Excerpt from novel "Going to Sophie" by John Monty

Copyright John Monty - All rights reserved

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CHAPTER 1

Mary and Chloe

Eighteen months ago, on a Sunday …

“Hi Jesse,” Sophie said, as she answered the phone, clearly very happy that he had called her.

“Hey Sophie, how are you?” Jesse asked.

“I’m good. What are you up to?”

“I just felt like talking to you. Hope that’s okay?”

“Yeah sure, of course,” Sophie replied, pausing to enjoy the thought that he wanted to talk to her. “How are you feeling, today? Gil told me you were working all last night.”

“Yeah, I’m feeling pretty tired. It was a long night helping Sarge interview some suspects,” Jesse said.

“Sounds exhausting. Are you planning to get a few hours sleep this morning?”

“I should, shouldn’t I, but I hate sleeping during the day. I might just take it easy and see how I go. What have you got going on today? Are you and Gil spending time together, seeing as he is home on furlough for the weekend?”

“No, Gil wants to go to church, so he is going with Penny and your parents. I had a big day at work yesterday, filling in for one of the local vets. Being Saturday, it was so busy. I lost count of how many dogs and cats I saw. I was just going to hang out at home, today. My folks will be here, but, you know them. I’m sure they’ll end up doing something on the farm. Other than that, I’m free, if you want some company?” Sophie asked, really hoping to see him today.

“I was hoping you’d say that. Yes, I would definitely love your company,” replied Jesse, with a huge smile.

“Awesome,” Sophie said, matching Jesse’s smile, as she paused to soak up the intimate moment. “So, do you want me to pick you up? We can go to Caroline’s Cafe. Or we can chill at your place.”

“Let’s just chill. We can raid Dad’s special coffee blends or Mum’s herbal teas. And I can smell a fresh loaf of sourdough, that Mum must have baked this morning before she left. How does that sound?”

“Sounds perfect,” Sophie said, smiling and letting out an audible contented sigh.

“Actually, there is something I’d like to talk to you about today,” said Jesse, mysteriously.

“Oh okay, and what would that be?” Sophie asked, matching Jesse’s tone. She was hoping he wanted to talk about starting a relationship with her. She had been waiting so long for this moment. And she knew they had been getting on so well the last few months. Jesse had seemed to ramp up his attention of her. Is it finally time, Lord?

“You’ll have to wait and see,” Jesse said, enjoying the interaction.

“Okay, then I’ll be there shortly,” Sophie said, smiling, jumping up to get ready.

“Okay, can’t wait,” Jesse said, ending the call.

Jesse couldn’t stop smiling. He was so looking forward to seeing Sophie. He had long been wanting to move their lifelong friendship to a romantic relationship. He had been praying, and felt they were both ready. He was twenty-four years old, and she was twenty-five. They each had established careers. They shared an intimate faith in God. And he believed they both loved each other, although neither of them had said as much. But more and more, he longed to be with her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, of late. It was time to declare his love for her.

Jesse’s thoughts were interrupted by a text message from Sophie. As he read it, his joyful expression quickly changed to one of sad disappointment.

‘Sorry Jesse, I spoke too soon. Mum is not feeling well, and so I need to be here to help out. Dad has asked me to help him move some of the herd to the north paddock. It will take most of the morning on horseback. And then he wants me to help him with some other farm chores for the rest of the day. I’m so sorry. I was really looking forward to seeing you today. I’m hoping we can catch up sometime this week. Try to get some sleep.’

Disheartened, Jesse knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep now. He decided to go on an all day hike around their farming property.

Edgar had been patiently waiting out on the deserted country road until it was pitch black. He had always enjoyed the stealth of the hunt, culminating in the peace of mind that followed. He had been following Mary and Chloe whenever they came to town, and spying on their farmhouse for weeks using high powered binoculars from the top of a nearby hill. As he studied their routines, he learnt that they lived alone and rarely had visitors. Their social media was the thing that had got Edgar’s attention. It talked about how they loved the seclusion of living on a farm.

More importantly, they were both redheads, with pale skin, just like his mother. He breathed deeply, knowing the urges would soon be satisfied at last.

Before driving his car up the long dirt driveway to their farmhouse, he placed a small smoke bomb under the front bonnet. He could feel himself being pushed towards what had to be done. He parked near their winding front steps, which activated the motion sensor floodlight. Popping the bonnet of his car, he lifted it up and pulled the smoke release pin.

Edgar climbed the steps and knocked on the front door.

Mary and Chloe had just finished dinner. They were both singing along to their loud music, while one did the dishes and the other made hot drinks.

On hearing what they thought might be a knock, they looked at each other, wondering who it could be at this hour on a Sunday night. They didn’t get many visitors to their somewhat remote farmhouse. They’d lived there for about three months so far, enjoying the peace and quiet of rural life, only going into the local town when they needed supplies, and to attend church on Sundays. They were both having a gap year off after school, before they went to university back in the city where they each lived with their respective families. They were lifelong friends and thrived in each other’s company. They were a similar height, and were often mistaken for twins, with their long red hair, and porcelain like skin tone. Their parents were more than agreeable to sponsor them for a year in the country, happy that their daughters were safely away from the city lifestyle of drugs, alcohol and other temptations for eighteen-year-old girls. Their parents also had several connections in the local church, and were confident that their daughters would be looked after.

Mary turned down the music, and went to the door, thinking it must be one of their lovely farming neighbours. Maybe it would be that handsome boy, Jake, she thought. She had met him at church last Sunday, and had seen him again yesterday, mending his father’s fence. She had slowed her car and waved to him, hoping he noticed her friendly smile.

As Mary opened the front door, she greeted a thirty-something stranger.

“Hello,” said Mary. The thin, short man looked harmless enough, at first, until she noticed that his eyes seemed hollow, devoid of any real life. Mary tried to shake off the sudden uneasy feeling.

“Hi, I’m so sorry to bother you at this late hour. I saw your light on. My car has overheated, and I don’t have any water, or even a bottle to put some in,” the stranger said, rather apologetically, as he pointed at his car in the driveway. It had smoke pouring out from under the bonnet.

“Oh dear,” said Chloe, as she joined them at the door, drying her hands on a tea towel.  “Come on in. Let’s see if we can find you a water can, and maybe a rag. The radiator cap could be quite hot.”

Mary, wanting to be hospitable, followed Chloe’s lead.

This was all too easy, thought Edgar. Such trusting young girls. He took one last look behind him as he entered their house, but it was just as he had hoped, no hitches, no witnesses.

As Chloe led the way back to the kitchen, he followed along behind them. Neither girl noticed as he slid out his thin black crinkled leather gloves, and quietly put them on. He then pulled out his large, folded hunting knife from his inside coat pocket.

Opening up the knife, he suddenly grabbed Mary from behind and pressed his freshly sharpened blade against her throat.

Mary stopped and let out a hushed but desperate cry.

Chloe, who was first into the kitchen, was bent over while searching through the cupboards for a container. Startled by the sound of Mary’s cry, she turned to see what had happened.

The metal container she had been holding dropped onto the polished wooden floor, making hollow clanging sounds, as it bounced twice, almost in slow motion. Chloe straightened up, and opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came. All she could do was call silently out to her Lord. As she looked at Mary, she could see that Mary was praying also.

 When Jesse woke again, the sense to go was still strong.

Mary and Chloe. I have to go. I can’t believe I went back to sleep, he thought.

He looked at the bedside clock, but he couldn’t work out how long it had been since he had first heard the call to go to Mary and Chloe, earlier. Was it just a few minutes ago, or was it way longer, he thought, still half asleep.

He had been dog tired from being up all last night helping out at the police station, and now he realised he had made the mistake of staying awake all day today, as well. He should have gone to sleep after Sophie cancelled coming to see him. The disappointment of that was still haunting him, and he would rather just go back to sleep, right now, but he knew he had to get up. He had laid down just a couple of hours ago for a short afternoon nap, after his long hike. But that nap had now clearly stretched into the evening, he thought as he looked through his bedroom window with bleary eyes.

Go to Mary and Chloe, came the sense again. Jesse, almost having dozed off again, jumped out of bed. He was suddenly wide awake and alert, worried that he had now definitely delayed too long. He quickly got dressed and grabbed his police badge, his lanyard with his ID card, some crime scene gloves, zip ties for handcuffs, and his handgun and holster.

He closed his eyes as he started twisting his family ring, which had long ago become a habit as part of his routine.

Bowing his head, and closing his eyes, he said out loud, “Okay Lord, I’ll go.”

As Jesse opened his eyes, he could see he was now in someone’s kitchen. He put on the crime scene gloves he had brought along. He stood still, and held his breath while he listened, but there was no noise at all.

‘Beware this man,’ came the sense.

He drew his handgun from the waistband holster that was clipped to his belt. He quietly racked the slide to load a round. As usual, he performed a press check to make sure there was now a round in the chamber.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself to begin the search for Mary and Chloe, hoping he wasn’t too late to help them.

He had been on enough goings to know to first carefully explore his immediate surroundings, and to be ready for anything.

He looked out the kitchen window. It was a starry night with a bright half lit moon. He saw what he thought were paddocks and livestock. There were winding stairs leading down to a driveway, where a car was parked with its hood raised.

There was no movement in the driveway.

The kitchen was clearly an extension and stuck out enough to allow him a view under a part of the house. The house was on high stumps, and Jesse could see another car slightly sticking out from under the house. From what he could make out, the house seemed quite small, though.

It seemed that God had sent him to a farming property, somewhere. Surely, this has to be where Mary and Chloe live, he thought. He checked but there was no phone coverage to check his GPS location.

He turned his attention back to the kitchen.

The house was dark. No lights were on.

He didn’t dare risk turning on any house lights. No need to alert any intruder that he was there.

As he looked around the kitchen with his phone screen as a light source, he could see fresh blood on the floor, and a cold chill ran through him, as he feared the worst.

How long did I delay for?

Am I too late?

He began to move slowly from the kitchen.

His senses were on high alert.

He stopped and listened again. No noise came except for the night bush sounds of frogs, insects, and an occasional owl.

He knew he had to search the house, room by room. He needed to find the people he was sent to help, Mary and Chloe. He began to move around slowly, while watching and listening intently. He was ready to drop to the floor at the slightest hint of any sign of a perpetrator.

From the kitchen, he stepped into an entry way. Straight ahead was the lounge room. Left was the front door. Right was a hallway.

There was some moonlight coming in through the lightly curtained old wooden catchment windows.

The lounge room was empty.

The front door was closed.

Try as hard as he could to walk quietly, the old farmhouse wooden floorboards occasionally creaked as he took a step.

He started down the hallway, stopping every few moments to listen again for anyone else moving around the house.

No unusual sounds.

He continued.

The first rooms off the hallway from the lounge room were most likely bedrooms, he thought. Both bedroom doors were closed.

He approached the first bedroom door, with his gun at the ready. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for anyone jumping out at him, or any shots coming from within.

He grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door, while standing aside. He waited, as he had been trained. Don’t jump in. Listen. Let the room breathe. If there is a perpetrator in there, keep them guessing as to when you might come through the doorway.

He listened. No movement. No sound.

Going in carefully, he searched the room by the light of his phone.

Empty.

As he left that room, he quietly closed the door, and turned his attention to the other bedroom across the hall.

Again, empty.

He continued down the short hallway.

In the semi dark, he didn’t notice the few blood smears on the hallway floor.

He came to the end of the hallway, which he presumed led into a bathroom.

This was the last room. The door was open.

He paused and listened.

No sound.

He waited, trying to sense any danger.

He steeled himself and took a step into the bathroom.

He carefully shone his phone around.

Bathtub, shower, sink.

There seemed to be no one there.

He started to turn to leave, when he noticed the shower curtain was closed.

This was like a movie, he thought, where you yell at the characters to turn on the damn lights. But he was trained as a policeman to stay safe. A light would make him a target.

Was someone hiding in the shower?

He was sent on this going for a reason.

There must be someone here.

Someone to stop.

Someone to help.

He was worried where Mary and Chloe might be.

Okay, here goes, he thought.

He raised his gun, placed his finger on the trigger, and said in a soft low voice, “Police. I have a gun. Come out with your hands up.”

No movement. No sound.

He noticed a back scrubber hanging over the bath.

He grabbed the back scrubber with his hand that also held his phone.

He took a couple of steps towards the shower and stopped.

He reached out to the shower curtain and slowly pulled it back with the back scrubber, his gun at the ready in his other hand.

No one jumped out. He breathed again.

He was about to turn and go, when he noticed something on the shower floor, like a large bundle of clothes.

That’s strange, he thought.

He put the back scrubber down.

He reached in with his phone as he looked closer.

As his eyes adjusted, he suddenly realised what he was looking at.

Goosebumps broke out all over him. His breathing stopped. Sadness filled his heart.

He stepped closer and saw the two young women, lying there, fully clothed. Their clothes were all wet, like someone had dumped them there, and then showered them down.

They each seemed to have something around their necks, what looked like beads. He shone his phone closer. It was rosary beads.

A horribly tragic, gruesome sight. Each woman seemed to have a fatal wound to the heart.

He closed his eyes, shook his head, and prayed.

Oh dear God, no.

He opened his eyes again and looked at their faces.

He stood frozen, grief-stricken.

He bowed his head and whispered, “Mary and Chloe, I am so, so sorry.”

He knew he had to leave. There was nothing he could do, now.

He had to leave the crime scene untouched, so a proper investigation could be performed.

And he had no plausible explanation for being there, either. None that any sensible person would believe, anyway.

He put the bathroom back the way he found it, and with a heavy heart he turned and walked away. He was not so worried about noise now as he went back down the hallway, as there seemed to be no one else around, but he still kept his gun out ready just in case, though.

Edgar, who had been loitering under the house savouring a job well done, was feeling at peace at last. He looked up at the upstairs floorboards and had the thought of setting a fire to burn down the whole house. He decided against it, though, as it wasn’t his normal routine, and a clean getaway was essential. Who knew what attention a house fire would attract, even in this remote area. He knew he should stick to the plan which had served him well for so many years, here in Australia, and many years before that in his home country. Never be noticed or remembered. With that thought in mind, he knew he should leave.

He was about to walk to his car, when he froze.

He thought he heard a sound coming from upstairs. He had ignored the previous quieter sounds that he had heard while he was under the house, but this time it was a very clear noise.

It sounded like a floorboard creaking as someone walked on it.

He waited, but nothing.

He knew no one else was there. He dismissed it, breathed deeply and relaxed again, knowing that old wooden floorboards often creaked at night as the cold air came in.

He continued walking to the car.

Although leaving with an expressionless face, he felt relieved, knowing the now satisfied urges would leave him alone for a time. His mind would now be at relative peace, and he could forget about his deceased mother, for a little while at least.

Edgar firmly closed the hood of his car, and walked to the driver’s side to get back in.

As Jesse was moving back through the house to leave, he thought he had heard a loud noise.

What was that?

It sounded like the hood of a car slamming down.

Someone is down there, at the car in the driveway, he thought.

He quickly went straight to the front door and opened it.

He carefully peeked around the open doorway, down at the car.

It was too dark to see anything clearly.

He stepped out onto the landing, his gun at the ready.

Jesse’s movement triggered the external motion sensor floodlight.

It lit up the driveway and the car below. The hood of the car was now down.

‘Beware this man,’ came the sense again, stronger this time.

Jesse stood still, on high alert, looking for any movement.

There, in the car. Is that a man I can see turning this way, Jesse thought, as he brought his gun up to the ready position.

When the floodlight came on, Edgar had instinctively looked back up towards the house, and was shocked to see someone standing at the top of the stairs, with the now open front door behind him.

It was a man, holding a handgun, just staring at him.

Confused by the presence of an unexpected witness, Edgar stared back for several seconds. He then slammed the car into gear and sped off, before the man, or any of his companions, could give chase or fire a shot at him.

Jesse was stunned, as he thought that that must have been the perpetrator.

He stood there, realising that the perp had also looked shocked to see him.

He must have been under the house the whole time, while I was searching the upstairs area.

Jesse’s vision, after walking around a darkened house, was affected by the bright floodlight, but he still tried to make a mental note of everything he had seen.

He had seen a thirty-something man with dark hair, but his face was a blur, and his height unknown as he was already sitting in the car. He did seem to be quite small, though. Lots of head room in the car.

He thought the perp may have been wearing gloves.

The car was a small white sedan.  He couldn’t see the number plate.

Jesse holstered his handgun. He closed the front door behind him to preserve the crime scene for the local police.

Still standing on the verandah under the floodlight, Jesse could not feel anything but devastated that he had arrived too late to save Mary and Chloe. The memory of them, in the bathroom, was almost more than he could bear. And he couldn’t even stop the perp from getting away, either.

Tears rolled down his cheeks, as he spoke aloud, feeling completely crushed. “I am so sorry, Mary. I am so sorry, Chloe. Oh Lord, what good am I if I can’t help those who you send me to. I didn’t stop him from hurting them. They deserved better.”

Jesse paused, then declared resolutely. “Lord, help me to find justice for Mary, for Chloe, and for their families. I promise you, Lord, I will remain solely focused on this. I pledge to you that I will not even pursue my own destiny with Sophie, until justice is obtained, in full.”

As Jesse was thinking about this, he felt the familiar return sense come upon him. It was not heavy like a going, but rather like a cool refreshing breeze. From previous experience, he knew he had to think of where or who he wanted to return to, and just say ‘okay’.

He needed to be alone. He thought of home, Gilbert’s place, and said, “Okay Lord, take me back.”

If anyone had been watching, they would have seen Jesse begin to fade away, and then vanish completely. In that moment, he had instantly returned to his home, over five hundred kilometres away.

Edgar looked anxiously in his rear-view mirror. He watched and listened. But nothing. No shots. No cars appeared.

After putting some distance between himself and the farmhouse, he started to relax and let himself think about what had just happened. His mind raced with questions.

Who was that? Where did he come from?

There were no other cars there when he had arrived or departed. He knew he had watched the house for a couple of hours beforehand. He knew he had closed the front door when he left. He had just spent over an hour upstairs in that house. There was definitely no one else there.

But then there was!

Why did that guy just stand there, so motionless?

How much had he seen of the last hour?

He was annoyed at himself for not following his own rules, to put a mask and hoodie on afterward. He knew he had been stupid.

Could the man give a description of him? Probably not. His interior car light was not on, and the floodlight was more focused on the stairs.

In those seconds, Edgar had seen him quite clearly, though. He remembered that the man was tall. Probably a touch over six foot. Slim. Fit. Mid to late twenties. Short dark hair. Denim jeans and black polo shirt. White joggers. Lanyard hanging from his neck. Waist holster. Pistol in hand. Probably a Glock 19.

The man did not look surprised to see someone else there. There was no fear in his demeanour. Maybe law enforcement? Could he have called it in? Could other police be responding right now from the nearest town?

Seeing the man there had been unnerving for Edgar. He was used to being in control. He was accustomed to making others feel afraid. He had sped off in his car, not because the man made a move, but because he didn’t. Edgar knew he could have fired a shot, or got out of the car and engaged, but the man had the higher ground. There could have been others there, also. Too dangerous. Better to get away.

To avoid any more surprises, he decided to stay on the back roads, always travelling away from or skirting any nearby towns. As usual, he had several escape routes planned well in advance.

After a successful hunt, it was routine for him to move to a distant town, and change his identity. But this time, he would move interstate, as an extra precaution. Edgar drove away from that farm, and small town, planning to drive all night.

Later, the police investigation would make note of how each girl was fully clothed, and a set of rosary beads was hung around each of their necks. Also mentioned would be how each girl also had one large lethal chest wound to the heart, and a diamond shape cut deeply into their skin, on their right shoulder. The police report would also state how each girl had a peaceful expression on her face. There was no mention of any witness.