Head Full of Lies (Harlan Winter) by Jordan Farmer

Author:Jordan Farmer [Farmer, Jordan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2024-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

HARLAN WINTER

We found Eliza’s bike in the cemetery after following the tracking app on Barney’s phone. Apparently the device periodically sent updates of her location, and the last report came from somewhere within the Memorial Gardens Cemetery. I drove while Barney sat hunched over, scrutinizing the screen and whispering something akin to prayer. The car gate was closed at the entrance, so we left the vehicle and walked out among the tombstones. Barney sloshed through the mud with the phone held high like a conduit to God as he turned about in the maze of monuments, hoping for an updated message to narrow our search.

I saw the bike first. An old Schwinn outfitted with high, curved handlebars and a wide seat that looked custom made for a rider suffering from hemorrhoids. You’d never guess the antiquated bike belonged to a young girl. Barney knelt beside it, wrapped his hands around the fenders, and rested his head on the seat. I surveyed our surroundings. No other living souls among the graves. The wet grass underfoot threatened to swallow my shoes, and the slope down toward the pond became more slurry than sod. Looking at the placid waters, a bad feeling hit me.

“Anything out of the ordinary about that bike?” I asked.

“She had a little wicker basket on the handlebars. It’s gone.”

“I think I know what happened to the phone.”

Barney rested his elbows on the handlebars. Watching the tires sink in the soft mud, I didn’t think the bike would hold his weight. Hard rain had tilled the ground until the entire acreage of earth threatened to collapse into one communal grave.

“What about the phone?”

“Is that tracker waterproof?” I asked, nodding at the pond.

The exertion of hiking across the cemetery had turned Barney’s neck pink under the collar of his polo. Now, with the color drained from his face, he looked as pale as the nearest cross.

“Jesus,” he finally uttered. The choice surprised me. I hadn’t expected a witch to take the Lord’s name in vain.

“I think you’d better tell me about this boy she went out with,” I said. “Know much about him?”

“Not really. She’d been seeing somebody from summer school but told me things ended.”

Even childless, I couldn’t understand a father who didn’t know more about his daughter’s boyfriends. If she’d been mine, I’d have brought the young gentleman into the house and made sure he understood the proper etiquette for courting my daughter. Barney’s face told me he regretted not doing that exact thing.

I turned on the flashlight he’d given me and traced it along the path winding around the pond. It didn’t take long to find the first discarded article of clothing. A single pair of socks still wound together in a tight ball. Tiny and blue, with little purple polka dots. I thought about slipping them into my pocket and saving Barney the added panic, but something stopped me. Would they still be mated this way if she’d pulled them off? This wasn’t someone undressing. I sniffed them and smelled fabric softener.

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