Confession (28 page)

“I’ll be fine.  Don’t worry.  I’ll make sure I’m always in a public place.”

There was another long pause of silence.  “Why don’t you just forget this whole investigation?  Please!” she pleaded.

Sam thought about her request.  “I can’t honey.  I still have the vision of Gary’s eyes ingrained in my head when I promised him that I would find the killer.  It still haunts me,” he said while his eyes welled up.

There was another long pause of silence.  “Okay,” she replied then disconnected their call.

Sam knew he was in trouble with Cindy and thought she’ll cool off in a couple of days.

Sam looked at his notes again and thought about his next move.  He walked out of the room.

Sam walked to the front desk and asked the clerk for some directions to the nearest Wal-Mart. 

After the clerk provided assistance, Sam left the hotel and got in his car. 

He drove to Wal-Mart, which was three miles away.

Sam returned from Wal-Mart where he bought a Garman GPS.  He read the instructions and plugged in some cities he wanted to visit. 

An hour later, he was sound asleep and tossed and turned.
  He had another nightmare.

Sam’s nightmare…

Sam slept in his hotel room.  There was a loud knock on his hotel room door.

Sam got out of bed and slowly staggered to the door.  He opened it and nobody was there.  He closed it and slowly staggered back to his bed. 

He crawled into bed and tried to go back to sleep.

“Why haven’t you found my killer?” Angie’s voice echoed in his hotel room.

Sam shot up in bed in a panic.  “I tried!  I promise!” Sam cried out.

Sam looked at the other side of the bed.  Angie’s dead body shot up from under the covers.  “He really hurt me!” Angie’s clammy face said to Sam.

“I’m so sorry Angie!” Sam cried out.  “Please forgive me!”

“Find my killer! Please!” Angie pleaded with Sam.

Her body slowly disappeared.

Back to reality…

“I’ll find your killer!” Sam screamed while he shot up in bed.  He looked around and saw it was 3:41 a.m.  He realized it was another nightmare.  He lay back down and stared at the ceiling afraid to fall asleep.

S
am rolled out of bed at
six that morning
.  He didn’t sleep a wink after his nightmare.

Sam got ready for his travels in search for a good lead. After eating the hotel’s continental breakfast, he hit the road.
 

When he got down the road from his hotel, he made a change in plans.  He just had to go this one place.

Hours later, Sam finally arrived at the outskirts of Downing, Tennessee, which was fifteen miles into Tennessee from the Alabama border.

Sam drove through the small town of
four thousand, six hundred and ninety-eight
people and it looked so peaceful. 

While Sam drove, he couldn’t stop thinking about Angie.  His hands trembled while he drove down the main street as it brought back bad memories. 

He saw a stand-alone liquor store down the street.  He couldn’t resist. 

He pulled into the parking lot and parked his car.  He looked at Angie’s folder while he glanced at the liquor store.  He got out of his car.

Sam walked to the store and went inside. 

Five minutes later, he came out of the store with a bottle of Jack Daniels in a brown paper bag. 

He got in his car and drove out of the parking lot.

He drove down the main street.

Fifteen minutes later, Sam drove down a two-lane country road.

He slowed down while the area started to look familiar.  He saw an old farmhouse, with a front porch to his left.  “That wasn’t there backing sixty-five,” he said then looked for a dirt road.

He saw the sign for “Lake Downing” which pointed at a small paved road.  Sam wasn’t sure this was the right road since the one in sixty-five was dirt.  But he figured they probably paved it years ago.

Sam drove down the road while he looked to his left.   Then his eyes lit up when he remembered this spot. 

He pulled his car off the road and parked in the dirt.  He hesitated when he had second thoughts.   He looked at the picture of Angie at the crime scene.  He got out with the booze bottle and one of the photos of Angie in hand.

Sam saw the big boulder near the tree where Angie was tied naked.

He walked over to the boulder and sat on top of it.  He looked at the photo of Angie tied naked to the tree.  He looked at the actual tree.  It was a little larger since forty years had passed. 

“Ahhhh!” Angie’s scream played in Sam’s mind while he imagined what the woods sounded like that horrible night. 

He opened up the bottle of Jack Daniels and stared at the bottle opening.

“Come on, let’s party and make those nightmares go away,” the whiskey bottle said in Sam’s mind.

He looked back at that tree.  He imagined the whacking sounds of a blunt beating Angie’s naked body.

He brought the whisky bottle to his lips.  As soon as the booze touched his lips, he swiftly threw the whiskey bottle at the tree.  It shattered and whiskey drenched the bark.

“What the hell are you doing?  Don't litter my woods!  You jerk!” the voice of an old man was heard.  That startled Sam and he jumped off the boulder.

“I’m so sorry,” Sam replied when he saw Elmer Johnson, an old thin-framed man with a fishing pole in his hand and a fishing basket around his waist.

“Why would you want to trash up our beautiful woods?” Elmer scolded Sam.

“I didn’t intend to throw that bottle.  I had a friend who was killed here a long time ago,” Sam replied while he looked ashamed of himself.

“Oh yeah, the October Slayer killing.  Poor girl.  I remember that
night
,” Elmer said while he looked sad.

Sam’s ears perked up when he heard that.  “Do you live nearby?”

“Across the street,” Elmer said.

“Listen, my name is Sam Woods and I’m a retired FBI agent and was on that October Slayer case,” Sam said while he removed his wallet and showed his FBI retired identification card
and Florida driver’s license
.  “Can we talk?” Sam asked and silently prayed Elmer would accept.

Elmer walked over and looked at his ID card
and license
.  “I’m Elmer Johnson and I don’t see why not.  I live alone since Edith died ten years ago.  So a little company would be nice,” Elmer said then he opened up his basket.  “And I caught more bass than what I can eat, if you’re hungry,” Elmer offered.  “They were really biting today and I couldn’t resist.”

“Actually, I am a little hungry.”

Elmer saw Sam’s car.  “How about a lift to my house?  I’m a little exhausted from walking to and from the lake.”

“My pleasure.”

“But first, you’ll clean up that broken glass,” Elmer told Sam like he was a child.

Sam looked at the pieces of broken glass in the dirt.  “Yes sir,” he said then walked over to his car and got the paper bag.   

Elmer watched while Sam picked up all the pieces of broken glass and put them inside the bag.  He walked over and placed the bag in his trunk.

Sam and Elmer got inside his car.  After he started it up, Sam turned his car around and drove back down the road.

He got to the end and turned left on the two-lane road.  Then about five hundred yards, he turned right to Elmer’s driveway, which led to that old farmhouse he saw earlier.

“I don’t recall seeing this farmhouse when I was here in sixty-five”.

“It was here, but I use to have lots of trees and bushes by the street.  So you couldn’t see it from the road.”

They went inside Elmer’s house and it was in dire need of a good cleaning.  His wife Edith would have a hissy fit if she saw how Elmer didn’t keep the house to her spic and span standards.

They went to his kitchen where he immediately started cleaning the fish for frying after the pot of coffee was brewed.

“You said you remembered that day?” Sam said while he sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and his note pad ready.

“I sure do,” Elmer said while he dropped two fish into a frying pan.

“Did you see anything that night?”

“I was on the front porch smoking my cigar.  My wife, Ethel wouldn’t allow me to smoke in the house, she said it stunk everything up,” Elmer said then he paused for a minute.

“And?”

“Oh yeah, then I heard numerous blood curdling screams from the woods across the road in the direction of the lake.  I ran back inside and grabbed my rifle, a Winchester Model seventy.  Then I ran down my front yard to the trees by the road.  I hid behind a tree and looked in the direction of the dirt road by the sign for the lake.  It was quiet but something still seemed odd with those screams.  So I waited and I waited.  Then I saw some car headlights drive down the road.  The car stopped, and then it drove a little farther down the road and stopped.  Then the car drove out of the dirt road and turned right onto the road in front of my house.  It raced away down the street.”

“Do you recall what type of car?” Sam asked while he jotted down that information.

“Sure.  I still remember that day like it was yesterday.  It was red Chevy.  I believe it was a, ah,” Elmer said then he strained to remember.  “Ah yes, it was a newer Impala with a young man driving.  But it was dark so I couldn’t see much of his face, but I knew he was young,” Elmer replied.  Then is eyes lit up when he remembered something else.  “Oh yeah, there was someone in the passenger seat, but I couldn’t tell if it was a woman or man since it was dark.”

“I don’t recall the local Sheriff telling me this information.  If he did, I would have talked with you back then,” Sam said a little concerned.

“I didn’t say anything because I thought it was just two teenagers fooling around by the lake.  That use to be a hangout for them having sex,” Elmer said with a grin.

Sam looked disappointed as that information could have helped when he was investigating the case.

“But I did see the Sheriff in town a week later.  I went ahead and told him what I saw,” Elmer added.

“Why didn’t he pass that onto me?” Sam said and looked upset.

“Maybe it's because he was Klan and hated government agents in his jurisdiction.  He remembered the FBI being all over the town of Philadelphia back in sixty-four.  He said he could do a better job of catching that killer than that stupid FBI agent,” Elmer said while he removed the two fried bass and placed them on some plates.

Elmer’s comment hurt Sam’s feeling a little.

“Yep.  We had a few Klan hangings in our neck of the woods, not much.  It was terrible, but we knew it would be better to keep our mouths shut,” Elmer said while he walked the bass over to the table.

“Looks good,” Sam said while he grabbed his fork.

They ate their trout dinners while they talked.

“So, are you trying to catch that killer?” 

“I sure hope so,” Sam replied after he finished chewing on some bass.

“Good, I remember reading how that killer got away.  He should spend the rest of his life in jail!” Elmer said then took a bite of bass.

They continued to eat and talk.

After they finished the bass, Sam and Elmer sat in his living room couch and drank coffee to go with their small talk.

“Well Elmer, I have to be hitting the road.  I’m driving down to Curtis, Mississippi,” Sam said while he got off the couch.

Elmer looked disappointed while he got off the couch.

He walked Sam to the front door. 

“Thank you so very much for your time, Elmer,” Sam said while he extended out his hand.

“My pleasure and I’ll pray that you catch that killer.”

Elmer opened the door for Sam and watched him leave.

He closed the door and looked at his empty house.  He looked sad, as he loved the company Sam.  He was again lonely.  He sure missed his wife Edith.

Sam got in his car and headed back to Downing so he could take the road south to Mississippi.

Meanwhile, back in St. Cloud, Becky and Marty were still cleaning Allan’s house. 

She cleaned the bathroom while Marty vacuumed the carpet.  The vast majority of Allan’s belongings were packed away in boxes. 

There was one special box where Becky packed all of Allan’s family photo albums.  She was taking that box home.  The rest of them were going to be sold at their garage sale or donated to Goodwill.

Hours later, Sam drove to the outskirts of Curtis, Mississippi and found a Motel 6.  He pulled into the parking lot and parked his car.

Fifteen minutes later, Sam was in his hotel room and took a nice hot shower to get reenergized.   Doing this investigative work on the road after forty years was exhausting at his age.

After his shower, he lay on the bed and reviewed his notes.  His shower didn’t help, as he got sleepy.  His eyelids slowly closed and he fell asleep with his notepad in his hand.

Elsewhere in Curtis, Billy stood in his den and stared at his pictures of Allan and himself on fishing and camping trips.  He was on his fifth glass of whiskey and water.  He looked pissed while he stared at the pictures.  “I thought we would keep this our secret?   What happened big brother?  You lied to me!” Billy scolded the memories with Alan.

Two hours later in Sam’s hotel room, he was sound asleep on the bed and mumbled whi
le he tossed and turned. 

H
is cell phone rang on the bedside table.  He jumped up startled, and he looked around a li
ttle confused and dazed.  H
e realized it was his cell phone ringing.  He reached over and opened it up.  He looked at the viewfinder then quickly looked at his watch.

“Hello darling.  Sorry I didn’t call sooner.  I was exhausted and fell asleep,” Sam answered his cell phone.

“Maybe you should come home.”

“I can’t.  I’m getting some great information,” Sam said with a determined look that he was going the whole nine yards.

“If you must,” she replied, as she knew there was no way she could change his mind.  “Anyway, what time will you be home tomorrow?”

Sam cringed.  “I know I'm on the verge of being killed, again, but I made a side trip to Tennessee and talked with this helpful old man.”

“I thought you were going straight to Mississippi?” she snapped at him from the phone.

“I know, I’m now in Mississippi.  I’ll be here at least tomorrow.  I have some research to conduct,” Sam said.

There was a few seconds of silence, which seemed like an eternity to Sam.  “Okay, but don’t forget Kristen’s play.  She has her heart set on you attending,” she said.  “Plus be extra careful.  I want you back home alive.”

“I won’t miss her play.  And don’t worry.  I know what I’m doing.  After all, I did this for forty years without being shot.”

There was a long moment of silence from his cell.  “Sam, this is starting to worry me sick.  No wonder your wife divorced you,” she said with a worried tone.