Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 05 - Monroe Beach by Peggy Holloway Read Free Book Online

without a scarf tied around it. It was black, thick, and shiny.
    She stared off into space while she brushed.
    “Why don’t you wear your hair down, Delilah? It’s beautiful. I’ve always thought you were pretty, but you are truly beautiful”
    She laughed. “Honey, I be too ol to wear it down.”
    “How old are you anyway, if you don’t mind my asking?”
    “I be fifty five. I done a lot of living, me. Never was marrit, but had lotsa men, me. Had a baby, was stilt born. Thas how I was able to be a wet nurse for Dave. My milk still came even though I had no baby.”
    “I’m so sorry, Delilah,” I said.
    She winked at me. “I had lots a white men an ole Dave’s papa was one of them. Course I would never tell Dave, but my baby woulda been his half brother.”
    I sat there with my mouth open and she continued. “It happened a lot back then.”
    We continued talking until almost 2am. I told her about Jupiter killing Ben, about me getting shot and about meeting Wade Russell. I started talking about Julia and how she was so happy. I paused when I heard Delilah snoring.
    I set my little travel alarm for eight am, covered Delilah with a blanket, and turned out the lights. It seemed as if I had just dozed off when the alarm went off.
     
    # # #
     
    We met Sarah, Simon, and Robert the next morning at the local diner for breakfast. Robert recommended the pancakes and Delilah said they were almost as good as hers, which was quite a compliment.
    “I’m going to tell y’all everything we know so far about the case,” Robert said between mouthfuls.
    “From Judith’s psychological profile, the suspect is between the ages of twenty five and forty, most probably a male. Right, Judith?”
    When I nodded he said, “Why don’t you take over from here, Judith?”
    “Okay, he was probably sexually abused by his mother, maybe both his mother and father. He could have even grown up in some kind of cult. The reason I’m saying this is that there seems to be a ritualistic component to the way he kills and what he does with the bodies.”
    Simon spoke up. “Yeah, he rapes them first and then takes them out into the water and we think it’s some kind of baptism, or some kind of cleansing. He dresses them in a long white robe before taking them into the water.
    “So far there have been thirty two women that the FBI knows about, all up and down the coast of Florida and Georgia.”
    I noticed Delilah close her eyes and put her hands over them.
    “He’s on the beach now. He’s wearing a long white robe and he’s wading into the water. I don’t understand it very well but someone’s telling me this.”
    Simon and Robert jumped up and ran out of the diner without saying a word. We watched out the window as we saw Simon get behind the wheel of his Crown Victoria and Robert get on his cell phone.
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 14
    Delilah opened her eyes and shook herself, “I never seen anything that clear before, but it’s still confusing. I saw the man from our dreams but it was like someone else was telling me he was the killer.” She said.
    “Did he have white hair?” I asked.
    She slowly nodded. “He has white hair, light blue eyes, white skin, and is very thin. I think maybe an Albino.”
    “Yes, an Albino,” Sarah said. “That has to be it. I couldn’t make out the skin but did see the white hair. Let’s go down on the beach and see what’s happening.”
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Sarah,” I said.
    “Oh, come on. We’ll stay out of sight. How about you, Delilah, are you game?”
    “It ain’t safe,” Delilah said shaking her head. “It just ain’t safe, no way, no how. But if you’re bound and determined to go, I need to be goin too.”
    Robert and Simon had left in such a hurry they didn’t pay the check and the other two started searching in their purse.
    “I got it, I said,” taking out a credit card. “Or I should say the FBI has it.”
    We walked down on the beach and took off our