Chapter 2
Two days later…
Kyle had a special surprise for Joanna, and it needed to take place in the exact spot where they had met three years earlier.
It was one in the morning, and Joanna’s twenty-fifth birthday celebration had lingered late into the night. A fancy dinner, a bottle of wine, and a drive to the lakefront had brought them to that special Lake Michigan beach.
Joanna smiled. “Kyle, what a surprise. This is the beach we met at.”
“It sure is, and we haven’t been back since.
I figured it was time. Even though it’s dark and you can’t see much, the moon is bright, and the water is calm.
How about a walk along the shoreline? We can reminisce about how I couldn’t take my eyes off you while you were playing volleyball that day. I had to meet you.”
Kyle killed the engine, then they started down the wooden steps along the parking lot that led to the beach.
Joanna held Kyle’s hand tightly. “It’s kind of scary in the dark. Not at all like the daytime, when there’s hundreds of sunbathers, swimmers, and volleyball players at every beach along the lake.”
“Come on. I’d never let anything happen to you, plus I have my headlamp.” Kyle pulled it from his pocket and put it on.
They cautiously walked down the hill until they reached the sand.
Joanna paused. “Wow, the moon really glows off the water. It makes everything sparkle.”
“It’s pretty nice, right? Let’s walk for a bit.
I want to find the area where I first saw you.
I remember there being a pile of driftwood that people used as benches.
Plus, with the storm last night, who knows what might have washed ashore.
We might find more driftwood. We’ll enjoy the peace and quiet.
Nothing but you, me, the waves, and a few night birds. ”
They walked for another few minutes, then Kyle’s headlamp caught the shape of something on the sand.
“Here we are. This is the place where all of the driftwood was. I’m sure of it.”
As they got closer to the object Kyle thought was a long piece of driftwood at the water’s edge, his headlamp illuminated it. “Wait! What the hell is that?”
“Oh my God, Kyle, it’s a human leg.”
Kyle’s hands shook as he fumbled for his phone. After dropping it once in the sand, he made that all-important call.
“911, what is the nature of your emergency?”
The panicked screaming in the background reverberated through the phone line.
“Joanna! Quiet down. I have to explain this to the dispatch operator. Ma’am, there’s a human leg on the beach. My girlfriend and I were walking and came across it. I think it’s a woman’s leg. What should we do?”
“Have you touched it, sir?”
“Hell no! I think I’m going to be sick. Please send the police right away. We’re on the beach just north of Atwater Park.”
“Your name, sir?”
The call abruptly ended.
Kyle looked at his phone’s screen. “Damn it, the call dropped off.”
Scared to death, Joanna ran for the steps that ended at the top of the hill near the pavilion. That area was better lit. “We need to get out of here, Kyle! There could be a killer on the loose.”
“We have to wait for the cops, and it isn’t like this just happened. That leg washed up with the waves. Take my hand, calm down, and I’ll walk up with you.”
Inching along carefully with his headlamp to guide them, Kyle led the way up the fifty or more steps until they reached the safety of the park and the streetlights.
The moon was full, and the temperature was a balmy seventy degrees, but what they had come across wasn’t what Kyle had in mind when he’d planned that night at the beach.
He put his arm around the shaking Joanna as they sat on a park bench and stared down the street, waiting for the police to arrive.
Seconds later, sirens wailed, and flashing red and blue lights approached.
Kyle stood. “The cops are here. We have to show them where it’s at.”
“I’m not going back down there, Kyle.”
“Okay, then you’ll have to wait in the car, but make sure you lock the doors.”
With fear overtaking her, Joanna agreed to go back to the beach. They would have the police at their side, so it would be safer than sitting in the car alone.
Kyle led the two officers down the steps then to the left once they reached the beach. Joanna had a tight grip on Kyle’s back pocket as they walked.
“It’s about fifty yards ahead at the water’s edge.”
“What were you two doing down here at this time of night?” Officer Lewis checked his watch. “It’s after one in the morning.”
“Um.” Kyle gave Joanna a glance. “Today, or yesterday, now, considering the time, was her twenty-fifth birthday, and we went out. We ended up here because this is where we met three years ago.”
“Uh-huh.”
Kyle pointed as they walked. “The leg is right there. I swear we thought it was a piece of driftwood.”
“Okay, you two hang back while we take a look.”
The officers continued on. Their radios squawked with back-and-forth conversation, breaking the peaceful silence. Waves lapping against the shore had been the only sound a half hour earlier.
Soon, the officers returned to Kyle’s side. “Two detectives are on their way. We have to consider the beach a crime scene, to a degree. Maybe something else washed up on the beach.” The officer raised an eyebrow. “Did you see anything else or touch the leg?”
Kyle shook his head. “God, no.”
“All right. For now, we’re going to walk you both back to the street, where you’ll sit in our squad cars until we have time to question you further,” Reynolds said.
“But Kyle told you—”
“Miss?”
“Harris, Joanna Harris.”
“Okay, Miss Harris. This is how law enforcement works. There’s a leg of a woman just up the beach from us.
You two are the only people we know of who saw it here since you’re the only 911 call that came in.
We don’t have a way to identify her just yet, but we do have more questions for each of you after the detectives take over the scene. Are you understanding me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s great, now let’s head up to the street.”
Officer Lewis and Reynolds escorted Joanna and Kyle to their vehicles. Each was placed in the back seat of a separate squad car.
“Wait a minute,” Joanna said as Reynolds began to close the back door. “Why can’t Kyle and I sit together?”
“That’s not how we operate, Miss Harris. For now, hang tight. The detectives are on their way. We’ll be leaving for the police department soon.” With that, he closed the door and walked away.
One thirty came and went. At a quarter till two, a dark sedan rolled into the parking lot and stopped.
The detectives, Carl Samuels and Nick Unger, headed toward the patrol officers then exchanged handshakes.
“Fill us in,” Carl said. “And where are the people who called 911?”
“There’s one in the back seat of each car.” Lewis chuckled. “The young lady wasn’t too happy about that.”
“We’ll talk to them later. Okay, go ahead.”
Officer Reynolds began. “So, two individuals, a boyfriend and girlfriend from what we made of it, decided to take a walk on the beach after celebrating the young lady’s birthday.
Apparently, this is where they met three years ago.
They walked up on the remains thinking it was a piece of driftwood and instead found a human leg. ”
Unger eyed the parking lot and street. “Nobody else around?”
Reynolds shrugged. “According to them, no. They didn’t notice anyone in the park or on the beach. They said they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary until they—”
“Saw the leg?”
“Yep, that sums it up.”
Unger pointed his chin toward the steps. “All right. Lead the way.”
Lewis pushed off his squad car. “It’s down the steps to the beach and then another fifty yards to the left, near the water’s edge.”
It took seven minutes to reach the leg. Gloved, the detectives had to move it away from the water so it wouldn’t wash back out and disappear.
Detective Samuels shined his oversized flashlight at it as they approached the leg. “The leg isn’t smooth at the top.”
Lewis frowned. “Uh-huh. It looks like fish were nibbling on the end.”
“And no blood anywhere?” Unger said.
“It was in the water. Why would there be blood?”
Unger shrugged. “One would think the tissue, muscle, or whatever you call what’s left of the limb would have a tint of red to it. Guess I don’t know that for sure since I’ve never dealt with this type of situation.”
“So, is this a homicide case?” Reynolds asked.
Unger rubbed his forehead. “That’s a damn good question. I know one thing, though.”
Samuels cocked his head. “What’s that?”
“We can’t expect the medical examiner to come take a look since we don’t have a complete body here.”
Unger tipped his head toward the steps. “I’ll get a large evidence bag from my trunk. We’ll drop off the leg at the medical examiner’s office on our way back to the precinct.”
With the scene in the hands of the detectives, Lewis and Reynolds headed to the police station with Kyle and Joanna in tow.