The Hidden Grave (Harriet Harper Thriller Book 2)

by Dominika Best

  “That’s unfortunate.”

  “Could Atticus have crossed people like this?” Harri glanced at Jake. “Are there more missing boys from the streets that we don’t know about?”

  “I’ll talk to Detective French about that,” Jake said.

  “The police might not know about it yet. Eugene isn’t that big of a city and I know the homeless population has exploded in recent years. They might not be able to parse if any boys are missing from that population,” Harri said.

  They were getting close to the center of Eugene by her calculations. “Found anything on yelp?” she asked, unsure of where to park.

  “How about we just go to Subway? It’s a couple of streets over,” he said.

  “Fancy,” Harri quipped.

  “I'm hungry and I'm not finding much else down here.”

  When Harri saw the Subway sign, she pulled into a metered parking space. She checked her phone to see where the Cochran Youth Shelter was compared to the Subway. It was only two blocks.

  “We can walk over after lunch. The shelter is only a couple of blocks away.”

  “Perfect,” Jake said.

  After finishing their sandwiches at Subway, Harri and Jake walked the two blocks to the youth shelter where Mr. Weissberg worked. Harri wanted to take Jake’s hand in her own to feel his warmth.

  Thoughts of her sister kept surfacing while they were at Subway. Even though she’d been to Eugene before, she’d often thought of what kind of life Lauren had led in those three weeks she’d spent here. Had Lauren gone downtown to check the place out? Had Lauren and her friends wandered around taking in the sights, or maybe tried to get into one of the bars with fake IDs? This was the place she had come to with so much hope and instead, her life ended.

  And here Harri was walking along the same streets her sister might have explored. But Harri wasn’t searching for her. Instead, she looked for another lost soul, the son of one of Lauren’s first friends in this city so new to her.

  The absurdity of the situation did not escape Harri. Fingers wrapped around her own and when she looked down, she saw Jake’s hand wrapped around hers.

  Her heart skipped.

  Jake needed comfort, too. Cases involving youth took a toll on the investigators working them. No one wanted to be working the murder of a thirteen-year-old. Or be looking for a missing sixteen-year-old and then wondering what other children were out there waiting to be found or waiting to be discovered missing.

  “Are you seeing something on my face?” she asked.

  “I am. Were you thinking of Lauren?” he asked.

  “I wondered if these streets looked much different to her when she first came here all those years ago,” she said.

  “I’ve had similar thoughts. I barely remember anything from the last time I was here.”

  “Was it that fall that she disappeared?”

  Jake nodded and frowned.

  “It’s a fog in a distant dream that I never wanted to remember. And now, with my eyes wide open and being here with you…while working a horrifying murder case… I have to ask myself if I’ve taken on a little too much.”

  “What if you excused yourself from the case?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t do that.”

  Jake sat across from Harri and just looked at her. Harri allowed him to see her. They didn’t speak for several moments until Jake finally smiled.

  “I’m only writing the profile anyway. I have you here to anchor me.” He squeezed her hand. “Would you have become a cop if she hadn't disappeared?” he asked.

  “No,” Harri shook her head. “I wanted to go study physics. Maybe get a Ph.D., be a college professor,” Harri said.

  “I wanted to be a doctor,” Jake flashed another smile. “I’d always wanted to be one. A pediatrician, in fact. I dreamed of having my own practice and watching kids grow up. Being part of a family in that way.

  He sighed again. “Instead, I see the worst that humanity has to offer. I would've never joined the FBI if Lauren hadn’t gone missing.”

  They held onto each other, being each other’s lifelines.

  “But we are here, aren't we?” Harri observed.

  “We are. And we can try to bring these kids home before something happens to them,” he said.

  Harri nodded and they got up to go.

  “Kids?” she asked as they walked back out to the street. “Are you agreeing with me that more boys have gone missing?”

  “It’s the fantasy aspect of the case that has me worried. This isn’t this killer’s first rodeo. He didn’t make any mistakes and his fantasy is too-well developed,” Jake said as they reached their destination.

  “You’re coming to this interview with me, right?” she asked.

  “Isn’t that why I’m here,” he teased.

  Their joviality was forced, but they’d left their mood behind. It was time to focus on the work ahead.

  After going through check-in and getting a bead on where Dr. Weissberg was located, Harri and Jake found themselves in a locker room off a small gym. The lockers hadn't been refurbished in the last thirty or so years. They made their way past grated lockers that ran along each side, green paint chipping.

  There was a bench in the middle of the lockers and that’s where they found Dr. Weissberg. A bespectacled man in his late 40s with a full beard and balding, he wore a hooded sweatshirt and jeans and was surprisingly fit for his nebbish look.

  “Dr. Weissberg?” Harri stepped forward. “My name is Harriet Harper, and this is Jake Tepesky. We've been helping Dan Ledeyen’s parents Tim and Molly search for him,” Harri said.

  Dr. Weissberg gestured for them to join him on the bench.

  “Call me George. I don't have an office, or I would bring you there. No one should bother us here for at least another half hour. We can talk here if you’re okay with that,” he said.

  “Thank you,” Harri said as she and Jake sat next to him. “Tim and Molly spoke very highly of you and said how instrumental you’ve been in keeping Dan clean this go around.”

  She hoped that gave him enough juice to want to talk with them.

  “Tim and Molly are really great,” Dr. Weissberg nodded. “They’ve done so much for Dan. I wondered why he hadn't been around in the last few days. I’ve been out for the last two days with a stomach bug. We were supposed to meet today at ten in the morning, but he never showed.”

  Dr. Weissberg hesitated. Harri felt Jake shift behind her and she was grateful once again just for his presence, to know that he was nearby.

  “I called Tim and he told me what had happened,” Dr. Weissberg continued. “As a sponsor, I'm not supposed to break confidence but whatever I can do to find Dan, I'm here.”

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

  “I saw him about four days ago. At lunchtime. He was excited because he’d been doing very well in his GED studies and was even looking for a job. He'd gotten his first interview at a Starbucks and, considering his Juvie record, that was a minor miracle,” Dr. Weissberg said.

  “Juvie record?” Harri asked. She was surprised Tim hadn’t mentioned that detail.

  “Dan fed his habit by burglarizing cars,” Dr. Weissberg nodded. “He’d been caught and sent to a juvenile detention center. That was around the same time he went to his first rehab.”

  “Were there any other ways he got money?” Harri asked.

  It was as good of an opportunity as any to see if she could corroborate the information that Thomas James had given her earlier that morning.

  Dr. Weissberg cocked his head at her. “What are you asking me, Detective?”

  “Tim told you I was a detective?” Harri asked.

  “That’s right. You’re a close friend from Los Angeles?” he asked.

  “You could say that,” she said. “Did Dan ever talk about tricking?”

  “No,” Dr. Weissberg shook his head. “He did once tell me that he'd break into anyone's house before he would do that,” he said.
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  Harri bit her lip and looked back at Jake.

  “What about selling pictures of himself?” she asked.

  The question was blunt and didn’t come out as nuanced as she would have liked, but by the look on Dr. Weissberg’s face about the tricking, something felt off. Dr. Weissberg furrowed his brow and he looked as confused as she was.

  “I'm a sponsor, not a therapist. So, I’m sure I didn’t hear all his deepest darkest secrets,” Dr. Weissberg said carefully. “I spoke to him about getting counseling because I was worried that could be the case. I’ve sponsored other boys who sold themselves for heroin. He was adamant he’d never done that, nor would he. Nothing ever sexual, he said. He’d rather boost cars. Are you thinking child porn?”

  “Yes,” Harri nodded. “I’ve interviewed some friends and they mentioned that as a possibility.”

  Dr. Weissberg shook his head and held up his hand, stopping her before she could go further.

  “I've worked at this facility for going on thirty years now. I've seen kids come and go, and you're right. Many of them do end up doing whatever they have to so they can score. I didn’t see that with Dan.”

  “Was he open about his breaking and entering?” Jake asked.

  “He didn’t hide it at all. He was ashamed of it and he didn’t want to slide back into that.”

  “Did you ever ask if he’d been abused?” Harri asked.

  “I did ask,” Dr. Weissberg nodded. “And he was adamant that he wasn’t. He was incredibly good at breaking into cars. You wouldn't believe how much stuff you can get in a car and hawk on the streets for dope.”

  Harri sat and watched him. Dr. Weissberg genuinely believed this.

  “Did Dan ever burglar houses?” Jake asked.

  “Some of the boys that he ran with did,” Dr. Weissberg nodded. “But he always felt houses were too high-profile. That he’d get sent to serious jail if he started doing homes. Cars were his jam. Dan had all sorts of gadgets to get a car door open. He told me once he could hit thirty cars in one night. He roamed all around the city,” he said.

  Dan wouldn’t need to have his picture taken if he had cash flow. From what Dr. Weissberg was saying, he had the money for drugs.

  “Do you know who some of his fences were?” Jake asked.

  “He used the pawnshop on Eleventh Avenue. It’s a couple of blocks away from here. The guy there is a real sleaze and will take anything he can get, no questions asked.”

  “Got a name,” Harri asked.

  “Ask for Ruben.”

  Harri wrote the address and name in her notebook. She didn’t believe Dr. Weissberg was lying to her. If he wasn’t, and Dan had told him the truth, then why did Thomas James lie to her?

  “Have you heard any of the other kids here talk about Dan? Seen him recently?” Harri asked.

  “I've asked around since I got off the phone with Tim. No one has seen him all week,” Dr. Weissberg replied.

  Harri asked if he had any other friends they could talk to, but Dr. Weissberg said that he’d mainly kept to himself. Having exhausted the questions she had, they thanked him for his time and left. Jake and Harri stayed silent until they’d walked back to the car.

  Jake broke the silence. “That was unexpected.”

  “Addicts lie, don't they? The question is, why would he specifically lie about that?” Harri asked.

  “Hopefully, you can ask him next.”

  “We need to corroborate George Weissberg’s account with this pawn shop,” Harri said and waved her notebook at him.

  “Weissberg said it wasn’t too far away from here,” Jake said and yelped the pawnshop. It was three blocks away. They fed the meter and walked in that direction.

  “This boy came in here hocking goods, correct?” Harri asked the grizzled old man sitting behind the bulletproof glass.

  “I can't say where any of that stuff came from, but he was in here every day with it,” Ruben said.

  “How much did he usually get for his haul?” Jake asked.

  The guy was friendly to people who looked like law enforcement. This never happened in Los Angeles. When they had explained to him that Dan was missing and they didn't care at all about any stolen goods, he had warmed up quite a bit. He was a real talker.

  “It ranged between fifty to a hundred fifty bucks each time he came in. He had a lot of good stuff, expensive stuff. He had an eye for it,” the old man said.

  Harri had heard enough.

  “Thanks for speaking with us,” Jake said. He’d come to the same realization.

  “I hope you find him. He was a nice kid,” the old man said.

  “We’re doing our best,” Harri said.

  She and Jake said their good-byes and left.

  “Sounds like Dan’s rehab friend lied to you.”

  “Sure does,” Harri said. She replayed her interview from this morning in her mind as they walked back to the car. He’d been acting odd. Like he was acting. With what they had found out from Weissberg, Thomas James' odd behavior made some sense. The bigger question is why had he lied? What goal could be achieved by them believing Dan turned tricks?

  11

  Day 3 - Night

  Richard Miller stood on the side of the road, freezing his balls off. He had gotten the phone call about half an hour ago to meet at this specific corner.

  His old stomping ground.

  He had lived in a foster home just a couple of blocks away. This block was where it had all begun. That time of his life he couldn't fathom to even remember but came constantly in his nightmares. He looked up and down the empty street.

  Bobby had told him he'd meet him here at midnight and it was already thirty minutes past. Had it been a mistake to come out here?

  When he saw the news about the dead boy and the potential for other missing kids, he’d wanted to call Bobby immediately. Bobby had beat him to it. What did surprise him was how insistent he was to meet up. Bobby rarely wanted to see other people.

  “Don’t look at me,” Bobby hissed as he curled himself into a small ball on his bunk. Rich had tried talking to him after he’d gotten back from his own particular nightmare, but Bobby had refused to speak. Instead, he’d curled up on his bunk and cried.

  Rich wondered if Mark and Paul had hurt Bobby instead of just taking pictures of him. Bobby was the smallest boy in the group and looked young. Rich figured that those men liked that.

  They’d been so excited to come here. The initial hike through the dark woods with flashlights had been thrilling and scary. That had been two nights ago. When the boys got on the island, they were quickly initiated into what they were really there for, however.

  Rich climbed onto the top bunk and let his tears fall where they may. He should have known better. Luck didn’t bless kids like him and Bobby. They were easy pickings and they had fallen for the dream hook, line, and sinker. Now, they had to find a way to survive long enough to escape this hellhole. He had to keep Bobby’s spirits up because Rich doubted he’d be able to get out of this alone.

  Richard yanked his mind back from the past and peered up and down the street. He didn’t like this. He felt too exposed. Could this be some sort of trap?

  Richard looked both ways again. He needed to get back to his car. This had been a bad idea. He’d parked three blocks away, wanting no evidence he had been on this block.

  His car was near a park he’d gone to with his son. The thought of his son made him want to leave. To get back to his home life. His clean life. The innocent life he had always dreamed about and somehow created for himself.

  He put his hoodie up and walked quickly back to where he had parked.

  The screeching of tires behind him told him to run. Instinct kicked in immediately. He ran towards the park, checking behind to see if this was really happening.

  It was.

  A red sedan sped towards him. His legs pounded the pavement as he sprinted. Richard knew he could not outrun a car, but he could use the narrow alleyway coming up to escape it.
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br />   He peeked again. The car had closed a lot of distance and was only thirty feet away. He pushed himself to his limit. Adrenaline rushed through his body and his breath became short gasps.

  His heart felt like it would fly out of his chest.

  He couldn't die.

  After all that he had been through, he would not die.

  Flashes of his son and his wife filled his head and propelled him forward. Just as he felt the car's bumper against the back of his legs, he veered into the narrow alleyway. The car’s brakes ground behind him.

  He had to get into the park. His pursuer would have to follow him there on foot.

  Richard ran down the narrow alley and took a right towards the park. His car was on a side street and wasn’t accessible from where he was. He would hide out amongst the trees.

  He crashed onto the grass and fell into the dirt. He struggled back up, looking behind him.

  There was no sign of the car, but that didn't matter. Richard couldn't have whoever was trying to kill him see where he was going.

  He clambered back up and kept sprinting until he felt the darkness of the trees around him.

  Only then did he stop running.

  He held onto a tree and sobbed softly for the boy he had been, sobbed for the man he was now, and sobbed for how much he wanted to live.

  To live for his son and his wife.

  After what felt like an eternity, he finally breathed slowly without the gasping sobs shaking his body.

  Bobby had set him up, he thought.

  Bobby was the only one who knew where they would meet. He didn't know anybody else from the old life.

  Only Bobby.

  And Bobby had betrayed him.

  Bobby tried to kill him.

  Rage exploded in his chest and he pressed down hard on his wildly beating heart. He would not be that lost scared kid anymore. He would be a man and fight.

  He would bring them all down.

  12

  Day 3 - Night

  Harri and Jake grabbed dinner at a local diner, discussing the next steps after their interview with Dr. Weissberg and Ruben, the grizzled pawn shop owner. Harri had also called the Morning Sunrise Institute to speak with Thomas James, but no one answered the phone.