My phone rang as I was cleaning up and when I saw it was Ryder, I answered right away.
“Hey man,” I answered.
“Blade, how’s it going?” he asked. “You at your sister’s place?”
“Sure am,” I said. “Been tinkering around with my old bike and I got it running.”
“Right on,” he answered. “Listen, I’m calling to fill you in on what we’ve found out since we saw you earlier. Riot talked to the girl at Cherry’s salon and got some names and information.”
“Shoot.”
“Okay, so the two girls who were killed were both killed right after they graduated from high school. Each one of them within a week of the ceremony. Both from prominent families.”
“You got names?”
“Yep. The first girl was Lillian Beddingham. She was the great-granddaughter of —.”
“—Anson Charles Beddingham, the Third.”
“That’s right. Know him?”
“I know of him,” I said. “Everyone in town knows who that asshole is. I’m surprised he’s still alive, actually.”
“Yeah, he’s in his nineties. Lillian was killed on her birthday, two years ago in June. No arrests. No suspects. Barely an investigation, which seems odd if she came from such a prominent family.”
“It does,” I agreed.
“The second girl’s name is Josephine Carlisle. She was killed the summer after she graduated, also on her birthday, last summer. Both girls had just turned eighteen. Josephine’s parents are both real estate agents in town and well-known for their fundraising efforts for various children’s charities. They’ve only been in Savannah for about twenty years.”
“I don’t know them,” I replied.
“So, Riot spoke with Trudy, Cherry’s friend. Trudy said the townsfolk are under the impression that the murders are going to keep happening every year now. This would be the third year and that’s why everyone is on edge, keeping their teenage daughters close. It’s all speculation, of course. Trudy was friends with Josephine. Before she died, Trudy said Josephine was convinced something was wrong. She felt like she was being followed. She was sure someone was going through her possessions, in both her room and her car. When she told her parents about it, they dismissed her concerns. Trudy said once Josephine was found dead, her parents didn’t seem to be too upset, especially her father.”
“Wow,” I said. “Where were the bodies found?”
“Both were dumped at the same place. Bonaventure Cemetery,” he replied.
“Jesus,” I muttered.
“Know the place?”
“Very well,” I said, pushing away the memories of all those hours walking along the graves with Rose.
Bonaventure is much more than a cemetery, it’s an almost two-hundred acre adventure. One of the biggest tourist attractions in Savannah, it’s the burial sight of a few famous people and the monuments that honor them — everything from statues to gardens to ancient trees — are sprinkled all throughout the many meandering pathways throughout the place.
You never know what you’ll see around any corner, and the lush landscaping — with its ancient live oaks stretching its twisted branches over the ground, the long, fuzzy, silvery, trailing moss draping every branch and waving in the breeze — make it feel like the earth itself is dancing around you, reminding you of just how very much alive you still are, compared to those souls now buried in the ground around you.
“Grace and I are going to take a trip there to check it out today, just to see what we’re dealing with.”
“It’s a beautiful place. I hate thinking some asshole dumped some girl’s bodies there. Do you know specifically where in the cemetery it was?”
“At the gravesite of someone named Little Gracie.”
“Fuck,” I shook my head, anger rising in my chest. “Little Gracie was a six year-old that died of pneumonia and her parents had a monument made to honor her. It’s a beautiful statue, made to her likeness. There’s an iron fence around her grave, but it's one of the more popular monuments in the park.”
“The bodies were both placed inside the fence and displayed in some elaborate manor, but the details are sketchy and haven’t been officially released.”
“That’s a lot of trouble to go through,” I said.
“Someone’s trying to make a point,” Ryder said.
“And we have to figure out what that is,” I said.
“Exactly,” he agreed.
“Any change in Cherry’s condition?”
“Unfortunately not,” he said, his voice lowering. It was obvious he cared a great deal about this woman. I was looking forward to meeting her. The Gods talked about her like she was a legend. “Riot’s going to keep digging and Grace and I are going to head out in a bit. Let me know if you find out anything I need to know.”
“I’m going out tonight to talk to people. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thanks, Blade,” he said, hanging up the phone.
I shoved my phone in my pocket, along with the keys to my bike, and headed back into the house. Sera was cleaning up from dinner and I joined her in the kitchen.
“Where’s Snake?”
She rolled her eyes. “I wish you wouldn’t encourage that name.”
“Why?”
“Because I want him to be able to get a job someday. Changing your name to ‘Snake’ is almost as bad as getting a tattoo on your face.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “No, it isn’t. It’s probably just a phase. He’ll grow out of it. Let him have his fun. He’s just a kid, Sis.”
“Yeah, well, so were you when everyone started calling you ‘Blade’ and you still go by that.”
“That may be true, but I’m doing alright for myself.”
“I’d say so, considering that car.”
“It’s a rental,” I shrugged. “And I hate it.”
“I heard your bike start up out there,” she said.
“Yeah, gonna head out on it in a while,” I said.
“Well, a lot has changed in Savannah since you were here, so be prepared for that.”
“Like what?”
“Well, growth, mainly. The population is soaring, people moving here all the time. Foodies everywhere. Opened up all those trendy little vegan restaurants, like anyone in all of Georgia is gonna eat that crap.”
“It’s not so bad,” I shrugged.
She raised a brow and burst out laughing.
“Oh, please, when’s
