The Bone Harvest Read online

  Cooper cursed and ran a hand through his messy hair. He didn’t usually let women spend the night, but he had been more than a little drunk the night before and must have fallen asleep before rousting her from his bed.

  Remembering what woke him, Cooper slapped at the nightstand until he palmed his phone. Cooper read the text from Riley that she was on her way. He sat with a start. His only mission was to get this woman out of his bed and out the door before Riley arrived or he’d never hear the end of it. Luke and Riley teased him incessantly about his bachelor lifestyle. If Cooper didn’t see firsthand how in love and happy they were, he’d think they were jealous.

  Cooper hated to even admit it to himself, but he was wracking his brain trying to think of the name of the woman who was now clawing her fingernails down his bare back. Cooper thought back to the night before. He had walked down into the River Market district, just blocks from his condo. He had run into a few friends, had a few drinks and met a woman at the bar. What was her name? Cooper made several more mental leaps before he landed on Holly.

  Just as recognition took hold, Cooper caught her hand as she trailed her fingers around to his stomach and started to trail south.

  “You have to go,” Cooper said a little more loudly and abruptly than he meant. “My investigative partner is on her way here.”

  Holly took her hand back and yawned loudly. “I thought we’d get breakfast. I don’t have to be at work until later.”

  Cooper moved, sliding his feet onto the floor. “Can’t. Some other time. I need to get up.”

  As Cooper moved off the bed, Holly sat upright and wrapped the sheet around her. Her blonde hair was tousled and there was a streak of mascara under her right eye. Cooper hated these awkward moments, which is why he kicked himself every time he picked up a woman. He was a man with needs and no desire for anything complicated or long-term. Cooper tried hard not to be “that guy” but found himself there more times than he’d like to admit.

  Cooper looked at her sympathetically. “Let’s go out Friday night if I don’t have a case.” He wasn’t entirely sure that’s what he wanted, but he wasn’t sure what else to say.

  Holly looked at him sideways, a confused expression on her face. “A case? Are you a cop?”

  Cooper shook his head. “Private investigator.”

  Holly turned her back to him and started pulling her clothes together. Cooper wanted to be a respectable guy and offer her a shower, but he also wanted her out before Riley got there.

  Cooper paused a beat, his guilt getting the better of him. “Hey listen, you can shower before you go if you’d like. My friend Riley should be here soon, but I’m up now so we’re good.”

  “Is she a girlfriend?” Holly asked, clutching the dress she had worn the night before to her chest, looking uncertain.

  Cooper laughed. “Not at all. She lives with my best friend Luke. We work together.” He walked Holly down the hall to the bathroom. He turned on the bathroom light, gave her a spare toothbrush, showed her where the towels and toiletries were and stepped out to give her space.

  Cooper pulled himself together the best he could. He made his bed. Brushed his teeth in the kitchen sink and splashed water on his face. Cooper was just pulling a shirt over his head when the steady rain of the shower shut off. A knock on his front door followed a few minutes later.

  Cooper pulled open the door to find Riley standing there, two coffees from Starbucks in hand and a worried look on her face.

  “All okay?” Cooper asked as he stepped aside to let Riley in.

  “Not in the least. Luke just received…” Riley stopped midsentence, her attention drawn to the hall.

  Holly sauntered into the living room barefoot with her heels in her hand. She looked Riley up and down. Then she pulled Cooper close and laid one hell of a kiss on him, hotter than what got them going the night before. She trailed her hand against his crotch, patted him, and then turned on her heels towards the door. Holly shot Riley a parting look as she slipped out the door.

  Riley rolled her eyes, shook her head in disgust and walked farther into his living room. She slumped down into his brown leather sofa and burst into tears.

  CHAPTER 4

  Cooper froze, unsure of what was happening. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Riley cry. Cooper moved to the couch to sit next to her. Riley handed him his coffee. After a few minutes, Riley pulled herself together.

  “What’s going on?” Cooper sipped his caramel macchiato.

  “Luke received a letter today from Lily’s killer or someone pretending to be Lily’s killer. We don’t know much.” Riley wiped her face with her hand and took a sip of her coffee.

  Cooper stopped drinking, startled by what he heard. He started to speak and stopped, unsure of what to say or where to start.

  Before Cooper could form a question, Riley continued. “It was a letter addressed to Luke at work. It wasn’t signed. Just block letters that stated that they had killed before Lily and will kill again. There was a crude rhyming line indicating twenty-three victims and then the strange phrase ‘harvested dead.’”

  Lily as a freshman flashed in Cooper’s mind. She had been pretty, vibrant and ready to take on the world. Because of his close friendship with Luke, Cooper had seen Lily often while she had been in high school. Cooper had teased Lily like he would have his own sister, if he had one. Lily had given it right back to Cooper, which amused him. She had been smart and quick-witted. Cooper had felt his own pain at her loss. He could never imagine what Luke had gone through.

  It pained Cooper that her murder had never been solved. He had helped Luke, on a few occasions over the years, attempt to dig up new leads. There was never much to go on. Cooper had seen, with his own eyes, what it did to Luke. He was singularly focused for years. Cooper was afraid of what this letter might do to him.

  “Any clues as to where the letter came from?”

  “I don’t think so. Luke’s at the station having them run some tests. I didn’t even ask about the envelope. Luke rushed out so fast, I didn’t get to ask. He didn’t want me to come. He asked me to come over here and tell you. The way the letter’s written you’re not going to get good handwriting analysis, if it got to that. It was crude, childish block letters.”

  “What does ‘harvested dead’ mean?” Riley was right that it was a strange phrase, but it didn’t have a lot of meaning for him.

  “No idea.” Riley readjusted herself on the couch. She sighed. “When did Lily go missing exactly?”

  “Friday, October twenty-fifth, right before Halloween. Most fraternities were having Halloween parties that weekend. Lily’s friends said she went to one and then no one seems to know more. They assumed she left and had walked home alone or went to another party.”

  “If she was heading home, how far did she have to walk?” Riley checked her phone.

  “Probably less than a mile, at most, if she was headed home. Lily was at a fraternity party on Stadium Drive and either headed back to her dorm or to the sorority she had been planning to pledge. Lily had friends there, and she stayed there sometimes. That was located on West Maple Street.”

  “Lily went missing during the height of fall. Maybe harvest means the time of year,” Riley speculated. She got up from the couch and walked into Cooper’s kitchen. She rinsed out her cup before throwing it in the trash. When Riley noticed him staring, she shrugged. “Apparently I even clean a disposable cup when I’m stressed.”

  Riley leaned back on the counter, hugging herself. She seemed near tears, again.

  Cooper moved into his kitchen and wrapped her in a hug. “It’s going to be okay.” Cooper wasn’t sure he believed that, but they had to hold it together for Luke.

  Moments later, they walked back into the living room and both sat down on the couch. Cooper ran a hand through his hair. He needed to shower and go meet Luke at the police station. He asked, “Do you believe the twenty-three part? Could whoever have killed Lily really have twenty-three victims and no
one notices?”

  “I don’t know,” Riley said, exhaustion apparent in her voice. “I’m not sure what to believe.”

  Before Cooper could ask anything else, Riley changed the subject. “Hey before we forget, I’ve got that update on the child custody case. I caught the dad with a known meth dealer during his visitation. He had the kids in the car with him. Got photos, but didn’t see him buy anything. No money exchange or anything.”

  Cooper had nearly forgotten why Riley had come over. They had been working a child custody case. The mother was worried that the dad was back into drugs and was concerned for the safety of the two kids, a boy seven years old and the girl nine. Cooper wasn’t sure if associating with a known drug dealer would help his client’s case, but the evidence certainly might support it.

  “I’ll let the client know. I can take the case from here while you focus on Luke.”

  Riley nodded as her cellphone rang. She held it up to show that it was Luke. Cooper indicated he was going to shower while she took the call.

  Nearly twenty minutes later, Cooper, showered and freshly dressed, walked into the living room. Riley looked at the phone intently. She looked up when Cooper came into the room. “Luke said we could come down and meet him at the station. They should have lab results back from the envelope. They put a rush on it.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Luke, Captain Meadows, and Det. Tyler stood in the middle of the detective bureau bullpen listening to Sharon, a forensic analyst with the Little Rock Police Department.

  Sharon handed the bagged letter to Luke. “We swabbed this really well, but there’s nothing we can find. We also swabbed the envelope seal and postage stamp for DNA, but that will take a while. The likelihood of getting anything back is slim. Both are self-adhesive.”

  They nodded in understanding. When they didn’t have questions, Sharon excused herself and left the room.

  Luke looked to his partner Tyler and Captain Kurt Meadows. “What do you think?”

  Captain Meadows was well past retirement age but wasn’t ready to head out to pasture just yet. He explained, “I called Fayetteville. It’s postmarked from there, and it’s their jurisdiction, so we’re going to have to hand it over.”

  “I’m not handing over a thing,” Luke said determined. “They’ve had seventeen years to solve this, and they haven’t done anything. If they had taken this seriously at the start, we might have found my sister sooner.”

  Captain Meadows put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “You know it has to go to Fayetteville, but I didn’t say you couldn’t work on it.”

  “What do you mean?” Luke asked skeptically. He calmed down, but felt the growing knots in his neck and back where he carried his stress.

  “I made a call to the detective who handles the cold cases. His name is Gabe Barry. He’s young, eager and willing to let you consult. Everyone that originally handled Lily’s case has long since retired or moved on to other jurisdictions. Gabe comes highly recommended. I told him you’d give him a call today.”

  Luke was relieved. At least he would still have a shot at working the case within the confines of his job. But he was going to work it either way. It was just good to know he wouldn’t have to risk his job to do it. Luke was just about to thank his Captain when Riley and Cooper got off the elevator. They looked around. Luke called, “We’re down here.”

  Captain Meadows and Tyler turned to see Riley and Cooper make their way down the hall into the detectives’ bullpen. Captain Meadows turned back to Luke. “Why don’t we take this into the conference room. Bring the letter.”

  Luke waved Riley and Cooper into the conference room. The five of them sat around the table. They made their hellos, but introductions weren’t necessary. The last time they had all sat around the table was just last year when Maime LaRue Brewer went missing.

  All seated, Riley slid her hand into Luke’s, which was resting on his thigh. He smiled over at her. He was glad she was there with him. Luke was angry and frustrated by his failed previous attempts to find his sister’s killer, but this time felt different. The killer had made contact. They had at least a potential lead.

  “Did you find out anything?” Cooper asked Luke.

  “Nothing,” Luke said disappointed. “I didn’t think we would, but I was hoping. It was postmarked from Fayetteville, so we know it’s local, but that’s about it.”

  “We don’t know it’s local, Luke,” Riley interrupted. “We know it was mailed from there, but it doesn’t mean the killer lives there.”

  Luke paused to consider. He hadn’t ever really thought about the killer being from out of state. Most people in Arkansas are from Arkansas. He assumed Lily’s killer was another university student or someone local to the community. Even the majority of the students are from within the state or at least the surrounding states.

  Captain Meadows spoke up before Luke could. “Why do you think that?”

  “Do you have twenty-two other unsolved homicides in Arkansas that are similar?” Riley asked.

  Luke appraised Captain Meadows and his partner, Tyler, for any pushback. They gave none.

  “That’s assuming he’s telling the truth. Do you believe him?” Luke asked, moving his seat to face Riley more directly.

  Riley nodded. “Why would he send the letter and lie? He got away with an abduction and murder. Given there hasn’t even been a clue all these years, I would imagine it wasn’t his first. I think if we act on the premise the letter is real, then we should assume the content of it is real, too.”

  Cooper said what Luke was thinking, “He could just be screwing with us?”

  Tyler responded, “He could. But why now? Why after so many years and so close to the anniversary?”

  No one had an answer. Luke had known the anniversary was coming, but until Tyler said it out loud, it hadn’t really hit home.

  Cooper continued, “Back then and through the years, we always thought of this as a sexual assault that got out of hand. We assumed that Lily was killed accidentally or so she couldn’t identify her attacker. We never thought or had evidence it was connected to anything else. There were no other murders in Fayetteville, at the time, or even sexual assaults on campus that were similar.”

  “In Fayetteville or in the whole of Arkansas,” Luke added. “We looked into that to see if other areas had similar cases.”

  “But you didn’t go national?” Riley asked, her eyebrows raised.

  “No, we didn’t have a reason to at the time,” Luke noted. “We ruled out her boyfriend. We had no witnesses and no suspects. It was right around Halloween so people were dressed up in costumes for parties so we didn’t even have a good eyewitness who saw her on the road walking home. You had a few streets of mostly drunk university kids in costume focused on having a good time. No one was paying attention.”

  Cooper turned to Riley and added to what Luke said, “We didn’t have a solid time Lily left the party, what she was wearing or anything else. Lily wasn’t one to dress up for Halloween. She had even told Luke a few days before that she might throw on her masquerade mask, but other than that, she said she wasn’t dressing up.”

  “Her mask was light pink lace with a flower on one side. It was something my mother had bought her years prior when Lily loved playing dress-up.” Remembering his sister so vividly, Luke struggled to get the words out, but he added, “It was one of her favorite possessions. It was missing too and never found. We assume she had it on. One of her friends confirmed.”

  Captain Meadows suggested, “Have you put all the details you know into ViCAP to see if it connects to other cases nationally?”

  “No, but that’s a good idea. We should be able to see if any other homicides have similar details.”

  Just as Luke was speaking, the unit secretary, Charlene, popped her head into the doorway, and with fear in her voice, she stammered, “Luke, there’s another letter.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Luke wasn’t sure he had heard correctly. He looked around the table
. Riley, Cooper, Tyler and Captain Meadows were all frozen in place, looking at him as if waiting for him to react. Luke got up slowly and walked towards the door. He took the letter from Charlene’s hands. It was just a white envelope, standard letter size. It was postmarked from Fayetteville. The same block lettering as the last spelled out his name and the police station’s address.

  Luke turned back toward the group, but his feet were frozen to the spot. He palmed the envelope in his hand, unsure of how to hold it or even if he should. Luke knew it was possible that the same envelope he was holding could have touched the hands that murdered his sister. He swallowed the bile that rose up in his throat. Luke had never felt this close before. He stared down at the letter, unmoving, not speaking. Luke could feel the connection to the killer. Every synapse in his body was on fire. Prickly heat rose up his back. Rage burned in his gut.

  Tyler cautioned, “Hold on. Let me get you gloves and a letter opener.”

  Luke brought his thoughts back to the present. He moved back to the table and set the envelope down. They waited for Tyler to come back. He handed Luke the items, and Luke put on the gloves. He used the silver letter opener to slice the envelope open, careful not to disturb the contents.

  Slipping his gloved fingers between the opening, Luke gently pulled out the letter. As he unfolded it, Luke was shocked by what he saw. This time it wasn’t the same block lettering from the envelope and the previous letter. The plain piece of white paper was adorned with scrawling cursive. It was neat and precise. No lines dipped or angled. The black writing was clear and legible.

  Luke eyed each person in the room and read the letter aloud, his voice breaking.

  “Det. Lucas Morgan,

  I found myself embarrassed by the display of the first letter. I had a moment’s hesitation about being caught and resorted to silly antics to conceal my real handwriting. If the goal is to give you any sporting chance to catch me, I must present a more confident front. This is my handwriting. No subterfuge this time. I want to ensure that you understand how real this is. I killed your sister and several other young girls. I like them young, ripe for the plucking. Please don’t mistake that. I did not engage in sexual congress with them. There is a peak freshness of a young girl, just eighteen and on her own for the first time. A wonderment in her eyes. Her flesh soft, supple, unsullied by the world. Oh! How glorious that they go off into the world at harvest time. There is symmetry in the world reflecting back my own desires. I’m careful in my selection. You don’t want any bad apples in the bunch. They must be perfect in every way. I can say with confidence, your sister was the sweetest and ripest of them all. I go unobserved. It’s not your fault you haven’t stopped me. I haven’t wanted you to. It’s no longer a challenge. A real man needs an adversary to keep the game engaging. You, Det. Morgan, are my adversary and a skilled one at that. I will help you with your investigation. I mentioned twenty-three last time. Check the University of Alabama 1996 & Chamblee University 1993. The harvest at Chamblee was my first.