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

suburbs with a white picket fence and a dog named Rufus that humps everything in sight.”
    “Does that mean you’ll be my maid of honor?” She begged.
    “No. That doesn’t mean I’ll be your maid of honor.” She leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling.  She had this conversation more times than she wanted or needed.
    “Maddie please.”
    “Burry it Sydney. I’m not going to be in or at your wedding. End of story. Whatever! I gotta go.” She hung up the phone, silencing her sister’s whining voice. “And I hope you both get obesely fat. Add that to my list of well wishes.”
    Madison stared at the phone. She knew at that very moment Sydney was crying to their mom about how selfish Madison was, how cruel and unreasonable she was acting. She knew in a matter of minutes she’d receive a second phone call and have a similar unpleasant conversation with her mother.
    A loud crash outside her office was a welcomed distraction. Madison would rather have teeth pulled than deal with her unpleasant family situation. Her desk phone rang. She ignored it to go investigate the noise.
    She walked down the hall, out into the lobby and froze.  The place was packed full of people. Some sat on the few available plastic chairs, but most were leaning against the wall. All waited their turn to speak to the desk sergeant. Madison waded through the crowd to reach the front desk.
    “Hey lieutenant.” Sgt. Allen glanced up long enough to acknowledge Madison, her expression haggard.
    “Sgt. Allen.” Madison looked around the crowded room. “What’s goin’ on? And why are you still on duty?”
    “Missing persons. Hundreds of them.” She typed information into a laptop.  “And I’m still here because Sgt. Conrad didn’t show this morning.”
    “What do you mean hundreds of them?” Madison took a peek over the sergeant’s shoulder at the computer screen.
    “Just that. They’re all reporting missing family members, missing friends. Everyone’s story is the same. One minute the person’s there, the next gone. Vanished into thin air.” She waved for the next person to come forward. A white haired elderly woman stepped up to the desk.
    “Yes ma’am can I help you?” Sgt. Allen put on a practiced smile.
    The woman wrung her hands. “My grandson, Kevin, he’s disappeared or...or I was taking him to school and... He was in the back seat. I know he was there when I left the house.” She covered her mouth for a minute, her eyes tearing. “I’m not so old I would forget him. I just wouldn’t do that.”
    Madison came around the desk, took the woman’s hand. “It’s ok ma’am. Just tell us exactly what happened.”
    She turned to Madison. “Well, you see officer, that’s the thing. I don’t know what happened. Like I said, he was there in the back seat when I left. I remember snapping his seat belt on. I wiped jelly off his chin.” She pulled out a napkin smeared with grape jelly, showed it to Madison. “But when we arrived at the school he was gone. His, his seatbelt was still buckled.”
    “I...we’ll find your grandson ma’am. Sergeant Allen will take down all your information and we’ll send someone out as soon as we can. I promise.” If Madison doubted her ability to keep this promise, she concealed it well. The elderly woman gave her a hopeful smile and, to Madison’s relief, turned back to Sergeant Allen.
    Madison left the woman and the room full of distraught people behind in search of Chief Ruiz, who she hoped would have some answers. Everyone she passed wore expressions of dismay, or wonder, or just plain what the heck was going on. A SWAT team rushed by. Their heavy protective gear and assault rifles an indication that they were headed into something major.
    “Lieutenant Capra.” A commanding male voice called from behind her.
    She spun around. “Chief. I was just looking for you.”
    Chief Ruiz waved for her to come into his office.  She followed him inside, closing the door