The Hidden Grave (Harriet Harper Thriller Book 2) Read online

  “They use pigs in their research. Bury them for long periods of time to see the changes to the surrounding site. I guess the nickname stuck.”

  “How big is the team?” Jake asked.

  “I have a botanist, a geologist, and a dog handler with a bloodhound coming. Along with the head scientist, of course.”

  “Bloodhound?”

  “Her name is Amy. Supposedly, she's been able to find graves this old before in Colorado,” she said.

  “Can’t wait to meet them all,” Jake said. “If you want to take a nap or something, I'll totally understand. I know you haven't gotten much sleep over the last few weeks.”

  “It’s been crazy. That last case is far from over,” she said.

  “You mentioned you were coordinating between the various jurisdictions?” he asked.

  Harri knew Jake wouldn’t ask too many questions on an ongoing case. He’d been FBI. At the same time, the discovery of the new bodies by the field team had been all over the newspapers.

  “As much as I could. I had to hand it over to another person on the team as I was coming up here. I tried to get everything done, but the case was moving too fast for me. They’ll be there for months, just cataloging. To be honest, I was relieved to be coming up here.” That wasn’t entirely true. At least, she’d be able to get some sleep here.

  “Rest then. We should be there in an hour.”

  “I’ll try to do that, Jake. Thank you,” she said.

  “Do you mind if I put on some music?”

  “Better not be Green Day,” she said.

  That made Jake guffaw. “Haven’t listened to them in years. I’ll put in something classical. I think that’ll suit both of us.”

  Harri looked at him and saw his jaw clenched. This was hard for him, too. He had come up that first year to search and never joined in again. He never came back. Lauren had been his best friend through most of high school. She knew they'd been close and talked to each other almost every day that first month of college.

  “Thank you again for coming with me. This can’t be easy for you, either.”

  “I want to find her too,” he said

  He turned on the music. Something soft and romantic. The motion of the car made Harri's eyes droop, she let herself be dragged down into the darkness.

  “Harri, we’re here,” Jake said.

  Harri opened her eyes and squinted at the harsh late morning light. He’d pulled into the driveway of a small Cape Cod home nestled between tall fir trees. Tim Ledeyen owned four acres behind his house.

  “What else do I need to know about Tim Ledeyen?” he asked.

  “He’s an Oregon native who grew up outside of Eugene. He finished the University of Oregon and became an accountant. He has a wife named Molly, and a teenage son named Dan, a teenager. He’s never been in trouble, not even a speeding ticket.”

  “That doesn’t mean much,” he said.

  “True,” Harri admitted.

  “What kind of questions you typically ask him?”

  “I take him through the timeline each time. He’s remembered little things over the years.”

  “Like?”

  “Cars he remembers passing him on the way to the park as he drove into the parking lot. Bits of a license plate. Bits and pieces like that. They haven’t amounted to much honestly.”

  “Are you going to introduce me as an FBI agent?”

  “No, if that’s okay. I want to keep it personal. You were Lauren's best friend from high school. That’s all he needs to know.”

  “All right then. I’ll take your lead,” he said.

  They left the sanctuary of the car and walked up the paved path to the front door. Harri raised her hand to knock on the door but it opened before she made contact. Molly's tear-stained face peered out from a darkened hallway.

  “Molly, what's wrong?” Harri asked.

  “Dan never came home last night. It hasn't been twenty-four hours and the police won't let us report him missing, but he would never do this to me. I know there's something wrong.”

  Jake and Harri glanced at each other.

  “May we come in?” Harri asked.

  Molly stepped aside and Harri and Jake entered. Molly motioned them to the left, towards the kitchen.

  “Is Tim home?” Harri asked.

  Molly shook her head no.

  “Is he out looking for Dan?”

  “Yes. He's been out since six this morning. He knew that you were coming today because, obviously, you come every year. He’s sorry to have missed you, but we are just out of our minds with worry.”

  Harri put her hand on Molly’s arm.

  “Maybe I can help. I have a contact at the Eugene Police Department. He might be able to expedite the process somewhat. Get your statement.”

  “Yes. God, please. We need more people searching. He’s only sixteen.”

  “Are you sure that he's not with friends?” Jake asked.

  Molly shook her head vigorously. “He's had some problems with drugs in the last few months. We sent him to rehab and he was doing really well. He was keeping with his curfew of ten o’clock every night. He wasn’t hanging out with any of his old friends.” Molly paused and took a breath. “Dan called us last night to tell us that he was coming straight home.”

  “Where was he coming from?” Harri asked.

  Jake sat silently next to her.

  “He’d been at a job interview in Eugene. He was hoping to become a barista at one of the local coffee shops near the University. It was a big step for him, and we were very excited, and he told us he was coming straight home and then he disappeared,” she said in a rush.

  Harri heard the hysteria rising in her voice. “Did you call the coffee shop to see if he made it there?” Harri asked, taking a small notebook out of her pocket.

  “Of course. The woman manager answered. He’d interviewed with her. She said he did great and was their top candidate.”

  “What time did he leave?”

  “She said around five-thirty yesterday evening,” Molly said, finally getting herself somewhat under control.

  “How did he leave?” Harri asked, jotting the time down.

  “I don’t know,” Molly shook her head. “We don’t know. His car was still in the parking lot. The manager told us after she went to look. That’s when Tim tore out of here like a bat out of hell to see for himself.”

  Harri nodded and bit her lip. His car still being there wasn’t a good sign. But he could have run into one of his old friends from the drug days and fell off the wagon. A few months sober was not that long of a time. Harri assumed that’s what the Eugene police would say. But Molly did not need to hear that right now.

  “And Tim is still in Eugene right now looking for him?” she asked.

  Molly nodded. Her tears started again. “Please help us. He's only sixteen and has had such a difficult time,” Molly pleaded, tears running down her face.

  Harri looked at Jake and took her phone out of her pocket. “Let me see what I can do.”

  Molly burst into tears again and Jake sat there patting her on the hand. He had a calming effect on Molly, who leaned back in her chair and breathed.

  “We will help any way we can,” Jake said.

  2

  Day 1

  Richard Miller stood in his kitchen gazing out into the backyard where his son, little Richie, was playing with the family dog. He had made a life for himself despite all the odds. Claire, his wife, came into the kitchen and smiled at him. He had been lucky to meet a woman like her. He hadn't told her everything that had happened to him, but she knew enough, and she understood why he screamed out during the night.

  “Everything okay, Richard?” she asked and ran her hand along his shoulder.

  “Thinking of what I want to do with my day today. I’m thinking of fixing up that patch of garden in the back. Maybe put in some greens. We could all use some healthy vegetables in our lives,” he said and grinned.

  She shook her head at him.
“Your day off? Why don't you relax and go read a book,” she said.

  Her head disappeared into the fridge as he turned to look back at his son. If she only knew that he could never relax. The pain of what had happened to him came rolling into him the moment he stopped doing. His only way of escaping his past was to keep the forward momentum going. To constantly be on the move and doing stuff, didn't matter what kind of stuff.

  “I'm gonna go work on the garden,” he said.

  Claire peeked over the refrigerator door. “Will you call Richie inside? I think it's getting a little bit too cold out there for him.”

  “Absolutely,” he said and went over to the kitchen table where his jacket was hanging. “Looks like it might rain,” he said.

  The gray sky looked more ominous than normal. Oregon was known for its

  and Eugene had its fair share. It didn't bother him much, but when the sun was out, his mood got even darker.

  The phone rang. Richard flinched at the sound.

  “You sure you're doing all right?” Claire asked him.

  “I get jumpy sometimes,” he said, trying not to get too defensive. He reached over to his cell phone and looked down at the screen. He didn't recognize the number.

  He was waiting for a phone call from the bank, though, and maybe this was it. He clicked on the button and put the phone to his ear.

  “Hello?” he asked.

  At first, he heard only a distant static. Then a voice, hollow, insistent, whispered. “It's starting again. Be ready. It's starting again.”

  The caller on the other end clicked off.

  Richard stood with the phone still to his ear, his heart pounding.

  It couldn't be.

  Over the years, he’d heard through the grapevine that the group had scattered. That some had been caught, and the others had gone underground.

  It was starting again.

  He broke into a cold sweat. His heart pounded in his chest and he inadvertently pressed his hand down, trying to calm himself the only way he knew how.

  It was starting again.

  He looked over at his son.

  “We shouldn’t let him play outside by himself like that,” he said. “There's too many dangerous people around.”

  He went over to the patio door and opened it.

  “Richie, come back inside,” he said.

  The boy’s face screwed up with concern when he heard the tone of his father's voice.

  “I'm coming, Dad,” he said.

  “Right now.”

  The boy ran towards him, the dog on his heels.

  It was starting again.

  3

  Day 1 - Evening

  Detective Harri Harper pulled into an empty spot in the picturesque parking lot of Daniels Inn. It had been a much longer day than they expected.

  After helping the Ledeyens file their missing child report, Harri introduced Tim and Molly to Detective Gavin French, her longtime friend in the Eugene Police Department. He hadn’t been convinced their son had met with foul play, but he worried the boy overdosed somewhere and needed help. Harri and Jake finally left the Ledeyens to get ready for their morning meeting with NecroFind the next day.

  “You weren’t joking about the decor,” Jake said, interrupting her thoughts.

  The inn resembled a hunting lodge with a pair of antlers of long-dead deer hanging on both sides of the front door.

  Jake whistled beside her. Harri had been coming here for so many years she’d become immune to its odd rustic charm.

  “It’s really nice inside. The owner, Mack Collins, is really hospitable in that old-timey middle-of-nowhere way. It’s the nicest place near the Tamolitch Falls entrance.”

  Jake cocked his head, deep in thought. “This is the place we all stayed at when we searched for her that fall, isn’t it?”

  She wondered if he’d remember it.

  “Yes, it is. It was called the Tammy Lodge back then.”

  “You stay here every year?”

  “Yes. Mack knows me well.” Harri managed a small smile. Her stomach churned as it always did on the first day of her pilgrimage. Would this time be any different?

  “The dining room closes in about twenty minutes,” Harri said, checking the time. “If we hurry, we can eat a hot meal.”

  Jake was out of the car in a flash, Harri hurrying after him.

  “Hungry?”

  “Starving,” he called back to her.

  Harri clicked the car doors closed behind her and followed him inside.

  “This is the best steak I’ve ever eaten,” Jake said as he inhaled the rib-eye on the plate in front of him.

  “I’m surprised you can taste it with how fast you’re eating,” Harri observed.

  “You’re right. I should slow down,” Jake said, but didn’t slow down at all.

  Harri picked at the grilled chicken she’d gotten with her salad. Her stomach was too unsettled and even though she was hungry, none of the food was appetizing to her.

  Besides their table, the dining room was empty. The staff had made an exception for them thanks to Mack pleading their case as the kitchen was closing right as they rushed inside.

  She gulped down her second glass of water.

  “You aren’t eating,” Jake observed.

  “My stomach isn’t up to it.”

  “I get that.”

  “I always think it’s going to be easier, but it never is.”

  “I wouldn’t expect it to get any easier. When we do find her, your feelings will evolve, but they’ll always be there.”

  “I know it’s not healthy to push things down. Sometimes, it’s just unbearable, though.” Harri surprised herself for revealing this much to him.

  “I understand the pain of losing my friend. I can’t imagine what it would be like for it to be my sister. I know the pain flares up. Sometimes, it just seems to come out of nowhere. For me, it’s like a hole that can’t be filled.”

  It was the closest anyone had ever gotten to describing what the loss of Lauren felt like for her. They sat in silence for a moment.

  Jake pointed at her chicken. “Eat. You need your energy for tomorrow. Brain doesn’t work on no nutrients.”

  Harri cut off a small piece of chicken and put it in her mouth. She chewed methodically, focusing hard on not gagging on the chewy piece of meat. Jake was right. She needed all her faculties firing for the upcoming week.

  “Tell me about tomorrow,” Jake said as he dug into his scalloped potatoes. The rich smell of the dish wafted towards her and made her nauseous.

  “We’re meeting with Dr. Susan Liewicke and her team in the parking lot at eight in the morning. She’s the head of this group. I’m not sure which scientists will be there tomorrow, but I know Amy the bloodhound will be.”

  “I did a little research on these folks. Their success rate is impressive, especially considering how incredibly hard it is to find old graves.”

  Harri breathed in deep. “I want to hope that this time we will find her.” Her voice came out small. Vulnerability washed over her, and she fought back the tears.

  Jake put down his fork and grasped her hand in his. The warmth of his touch soothed her. Harri gave him a half-smile as his eyes held hers.

  “I’m so happy we met again,” he said. “That I’m here.” His voice was gruffer than it had been a moment ago.

  “I am too, Jake.” Tears rolled down her cheek. The warmth of his touch radiated through her body and her breath caught. His gaze intensified and Harri pulled her hand away, wiping her tears. This wasn’t the time. Not here. Not now.

  “You knew her probably better than I did,” Harri said.

  Jake nodded and looked down at his food.

  The moment was gone.

  She’d rejected him and she could see his hurt. Her heart thumped. She was so happy to have him here, by her side.

  “Thank you for coming with me,” Harri said.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” Jake said.

 
; “You were smart. You moved on.”

  “I didn’t move on,” he shook his head. “I pushed it all down and pushed away. You know what the therapists say about that.”

  “I might have an idea,” Harri said. She cracked a smile.

  The mood shifted.

  The comfort between the two was back again.

  “I’ve seen videos of how they do the search. I’m expecting we’ll be there all day. Mack said he’d pack up sandwiches and snacks,” Harri said.

  “How much of the area are we going to search?” he asked and threw his napkin over his plate.

  “I’ve mapped out an area between the place Tim’s keys were found and the spot where Tim and Stephanie waited for her. My assumption is that she never left those woods.”

  Harri chewed on her lip.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “What if my assumption is wrong?”

  “Your case file is as complete as any I’ve ever read. I know you’ve gone through it with laser focus. You’ve followed every strand.”

  Harri smiled. “Thank you for saying that. I appreciate that more than you know.”

  “I mean it. Really.”

  Harri surprised herself with a yawn. “We should get to bed. From what I’ve seen of this team we’re going to be out there until we find something.”

  Jake nodded and stood up. “Good plan.”

  Harri followed suit with a groan. Her body ached and bad.

  I will do my best, Lauren. I promise, she thought.

  4

  Day 2 – Friday, September 28, 2018

  Detective Harri Harper and Jake Tepesky pulled into the busy parking lot of the Tamolitch Falls trailhead. They had awoken to a slight rain and Harri worried that the search might be put off for another day. But when she called Dr. Susan Liewicke, the team leader of NecroFind, she was assured they could go ahead with no issues. The rain had finally subsided somewhat on their arrival even though everything dripped.

  “They don’t look like the rain has affected them at all,” Jake said gesturing to the small crowd.