The Bone Harvest

by Stacy M Jones

  “We have this scene to process. It’s going to be a long road. Our guys will be working around the clock to process all that evidence and then go through the arduous challenge of identifying all those victims. We’ll need your help if you’re willing to work with the families you already identified to check on DNA matching. I don’t know what’s currently available, but we need to start there.”

  “Michael Bauer?” Luke asked. “What happens to him?”

  “I’ve already sent guys to Michael Bauer’s door to see if they could search his house, and he refused. I’ve got a criminologist who specializes in these kinds of cases flying in from D.C. Once we get prints back and other forensics, we will get the warrant to search his house and bring him in for questioning.”

  “In the meantime, he’s just free?” I asked. I knew the reality of how the criminal justice system worked, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.

  The man turned to look down the hill at the house. The house had several lights on. The kitchen light cast a shadow of a man. Michael Bauer stood in the back window watching the scene, watching us specifically.

  The agent said, “Michael Bauer isn’t going anywhere. There are agents around the perimeter and down the road watching him. He will be under our surveillance until we bring him in.”

  Luke nodded. “I wasn’t able to get a confession on the murder in Little Rock or the other cases. Maybe y’all have some better tricks up your sleeves, but Little Rock will want the first stab at him.”

  The FBI agent frowned. “You know I can’t promise you that. If it’s what we think, this will be a multi-state case. I don’t know who will get him first.”

  Luke balled his hands into fists at his sides, a sure sign he attempted to control his temper. “There would be no case without us. There’d be no case without Little Rock. I’ll fight you on it. As sure as I’m standing here, my Captain and the prosecutor’s office will fight you on it.”

  The agent held his hands up in defeat. “You have my word Little Rock will be my recommendation. Go home, get some rest. I’ve got your number and will be in touch as soon as we have confirmation it’s him. If he confesses anything, you’ll be my first call. I promise you that.”

  The man turned and walked away. Luke slid his arm around me. Quietly, he said, “As much as I want to stand here and watch, let’s go back to your place. I’d like to talk to all of you. I need to call Jack and Frank off surveillance. No point having them out there with the feds on watch, too.”

  Luke walked off towards his car. I waved to Cooper and together we walked back to where we had parked hours earlier.

  “Luke okay?” Cooper asked.

  “I think he will be. The case doesn’t feel wrapped up. I know that’s what he’s feeling. He’s worried about after an arrest. What happens with the prosecution. You know he won’t rest until the very end.”

  Back at my mother’s house, my mother was in the living room snuggled in a chair under a blanket reading a book. She had a fire going. As I walked down the hall heading into the kitchen, she called, “I didn’t know when you’d all be back so I ordered pizza and salad. It should be here soon. Liv’s coming over, too.”

  I found Luke in the kitchen. He leaned against the counter, drinking a tall glass of water. I didn’t think he was crying, but his eyes were red and watery.

  “You okay?”

  Luke exhaled. “I just want this to be done. It feels close, but still, such a long way to go.”

  “I understand. Hopefully, the FBI can make progress. I trust their crime scene techs. Cooper just went upstairs. My mom ordered dinner.”

  “Frank and Jack are on their way, too. Should I call my parents or wait?”

  “I’d wait until we get some confirmation. No point getting their hopes up. Anything can happen. What if we’re wrong and his prints don’t match? I think they will, but could your parents take the disappointment?”

  Luke nodded. “I’ll wait. I did call Captain Meadows and Tyler. I checked in on Gabe, too. Aaron Roberts lawyered up so we aren’t getting anything out of him. If I had to guess he was one of The Professor’s pawns, probably like Katie. If it goes to trial, he will have to testify about his actions that night, but knowing what we do now, I don’t think it was him who hurt my sister. He isolated her, but he didn’t kill her.”

  As the evening wore on the food was delivered, which my mother insisted on paying for even though we all tried to give her cash. I texted my sister, but Liv responded that she got caught up with a few things and wouldn’t make it over. After we ate, my mother went up to her room to read. It was just the five of us left.

  Luke turned to Jack and Frank. “I can’t thank you enough for helping us. You’re the only ones that took us seriously. I hope this is the end. Maybe Michael will spare us all and confess. I appreciate all you’ve done so far. We couldn’t have asked for better help.”

  Jack slapped Luke on his back. “It was you, Luke. It was for your sister. We are here for her and all the young girls he took.”

  Frank and Cooper shared the same sentiment. It neared midnight. Jack and Frank left. Cooper and Luke went upstairs. I finished cleaning the kitchen alone. The kitchen never seemed quieter and colder. As I shut off the kitchen lights and made sure the doors were locked, a chill ran down my spine. I pulled my hoodie closed and zipped it. I also nudged up the heat.

  CHAPTER 80

  At two-thirty in the morning, Luke’s phone chimed incessantly. With half-closed eyes and Riley’s arm slung across his chest, he slapped his hand around on the nightstand to silence it before it woke the whole house. Luke got the phone in his hand and moved Riley’s arm so he could sit up.

  He tapped the screen. He had missed two calls from Jack. There were also text messages, but they would have to wait. Luke moved off the bed and sat in a chair Riley had in the far corner of her room. He called Jack. The man picked up immediately.

  “What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

  “I heard through a detective at the Troy PD that the FBI confirmed Michael Bauer’s prints. His prints were found on the root cellar handles and the mason jars. They also have photos of him with the skeleton posed grotesquely. There’s no question. He’s our guy, but Luke, he’s gone.”

  “What do you mean gone?” Luke said, louder than he meant. Riley stirred in her sleep.

  “The FBI said they were watching him. The Troy detective, who left about eleven, said the lights were still on in the house, but when they went to serve the search warrant and make an arrest at two, Michael was nowhere to be found. He vanished.”

  Luke cursed loudly and slammed his fist down on the arm of the chair. Riley woke with a start. She pulled the blanket up around her waist and watched Luke in the dark.

  “Are they out looking? What do you need?”

  “Nothing right now, Luke, just be on guard. Who knows where this guy is going? The FBI has everyone out searching. I wanted you to know, keep you in the loop, because obviously, the FBI isn’t.”

  “I appreciate that but there’s got to be something…” Luke paused. Another text came in. It was from a number Luke didn’t recognize.

  It read: He’s got me in a sea of headless angels. Come alone, he won’t kill me. He wants to tell you his story.

  It was a 518 area code. Luke read the number off to Riley. He didn’t even get to the last numbers before her hand flew to her mouth.

  “That’s Liv, my sister. He has her.” Riley scrambled out of bed. She went to the closet and pulled on clothes. She yelled to wake Cooper.

  He read the text off to Jack. “Don’t get the cops involved. No FBI either. You and Frank come over here. We can do this ourselves.”

  Luke hung up and reached for his gun. He checked it and grabbed his extra clip. He pulled on jeans and a shirt and the rest of his clothes. Cooper stood in the doorway. “I’m not armed,” he said. “With the laws, I didn’t carry over state lines. Neither did Riley.”

  “I’ve got that covered,” Karen’s voice boomed from th
e hallway. Luke stepped around Cooper. Karen punched numbers into a wall safe that had been hidden from view by a small hallway shelf. She pulled out several handguns and ammunition.

  Luke was utterly speechless. The last thing he thought Riley’s mother would have was a secret weapons stash.

  Karen looked back at him. “Don’t look so dumbfounded. Riley told you about her father. I never know when there will be blowback from that.”

  Riley rolled her eyes. “Like you’re taking on the Irish mob.”

  Karen pulled her aside. “Bring your sister home safely.” She kissed Riley on the cheek.

  The four of them went downstairs and met Jack and Frank who had arrived moments earlier.

  “I assume one of you would know where there is a sea of headless angels?” Luke asked.

  Jack and Riley shared a look. “It’s the cemetery, Luke. Where the Troy victim was found.”

  Frank swore. “That place isn’t fit for daylight. Spooky as hell going back at night.”

  They drove to the Forest Park Cemetery in two cars. Jack and Frank were in the lead with Luke, Riley, and Cooper following. Riley drove since she knew the way.

  “We’re here,” Riley said, as she pulled up a road marked with a sign for the Troy Country Club.

  The farther up the road they got, the darker it became. It was pitch black with only the moonlight overhead.

  From the backseat, Cooper remarked, “This doesn’t look like any cemetery I’ve ever seen.”

  “It’s abandoned. You have to be careful walking. There are overturned headstones, large boulders, branches.”

  Luke texted the killer that he was there and asked where they could be found. He got an immediate response.

  Near the headless angel

  Riley gave Luke detailed directions on how to reach them. Jack and Frank headed deep into the woods to come up from the right. Riley and Cooper moved in the other direction so they’d come up on Luke’s left. They worried the killer would hear them, every step echoed with the crunch of dried leaves or the snap of a branch.

  Luke moved down the middle, following exactly what Riley had said. His flashlight only showed glimpses as he moved. “Michael,” Luke called out. “I don’t know where anything is in here. You’re going to have to direct me.”

  Luke continued his slow progression with his flashlight and gun at the ready. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. He flashed the light all around him, hoping to catch sight of them. Finally, he came to a clearing just like Riley said he would.

  Liv sat on the ground with her hands behind her back at the base of the monument. Michael paced in front of her. The flashlight beam hit them just right and Luke saw the ice pick in his hands. Its silver blade reflected the light.

  “Michael, I can see you,” Luke called. “I’m here now. Let Liv go. If you want to talk to me, you need to let her go.”

  Michael yanked Liv up by her hair and positioned her in front of his body. “I’m not letting her go. I let her go, you’ll shoot me. I know how this works. Put the gun down now. She lives or dies, it’s up to you.”

  CHAPTER 81

  Luke knew he wasn’t alone. Riley and Cooper and Jack and Frank had their guns drawn just out of sight. But the sight of the headless, armless angel unnerved him. He felt a hundred eyes on him. The dead watched. The victims and their desire for justice stood at the ready.

  Luke approached Michael, debating the best course of action. He eyed Liv, searching her face for an answer to an unspoken question.

  “I’m okay,” Liv responded quietly.

  Michael jerked her back, but Liv stood firm. Her eyes were red. Makeup streaked her face. She had on yoga pants and a thin tee-shirt. She shivered in the chilly air.

  Luke holstered his gun and held up his hands. “It’s just you and me now. The gun is away. What did you want?”

  Michael held the pointed blade of the ice pick to Liv’s throat. One move and he could stab her easily. Michael looked around the woods on all sides of him, but Luke was sure he couldn’t see anything.

  “Come on, Michael. You told me to come alone, and I did. Now, what did you want to say?”

  Michael bought his attention back to Luke. “How did you find me? How did you figure it out?”

  “I didn’t. My team did. You told us everything. You said twenty-three victims and you told us the university where it started. That’s all we needed.”

  “That can’t be. It couldn’t have been that easy. I didn’t leave any evidence. No one saw me.”

  “You did. You had an easy pattern to figure out. People saw you, Michael. Someone saw you talking to the victim. Jordan was her name. They saw you leave with her that night.”

  “That’s impossible,” Michael said, clearly agitated.

  “It’s not. I bet that’s why you stopped taking them from inside buildings, isn’t it? You worried you’d be seen.”

  “I worried, yes,” Michael confirmed. “But it was too easy. I was at the universities. They trusted me. Young girls are so trusting with anyone in authority. There was no one to stop me. It was easy hunting. I wanted a game. The chase.”

  Liv struggled against him. Luke wasn’t sure if she was trying to break free or just get more comfortable within his grasp. He had an awkward hold on her neck. “Why don’t you let Liv go? We can talk. She hasn’t done anything to you. She doesn’t fit your pattern.”

  Michael laughed, a sinister deep guffaw. “She saw me that night. She saw me pick up the victim in Troy. I saw her, walking home all alone. She only saw me for a second. I never worried about it. When I followed Riley home the other day, I saw her outside. I knew it was the same girl. She still looks the same. I waited and followed her home, too. I knew then you had found me. Riley came to my house. I should have just killed her and that cop then, but there was no fun in that. I slipped away from the FBI tonight and lured her away like the others. I got you here, Luke. I got you here.”

  “Why did you want me here?” Riley had been right about Liv. All these years later, she had unknowingly seen the killer.

  “I wanted to tell you why I did it. That’s all you want to know, right?”

  “Okay, you’ve got my attention. Tell me.”

  Michael whimpered. He wanted to tell his story. Luke believed that. He wanted someone to listen. Luke was going to listen, and then he would bring him down by force if necessary.

  “I was a weird kid. I had no friends, but in college, I met the most beautiful girl. I was happy for a few years. I was normal. We got engaged. But then she tried to leave me. In the fall, right at Halloween, she broke off our engagement. She said I was too controlling. She said it would never work. I had been with her since we were freshmen. We were about to graduate that spring and start a new life together. She killed my dreams so I killed her.”

  “Is that the skeleton in your root cellar dressed in women’s clothing?”

  “Yes, she’s mine, and you’re taking her from me. I promised her we’d never part.”

  “You’re sick!” Liv shouted and struggled against him.

  “If you move again,” Michael yelled, he punctuated each word, “I will kill you.”

  “Liv, honey, look at me,” Luke said, making eye contact with her. “Settle down. Let Michael tell his story. You’ll be okay, I promise.”

  Looking at Michael, Luke said, “I get it, man. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had our hearts broken. Mine was broken for a long time, too. It’s hard to move on. But you killed innocent girls. Girls who didn’t do anything to you. They didn’t hurt you, Michael.”

  Michael started to cry. He choked out each word. “Don’t you see I didn’t hurt them? They were all so perfect. I kept them from hurting anyone else. They are mine now, too. I chose each one very carefully. I watched them, saw how they interacted with others. People liked them. Eventually, they’d hurt someone just like me. They can’t now. They’re mine. My brides in death.”

  “Is that why you took their ring fingers?” Luke asked, disgusted. He t
ried to stay steady.

  “Yes. Look at how I preserved them. I kept their clothing and things they liked. I didn’t separate them from that. I’ve honored them.”

  Liv’s eyes grew wider. Luke feared she’d say something to set him off. Luke made eye contact with her, hoping his look would let her know she was okay. Liv finally exhaled without saying a word.

  “Michael, was there just the twenty-four, with Cristina in Little Rock?”

  “Yes, my mission is complete. We planned to get married when we turned twenty-four. The circle is finished.”

  Michael kept babbling, but Luke couldn’t make out what he was saying. Luke needed to keep him talking. “Why me, Michael? Why did it have to be me? I don’t understand why you sent me those letters. Why did you let us figure it out? You had to know you gave us enough clues.”

  “You were better than I thought you’d be. I thought you’d chase me for a few more years. I was done killing, but I thought the chase would be fun. Like how I got other people involved. The chase was addictive. Manipulating all those people to help me kill. It was a game! I had to kill, but it was the chase that was fun.”

  Luke had his right hand on his gun at his hip. He steadied the flashlight. “Okay, so you knew I’d chase. What now?”

  “You don’t know, do you?” Michael laughed again.

  “Know what? I’m asking you. Tell me, dammit.”

  “Your sweet sister Lily. Right before I killed her, she told your parents she loved them. She said it like they could hear her. Then she looked me in the eyes, defiant. She was helpless, tied up and the ice pick right at her heart. She wasn’t afraid in her last moments. She was defiant. She was angry. She was the only one who dared to look me in the eyes. She said, ‘My brother Luke will catch you and make you pay.’ It was her last words.”

  Luke had kept it together until he heard his sister’s last words. His hand shook for the first time. The doubt and fear and grief rushed back like a tidal wave taking him down. He felt his sister there with him. The wave of emotion dragged him under. He had no idea how long he stayed like that.