The Harvest (Book 1) by Anne Ferretti Read Free Book Online

perfection.
    There was only one person who had ever guessed his secret. Emma. She knew him better than he knew himself, yet she liked him anyway. Hell, she liked him more for his chicken shit ways than all the touchdown passes, awards and Championship Bowls put together. He wondered again if it was possible she was ok.
    He took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts, but stopped short of pressing the call button. Maybe he would send a text. But what would he type? My dad’s been murdered, my mom’s missing and all that’s left of the neighbor is her right arm. Anything strange happenin’ on the West Coast?  He pressed cancel and shoved his phone back in his pocket.
    Maybe a deranged killer, on the loose in Baton Rouge, was responsible for what happened. He could almost make himself believe this, except for two facts, he couldn’t get through to the cops and no one else had answered his calls. Not his teammates, not Coach Cale and he’d bet the farm that if Kirsten really was his girlfriend she wouldn’t have answered either. But maybe Emma would. He’d try her when he got back to his house.
    Luke forced himself up from Mrs. Bowers’ couch. There wasn’t a soul around when he stepped out on her front porch. There was snow and plenty of it. There was the cussed biting wind. And there were those three suns just above the horizon, still visible despite the gray skies. Luke stared at the trio and wondered what it was his dad thought when he saw them. He looked over at his house, half expecting his mom to come running out with a laundry basket in her arms. The realization that he she might be dead hit hard, pent up tears of fear and frustration slid down his face. Through the snow, thirty or so yards down the street, an object came crashing down to the ground.  And then another.

4 MADISON
    Tampa Bay, Florida
    6:35 am
    Lieutenant Madison Capra hurried up the steps of the Tampa Bay police department. A place she’d called her home away from home for the past seven years. Being the youngest and only female lieutenant in her unit didn’t faze her. She entered the department with the confidence of a veteran.
    Madison didn’t take flack from the guys, and that included the old timers. Her slender five foot seven frame gave the impression she might be frail or weak, but the multitude of awards decorating her office wall said otherwise. A rookie only made the mistake once of underestimating the dark haired, hazel eyed lieutenant.
    Madison strolled into the station and was startled to see a long line of people waiting to speak to Sgt. Allen, the current desk sergeant on duty. Sgt. Allen didn’t notice Madison breeze by; her focus being on the person in front of her, fingers flying across the keys of her laptop, taking down whatever tale was being told. Madison continued down a hallway and disappeared behind a door that had her name plate stuck to the front.
    Inside her office everything had its place, organized to a state of perfection that any Type A personality would appreciate and envy. One glance at her wall of fame would erase the most stubborn of doubts that she was capable of doing her job. It was covered from corner to corner with a multitude of awards that included a Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, and even a golden key to the city for extreme acts of valor presented to her by the mayor himself.
    Madison sat at her desk, flipped through a file and took notes.  Her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, crinkled her nose and went back to writing. A few minutes went by, and her phone rang again. She let out an irritated sigh, and snatched the receiver to her ear.
    “What?” She ground her teeth.
    “Hello to you to.” A female’s indignant voice replied. “Come on Madison. Can’t we talk about this?” The voice pleaded from the other end.
    “There’s nothing to discuss Syd. I hope you and Tom are very happy together. I hope you have two point five wonderful children, an overpriced home in the