Confession (38 page)

Sam and John were able to get on a flight out of Phoenix early in the morning.  John insisted Sam spend the night at his house.

Meanwhile in Kissimmee, Marty was busy shredding all pictures that included Allan.  After that, he burned all the video tapes that had Allan included.  Becky was still sicken about her father being a killer.  She never wanted to see his face again, so she had Marty perform this task.

Marty took the laptop that Becky bought Allan.
 

He took the laptop and went inside his garage.

He used a hammer and smashed the laptop then dumped it in the trash.

The next morning, Sam and John were at the airport for their 8:05 flight to Orlando.

Sam called Cindy and told her that he had to make one more pit stop at Becky’s house.  At first she was upset, but after Sam told her the story about finding John’s kidnapped baby, she changed her tune.  She was so proud of her man.

Later that afternoon, Sam pulled his car into Becky’s driveway.   Sam and John got out of his car and they walked to the front door.  Sam had the folder in hand and John had his photo album.

It was a nervous walk for John while the headed to the front door.

Sam rang the doorbell. 

Then the door opened and Becky appeared.

John was speechless when he saw his daughter.

Becky looked a little nervous.  “Don’t tell me Uncle Creepy is out of jail.”

“No.  This is John Watson.  His wife was the last one murdered by Allan,” Sam told her.

Becky looked upset.  “Why would you bring him here?  I can’t be blamed for what dad did so long ago,” Becky said while her eyes started to well up.

“No, no.  It’s not that.  Can we come inside?  I have some news.  News that should make you very happy.”

Becky moved aside and let them inside her home.

After they sat down on the couch, Sam handed her the folder.

She opened up the folder.  She saw the adoption form from an adoption agency in Curtis, Mississippi.  It was an adoption form with Allan and Beverly as the parents.

“Oh my God!  I’ve always had a feeling I was adopted!  But why wouldn't they tell me?” Becky asked while she read the form over again.  “And why are you here Mister Watson?” she asked while she looked at him.

John handed her his photo album and opened up the pictures.  Becky saw the birthmark on the baby pictures.

“After my wife was murdered, our baby girl
, Rachael,
was kidnapped.  I never found her,” John said while his eyes welled up and his lips trembled.

Then it dawned on Becky.  “A ser
ial killer kidnapped me?” 
Becky got the dry heaves.  She covered her mouth in case she vomited.  

Sam and John watched while she got up and ran out of the room.

They heard her vomit in the toilet.

“She does this occasionally,” Sam told John.

John could care less.  He would rather hear his daughter vomit than never hear from her.

A few minutes after she brushed her teeth and garbled with mouthwash.  Becky walked into the livening room.

“I’m so sorry for running out like that,” she said.

John stood up.  “That’s okay.  When you were a baby, you vomited once or twice on my shoulder.”

Becky looked at John and had this overwhelming feeling he was family.  “Dad?” she said while her eyes welled up.

“My baby,” he replied and rushed over to her. 

They hugged.  “I can’t wait for you to meet my son Jason and daughter Suzie,” John told her.

Becky’s eyes widened with joy.  “I have a step-brother and sister?” she asked him.

John nodded in agreement.

Sam’s eyes welled up while they hugged each other tight.

A
couple of weeks passed and the paternity tests proved Becky was John’s daughter.  She was so relieved she wasn’t related to Allan that she legally changed her name to Rachael Watson Adams.  Marty and Becky also decided to sell their house and move to Phoenix for a new life.

John stayed with Becky in Florida to help her move to Phoenix.

Then one day while they were packing up her Kissimmee home, they made a trip to the Heavenly Place Cemetery with some potted plants and the kids.

They walked over to Annette Watson’s headstone.   They noticed that the area dug up at the backside of her headstone had new sod installed.  

Becky set the potted plants at the front of her headstone then she stood up.

“Who is this person?” Nancy asked curiously. 

“Why, she’s your other grandmother,” Becky replied.

Nancy looked up at the sky.  “I love you grandma!  And I love my new grandma!” she said then blew kisses at the sky.

Michael rolled his eyes at Nancy.  John got a chuckle.

Nancy looked around at the other headstones.  “Can we go say hello to grandpa?” she asked.

Becky knelt down to Nancy and looked her in her eyes.

“Don't you love Grandpa anymore?” Nancy asked.

Becky was at a loss of words for a second.  “Honey, it's really difficult to explain why right now.  So, can I explain it when you get older?” she told her.

“Sure Mommy.”

Becky gave Nancy a kiss on her cheek and stood up.  Nancy looked up at John.

“Let's go my new grandpa,” she said while she grabbed a hold of his hand.

Hearing the sound of being called grandpa brought another tear to the old Marine’s eyes.

While they walked away, Becky looked back at Allan’s headstone.  She had an idea.

“There’s something I want to do before I move out to Phoenix,” she told John.

“What’s that?” he asked curiously.

She pulled him off to the side and whispered in his ear.

He thought about her idea for a few seconds and debated in his mind if he should condone such a plan.  Then he thought about Annette’s death.  “I’m in,” he said.

They walked away hand in hand.

Later that night, she called Brent Brooke at the Heavenly Place Cemetery and asked if she could have Allan’s body dug up and have him cremated.   He said he would put the proper paperwork in work and get it approved.

Meanwhile at Sam’s house, he relaxed on his couch his living room and watched the
Dirty Harry
movie. 

His phone in the kitchen rang.   He got up off the couch and walked out of the room.

He went into his kitchen and picked up his ringing phone.  “Sam Woods,” he answered.

There was few seconds of silence.  “Mister Woods, my name is Les Bowman.  I saw on the news that you uncovered that Allan Stein was the October Slayer,” Les said.

“Yes sir.”

“Well, I know that he’s dead but there’s something I want to get off my chest,” Les said.

“Okay.”

“I was in the Army and stationed in Saigon back in seventy.   I saw Allan stab a black soldier in an alley one night.  Allan said something about payback for something that happened in Mississippi when they were kids,” Les stated.

“Why didn’t you tell the Army about that?” Sam curiously asked.

“Well, I’m ashamed of this, but back then, I was selling drugs for some extra cash.  I was making a drug transaction and after it was done, I saw Allan kill that black Staff Sergeant,” Les said.  There was a brief second of silence.  “I then heard that CID was investigating the murder and learned that the agent who killed the sergeant was the investigator.  I knew I had to keep my mouth shut or I might end up dead.”

“Well, there’s nothing that can done now since Allan’s dead,” Sam said.

“I know but wanted to tell someone and get it off my chest,” Les replied.

“Well, thanks for telling me.  This at least answers one question I had floating in the back of my mind,” Sam responded.

“Thanks for listening,” Les said then disconnected his end of the call.

Sam hung up his phone and knew there was nothing that could be done now.  He wished this guy came forward years ago.

He walked out of the kitchen and went back to his movie in the living room.

The next day, Sam drove with Cindy on Interstate 95 in South Carolina and headed north.  They passed a North Carolina I-95 road sign while music plays on the radio.  The music stopped.

“It's now time for the news.  Billy Stein, brother of the famed October Slayer, was arrested in a Jackson, Mississippi jail on child porno charges.  He’s also under investigation for the murder of a retired FBI agent in Jackson, Mississippi.   Mister Stein was previously arrested for the murder of a young woman in nineteen sixty-five that was the fourth victim of the October Slayer.  Also in Jackson Mississippi, Jerome Franklin had his nineteen sixty-one rape conviction expunged.  It was revealed that Billy Stein actually committed those rapes and frame Franklin for it.  Mister Stein pleaded guilty to all of his rape charges.  Over in Charlotte...”

“My nightmare's over,” Sam said while he turned off the radio.

Cindy leaned over and kissed his cheek.  She returned to her Biltmore Estates book.

A few days later, Becky’s plan was ready to be implemented after she received a call from Brent Brooke from the Heavenly Place Cemetery.  

John and Becky drove to the cemetery and picked up the
ashes of Allan in the cheapest U
rn they offered.

John and Becky drove around Orlando for the perfect place to bury Allan’s ashes. 

They soon drove by a construction site that was perfect. 

After they par
ked their car, they walked the U
rn to a Porta Potty.  They both
went inside and opened up the U
rn.

“This is the perfect burial place for you!” Becky said while she dumped Allan’s ashes into the bin of human waste. 
“I hope you smell shit for eternity!” she added then
dropped the U
rn inside then they left.

They walked back to the car arm in arm ready to finish the life
that was taken away from them thirty-nine
years ago.

“Marty told me you got another royalty check for his books,” he said.

“Yes.  It was a check for fifty-two thousand dollars.  Marty and I talked and decided to keep some for our move to Phoenix.  We’ll donate the rest to some charity for families that were victims of horrible crimes,” she said.

“That sounds like a great plan,” he said while they walked to her mini-van.

Two days later and Sam and Cindy were inside the Biltmore Estates for another tour.  Cindy was in heaven on finally seeing this beautiful mansion an
d had to visit it again. 

Sam’s
cell phone buzzed.  He opened up and saw it was a text message.  He opened up the text message.

“Sam.  I just wanted to thank you for everything.  Marty and I are selling our house.  We’re moving the kids to Phoenix to be closer to my father, stepbrother and stepsister.  Please stay in touch,” Becky’s text message stated.

Sam put his cell phone in his pocket. 

“Who was that?” Cindy asked.

“Becky thanking me for everything,” he told her.

She smiled then held his hand while they walked to another room in the Biltmore.

His cell phone rang from his pocket.  He removed it and smiled when he saw the caller from the viewfinder.

“Hello son,” he answered.

“Dad, I can’t wait to see Cindy and you tomorrow,” Charles said from the cell phone.

“Me too.”

“And congratulations of finally putting this case behind you.  You did a great job.”

“Thanks and I’ll call when we get into D.C,” Sam said then disconnected the call.

They walked off and went into another room where Cindy stared at the room in awe.

The next day, Sam and Cindy drove north to visit Charles in Washington D.C.

Becky and Marty packed up the kids in their mini-van and headed out west to Phoenix to start a new life.