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  ROULETTE

  The Search for the Sunrise Killer

  by

  Don and Linda Pendleton

  Don Pendleton creator of the Executioner Series;

  Joe Copp Private Eye Thriller Series;

  Ashton Ford Psychic Detective Series

  Other Books by Don and Linda Pendleton

  Nonfiction Books

  To Dance With Angels by Don and Linda Pendleton

  Whispers From the Soul by Don and Linda Pendleton

  The Metaphysics of the Novel by Don Pendleton, with Linda Pendleton

  The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton, with Linda

  Pendleton

  A Walk Through Grief: Crossing the Bridge Between Worlds by Linda

  Pendleton

  A Search for Meaning from the Surface of a Small Planet by Don Pendleton

  Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom by Linda Pendleton

  A Small Drop of Ink by Linda Pendleton

  Angelic Whispers of Love by Linda Pendleton

  Novels

  The Executioner: Mack Bolan Series by Don Pendleton

  Joe Copp Mystery Series by Don Pendleton

  Ashton Ford Mystery Series by Don Pendleton

  Roulette by Don and Linda Pendleton

  The Dawning by Linda Pendleton

  Corn Silk Days, Iowa, 1862 by Linda Pendleton

  Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator by Linda Pendleton

  Copyright © 2000, 2011 by Linda Pendleton All Rights Reserved

  Kindle edition 2011 by Pendleton Artists

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

  means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

  taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written

  permission of the publisher.

  Cover Design by Judy Bullard

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This book is dedicated to the memory of all men and women in law enforcement who have given their lives in the line of duty; and with appreciation to others working in law enforcement who commit their careers to keeping our communities safe and secure.

  “Every one is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”

  —Mark Twain

  “It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.”

  —Thomas Fuller

  Chapter One

  Helen Carter was both a very lucky and a very unlucky young woman. Unlucky in that she was the Sunrise Rapist’s first victim in San Remo. Lucky because she was left alive and relatively well.

  The 24-year-old housewife and mother of two small children began that April 26th the same as any working day—up at 5:30 to get her husband off to work by 6:15, then back to bed for a few more winks before the children would begin to stir, usually at around seven o’clock.

  But the children did not re-awaken Helen on April 26th. An intruder did that, seated beside her on the bed and his body twisted about in close contact with hers. He wore a ski mask and a gray velour jogging suit with maroon stripes on arms and legs. The mask was of the hooded type with eye and mouth slits. The feeble light of early dawn was filtering through the curtained window of the bedroom and she could see him clearly.

  The pretty victim was all but immobilized by the paralysis of fear. Even her reflexive scream of terror was choked and barely audible. The intruder harshly pinched her lips together between thumb and forefinger, showed her a pistol which he held in the other hand, and growled, “Not a damned sound, Mommy, unless you want to include your kids in this. Make me happy and we can leave them out of it.”

  The masked intruder knew how to insure the young mother’s cooperation. His meaning was obvious and so were his intentions, since he was already working at the ties of her only garment, a hip-length “babydoll” nightgown. She tried to calm her mind and think rationally as the man ripped her gown away and began invading her body with his hands. The safety of her eleven-month and three-year old daughters was the only thing that mattered to her at the moment. She tried to focus on that and to steel herself against the inevitable rape that was already in progress.

  But evidently that was not enough for this rapist. He did not want a passive victim. He wanted active and passionate participation from his victim, and he became very angry over her paralyzing and numbing terror.

  There was no compassion there for this frightened young mother.

  He repeatedly slapped and pinched her, roughly forcing her into various uncomfortable positions both on and off the bed. Nothing she did seemed to please him. The physical and verbal abuse continued as a psychological campaign of humiliation and systematic sexual degradation, with the level of violence and angry threats against both Helen and her children increasing as her tormentor tried vainly to arouse his own passion sufficiently to complete the sexual act.

  Psychologists who later studied Helen Carter’s detailed statement were unanimous in their conclusion that the attacker was “sexually dysfunctional” and thus required “extreme and bizarre stimulation” in order to achieve actual intercourse. This did not occur until after a prolonged and harrowing “game” of Russian roulette with the barrel of the revolver thrust deeply into Helen’s vagina.

  Even with all that, Helen Carter was a very lucky young woman. She survived the ordeal. Though the psychological scars would no doubt remain with her forever, she sustained only minor physical injuries. Most of the Sunrise Rapist’s future victims would gladly trade fates with her.

  There were, yes, to be many future victims of this serial rapist-killer. And the small Southern California bedroom community of San Remo was about to come of age. Two people in particular, both police officers seeking personal as well as career fulfillment in a very difficult political climate, would find their own fates woven closely to that of a maniacal killer. These cops were married—to each other, as well as to their jobs. Peter and Rebecca Storme, too, would be coming of age very soon now.

  Chapter Two

  It is a bit unusual to find man and wife employed as sworn officers on the same police force, especially on small forces such as the San Remo P.D. with only 64 sworn officers on the entire force—and actually most cities frown upon any such arrangement, San Remo included. But since both Peter and Rebecca Storme were firmly established with the department at the time of their marriage, there was little the city fathers could do about it without violating civil rights and inviting a lawsuit.

  The two were promptly placed on notice, however, that their assignments would be as separate as possible and that the job performance of both would be closely watched for any signs that the marital status was interfering with their duties. It was an unspoken commandment that the Stormes would never be assigned the same shifts and this had been the situation since their marriage a little over a year earlier, but the case of the sunrise rapist would soon change that as the terror spread over this city of 60,000.

  Peter had been on the force for fourteen years, beginning his police career at the age of 22 when San Remo had a population of only 17,000 and supported by a force of 16 sworn officers. He was now a sergeant in charge of the swing-shift detectives and seemingly stuck at that level.

  Now 28 years old, Rebecca had four years on the force, the first two in the patrol division, and then had the distinction of being the first and so far the only female promoted into the detective division. She had achieved it on her own, too, with no preferential treatment of any kind. Her looks and sex had worked against her, even, as her superiors forever
seemed determined to provide no basis for any suspicion of special favors for the tall, leggy brunette with the cover-girl smile, to the point that Rebecca was working under a handicap and had to prove herself to a degree far exceeding that of her male peers.

  The promotion had not come easy, and there were times when it seemed more like a demotion to backwater duties. She worked the day shift under Lieutenant Jack Morgan and was the sole member of the Sex Crimes Unit. But sex crimes were not common in this suburban community of predominantly upper middle-class citizens. Her time was chiefly consumed by various other duties such as bad check cases, child and spousal abuse, indecent exposures and other minor morals offenses, all of which happen to be the most unpopular assignments in any police force.

  So it was with no small sense of excitement that Detective Rebecca Storme responded in her role as sex crimes specialist to a request from the burglary detail which was investigating a complaint at the Carter residence, 1425 Alder Court in one of the city’s newer developments known as Woody Heights.

  She arrived at the scene at 9:15 and was advised by the investigating officer, Detective-Sergeant White, that patrol officers had responded to a burglary call at the residence at 7:30, had found physical evidence of a forced entry, and had alerted White who responded to conduct the burglary investigation.

  White had established in his interview with the victim that a masked intruder had invaded the home at approximately 6:15, had surprised her in her bed, had bound her, threatened her and her two small children who were asleep in another room, and then departed without harming any of them. The only items she had reported missing were twenty some-odd dollars from her purse and a small portable radio from the kitchen area.

  “But you think it’s heavier than that,” Rebecca commented.

  “Sure it is,” the sergeant replied soberly. “She’s scratched and bruised, verging on hysteria. I sent for her husband, works down in Diamond Bar as a financial consultant. Neighbor has the kids. I want you to talk to her.”

  “You haven’t challenged her story?”

  “Not me, hell no. That’s your job.”

  Rebecca had been trained for this sort of thing. Also she was working on a master’s degree in criminology, had a pretty good understanding of rape victim psychology, and as a woman she could more readily identify with the emotional trauma usually associated with sex crimes.

  So she went in to talk with Helen Carter.

  Reproduced below is an extract from the official report filed by Rebecca some hours later.

  SEX CRIME INVESTIGATION REPORT

  Victim Interview

  Reporting officer arrived on scene at approximately 0915 hours

  and interviewed the victim following a brief consultation with officers

  of the burglary detail. Victim initially adamantly maintained that she

  had not been physically or sexually abused. Under continued questioning,

  however, victim broke down and emotionally admitted that she had been

  terrorized and raped by the intruder.

  Victim stated that she had returned to her bed immediately after

  her husband departed the home for work, at approximately 0615

  hours. She was drifting back to sleep in the master bedroom of the

  four-bedroom residence when she was awakened by the intruder.

  She believes that he was seated on the side of the bed with his feet

  on the floor, at this moment, leaning over her and making light

  contact with his body. He had pulled back her bedcovers and she

  lay exposed in a hiplength nightgown.

  No lights were on in the master bedroom at this time but it is

  noted that the official time of sunrise for this date is 0626 hours.

  Victim is quite clear that sufficient light was entering via the large

  picture window to allow good visibility. She was very positive in

  her description of the intruder, stating that he was clad in a gray

  velour jogging suit with maroon stripes on arms and legs, and that

  his face was covered at all times by a green ski mask of the hooded

  type so that only his eyes and lips were visible through the mask.

  Victim stated that she was almost paralyzed with fear but that

  she attempted to scream, whereupon the intruder roughly silenced

  her by force and by threats against her children. He showed her a

  revolver with a long barrel, appeared to be calm and very much in

  charge, often addressed her as “Mommy” as though to keep

  reminding her of her children.

  Victim stated that she did not know whether the intruder had

  an erection before he removed his clothing but that it soon became

  obvious that he did not and that he expected her to “get it up” for

  him. He repeatedly struck and pinched her while demanding that

  she cooperate and “put some heat in it.” At one point he dragged

  her to her knees beside the bed and demanded that she copulate

  him orally. Instead, victim manipulated him manually and tried to

  arouse him in other ways but without success. When intruder

  threatened to bring the three-year-old child into the room, the victim

  then complied with the demand for oral stimulation. This so

  revolted her, however, that she became nauseous and fell over onto

  the bed, weeping.

  The intruder thereupon bound her hands behind her with a terrycloth

  robe tie taken from the closet and continued the relentless

  demands for stimulation. At one point the victim was made to

  stand with one foot upon the bed and another upon a chair, with

  the result that the victim’s legs were painfully spread, while the

  intruder performed oral sex upon her. This assault was interspersed

  with further blows to the victim’s body and verbal abuse. Several

  times she fell to the floor and was forced to immediately reassume

  the strained position between chair and bed.

  Victim had become highly emotional at this point and was

  weeping and begging the intruder to stop. He countered by

  describing in lurid details the sex acts he would inflict upon the

  children if the victim could not please him.

  When finally the victim went into a complete physical collapse

  and could do nothing but lie on the bed and weep, the intruder

  emptied his revolver, replaced a single bullet, spun the cylinder,

  inserted the barrel into the victim’s vagina, and pulled the trigger.

  He referred to the “game” as “whorehouse roulette,” and repeated

  the procedure many times in a slow and deliberate manner while

  taunting the victim and announcing each pull of the trigger as “the

  last chance to save your kids, Mommy.”

  Victim stated that she was just barely conscious through that

  portion of the assault and that she does not remember how many

  times the barrel of the revolver was inserted, that she was terrified

  and hysterical and “physically numb,” but that at some point during

  this phase the intruder did mount her in the missionary position,

  that she believed he achieved penetration by the penis, but

  that he did not appear to be “on her” for very long, perhaps only a

  matter of a few seconds.

  When asked if she thought that the intruder had achieved

  orgasm, the victim stated that she assumed he had but did not

  know for sure.

  Her hands were still tied behind her back when the intruder

  rolled her onto her stomach and ordered her to lie still and quiet.

  She heard him rummaging through the dresser drawers and he

 
; turned her purse out upon the bed.

  Intruder then placed the gun to the back of the victim’s head

  and warned that he would return and “finish the task” if she told

  anyone about the attack.

  She heard him leave the room and a short time later heard the

  kitchen door close.

  The victim immediately left the bed and hurried to check on her

  children. They were asleep and apparently had not been disturbed.

  Victim managed to work her hands loose and tried to telephone for

  help but discovered that all the phone cords had been removed.

  She then gathered the children and went to a neighbor’s house for

  assistance. She stated that she was fearful of the intruder’s threats to

  return and that is why she initially concealed the fact that she had

  been sexually assaulted.

  Physical Description of Intruder

  Although victim was unusually observant and entirely positive

  about the details given, she does not feel that she could positively

  identify her assailant because his head was covered throughout by

  the hooded mask.

  She did not recognize the voice, described as low-pitched and

  “sharp” with occasionally a Midwestern or Southwestern sound to

  it but without any definite regional or foreign accent.

  There were no familiar mannerisms or figures of speech which

  victim could relate to any person known to her. The general manner

  was that of an educated person, perhaps an “executive type.”