Terror on the Beach (17 page)

“I threw on the same skirt I had on yesterday because I had been so tired when I got in last night I had left the key in there.”

She started pushing the button, “I think I know how it happened. When Elizabeth came out yesterday during session, we talked about how she wanted to meet Sarah but I told her I would let that happen when Sarah was ready for it.

“She talked about not knowi
ng when she came into being. She said she didn’t remember anything before about three years ago. She even cried which was unusual for Elizabeth, who was always so tough.

“When she left, she hugged me, which was also unusual.
I would have noticed the key was missing before now but one of my techs was standing by the door and let me out yesterday.”

“Let’s talk to that tech,” I said.

The psychiatric technician’s name was Earl Feaster. He was average height with dark brown hair and eyes. He was wearing jeans and a dark green polo shirt with the Ocean Sands emblem over the left pocket. He had the rugged good looks women like and was all muscle.

“Why were you standing by the door just as I was leaving yesterday, Earl?”
Dr. Anna asked.

“I wasn’t standing by the door.
I was on my way outside to have a smoke.”

She looked at him shocked, “I didn’t know you smoked?”

I looked at Simon, “What brand do you smoke?” I asked him.

He looked from one of us to the other and finally reached into his pocket and brought out a half-pack of Marlborough.

I walked over and stood close to him and sniffed his hair. It was easy to do since I towered over him. His hair did smell like that of a smoker. We left it for now. Maybe he did happen to be going out for a smoke at the same time as when Dr. Anna was leaving.

We followed Dr. Anna as she talked to several other workers and a few patients.
One of the patients looked at me and said, “I heard her tell you yesterday afternoon on the phone that she was ready to go whenever you got here.”

“When was this?”
Dr. Anna asked the young girl.

“You know, it was during phone time,” she turned to me, “We’re allowed to use the phone in the hall for one hour in the afternoon.
I was behind her in line and I could hear what she was saying.”

We thanked the girl and continued down the hall, “Sarah didn’t call me yesterday,” I said, “She must have been in touch with Bucky all this time.”

TWOON

I have her, the love of my life.
I’ve waited so long. Sarah kept getting in the way and if she comes back, I swear, I’ll kill her. She tried to ruin everything.

I didn’t even like her when she was little, when she called herself Beth.
She didn’t like to do it with me or with dad then. I don’t know why, when it felt so good. When she became a teenager and started calling herself Elizabeth, I fell in love with her. She wanted to do it with me all the time. Her parents tried to stop it. They wanted us for themselves. We no longer wanted anyone else but each other.

I would never hurt her because she is the only person in the world who has ever loved me.
We had it all figured out. I did the fire after I knew she was safe. We were supposed to meet in a little place called Seagrove Beach in the Florida panhandle.

Sarah, once again had to ruin everything and run off to Monroe Beach.
It took a long time to find her and in the meantime I have been enjoying myself with the others. They didn’t matter. None of them did except Elizabeth.

This time, if Sarah ruins everything I promised Elizabeth I would kill her.
She said she would help me.

We will go somewhere where no one will find us.
I was so clever getting all of Elizabeth’s parents’ money before I killed them. Her mom gave in right away and begged for her life in return. She always handled the money.

I like reliving this sometimes.
I enjoyed stabbing Elizabeth’s mom. I hated her guts and I let them spill all over the carpet. Before then she gave me all the account numbers and I went to the bank and withdrew all the money.

It was over one million dollars.
When I got back from the bank, the bitch had bled to death. For the first time in my life it turned me on to see all that blood and it’s what started me on the stabbing spree later on.

Elizabeth’s dad
came in just before I climaxed while touching myself. When he walked in he started screaming like a wild woman. I jumped up and pulled up my pants and was on him. I stabbed him over and over. When he became too weak to fight, I unzipped my pants and played with myself while I finished killing him.

I came just as he breathed his last breathe.
I poured gasoline everywhere and set the fire. It was glorious and I wished that I could stay and watch longer. I had to run. If Elizabeth had been waiting for me in Florida we could have gone off to some islands somewhere where no one could find us.

But Sarah ruined everything.
Now at last we can leave. I have the money in several banks in the islands and we’ll never want for anything. We’re going to have a wonderful life and I don’t think Sarah will find us.

This is like a dream come true for us.
We stopped in a cheap motel in a place called Interlachen, Florida and spent the night. It was the best night of my life. We did it all night. It had been so long it was wonderful for us.

This morning we will continue on down into the Florida Keys maybe stopping for another wonderful night along the way.
When we get to the Keys we will rent a boat and go island hopping for awhile and then I will take her to the special island I found.

I can’t believe we are really together alone for the first time in our lives.
Everything is perfect unless Sarah finds us.

CHAPTER 35

“As long as the Elizabeth personality remains out Sarah will be safe,” Dr. Anna said, “And right now Elizabeth is the dominant personality.
What scares me is that I’ve worked on making Sarah stronger and stronger so the work we’ve done might even harm her.”

I had never felt
more panicked in my life. Simon and I remained quiet while Dr. Anna continued to think out loud. “One thing all the personalities have in common is their love for the ocean. Could that somehow help you? Maybe they’re headed for some islands somewhere.”

“There are a lot of islands, Dr. Anna,” Simon said.
“They’re not going to go by plane. We’ve got agents in all the major airports. They could charter a private plane. The FBI has already alerted the Coast Guard, but they could charter a small boat to hide in if they have enough money, which they do.

“We were able to determine that Sarah’s parents had a little over a million dollars in the bank and Bucky came in the day before the fire with a letter from Sarah’s mama saying they were going to leave the country and wanted to take all the money out of all the accounts.

“Bucky had all the account numbers and got a cashier’s check. As far as we can determine, he was able to hide the money in the Caribbean. So, if they find the right person to bribe, they can get a private plane or boat out of the United States.”

“But if they got a private plane wouldn’t the pilot have to file a flight plan or something?” Dr. Anna asked.

“Yeah, that’s why my bet is on a boat. They will probably rent a boat without a crew. So, it will be a small boat, but not a sail boat that would require work. It would have to be a motor boat.”

I was so frustrated I wanted to hit som
eone. “Simon, we gotta move on this. We can’t stand around here talking and strategizing like it was an ordinary case. Sarah’s life is in danger. If she becomes Sarah again instead of Elizabeth, he’s going to kill her.”

Simon and Anna looked at me and I could see compassion in their eyes, “Okay, ole buddy, what do you want to do?” Simon asked.

I looked at Dr. Anna and I could see the worry in her eyes. “Dr. Anna, you said Sarah hasn’t met any of her personalities, but that she knows about them. I have several questions.”

When she nodded, I continued, “Does she know what the other personalities are like?”

“She does. That’s why she didn’t want to meet Elizabeth yet. She said she wasn’t ready to meet her.”

“Does she know about Bucky?”

“Sarah has a vague memory of a boy a little older than she who came to live with them. When she started talking about him, she became agitated and Elizabeth came out.”

“Okay, this is my question.
If Sarah came out and found herself on a boat with Bucky, do you think she would be able to put together enough to imitate Elizabeth to try to save herself?”

“If Sarah comes out and finds herself on a plane or boat with Bucky, I do hope and pray she will be able to pull something like that off.
If not, there’s no doubt in my mind that he will kill her.

“I believe he loves Elizabeth and sees her as his soul mate.
But he hates Sarah, that’s why he tried to frame her. My guess is that he thinks Sarah ruined everything between him and Elizabeth.

That was my only tiny thread of hope to cling to.
Maybe, just maybe she would be able to leave us a clue as Sarah. I closed my eyes and heard myself say, “Sarah, baby, where are you? Please take care.”

PART

THREE:

SARAH

CHAPTER 36

The last thing I remembered when I woke up was being in session with Dr. Anna. I woke up on a boat and that artist who had chased me on the beach was at the wheel of the boat.

The boat was small and I was lying in a bed down below but could still see him at the wheel.
I felt sick and pulled myself up the ladder and leaned over the side and puked.

I heard him laugh, “Yuck! You okay, Elizabeth?
Did you have a good nap?”

Now I knew the truth.
Kevin thought I was Elizabeth and I was glad Dr. Anna had told me about her. Now I had to pretend to be her. I hoped I could avoid having sex with him. If I kept being sick, maybe he wouldn’t want it.

“Why don’t you go brush your teeth and use some mouthwash?
Then you can come up here by me and I can teach you how to drive this thing.”

I went below and found my toothbrush and some mouthwash.
I had apparently packed these things and I had somehow escaped the psychiatric center. Dr. Anna and Robert were going to be worried sick about me.

I finished refreshing my breath.
When I came out of the tiny bathroom he yelled down to me, “Hey Elizabeth, bring me a beer, will you?”

I got one out of the tiny refrigerator and took it up to him, but when I turned to go he grabbed me and pinched my nipple and I realized I wasn’t wearing a bra and had on a thin tee shirt and a pair of cut offs.

I gasped and he grinned. “You still like them pinched don’t you?” He pulled my head down on his shoulder, “Can you believe it? For the first time in our lives we are alone and can do anything we want?

“I don’t think that bitch, Sarah, will find us again and ruin things for us, do you, baby?”

“We won’t let her,” I said and wondered if that was what Elizabeth would say.

I snuggled up against him and started rubbing his chest.
He moved my hand down and said, “Do it, baby, right out here in the open with no one around. I’m hard as a rock.”

I knew my life depended on whether or not I could do this thing and I reasoned that I had done it before as Elizabeth.
I just had to do it. But did he want a blow job or a hand job? Was I supposed to know which?

I was on the verge of asking when he said, “Whoa, wait a minute.
Here comes another boat. Looks like a family out for a boat ride. You think we ought to have some fun with them?”

I was suddenly afraid for the family and I knew I had to speak up, “I just want you baby.
We don’t need anyone else right now do we?”

He laughed as we waved to the family, “You didn’t say that about the owners of this boat.
Course they were so old you probably thought they had lived long enough. Was that it?”

“Yeah that was it,” I said while I wondered if I had taken part in a murder.

“You sure seemed to enjoy watching what I was doing to them and then you wanted me so badly afterward I thought you would destroy my clothes. Man you’re good. It just wasn’t the same without you these past few years. That’s why I’m going to kill Sarah if I ever see her again. You said you would help me. You still want to?”

Cold chills ran over me and I just nodded.
He really didn’t realize that if he killed Sarah, me, he would be killing Elizabeth. To him we were two different people. He must have been more screwed up than me.

The family had headed back to shore and we were once again in the ocean alone.
I decided to find out where we were going in case I had a chance to call Robert later on.