Burial Mound

I t was one hell of a sight, even for a veteran cop; a sight that would haunt him for years to come. The call came at eleven o’clock on New Year’s Eve. Rob Curtis, the new Maury police chief, answered the call and raced down highway Twenty-Seven toward Claymont with his lights flashing. Claymont was known for its low crime rate. It was a quiet family community, nestled in the rolling hills of Lake County. Many residents worked in nearby Orlando and chose to make the drive everyday just to live in such a beautiful area.

It was not normal procedure for Rob to get a call to help outside his jurisdiction, but this night was different. When he arrived, the door to the crime scene was standing wide open with light streaming out and uniforms everywhere. Rob hurried into the house and was immediately taken back by what he saw. A middle-aged man in his underwear was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. His throat had been cut and there were multiple stab wounds.

“Over kill,” thought Rob.

Crime scene investigators were already hard at work, so he stepped back out of the way. The flash and click of a camera, the dusting for prints, the gathering of blood samples and the whirling movement of forensic professionals gave him a momentary feeling of inadequacy. A door opened abruptly down the hall, and Detective George Anderson came out. He was the one that called him, so Rob moved carefully, not to step on any blood spots, in that direction.

“He’s not the only victim,” Anderson said. “There’s other family members in the bedrooms.”

Rob stepped into the doorway and saw the body of a woman, possibly mid-fifties, hands tied behind her back, nightgown pulled up around her neck and a gunshot wound to the back of her head. He looked quizzically at Detective Anderson.

“Yep, she was raped.”

In another room, he saw a young man in his early twenties. He was kneeling with his head on the bed. He had been shot point blank in the left temple, execution style. The whole scene was gruesome. He had seen homicides when he was on the Jacksonville police force and a couple of times when he was an MP in the military, but not for some time, and never an entire family like this.

“There’s a girl. Her name is Kelley Sampson. She’s the eighteen-year old daughter. Her bed covers are messed up, but that doesn’t tell us much with teens these days. We’re looking for her right now. Don’t know if she was here when all this took place. That’s where I need your help, Rob.”

“Sure George, anything.”

“The Aunt lives in Maury. She doesn’t know yet. Go talk to her in person and relay our condolences. See what you can find out. Maybe she knows where the girl is? I don’t need to tell you how critical it is we find her.”

Rob headed back toward Maury, trying to get his thoughts together before making that dreaded house call. He heaved, thinking about the crime scene. Cautiously, maneuvering the police cruiser to the side of the road, he jumped out and upped his supper. He stood breathing in the familiar scents of the countryside. All his hopes of a peaceful New Year’s Eve had been dashed with that one phone call. It was too late to save her family, but maybe there was still a chance to save Kelley.

Chapter One

T he week after Christmas was balmy, but then a cold front descended on central Florida and the weather turned brisk. Elaina Curtis, wanted to stay in bed, but that was no longer an option for her. She had a bed and breakfast to run and a tea room to open for lunch. Christmas brought a full house. Every room was booked for three weeks solid and the tea room was packed with locals and tourists. Even her homemade natural soap sales were finally making a profit for her. People were dropping in for tea and buying her soaps and body creams on the way out the door.

She sat quietly at her desk in the library, soaking in a brief peaceful moment before the tea room opened at eleven thirty for lunch. A wave of auburn hair brushed against her rosy cheek and she pushed it back, as she gazed out the window. Thoughts went racing through her head, as she reminisced about other times she had looked out that window. The wind picked up and the trees bordering the stucco wall began to sway. Although she had only been in the mansion a year, her life had changed dramatically. For one thing, she was married now. She married Rob Curtis, the Maury police chief. Although his title sounded impressive, there were only two other people on the force, not including, Cindy Mallory, his office assistant. Crime in this sleepy little community was almost nonexistent until Elaina showed up and changed all that. The town still talked about all the excitement that happened after she inherited the mansion from her deceased uncle, the founder of the town, and started her own business there. It didn’t come easy for her. Other people wanted the mansion for their own gain and hated the fact she came to claim it.

She looked at the lawn and wondered when Tom Myers would get around to mowing again. He used to come every Monday, but then she noticed he would come a day later and another day later, until now he’s back to Mondays again and only mows every two weeks. Isn’t she paying him the same amount she had been paying him to mow for four times a month?

Just then, a flash of gray flew by the window, bringing her quickly back to the present. It was Chloe, her Irish wolfhound that she rescued from the animal shelter.

“Okay, I’m coming Chloe. It’s time for your midmorning snack.”

She and Rob had discussed getting a dog, especially after experiencing intruders at the mansion over the past year. “A dog might be good for security,” Rob had told her. “Start checking out the animal shelters in the area for a big one that we can save.” So, when Cindy called her and told her about an ad in a local newspaper, Elaina went to the shelter immediately. There she was, smaller than she had expected for a one-year old. The ad described her as a giant schnauzer-black lab mix. It wasn’t until she took her to the veterinarian that she discovered she was a full-blooded Irish wolfhound. She still had her baby teeth and couldn’t have been more than five months old. That was back in October, and she had doubled her size since then.

Chloe was waiting at the back door with a plant hanging out of her mouth when Elaina got there. The roots were still attached.

“Come in girl.”

Chloe ducked down on her forelegs, daring Elaina to take the leafy branch from her mouth.

“What’s in your mouth? Come here! Give it to me!”

Taking the cue for fun and games, Chloe dashed off, first running in a circle, then around the front of the house with Elaina trailing after her. A black Volvo came racing up the driveway, barely missing the dog, and a short, stalky man with a round, pinkish face jumped out of the car. His tight, gray suit gave him the appearance of a caterpillar breaking out of its cocoon.

“That g … damn dog of yours was digging up plants from my garden again. She’s run off with my prize Jacobinia. Get back here you damn son of a …”

“Mr. Lewis! You’re going to scare her. You’re only making it worse. If we stand still and ignore her, she’ll come to us.”

Ralph looked into Elaina’s glaring green eyes and toned down his approach.

“Well, I’m telling you, Elaina, that dog is a menace. You need to tie her up.”

“Lately, she’s been jumping the wall. I’m going to start discipline lessons this week,” she fibbed.

Elaina bent down and patted Chloe on the head. Slowly, she slipped the plant from between her slightly yielding teeth and handed it to Ralph.