Blood Red Sundown: Evil Begins (26 page)

ACROSS TOWN STEPHANIE
was enjoying a medical high when several of her critical patients’ conditions had
leveled off and were living relatively pain-free days again. One patient’s cancer
report came back in total remission, so she and the nurses celebrated the good news
in her room with glasses of orange juice and a small cake before she left the hospital
for the night. Seeing the happiness of the woman’s husband made her forget her problems
and elevated her attitude to a feeling of
this has been a good day.
Len walked
by and gave her a high five which added to her feelings of joy.

In the midst of the celebration she had received a phone
call from the realtor reminding her of their appointment. She felt it strange as
she remembered he asked her to meet him at her house instead of the hospital. She
was puzzled as to how he knew where she lived. She never gave it a second thought
as she finished her preparations for signing out for the day.

“MAN, OH MAN,
Cassandra,
you are really something. I definitely see a bright future ahead for us.”

She laughed and continued brushing her hair as she caught
his eyes in the mirror. Laying the brush down she turned and said, “I believe we
can develop both a strong personal tie and at the same time build a profitable relationship,
Terry. However to make it work I need your solemn oath that your infatuation with
your cop friend is over. Fantasize about her all you want, but no more than that.
Can you do that?”

“I see no problem with that,” he lied to protect his
job.

LON GRABBED THE
shoe
rack again and pulling harder on it discovered that it was secured to a fake wall.

Anne became curious to see what Lon was doing and walked
back to the closet. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing as he swung the shoe
rack wall outward exposing a secrete room. Without speaking they looked at each
other knowing immediately what they were looking at.

“This is where the mother stayed when it was necessary
to hide from family and guests. This kind of thing only happens in the movies, Lon,
but we’re about to enter a space that apparently has been his reported dead mother’s
hideaway for years.”

Lon stepped into the room intrigued with the ingenuity
on the part of the Radfords.

“Can you believe this Anne? She became part of a completely
separate life hidden from society within this room.”

The room was decorated with basic furniture consisting
of a large comfortable looking chair, a small table with two chairs, and a studio
bed. A small refrigerator held bottles of water and assorted food items. On the
counter was a hot plate. There was a TV-radio player and a bookshelf that held numerous
books and magazines. In the corner a small curtained-off area held the necessity
stool. “This is ample for a quick getaway when she needed to disappear for a short
time, but to live for a longer period of time, not so perfect.”

Anne looked at Lon and reminded him that she would only
be there when there were people around.

“She was found on the bed in her original room which
she probably slept in more often than in this room.”

As she was talking she picked up a photo album lying
on the bed filled with pictures of William and his mother. She could not prevent
a feeling of compassion for the two of them come over her. She looked up to see
Lon reaching for a black case sitting on the top shelf. He looked over at her and
smiled as he placed it on the table wanting to say, “Now, will you finally believe
that I was right all along.”

Anne watched as he opened the case and began removing
it contents displaying them on the counter.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

Anne jumped reacting to his loud expletive. “What is
it?”

“Look here what I hold in my hand.” He held up a blond
wig and a pair of black horned rimmed glasses.

“My God, Lon, he did it. He killed his wife. You had
this guy pegged right from the start.”

She moved toward him to high-five with him as a show
of
you were right
and
congratulations.
But, she tripped on the rug
causing her to fall against him. She laughed and started to apologize, but when
she looked up in his eyes it seemed natural for her to be kissed. She was ready
and accepted it willingly. It was as if this was meant to happen sooner or later.

The level of their mutual desire was heating to a boiling
point and all caution was about to be thrown aside, when his phone rang. They reluctantly
separated and looked at each other and grinned, both realizing they had been saved
by Dixie.

“Hey Chief, what’s up?” He looked at Anne who was searching
through the case.

“We have some news for you, chief. We’ll need another
search warrant for the senator’s estate and you need to send out a photo guy and
a couple of uniforms to search the senator’s home.”

“Oh by the way, are you ready for some big news, chief?”

He listened for the expected cynical remark he knew would
be coming.

“It’s about time we had some big news from you two.”

“He did it Chief; the honorable William Radford the third
murdered his wife. There’s more, but we’ll fill you in when we come in to file our
report.”

“Finish there and get your butts in here. This will shut
some mouths up.”

“Yea, were almost done here and about to leave and head
back to the station. Get that scene crew here quick. We’ll leaving the door unlocked
for them.”

STEPHANIE HAD FINISHED
her morning rounds reports and was preparing to leave for the day when she was handed
a note from Len asking her to consider the concert invitation overnight. She decided
she would go with him and would pay for her ticket to be sure he understood it was
not a date.

Saying her goodnights to the desk nurse she left the
building and walked to her car. She was surprised to see her realtor standing in
front of his car which was parked next to hers.

“All set Stephanie?”

“I thought you were going to meet me at the house?”

He looked surprised.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Stephanie. I
have no idea where you live.”

The note leaver, she thought. Why would he try to change
my appointment? She walked around and got into the passenger seat and explained
the misunderstanding to him. He told her that sounded strange and she should be
careful, as he handed her the three print outs for the houses he had selected for
her.

TERRY PULLED INTO
the
half-full parking lot and as he opened the door something seemed strange. There
was not the usual sound of the juke box loudly projecting solid gold country music.
He entered and was surprised at the unusually quiet crowd. He went over to order
a drink then walked to the juke box and selected several songs. He decided to stay
with the attitude of the subdued patrons.

His first selection was the very smooth, Willy Nelson’s
“Blue Eye’s Crying in the Rain.” He needed to think and a Willy song would provide
the perfect background. The scraping sound of the door opening caught his ear and
he eyed the lady entering. He remembered being with her on another occasion. She
smiled when she saw him and called him by name. He ran her through his memory, but
he could not bring her name up from the discarded file.

“Hey there good looking” was all he could think of to
cover his impolite memory. She seemed to be alright with it and sat down on the
stool next to him. He recalled that she had been fun to be with.

Patsy Cline suddenly created a romantic opening with
her song, “Sweet Dreams,” and she cooed, “Dance with me Terry.”

She grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor and
after the first two steps he remembered her being an excellent dancer as well as
other things.

You can’t do this,
he said to himself.
A
few dances then you’re going home. You have another woman to tend to who you
know is the catalyst between you and being unemployed.

Patsy Cline faded away, but before he could completely
break free, the voice of George Jones, singing, “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” made
it necessary for him to remain and he pulled her even closer in his arms.

ANNE, ONE-BY-ONE REEXAMINED
the items she had removed earlier and placed them back in the black case and handed
it to her partner. As they walked through the bedroom she stopped and refocused
her attention on the portrait of Mrs. Radford over the bed.

“She was a beautiful woman, Lon.”

She expected a stupid retort from Lon, but when she looked
for him she saw him turn and continue out the door with an over the shoulder wave
meaning follow me.

The house seemed ghostly still as they walked down the
stairs and stood looking at the scene of the fall. Lon had a sudden flashback of
an important task he had planned to pursue as he eyed the chalk marks.

“We have to get the senator’s ring from the coroner.
We need to have it tested for DNA.”

Anne agreed understanding that Lon would not be satisfied
with the discovered proof of his committing his wife’s murder, he needed to be sure
he wasn’t the serial killer.

They drove in silence most of the way to the station.
They didn’t mention the inappropriate incident between them realizing it was a momentary
break in good judgment and it should never surface again.

Anne was singing “Dixie” in her mind, as they parked
at the station. She wondered how far it would have gone if “Dixie” had not interrupted
them.

“Well partner, let’s wrap this up, and get back to the
major case needing to be solved, which better be soon. The chief’s getting grief
and you know, that grief is going to start landing on us.”

THE REALTOR HAD
selected
homes more in line with what Stephanie was looking for and she ended up making an
offer to purchase on the first house they toured. It was a small three bedroom in
a sparsely developed area outside of town close to the beach area she had become
attached to. That fact alone played an important part in her decision.

They arrived back at the hospital and after some last
minute suggestions from the realtor. Stephanie walked to her car and immediately
noticed the folded paper on the windshield.

Her hands were shaking as she unfolded the note that
read, [YOU DID NOT WALK YOUR DOG.] “What does that mean,” she asked herself. Who
is leaving these notes; and why me? She looked around for a possible glimpse of
someone that might be watching her.

ANNE HEADED TO
the bar
and smiled when the phone rang and she saw that it was Lon.

“You can’t stand being away from me can you, Lonny boy?”

“I hate to burst your bubble partner, but I just got
a call from Doctor Wearing, she found another note on her car outside the hospital.
I’m on my way to meet her. Where are you?”

“I’m outside my favorite watering hole. Do you need me?”

“No, I can handle it. If there is something you need
to know, I’ll call you. Have a beer for me.”

Anne felt guilty going for a drink while Lon was still
on the job. “He could have asked me to meet him there if it was necessary,” she
convinced herself. She entered the barroom and as her eyes adjusted to the shadowy
atmosphere she saw Terry loving it up on the dance floor. She glanced at Johnny
who was rolling his eyes at her. He handed her a drought and after filling an order
at the other end of the bar came back and told a joke that brought Anne to tears,
laughing. Suddenly she sensed someone behind her.

“Would you like to dance, Anne?”

Still coming down from the laughter she turned to face
Terry who ducked back and protected his face. This made her laugh even harder.

“Look Terry, our time has come and gone. You have a lady
over there watching you hoping you come back to her. Do so. And by the way what
happened to Miss Jones?”

Terry grimaced, turned and walked over to the woman and
they moved to the dance floor and continued dancing. Anne could feel his stare of
anger from across the room.

She stood up to walk to the restroom and looked over
at them on the dance floor. She smiled at Terry as she walked by them. He never
changed his
I will have my revenge
stare at her.

Returning a few minutes later, she was prepared for some
comment from him. But, thankfully, as she scanned the room she realized they were
no longer there. Saying a final goodbye to Johnny she walked out into the cool California
night. Reaching behind her she felt for her revolver. It was a comfort knowing it
was there.
Why am I so unnerved tonight,
she thought.

She knew the answer. She was concerned that he might
be waiting for her.

THE KILLER STOOD
over
the bed looking at the array of women’s clothing and one-by-one he fondled selected
pieces remembering the special lover he had collected them from. He placed them
on display there by the order he had received fulfillment. As he touched each piece
again one-by-one he hoped to use them as an escape from his rising demand for fulfillment.
If he could calm the urge with number five he would survive an unwanted attack from
the evil that continued to grow inside him.

As he breathed in the aroma of number five’s clothing,
he realized it was not working. His body was becoming a desperate, raging inferno
and he knelt beside the bed pleading for it to stop. Standing, he walked to the
mirror and said to his image, “This time it has to be her; and it must be soon.”

Positioning the prostitute’s skirt on the bed and after
placing her panties carefully in position he picked up her black bra and laid it
in position just above the skirt. Immediately he became lost in a state of eroticism.
He began fantasizing about their time together on that dark night and the evil one
burst through him as he carefully placed his body on the woman beneath him.