deep
gasp for air came out of the awakening woman, and her face took on a look of fear
that startled him. Her face was distorted from the pressure of the tape over her
mouth and the look of fear changed to one of helplessness as a tear ran down her
cheek.

“Just like a cheat,” he said, “You’re ready to play the
game, but not willing to bear the shame.”

“You reap what you sow,” he said softly. His whispered
statement caused an obvious reaction from her as she immediately began struggling
against her bonds.

This reaction from her pleased him. How many times in
his early life had he heard his father repeat that phrase? Now here he was proving
that the man had been right. Marie had been playing her cheating game with him for
weeks, proving to him she was willing to throw away the life they had built together.
Now here she was stained by her guilt looking up at him wanting his pity.

“There will be no sympathy Marie!” he said sternly.

He was not sure if he was warning Marie because of the
deceit she plied against him or to keep the edge he needed to carry out his plan.

Grabbing a Kleenex off the nightstand, he wiped the tears
from both of her cheeks then placed the used tissue into the small case.

“I can’t forget anything,” he thought to himself.

Her whimpering caused him to look back into her eyes
and for a moment he felt a pang of tenderness, but quickly dismissed that feeling
of weakness and began the final preparations for what lay ahead.

Her eyes followed him as he moved methodically around
the dimly lit room. He looked at her periodically and sensed her concern to an unanswered
question; is he going to kill me?

As he continued his preparations he could feel her eyes
staring. Turning and looking at her face he became angry that it radiated with a
plea for mercy. He knew it was her attempt to distract him and deprive him of the
pleasure he was waiting to experience from her reaction when he unveiled his secret
to her.