Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 05 - Monroe Beach Read online

  I was surprised that I still had so many tears left. I thought I had used them up, but as soon as he showed so much sympathy I broke down. Sarah came over and squatted down by my chair and wrapped her arms around me.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” John said, walking up from the beach, “but I’ve been reassigned. I have to leave right away. So, I’ll leave everything in your capable hands, Robert, and you too, Judith. They said another agent will be assigned from the Atlanta office, probably your friend. Simon.” He said to Robert.

  Robert stood up and reached for his wallet while saying, “I’ll drive you to the airport.”

  “I got supper covered,” I said. “Y’all go ahead on. Just put the wallet back in your pocket, Robert.”

  After they left, Sarah and I sat back and enjoyed an after supper coffee while we watched the waves, both lost in our own thoughts. I felt more at peace than I had felt in months, but not for long.

  Suddenly, Sarah jumped up and started running down the beach.

  “Sarah, wait,” I called while grabbing money from my purse and throwing a handful of bills on the table.

  I jumped off the porch, not bothering with the steps, and ran after her. By the time I caught her, she was wading out into the surf. I grabbed for her, but she laughed and dodged me, like a little girl, giggling the whole time. I kept trying to catch her and she kept dodging me and giggling.

  Then in a little girl’s voice she said, “I remember you, Doctor Judith. You came to see me before.”

  I knew that voice. I recognized it from a few years earlier when I was called here to do a psychological evaluation on Sarah. She had been suspected of being Twoon, the psychopathic killer who had been stabbing women on the beach.

  This was one of Sarah’s personalities. Her name was Beth, and she was four and a half years old. I knew in that moment that Sarah had relapsed and that this personality had come out again.

  “I need to call Dr. Anna,” I thought as I watched the Beth personality run back to shore and start digging in the sand.

  I sat down on the sand and watched her until she looked up at me, “You want to help, Dr. Judith? I’m building a sandcastle.”

  She had gotten sand all over her just like a small child, even in her hair. I couldn’t help but laugh as I took some of the sand off the pile she had made by digging the hole. We worked in silence, while I went over in my mind how to approach her.

  “So, what brings you out, Beth?” I asked while watching her out of the corner of my eye.

  “I have to help Sarah. I have to make sure Elizabeth doesn’t come back.”

  “And why do you think Elizabeth might come back?”

  “Because Sarah doesn’t understand what’s happening and she’s scared. That’s when Elizabeth tries to come out, when Sarah’s scared.”

  Elizabeth was the oversexed, evil personality who teamed up with Twoon and helped him escape on a stolen boat to an unknown island.

  Sarah ran down to the water’s edge and filled her hands with water and tried to bring it back. I watched her, noticing that she ran just like a small child. When she got back, almost all of the water had leaked out of her hands. She poured what little she had over the castle I had started building.

  I watched her pat the sand and I asked her, “Do you know what’s going on, Beth?”

  She nodded, “Uh huh.”

  Just like a kid, I thought. I was going to have to pull the words out of her. “Tell me what’s happening with Sarah.”

  She didn’t answer. I looked at her and noticed she had quit working on the sandcastle and was staring out to sea.

  Then she looked around her and said, “Judith, what in the hell are we doing out here?”

  “Sarah?” I said.

  “Yeah, it’s happening again isn’t it? I just lost time. Who came out?”

  “It was Beth. She said she had to come out to protect you, and to make sure Elizabeth didn’t come out. She said that when you get scared Elizabeth comes out. She said she knew what was happening with you, but before she could tell me, you came back.”

  Sarah looked so scared. She said, “Judith, will I have to be hospitalized again? Please don’t tell Robert about this, not yet anyway. He will start watching every move I make, and I can’t stand that.”

  “Sarah, I’ve seen this over and over in working with patients. In times of great stress, they will have a tendency to go back to their old way of handling things, in your case the multiple personalities.

  “This doesn’t mean you’re getting sick again. It’s probably just a little relapse. I doubt very seriously that you’ll end up back at Ocean Sands. I think what we need to do is to get you more comfortable with this special gift you’ve developed. When was the last time you talked to Dr. Anna?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. It’s been awhile. It’s so hard to do therapy over the phone. Can you stay here until I can get comfortable with what’s going on with me?”

  “I’ll stay as long as you need me. I think the FBI will be okay with that. Will that help take some of the stress off you?”

  She breathed out a long sigh of relief. “Yes it will. Thank you, Judith. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Sarah was quiet throughout supper. She had fixed a dinner of scallops in a garlic/butter sauce, baby peas and salad, but ate very little of it herself. I had spent the rest of the day with Robert, going over what little evidence he had. He told me that Simon, the agent from Atlanta, I had met when I was here before, was coming in to replace John.

  After I got into bed that night I racked my brain trying to figure out how to help Sarah. I felt like I was out of my element. I had experience with multiple personality disorder, and had worked with several during my internship, but I didn’t know anything about this paranormal phenomenon that was going on with her.

  Just as I was dozing off, I sat up in bed with a start. I suddenly knew exactly who to call. I looked at the clock. It was ten forty five but nine forty five in New Orleans.

  Picking up the phone, I started dialing. Delilah answered after the first ring. She sounded wide awake. When she heard my voice, she laughed. “I was just thinking about you and wondering what you needed.”

  Delilah is a beautiful tall black Creole woman, who was raised in the bayou of Terrebonne Parrish, Louisiana. She is the cook and housekeeper of Dave Boudreau, who took me in, when I was a runaway, at age fifteen. She is one of my best friends. She has remarkable insight and I thought she could help us.

  “Delilah, I do need your help, but I’m in Monroe Beach, Georgia. Do you think Dave would let you come over here?”

  “What you mean, Dave let me? He don’t tell me what to do, no. I spank his little bottom, me. Where I fly into?”

  I felt so relieved, “Really, Delilah? Are you coming?”

  “Sure nuff, my friend need me, right?”

  “Thank you so much, Delilah. You can fly into Jacksonville, Florida. I’ll make the reservations for you and call you back.”

  Hanging up immediately, I called the airlines and made arrangements. She would be coming in the next afternoon. I dialed her back with the information. Then I was ready to sleep.

  “I also want to call Dr. Anna,” I was thinking as I dozed off.

  The next morning I found Sarah running down the beach. She stopped when she saw me, talking a towel from around her neck and wiping her sweaty face.

  “You’re up mighty early, aren’t you, Judith?” She asked as she sat down on a sand dune and patted the spot next to her, inviting me to join her.

  “This is early, for me,” I said as I joined her. “I hoped to find you down here. Do you want to go with me to Jacksonville, Florida to pick up Delilah?”

  “I would love to. What time does her flight get in?”

  “Not until 12:00 noon”

  “Could we leave early, so we can shop while we’re there?”

  I agreed. We planned to meet Delilah in Jacksonville, have
lunch and then go out to Ocean Sands to see Dr. Anna. I had called her early this morning and she suggested that we stay in one of the cottages on the grounds of the psychiatric center. She said she would try to take some time off and join us.

  We left the next morning at nine. Shopping at The Avenues Mall, I was reminded of Mimi and how she took every opportunity to shop. The last time she and I had shopped together at the Avenues, was when we were waiting for Julia to come out of a coma.

  Sarah and I were running late as we headed for the airport. As it turned out, Delilah’s flight was delayed. It didn’t get in until 2:10 p.m. I had told her to wait and have lunch with us, and not eat on the plane.

  This was only the second time Delilah had flown, and the second time she had been to Jacksonville. The first time had been when she had been asked, by the FBI, to come here to identify a dirty judge. I spotted her and waved. She looked frazzled from the flight, but when she saw me, she became more relaxed and hurried over.

  She grabbed me in a bear hug. “How’s my baby? I’m so sorry about Ben, me. I didn’t know him long but I loved that boy.”

  I got chocked up, knowing everything was going to be all right now that Delilah was there.

  “You must be Sarah,” Delilah said as she held both of Sarah’s hands. “Don’t worry; this is a good thing you’re going through. I know it feels awful, but you will accomplish great things.”

  Gazing more deeply into Sarah’s eyes, Delilah continued. “You, Beth, Elizabeth, and the mute boy will fix everything. The folks in the mirror are benevolent. The man in your dreams? Something tell me he be the killer, but it ain’t clear. It’s like someone else is telling me he be the killer. I’m sorry. Sometimes I sees things I don’t understand.”

  Sarah looked at me with a surprised look in her eyes.

  I shrugged. “I didn’t tell Delilah anything. Before I knew I was a twin, she told me I had another side. Then it turned out I was a triplet.”

  After we were settled in the restaurant with our food, Sarah looked at Delilah. “I can’t remember the man in my dreams. It’s so frustrating. I see the women getting killed, but I can’t make out the man. He’s just a dark figure.”

  Delilah shrugged, “No matter, you’ll see him when you’re ready.”

  I called Dr. Anna before we left the restaurant. She told us to come on over. I had first met Dr. Anna Stevens, or Dr. Anna as her patients called her, when Julia was admitted to Ocean Sands Psychiatric Hospital, owned by Dr. Anna. Julia had suffered a breakdown when we were both 16 years old.

  Dr. Anna is a wonderful person and the best psychiatrist I’ve ever met. It was because of her, that I ended up becoming a psychologist. She was getting up in years, but was still going strong. I couldn’t wait to see her.

  She was pacing outside Ocean Sands when we drove up, and waved me over to park in front of the door. When we got out of my rental car, I ran over and gave her a big hug.

  “I’m so glad to see you, Dr. Anna,” I said. “This is my friend Delilah, and you already know Sarah.”

  As Delilah shook hands with Dr. Anna, she looked into her eyes, “What happened to him?”

  Dr. Anna gasped and looked away. “I’m sorry,” Delilah said. “I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.”

  “No, that’s all right. I teach my patients to be honest with themselves. I will talk to you about this later. I guess, after all these years, it’s time. Thank you, Delilah.”

  Dr. Anna turned to Sarah, “Can I have a hug, you wonderful, multi-layered girl?”

  After they hugged, Dr. Anna held her at arm’s length and said, “You look good. I think between the four of us we can figure this thing out. Judith called early this morning and explained what was going on.” Dr. Anna then turned to Delilah, “Did you have any insight?”

  “I see a little,” Delilah said.

  “Oh, my goodness, where are my manners? I waited out here so I could take y’all down to the cottage I rented for you. It’s the largest one,” she said over her shoulder, as she led the way to the group of bungalows on the grounds of Ocean Sands.

  I was having both good and bad memories as we followed her. Mimi and I had stayed here when Julia was a patient at Ocean Sands, after her breakdown. We were sixteen years old and I had just found both Mimi and my twin sister, Julia. Mimi and I had some nice long talks on the porch here, and she became friends with Dr. Anna. Julia and I had come a long way since then.

  The cottage was one of the few two-story cottages I had noticed when I was here before. The bottom floor had a huge bedroom with a King-sized bed, bathroom, and a laundry room.

  The top floor had glass all the way around and a porch surrounding it. It had a living room-dining room- kitchen area, two bedrooms. and two baths. One of the bedrooms had a king-sized bed. The other had two full-sized beds.

  The cottage was decorated in typical Florida style with patterns of seashells, lighthouses, and pelicans on the bedspreads and so on. I let the other two pick which bedroom they wanted and I ended up with the one downstairs. It had more privacy but not the view.

  “Dr. Anna, why don’t you stay here,” I said, “We have enough room.”

  “You know what, Judith, I think I will. That way we can visit longer and I won’t have to fight traffic going home. It’ll be handy to do my rounds tonight and in the morning.”

  There was a small clothing store on the grounds that had been built since I was here. It had a few clothes and toiletries for someone who decided to stay here, who had loved ones in the psychiatric center. Dr. Anna asked Sarah to accompany her and they set off to shop for Dr. Anna.

  Delilah and I made ourselves comfortable on her bed, propped up watching the ocean. She shook her head, “I tell you, Judith, that chil have a rough time head uh her. I’m plum worried bout her, me.”

  “I am too Delilah. She went through so much growing up and then just as she was getting her life together, she moved to Monroe Beach and became terrorized. Then she had very little time with Robert, and now this. It pisses me off no end.”

  “It pisses me off too, me.”

  She was still and quiet for so long I was beginning to think she had dozed off. But then she spoke. What she said rattled me so badly I almost wished she hadn’t told me.

  “I saw this as soon as I took her hand,” she began, “She has had so many lives, she is an ancient soul. She has been a prostitute, a thief, and a murderer. She spent several of her lives as a man. She was a pedophile in one life. This was the life where she was supposed to redeem herself.”

  “Are you saying that she isn’t redeeming herself, when you say she is supposed to?”

  “No, I’m saying this life is her last chance. If she fails, she will cease to exist.”

  We heard Mimi and Sarah coming in downstairs. They came upstairs giggling, like a couple of teenagers. “We almost bought out the store,” Dr. Anna said. “Vera, your Mimi, would be proud of us, Judith.”

  “Dr. Anna is going to stay in the room with me. I love this. I feel so much better knowing I have all y’all here to help me. Thank you so much,” Sarah said as she beamed at us.

  Dr. Anna looked at her watch, “I have a couple more sessions to do and then some rounds. Then I’ll be done for the day. I’ll see y’all back here at about seven thirty. What do y’all want to do about supper?”

  “I wanted to cook,” Delilah said.

  This was a surprise. I would have thought she would welcome the chance to eat out, since she cooked all the meals at Dave’s, “Are you sure, Delilah?” I asked her.

  “I don’t like hospital food,” she said.

  Dr. Anna said as she was leaving, “Tell her about the restaurant here. I think she will change her mind.”

  They had a gourmet restaurant on the hospital grounds, and we ended up eating there. Delilah thought it was delicious.

  CHAPTER 5

  Dr. Anna arranged to be off for a few days so we could work with Sarah together. She had another doctor fill in for her and had some
of the therapists take her groups.

  We established a routine. Although Delilah had enjoyed the gourmet meal at the cafeteria, she said she still wanted to do the cooking. We tried to talk her out of it, telling her that she should take the time off and treat this like a vacation, but she said cooking was part of her relaxation.

  I found a Publix Supermarket not far from Ocean Sands and drove Delilah there the second morning, while Dr. Anna met with Sarah.

  We had all agreed to treat this time together like four women friends enjoying each other’s company. By creating a relaxed atmosphere, we hoped Sarah would gain some insight into what was happening with her. We would handle things as they came up.

  Delilah got up first and cooked. We had a long relaxed breakfast, sitting around talking over coffee afterwards. Then we all pitched in cleaning up the kitchen. Afterwards we hit the beach. We walked and talked. Delilah usually fixed a salad for lunch. We took naps in the afternoons and then sat on the porch overlooking the beach until Delilah called us in to supper.

  We walked on the beach after supper and then called home. Robert told Sarah that Simon, an FBI agent from Atlanta, had come in to help with the investigation. Simon had helped bring the psychopath, Twoon to justice. Robert missed Sarah but was glad she was getting some help.

  Wade Russell called me every night. I didn’t know how I felt about him. We had gone out a few times, but I was still grieving Ben. Wade was the detective who helped us catch Jupiter.

  Even though he said he wasn’t going to put pressure on me, I felt like that was exactly what he was doing, and was glad to be away from him for awhile.

  I was also in constant contact with Mimi, Tracy, Mark, little Brad, and Julia. I expected Julia to tell me she had eloped the first time she called, she was so excited. But when I asked she said, “No, it’s better than that. You’re going to be an aunt! I’m three months along. My darling old fashioned professor thinks we have to get married now. Isn’t that silly?”

  “Why don’t you want to get married now, Julia?”