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

  Many parents of addicts made sure that they had full access to their children's phones to make sure that they were staying straight.

  “No, we don’t have it. He took the phone with him and he had been texting his mother.”

  “You never put any tracking or spy software on there?” she asked.

  Tim Ledeyen sighed and covered his face with his hands before balling his fists and pounding his own knees. “No. I wish we had but we did not.”

  “Do you think you could call the cell phone company and get the records of the texts of the last month?” She knew that if the father called, they would not have to get special permission.

  “I'll call them right away,” he said.

  Harri stood up and put her arm on his shoulder. “I’ll try to talk to all his friends in the next twenty-four hours. I'll call you periodically to let you know how I’m progressing. If you think of anyone else he might have spoken to in the last two weeks, call me. I’ll put them on my list,” she said.

  Tim nodded keeping his face hidden. Harri patted him one more time and left him in the kitchen. As she opened the door, she heard the sobbing begin again.

  Harri closed the door gently behind her. This family was breaking into pieces and it hurt her heart to be witness to it. She placed her hand over her chest and folded inward.

  Harri pushed back her own memories of the day they discovered Lauren was missing. She couldn’t relive what the Ledeyen family was suffering through. The hopelessness and loss and anger and confusion. The emotions she and her parents had gone through when her sister vanished. Through the endless months of searching and watching her parents tear themselves apart with the what-ifs.

  It would not happen to this family. Not if she could help it.

  Her pace quickened as she moved purposefully towards the car.

  Dan Ledeyen was out there. Waiting to be found. She would find him even if she couldn’t find her sister.

  Harri slid into the car and googled the name of the rehab center on her phone. She plugged the address in and clicked on the directions.

  There was still time for this family.

  9

  Day 3

  Harri Harper drove to the Morning Sunrise Institute on the other side of Eugene. She easily found the address for the Institute as it was one of the premier rehab facilities in the area. Apparently, Thomas James had money. She didn’t know how Tim Ledeyen could afford such a place. Parents would move mountains for their kids, she supposed.

  The drive stretched on long enough to make Harri wonder how large this rehab facility really was. Her car pulled into a circular drive in a vast expanse of green lawn in front of a massive Tudor mansion. The building itself was five stories high, with a wing to the left and a wing to the right. If Harri didn't know better, she would think that she was in the English countryside. A perfectly manicured garden sat on the right of the mansion while tall hedges peeked out from the left side.

  Harri parked the car in one of the visitor spots and sat back. The exclusivity of this place might cause her problems. She’d ask for Thomas James and hope that he’d want to help find his friend. She made her way to the imposing wooden double doors and attempted to pull one of them open. It didn’t budge. A disembodied voice crackled from her left.

  “May I help you?” the voice asked.

  “I’d like to speak with Thomas James, one of your patients. I’m a friend of the family,” she said. The lie worked and the door buzzed open. One hurdle jumped.

  She stepped into a large octagonal foyer with a white marble floor and pale blue walls. A dark-haired, middle-aged woman sat to the right of a grand staircase in front of a computer on a vintage mahogany table. Harri had never seen a rehab center like this before.

  “Is Thomas James available?” Harri asked.

  The woman surveyed her.

  “You look like a cop,” she said in a friendly conversational manner.

  “I am a cop. But in Los Angeles. I’m visiting friends here.”

  “Is Mr. James expecting you?” the woman asked.

  “No, he isn't. I'm hoping he'll be available to speak to me about his friend Dan Ledeyen. Dan was a patient here,” she said.

  “Our residents are not called patients here,” the woman corrected her.

  “It’s an impressive facility,” Harri remarked.

  “It is. Let me call him and see if he's available to speak to you,” the woman said and picked up a black vintage phone. The mid-century vibe extended to the accessories, Harri thought. She bet they would have gotten rid of the computer if they could have.

  “Mr. James, there is a woman here to see you. She’s here about Dan Ledeyen. Are you available to speak with her?” she asked. She listened, nodding.

  “Very good, Mr. James.” She put the receiver back on its cradle the phone and turned back to Harri.

  “Mr. James will see you in the sitting room. He'll be down in about five minutes. The sitting room is through those double doors.” She pointed at doors to Harri’s left. “Second door to the left. You can enjoy the view of the gardens while you wait,” she added.

  “I appreciate your help,” Harri smiled and followed the woman’s instructions.

  The empty sitting room was a large library with overstuffed chairs of different silks and brocades overlooking the green lawn through a wall of French doors.

  She had no idea what Thomas James looked like, so she stood off to the side of the doors until a young man in his early 20s came in several minutes later. He had shaggy, shoulder-length blonde hair, pale skin, and the stringy lean look of an addict.

  “Are you Thomas James?” she asked him.

  “And you are?” he asked.

  “My name is Harri Harper. I'm a friend of Dan Ledeyen’s parents.”

  Thomas James pointed at two armchairs in the corner of the room. They didn’t speak until they were settled.

  “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Dan has disappeared.”

  Thomas James sat up straighter, his attention fully on her. “He hasn’t been found yet?” he asked.

  “No. It’s been close to forty-eight hours,” Harri shook her head. “His family is frantic to find him. I’m a detective up from Los Angeles and an old friend of the family. I’d like to ask you some questions about Dan and his stay here,” she said.

  “Of course. I’ll try to help in any way that I can,” Thomas James leaned forward a little. “Does his family think he's using again?” he asked.

  “That’s the first conclusion everyone jumped to,” she said. “Except for his parents.”

  “It's not an unreasonable conclusion,” he said.

  “His parents don’t think it’s a relapse. They think he’s in trouble.”

  “Dan was a heroin addict,” Thomas James replied. “Relapses happen.”

  “When was the last time you spoke to Dan?” Harri asked.

  “Four or five days ago.”

  Harri jotted that information down in her notebook. “How did he sound to you?”

  “Excited. He mentioned his job interview at Starbucks.”

  “He told you about that?”

  Thomas James nodded and folded his hands. “He felt he was successfully re-entering his life again,” he said.

  “Was he meeting anyone after?” Harri asked.

  Thomas’s brown eyes became hooded and he leaned away from her.

  Harri noted his odd response. The air between them felt charged, changing the moment she’d asked the question. Thomas gazed out onto the garden grounds.

  “I don’t think I should be talking to you about this,” Thomas said.

  He rose to go.

  Harri grabbed his arm and pulled him down again.

  “Dan is only sixteen-years-old. His family wants to find him before the unthinkable happens. Parents never know their child as well as their friends do,” Harri said, keeping her voice calm but insistent.

  “That’s the truth,” he smirked. “Look, Dan told me a lot of things. T
hings he was ashamed of doing,” he continued as he leaned back into the seat.

  “We really need your help,” Harri said. She was surprised by the reaction to a question he surely must have expected from the beginning of the conversation. It almost felt like acting. Or rather, overacting.

  “I don’t know.” Thomas turned his face away, focusing back on the garden.

  “What if it was you? Needing help? Disappearing? Wouldn’t you want your friends helping the people looking for you?”

  Thomas shrugged his shoulders, “Addicts are addicts. Maybe, he’s better off…”

  He didn’t say dead but Harri knew that’s where he was going.

  “You can’t believe that,” Harri said. “You’re in here. Getting better. He did it, too. He wanted a future.”

  Thomas turned back to her, his pupils dilated, his face cold. Harri didn’t know how to read his expression. She leaned back in her seat and waited. She’d pushed and guilted. Ball was in his court. Harri watched him carefully.

  She had an idea of what he would tell her. She doubted addicts up here differed greatly from the ones down in Los Angeles. Kids who needed to score drugs fell prey to predators and pedophiles. There were a lot of ways a kid could make money using the only thing they had: their body.

  “He let men take pictures of him,” Thomas whispered.

  Harri didn’t change position but wrote that in her notes. She didn’t want to spook him. “Photographs or video?” she asked.

  “He said both,” Thomas said.

  “Did he mention names? Was this organized or random men?” she asked.

  “He ran out of the pills he was getting from his friend at school,” Thomas said, instead of answering her question.

  “OxyContin?”

  “Yeah. A friend’s grandfather had it prescribed, but when he died, they switched to heroin.”

  “Did he mention names?”

  “Well, I mean this wasn't a very in-depth conversation we had, okay? But he did mention two names of guys he got money from.”

  “And those were?”

  “Blue and Peanut.”

  The names dampened Harri’s excitement. Of course, they would use nicknames.

  “He didn’t mention their real names?”

  “No. Don’t know if he even knew their real names.”

  “Did he say what they looked like?

  “No. He didn't really want to talk about them at all, honestly. He kinda clamped up after that. I told him he should go talk to one of the counselors here because that was abuse. He did and I think he was making progress.”

  “Would you have any idea where he could've gone to score again?” she asked.

  “The only place I know of is downtown Eugene. That's where all the kids hang out, turn tricks, and have easy access to dealers. The whole scene is just a couple of blocks around the YMCA down there. If you walk around down there you won't be able to miss it,” he said.

  “Do you believe Dan relapsed?”

  Thomas James sighed and spread his arms with his palms open. “He’s an addict.”

  Harri chewed on her lip, thinking of her next line of questioning. She worried if she brought up his reaction when she asked who Dan was meeting after his interview, Thomas James would shut down. At the same time, she didn’t think he had much more to tell her. She plunged ahead.

  “I noticed you reacted when I asked if Dan had a meeting after his interview?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been clean sixty-five days, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get twitchy sometimes.”

  “Fair enough.” Harri doubted that was it but let it go. He would not tell her anything else. “Thank you for speaking with me. And about Dan’s secret, I’ll be as discreet as I can be with that information.”

  Thomas James pursed his lips and nodded.

  “Just find him. He's only a kid. He didn't deserve any of this,” he said and stood up.

  Harri followed his lead.

  “No one does,” Harri said.

  Thomas stared back at her with blank eyes. The man unnerved her.

  “I’ll see myself out,” Harri said and walked towards the doors.

  Thomas stayed frozen in front of the French doors, looking back out on the garden.

  Harri followed the route out of the facility, waving a last good-bye to the receptionist before returning to her car.

  She unlocked the rental car’s door with shaking hands. Her lack of sleep coupled with the adrenaline of having a direction in Dan’s case made her jumpy.

  She bet that Blue and Peanut probably had a file on them somewhere. It wasn’t information she could take to the police, though. Not yet at least. If these two men preyed on Dan, then they preyed on other boys, too. She was sure if she found the area where Dan operated, she’d find other boys who know Blue and Peanut.

  Maybe, even know their real names.

  Her phone beeped with a text message. She rummaged through her bag until she found her cell phone and pulled it out. It was Jake.

  Jake: I’m done. You?

  Harri: Just finished. I can swing by and get you?

  Jake: Waiting outside.

  Harri: Be there in 15.

  Throwing her bag into the car, Harri sat in the driver’s seat and turned on the engine. Something was nagging at Harri and she didn't want to entirely acknowledge it. Was it that much of a coincidence that a thirteen-year-old boy was found in the woods and then a sixteen-year-old boy that looked like a thirteen-year-old boy went missing around the same twenty-four-hour period of time? In a small city like Eugene?

  She drove the car down the drive as theories swirled in her mind. She didn’t have enough to connect the two cases yet. But a child pornography ring could be responsible for both.

  Harri turned onto the main artery leading into Eugene sort of remembering where the police station was. She programmed the address into her phone and the British voice she chose told her to take a right.

  There wasn’t enough evidence to link the cases. Pornographers wouldn’t want to lose such a valuable asset as a boy they’d already groomed. Better that the cases weren’t linked. The last thing Harri wanted was to find Dan in those woods.

  10

  Day 3

  Harri pulled up to the Eugene Police Department and Jake Tepesky hopped into the car. He flashed her a smile as she drove away.

  “What did you find out?” he asked, bypassing any pleasantries.

  “You first. I’ve seen that look on your face before. Must be something big?”

  “You know I can’t tell you that,” Jake smiled.

  “What about if I ask questions and you say yes or no?” Jake gave her a look. “What about a nod or shake of the head.”

  He nodded and Harri couldn’t help but grin.

  “Was Atticus redressed before being left in the woods?”

  Jake nodded.

  “Was he manually strangled?”

  Jake nodded again.

  Harri had gotten close enough to the body to see there were no tell-tale lines on the boy’s neck although bruising was evident.

  “Did they find any biological material on his body?”

  Jake shook his head no.

  Interesting. That meant he’d been washed, just as they initially thought.

  “Anywhere? Even in his privates?”

  Jake shook his head no again.

  “So, he’d been fully washed.”

  Jake nodded.

  “Do you have enough for a profile?”

  “The more information I can get the better, but it’s a start,” Jake said.

  “Have they been able to pinpoint time-of-death?”

  “They’re close.”

  “Do you think Dan’s case is connected to Atticus’ case?” Harri asked, sneaking a peek to see his reaction.

  He cocked his head at her. “It hadn’t occurred to me. Why would you ask that? Does this have anything to do with what you were going to tell me? And where are we going?”
he asked. “I was hoping for some food. I'm starving.”

  “I’m sure we can find food where we are going. I spoke with Tim this morning and he gave me the names of Dan’s friends and sponsor. His sponsor works at the Cochran Youth Shelter downtown close to where the kids score around here.”

  “Definitely will need to eat before going to interview someone,” he said.

  “Maybe you can start yelping restaurants while I drive,” she suggested.

  She glanced down at her phone to check the directions and took a right turn.

  “What are the police doing right now?” she asked.

  “What’s the first thing you’d do if a child was found dead?”

  “Bring in all the local sex offenders in the area to see if anyone was involved,” Harri said.

  “Exactly,” Jake said. “Where did you go after speaking with Tim?”

  “I spoke with a Thomas James. He was Dan’s buddy in rehab.”

  “And he talked to you?” he asked, surprised.

  “I'm persuasive when I need to be,” she flashed him a smile.

  She’d pushed Thomas James to talk and was glad she had. She recounted what he told her about Dan and the lengths he went to for his drugs.

  “Doesn’t necessarily need to be an organized crew,” Jake said.

  “There would need to be some sort of distribution hub, though. Wouldn’t there?”

  “You have the dark web for that. All you need is an internet connection,” Jake said.

  “Blue and Peanut could be two small tentacles here in Eugene that connect into a bigger network online,” Harri said.

  She’d never worked those kinds of cases before. All she knew came from tidbits she’d heard from her colleagues on the special crimes squad and the news.

  “We have to assume Blue and Peanut hung around downtown near the Cochran Youth Shelter,” Jake said.

  “That was my thinking, too. Some of the kids down there might know exactly what their names are.”

  “Did you get any sort of description from him?” Jake asked.

  “No. He said that Dan refused to talk much after the original admission.”