The Harvesters

by William J Manning

  “Which leaves you as the last surviving member of The Harvesters,” Munroe adds.

  He sighs and hunches over, crying.

  I cross my arms. “You need to tell us who runs Radomir’s websites and where to find them.”

  I see no reason to tell him Gabriella is the one who’s killing his colleagues. We got him talking best keep him that way.

  “I-I don’t know where to find them, but I know a woman who could help you find them. She is one model they used to lure the men and women to their deaths.”

  I sit down and shove a pen and paper to him. “Write her name and where to find her.”

  He finishes writing and shoves the paper over to me. “She goes by aliases, but her real name is Cassandra Keen.”

  Munroe leans on the table. “Is one of them Darcy Hennigar?”

  He nods. “Yes, Agent Munroe.”

  “What about the male model?” I ask.

  “I don’t know him; I only worked with Cassandra. My colleagues knew the male model, and they are dead.”

  “Will Cassandra know the male model?”

  He shrugs. “Yes. You see, you have something here to exploit, Special Agent Lobos.” He leans forward. “They are lovers.”

  Munroe crosses her arms. “So one will know where the other is?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do they know they’re luring people to their deaths, or did Radomir spin some kind of lie to them?”

  “Quite the opposite, they know exactly what they are doing.”

  “Why the hell would they volunteer for something like that?”

  “Agent Lobos, you would be amazed how many young, attractive, starry-eyed people want to have their big break in the modeling industry or showbiz just like your brother the poor fool.”

  My jaw tenses with anger and my fist clenches getting ready to find a home in his face, but I contain myself.

  He clears his throat. “Life is hard for aspiring models, especially when they don’t know anyone in the industry, and it’s even harder for two young Canadians that are not US Citizens.”

  The youth is so fucked these days.

  I lean on the table. “So what else can you tell us about Radomir?”

  He sighs. “Unfortunately, you have heard the extent of my knowledge of Mr. Volkov. However, you should really hurry to find them because if Mr. Volkov is silencing us, then he will no doubt shift his attention to them.”

  Munroe walks over to the table. “Mr. Merryweather, I’m charging you with kidnapping, first-degree murder. If you wish you to call your attorney, now’s the time.” Munroe and I leave the interview room and head to her office. Her office has a cheap wooden desk and bookshelf stocked with training manuals, Federal and local law books—a picture frame of her with LAPD SWAT sitting on her desk next to her nameplate.

  “I thought Tampa was your home office?”

  “Uh, no, Miami is my home office.” She runs the name Cassandra Keen on her laptop. “Okay, we got one here twenty-five works as a model for beach photoshoots. She lives on fifty-six forty Alton Road just next to the LA Gorce Golf Course.”

  “I’d bet that’s our perp,” I say.

  “Let’s move.”

  We climb into the car and head to her address.

  Keen, Residence

  5640 Alton Rd

  We knock on the door of the one-story brick house. There’s a gray Mercedes in the driveway, so someone is home. A red-headed woman matching the description Axe gave us answers the door. “Cassandra Keen?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m Special Agent Lobos DEA and Special Agent Munroe FBI. We’d like to ask you a few questions regarding a recent date you had on a dating site called Eternal Love dot Com.”

  She freezes like a deer in the headlights and then bolts for the back door.

  “Shit! Get the car, Munroe.”

  I dart after her, chasing her through the living room, storming through the dining room, leaping over a table she flipped over. She throws a knife at me, but misses me by a mile.

  Poor technique.

  She yanks the back door open and flees into the backyard. Cassandra scrambles up the fence, but I yank my Taser and fire. Her body tenses up on the top of the wall, flailing around, till her grip loosens, and she falls back into the yard. “Don’t move, or you’re gonna get another jolt.” She complies and puts her hands up. I flip her over and place her in cuffs.

  “I’ve done nothing wrong, you stupid whore!”

  “Oh, right, so you were just challenging me to a foot race? Well, good job you lost.” I throw her down on her white couch. On her coffee table, there’s a sleek black laptop with the Harvester’s website left open. We caught her in the process of making another fake profile this time she’s a blonde. I text Munroe.

  I got her.

  Coming in.

  “Now, let’s try again. I want to know about a date you had with a man you met on the dating site, Eternal love dot org. He was a big muscle guy, a real looker too. Hard to forget.”

  She shrugs. “Sorry. Don’t know him.”

  “Really? Because he described you to the letter and men, remember the women who stood them up?”

  She turns her head to the side and scoffs. “Is it a crime to stand someone up on a date, now?”

  Munroe enters the living room. “It is if you baited them so they can be kidnapped and murdered,” Munroe adds.

  “I don’t know what either of you are on about, but I had no hand in kidnapping or killing anyone.”

  I throw my hands out to my side. “Then explain to me why you looked at us like a deer in the headlights and ran the minute we identified ourselves as federal agents.”

  She lowers her head, sulking.

  I pull out my notepad. “Look, Ms. Keen. People don’t run for nothing, so you need to come clean with me.”

  “My boyfriend is a cop, and I broke up with him. He’s a very violent man. I was worried he sent you two to hurt me.”

  A cop sending feds to beat or kill your ex-girlfriend… The bullshit is strong with this one.

  “What’s his name?”

  “Officer James Luca.”

  “Munroe, run the name Officer James Luca and see if anything comes up.”

  “What the hell, lady! I’m not lying to you.” her voice frantic.

  I note her boyfriend’s photographs. There’s not a single photo of him in uniform, only him posing for photoshoots—time to give her the rope to hang herself.

  “Never said you were. I’m curious though you said he was a violent man, and you broke up with him, and yet you still refer to him as ‘My boyfriend’ are you still in love with him?”

  “No, I misspoke.”

  “What do you do for a living, Ms. Keen?”

  “Imma model.”

  “What kind? Are you a foot model, hand model, etcetera?”

  “I am a nude model and swimsuit model.”

  “Is it pornographic nudes?”

  “Eww! No artistic nudes.”

  So this confirms what Merryweather said about her being a model.

  “Listen, we’re not saying you’re responsible for the kidnapping, but you understand how suspicious it looks when he goes missing on the night you’re supposed to meet with him. We’re just doing a process of elimination. So you can relax; we’re just trying to figure out what happened that night.”

  “My ex-boyfriend is very jealous he could have had some of his cop buddies kidnap him.”

  “Is that why you stood him up? You were afraid of your ex?”

  “I didn’t stand up, Axe. I was stuck in traffic.”

  “Your story is not adding up. First, you tell me you stood him up, and now you just told me you were on the way.”

  “U-uh, I misspoke again, sorry.”

  “You seem to be doing that a lot today, Ms. Keen.” My voice raises.

  “What the hell are you implying?”

  I raise my hands. “Relax, I’m just saying you’re getting things confused, that’
s all. Now, did you stand him up, or were you on the way? It’s okay; a lot of women don’t like to admit they have rejected a guy, especially if they’re not a cold-hearted bitch.”

  Time to let her make the noose.

  “I was running late, and I was stuck in traffic. I tried to call him, but I got no answer, so I assumed he was pissed because he thought I stood him up.” her voice quickens.

  She slips the noose around her neck.

  “I see. Here’s the funny thing, Ms. Keen. Axe tried to call you; in fact, he called you once, and it said your number was disconnected and your account on the dating site was erased. Want to explain that?”

  “That site is always having issues, and as for my phone, maybe I was in a dead zone.”

  Munroe hangs up her cell and begins texting. My phone pings. “Excuse me, I have to take this.”

  There is no Officer James Luca anywhere in Miami. We got her!

  Lying like I suspected. Time to kick the stool out from under her feet.

  I glower at her.

  “Is there something wrong, Agent Lobos?”

  “What branch of Law Enforcement did you say your boyfriend was with?”

  “Miami PD.”

  I glance around the room and spot several framed romantic pictures of her boyfriend on a bookshelf behind her. Interesting, if my ex was violent to me, the last thing I would’ve had on my shelf is pictures of me and him on a date.

  “You’re being economical with the truth, Ms. Keen.”

  She scowls. “I didn’t fucking lie to you,” she hisses.

  “You’ve done nothing but lie to us since we started talking.”

  Her eyes widen with panic. “I didn’t lie to you. Please believe me!” she mewls.

  “Except. Agent Munroe has been fact-checking you, your boyfriend, and you know what she found?”

  Tears pour out of her eyes, shaking her head.

  “There is no Officer James Luca in the Miami area, and your story of what happened on the night of Axe’s kidnapping has more holes than a sinking ship. Now, you stop with the goddamn lies because I’m losing my fucking patience here, Ms. Keen. I’m about ready to arrest you for kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder.”

  “Please, I didn’t do any of this.”

  “The name Darcy Hennigar mean anything to you, Ms. Keen?”

  She glances at me and Munroe frantically.

  “That was the name you gave, Axe.”

  “And on the night of his disappearance, you ghosted him. You expect us to believe this was all a coincidence?” Munroe says.

  “You work for the Harvesters as a catfish model.”

  “The Harvesters. I don’t work for those monsters; I am a model, nothing more. You’re right; I did fucking ghost him. I was drunk when I agreed to a date with him.”

  I shake my head and laugh. “You run from us when we identify ourselves as federal agents and then you lie about your boyfriend being abusive and here’s the cherry on top of the bullshit cake you’re creating another fake profile on the dating site used by your employers. Save it! You’re done, Ms. Keen. Lastly, we got one of the Harvesters in custody.”

  Her eyes widen. “What?” her voice brittle.

  “Yeah, that’s right. He sold your ass down the river. He said how you were his little worm on the hook to bring in the whales.”

  She lowers her head, staring at the floor. “You ever try to make it in the model business? Her eyes lock with mine. “It’s a tough industry to break into. Money is slim to nil. You’re forced to take less than appealing modeling jobs, adult model porn if you wanna get specific I got tricked into the casting couch a few times by men who lied about the modeling ads. Bend over, baby. Open your legs, baby. Where’s my cock, baby? That’s the extent of the job duties in the modeling industry, so don’t expect me to feel fucking sorry for the people I lured for the Harvesters. They paid me more money than the modeling industry ever did, and I didn’t have to suck or fuck a cock to do it, nor did I have to dance on a stage showing my tits and ass.

  Modeling industry is plagued with predators and opportunist who devote their lives to exploiting young starry-eyed girls and boys. These opportunist take advantage of young adults who have no clue how industry works and turns them out. Young girls often fall victim to the casting couch or they suffer sexual harassment or it’s encouraged to indulge in self-destructive behaviors such as drugs, binging and experimental diet pills. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel some pity for the kid.

  My eyes narrow. “I’m sorry you went through all that, but that still doesn’t give you a right to be a honey pot for the Harvesters and project your own suffering on to others.”

  Her nostrils flare. “I had a goal, and I tried to go for it. I won’t apologize for that, Agent Lobos. Radomir and the Harvesters was my lighted path to my dream. They were the only ones who treated me like a human being!”

  “Sometimes lighted paths are illuminated by hellfire.” Munroe comments.

  “Many people attempt to reach for their goals, many succeed and many don’t, but normal people don’t resort to the shit you did.”

  “I know there’s no Officer James Luca, so who’s that in those photographs behind you?”

  “My boyfriend, my actual boyfriend, and he’s not violent to me. He was a victim in the industry too.”

  “How is he a victim?” Munroe asks.

  “They tricked him into the casting couch like I was and told to take pills that would help him lose weight.”

  “The Harvester we got in custody said he’s your business partner in all this catfish stuff.”

  She sighs. “That’s correct. He lures the women on the straight site and the men on LBTQ sites. I lure the women and men on the straight and the LGBTQ sites too.”

  “We need to find him. Where is he?”

  She looks away from us, trying to give us the silent treatment.

  “Mrs. Keen, Radomir knows we have Doctor Merryweather in custody. He has killed the rest of the Harvesters, so I don’t think he’s going to stop there; I’m willing to bet his next target is you and your boyfriend and the admin behind the websites. You help us implicate Radomir in all of this, and I will talk to the DA on your behalf.”

  “And my Lenny?”

  “It all depends on how forthcoming Lenny is, but first, tell us where he lives.”

  “He lives here.”

  “Where is he now?”

  She swallows deeply, her lower lip quivers.

  “Where!”

  “He is at the beach, meeting a guy. Baiting him for the Harvesters.”

  “What beach!” I yell.

  “Cantina beach at the Ritz Carlton, hotel. In the bar area.”

  “Get us a warrant to turn this house upside down and put out a Bolo on Lenny.” I hand her the photograph and rush out of the house and jump into my dodge. I dial up Tanner.

  “Lobos, it’s been a while.”

  “Sir, I’m on my way to prevent one of the Catfishers from baiting another person.”

  “But all the Harvesters are dead that we know of.”

  “Lenny doesn’t know that. Plus, there could be another cell of them Radomir activated.”

  “Copy that, Lobos. Tell me where you’re headed, and I’ll dispatch some uniforms to the location.”

  “The Ritz-Carlton hotel on Cantina beach. Suspect is believed to be in the bar area.” I turn left and put the gas to the floor. “Radomir’s not killing the Harvesters. It’s Gabriella. She’s doing it to bleed his revenue before she moves in for the kill.”

  “Shit! Something told me that bitch was going to be a problem.”

  “One problem at a time. I’ll get back to you on Lenny, sir.” I hang up the phone and toss it in the passenger seat.

  My engine roars as I weave in and out of traffic, dodging cars and blasting through an intersection. The wail of my siren parts cars like the red sea, well, most of them. I yank the steering wheel and whip around an oblivious motorist. I have to get there l
ike yesterday, before Gabriella’s Sicario zeroes in on him or Lenny realizes there’s no one coming, and he just kills the victim. Whatever happens, no more people are getting taken and cut up today. I slam the gas to the floor, pushing the Charger Hellcat to one hundred and eight.

  Chapter 28

  I rush into the Hotel and unsnap my holster, ready to draw my weapon should the need arise. I step into the bar, and a hostess greets me. “Good afternoon, ma’am. Would you like a seat at a table or at our bar?”

  “No.” I show her a picture of Lenny and my badge. “Have you seen this man?”

  Her smile dissipates, and her face turns to a look of unease. “Uh, why yes, I have. He and another young gentleman seem to be really hitting it off. They’re heading down to the beach.” her voice tenses.

  Damn it.

  I rush out of the hotel and head down to the crowded beach. Shit, this crowd is going to make him difficult to spot. Roaming through the crowd, I focus only on couples, same-sex couples. After five minutes of searching, I spot both of them holding hands down at the water’s edge. Lenny whispers something in his ear, and the boy giggles.

  Probably trying to seduce him to go off somewhere more private.

  Out of my peripheral, beach patrol is closing in with their weapons drawn. I gesture with a hand signal marking the suspect to them.

  The officers acknowledge my hand signal.

  I approach him and draw my weapon, training my sights center mass. “Don’t move, Lenny. I’m Special Agent Lobos with the DEA. You’re under arrest for kidnapping and accessory to murder.” I glance at his date. “And Attempted kidnapping.”

  Lenny turns revealing black circles around his eyes his body. He left the model's life but took the drugs with him.

  “There must be some kind of mistake, Agent Lobos.”

  The uniforms move in on him and slam him to the ground, handcuffing him.

  “Spare me. I’ve heard the same shit from your girlfriend.”

  The officers put him on his feet. “What has she said to you? If she talked, Radomir will kill us both.”

  “Then I see no reason you won’t give us your full cooperation then.” The units put him in the car and take him to the FBI field office for interrogation.