Murder in the Mist (27 page)

“N-no, I like this one. She didn’t scream.”

Laura fought against the raw terror and swallowed back the sobs. “Listen to me, Benjamin. Don’t you see, there is no Bennie. There is just you and me. We’re in the park. Take me to Ranger Cole. We’ll get you to a doctor.”

Unable to catch herself, she landed hard when he shoved her backward. “No doctors. Doctors hurt me.”

He leaned to pick her up. She fought with every ounce of strength left in her body. His hands went around her neck, thumbs pressed against her larynx. Dizziness washed through her until the world turned black and colored sparklers flashed behind her eyes. The voice that spoke sounded far away. “
Not yet, Bennie. It isn’t time
.”

The pressure eased. Wide-mouthed, she gulped in air. He lifted her into his arms. She let out a tired breath and beseeched herself not to scream. She squirmed until she could see his face. Above her were the rigid jaw and dark eyes of a madman. He studied her with a gaze that swirled more maniacal by the second. His chest rose and fell with each bounding stride.

He jogged faster. Her head lolled back and forth against his chest. She thought he scrambled over rocks. Waves seemed to lap the beach. A spray of water brought her to full consciousness. Maybe she was hallucinating from lack of oxygen to the brain.

Water gushed and surged in and out like a living creature—beckoning. Her nightmare was a reality as she remembered Daisy Fuller’s nude body. Laura’s eyes fluttered open. She and Benjamin stood at the edge of Thunder Hole’s abyss.

He bent close and yelled above the thundering roar. “Shh. It’s okay. You don’t want to wake up just yet.”

Her heart raced. And then she did the unthinkable. She screamed with enough force to make the dead tremble.

Benjamin laughed as he set Laura on her feet. His hands went around her neck. “I knew you would scream. I’ve been waiting so long. Look, Mama…Do you see?…I have an erection. I’m not a freak. Beenie with the little weenie is dead.”

His entire body tensed. He moaned deep in his chest as his hands slid from Laura’s neck to wrap her tight in his arms as he rubbed his body against hers. His breath came in short gasps as if experiencing an orgasm. He stared into her eyes, his own probing, searching, but for what, she didn’t know.

His voice was gentle, though loud enough to hear above the waves. “I’ll remember this forever. No matter what happens.”

The tender moment vanished as the inner-twin emerged. In gusts of laughter, he coughed out, “
And now…and now…we…have to…we must…ah-ha-ha-ha…kill you
.”

He kept on laughing.

****

Fear for Laura pulsed through Bryan in hammering waves and warred for space with his mounting anger. With slow, cautious steps, he approached Thunder Hole. He spotted the searchlight’s halo beam from the boat and knew Mitch and Harmon were near.

“Step away, Noone, and let Laura walk to me.”

Clouds shifted and parted. A sliver of moon peeked through the fog.

Benjamin barely turned his head, just enough for Bryan to see the expression that reminded him of a feral animal. Impatience thickened his voice. “I won’t tell you again—step away—let Laura walk to me.”

Bryan slowly reached one hand down to grip the Glock’s butt. He eased the weapon from its holster.

The laughter died, and Benjamin issued a growl. “Take a step forward, and the girl goes with me into the bowels of hell.”

Laura tried to throw herself to one side. It was Bennie’s voice that snarled, “
You bitch
.”

Benjamin took a step closer to the edge.

Bryan knew from the rumbling sounds of the billowing sea below that it was only a matter of minutes before the hole erupted, spewing a geyser of water some forty feet in the air. He watched Laura frantically trying to kick and twist free of her captor. She stood between his aim and Benjamin Noone.

He held his aim steady, waiting, hoping for Laura to break free long enough for him to get a free shot at the maniac. But her struggles were no match for Noone as he dragged her with him.

And then all hell broke loose.

A voice from nowhere shouted, “Laura! Go limp—now!”

She obeyed and slid out of Benjamin’s grasp.

He extended his arms as if rushing toward Mitch. A deep throaty growl emitted from his throat. “She’s mine…mine…Do you hear?…Mine!”

Without hesitation, Mitch fired in that same second—a pop like a firecracker, followed by a sizzle, charged the air. Benjamin Noone screamed. His body jerked upward. A crimson pattern slowly stained the front of his shirt along with the searing odor of burnt flesh. “Lauuuraaa!”

Mitch shoved the flare gun inside the waistband of his pants. He lifted Laura into his arms as Bryan yelled, “The hole…it’s gonna blow. Get the hell out of here.”

A loud clap of thunder vibrated the air. Water spouted with a deafening roar. Bryan grabbed hold of Mitch and helped him sprint to higher ground as a massive wave threatened to swallow them in its insidious gullet.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Laura’s nerves were frayed, the adrenaline rush gone, leaving her limp and empty. She clung to Mitch. “Is it over? Benjamin’s dead?”

Mitch heaved a deep breath as he set her on her feet and handed her to Bryan. “There’s no way to know for sure until we find his body.”

A boat horn sounded, followed by a spotlight and Harmon shouting, “Mitch…Mitch.”

With Bryan assisting Laura, they walked with Mitch to the end of Thunder Hole’s precipice. The fog had lifted enough to make the white tri-hull craft visible. “We’re okay, Harmon. Any sign of Noone’s body?”

Harmon yelled back, “Damnedest thing you ever saw. In all my years on the sea I ain’t never experienced such a thing.”

He shifted the boat’s large spotlight to the forward deck. “I saw the flash from the flare gun, then Thunder Hole exploded, and then there was a loud whomp, and the bow of the boat dipped. I thought maybe in that gush of water a whale or a large shark had tried to swim ovah the bow. I’m tellin’ you, near scared the peewaddy out of me when I saw what it was. You ain’t gonna believe your eyes.”

Mitch, Laura, and Bryan looked to where the spotlight outlined the inert body of Benjamin Noone, lying face down, spread-eagled on the boat’s bow.

Mitch yelled, “Is he alive?”

“Well, he ain’t movin’, but lemme check.” The boat rocked back and forth as the old sailor approached the body. Mitch and the others watched as Harmon used a toe to nudge Noone. He knelt and rolled the body over, then looked up and shouted. “Deader’n an iced mackerel.”

Mitch nodded his understanding. “Can you move the boat over to the beach area and get close enough for me to wade out?”

Harmon waved. “Sure thing.”

Mitch finally smiled. He squeezed Laura’s hand. “Your aunt’s worried sick about you. I know she’d appreciate a call.” He shook a finger as if saying not to challenge his next statement. “Have her meet you at the hospital. Bryan will drive you.” He’d noticed how Laura favored her right hip.

She offered a weary smile. “What happens next?”

“Harmon and I will get the body to Ken Musuyo for a routine autopsy.” He shrugged. “I’ll come by in a couple of days and take your statement. Right now, Bryan’s going to wrap you in a blanket and get you to the hospital.”

****

Days later, Laura sat on the sun porch, her hip and leg bound in a brace. She lifted the glass of iced tea and drew a sip. Mitch paused, a glass midway to his lips. He took no joy in the birds’ morning songs, or the sight of tourists along the sidewalks. He hadn’t changed his mind about returning to El Paso and running for sheriff. The weight of his decision settled hard on his soul. Laura was thinking of him. He could feel it.

A look of haunting anxiety sprang to her gaze. “Benjamin Noone suffered from more than paranoia schizophrenia. He was physically sick, wasn’t he?”

Mitch set the glass on a coaster, and picked up the brown envelope to extract the report. “It’s a wonder he was able to function as long as he did. Ken’s report states Noone suffered from a massive tumor on the limbic system. This kind of tumor turns a normally gentle individual into a violent, aggressive person. Pair that type of violence with the paranoid episodes of hearing voices and it made Noone a dangerous time bomb. I guess the ironic part is, according to the report, he had maybe less than twenty-four hours of life left before the cancer would have killed him.”

Laura waited a moment. “He said Bennie was his twin. Was it the schizophrenia that caused him to think he had a brother?”

Mitch relaxed against the chair. “Ken phoned the asylum where Benjamin spent ten years of his life. Since he’s dead, the judge didn’t have a problem issuing an order for the asylum to release his records. It seems there was a twin named Bennett. Benjamin was the older by seven minutes. At the age of three, Bennett fell from Thunder Hole and broke his neck. The mother, Rose Noone, went bonkers and blamed Benjamin for not looking after his brother. Also, according to the medical records, Benjamin was the victim of a circumcision gone bad. His mother apparently called him names—little girl, sissy boy, homo—always telling him his twin was smarter, cuter. By the time he was five, she had disappeared. The record states they resided with Rose’s father in the cabin where Benjamin lived. He stated his mother was suffering one of her screaming attacks when the grandfather tried to quiet her, but he broke her neck. Instead of reporting it, he chopped her up, rowed out into the bay, and fed the remains to the sharks. Benjamin held the lantern and was witness to this. For a while he got to live a normal life, until he entered school. Apparently he was bullied by the other kids, who gave him the nickname ‘Beenie with the little Weenie,’ until he killed his first victim, Brenda Alligood.”

Laura placed her hand to her mouth to hold back the disgust. “Poor Benjamin. How horrible.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry for what he suffered, but I’m also relieved that he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

Damn. Why did she have to be so pretty…so tempting? He would like nothing better than to stick around a while longer. His time to leave Cole Harbor was drawing close. He stood and shoved his cap on his head.

“Mitch, you could stay.”

“Can’t. I still have a stack of paperwork to finish before putting the case of Benjamin Noone to bed. I want everything shipshape when Sheriff Gilman returns next week.”

She stared up at him, her hands folded in her lap. “I meant stay in Cole Harbor. You could run against Sheriff Gilman or whatever her married name is now.”

A warm glow passed through him. “Roberta is homegrown. Her father was sheriff. I’ve been here less than a year, and folks take care of their own, Friday. I’m the outsider. Even if I stayed, I’d always be the deputy, and the interloper. Playing second fiddle isn’t my style.”

He wished he could find something clever to say. He stared down into her expectant blue eyes and drew a deep breath. “We’ve talked about this. There are bad guys in Texas I need to catch. I won’t—can’t—rest easy until they’re either behind bars or dead. That’s my first priority.”

His feet stayed rooted to the spot while he watched the sunlight caress her skin in a golden hue.

A sudden frown firmed Laura’s mouth. She crossed her arms and stared away from him.

“Laura, where are you?” A rasp of enthusiasm rang out in Bryan’s raised voice.

She looked at Mitch, squared her shoulders, gave him an “oh, damn” look, and called, “I’m on the sun porch.”

“Take care of yourself, Friday.” Mitch turned and walked away while he still had the good sense and willpower to do so.

He met Bryan at the top of the stairs. The ranger’s dark eyebrows rose into a smile. “How’s our girl today?”

“Improving.”

Mitch hesitated. Bryan stood there, tall, shoulders squared, his voice dropped to a whisper. “I have to ask—are you my competition? It’d take a blind man not to see how she looked at you that night at the hospital.”

“No,” Mitch ground out. “We’re just friends.”

Bryan sighed as he glanced toward the sun porch. “Thanks, Mitch.”

Halfway down the stairs, Mitch turned. “I’m heading to El Paso next week. I won’t be returning to Cole Harbor.”

“Should I tell Laura?”

“She knows.”

Bryan clenched his jaw and nodded.

Mitch didn’t have that much paperwork left to close the Benjamin Noone case. In fact, he considered he was leaving the office in better shape than when he’d first arrived. Part of him thought about hitting the road earlier than planned. Just ride off into the sunset and never look back.

Outside, he squinted against the sun’s bright glare and pulled the sunglasses over his eyes as he walked the short distance to his office, located inside the courthouse.

“Hiyah, Mitch.”

“Mayor Shipley.” His eyes went to the man’s lapel. “I see you’re not wearing a white rosebud.”

The pudgy man’s face screwed into a nervous smile. “Ayuh. Pink or red from now on.” He tsked. “Terrible…just terrible about Benjamin. Who would have ever suspected we had a homicidal maniac living amongst us all these years? Why, my Martha—”

“Sorry to cut you off, Mayor, but I have a ton of paperwork to finish before leaving next week.”

“Ayuh. Wish we could entice you to stay. But, you understand, small community like ours can’t afford to offer you a bigger salary.”

Mitch reined in his thoughts. “Have a nice day, Mayor.”

“Oh, Mitch, I guess you don’t know. Roberta and her new husband pulled in about twenty minutes ago. She’s already at the office.”

Surprise blanched him. He kept his voice calm. “Thanks for the information.”

In minutes, he bounded up the courthouse steps. He slid the dark glasses over the bill of his cap and allowed long strides to take him toward the sheriff’s office.

Louise gave him a cocky grin when he entered the office. “By the scowl on your face, I guess you heard.
She’s ba-ack!
”

Chapter Thirty-Five

The bookstore door squeaked as he opened it. He was sorry he hadn’t taken the time to oil the creak. Phyllis looked up from the computer. “Good morning, Mitch. We heard Roberta had returned early.”