16

Piper drafted a subpoena that night. She sat in her grandmother’s office with a beer next to the computer. When Lake Danes had quit her career as a pediatric nurse to spend more time with her granddaughter, she’d worked from home. The job wasn’t great, medical data entry, but the pay wasn’t bad, and a flexible schedule meant Lake could go to all of Piper’s school performances and softball games when she was growing up.

“What are you doing?” a voice suddenly interrupted Piper, causing her to jerk her head in surprise. The abrupt movement startled her grandmother as well.

“Oh my goodness,” Lake exclaimed, her hands flying to her mouth before they settled over her heart. “I’m terribly sorry, dear.”

“It’s okay,” she said, letting out a long breath. “I know it’s late.”

She sat down on the couch with a groan, her knees creaking. “You haven’t worked late in a long time.”

“Haven’t I? Guess I didn’t notice.”

“That’s when you know you’ve found something you really love. When you don’t keep track of the time.”

Piper printed off the subpoena. “I wouldn’t say I love this. I’ve just never seen anything like it. It’s so ... tragic.”

She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “The world’s always been a mess, dear. You’re not going to fix it. Just fix yourself.”

She sighed and leaned back in the chair. “Did you take your arthritis medication, Grandma?”

“It makes me nauseous.”

“You have to take it.”

She grinned. “Your mother never worried about me like this.”

Her mom coming up gave Piper a shock, like a cold shiver running through her. Lake’s eyes were already showing that she was somewhere else, lost in a memory. Piper could tell she had taken her pain medication.

“You remind me of your mother in a lot of ways, before she got into the drugs. You should have seen her, Piper. She was so full of wonder. She would run outside chasing butterflies until she couldn’t run anymore. The world held nothing but fun for her.” Her eyes glistened with tears now. “I don’t know what I did.”

Piper had seen this before. When her grandmother was having a particularly exhausting day, it was like her defenses came down. Walls crumbled, and the pain medication loosened her lips and brought up memories she kept locked away during the day.

“You didn’t do anything, Grandma.”

“I tell myself that, but who knows? No one in our family ever got involved with drugs. Your grandfather didn’t even take ibuprofen. I just don’t know how it happened.”

“You did everything you could,” Piper said.

Lake’s eyes were drifting closed.

Piper took the subpoena and put it carefully into a manila sheath and then put that into her satchel. Then she turned to Lake and said, “Let’s get you to bed, Grandma.”

When her grandmother was in bed, Piper went back to her office and googled information on the death of Ava Mitchell. Something she had already done but had only given the information a cursory glance because she hadn’t decided whether it had any relation to Sophie and her family.

The young woman was twenty-one and in college. Ava had long brunette hair and a pretty smile that lit up her face. One photo showed her out on a track in high school, and she looked like Sophie.

The killer had murdered her younger brother, Adam, and his girlfriend, Sarah, at the family’s cabin, but Ava got to the woods and hid at a campsite of some German tourists who had driven to a lookout spot to see the glimmering lights of the city from a higher vantage point. Her body was found torn apart in one of the tents. Piper saw one of the photographs: blood coated the interior and ran down the sides, even dribbling out to the exterior.

There were mentions of the murders on local news sites, one blog written by a family member in remembrance, and a few articles. The governor had even mentioned it as the type of tragedy his new drug initiative was meant to prevent.

One particularly salacious true crime website had autopsy photos. Piper quickly skipped those and kept reading.

The lead detective on the case, Lazarus Holloway, had written extensively on the possible implication of the tattoo and its meaning. His research filled the report to the point that the narrative became a lesson in modern cannibalism fetishes. She pictured Lazarus’s lieutenant reading this; he must’ve thought Lazarus had lost his mind.

Before she turned off the computer, she pulled up all the crime scene photos of the Grace family and stared at them. The images were revolting, but she couldn’t look away from the chaos in the hallway—the victims’ bloody, ragged wounds like open sores on their flesh.

Sophie had jumped out the window and saved her life, but what would have happened if she hadn’t? Would she have a similar number of injuries, or would it have been much worse, like Ava Mitchell?

Piper’s eyes grew heavy with impending sleep. She shut down the computer, the last image being Ava Mitchell’s blank gaze.

The next morning, Piper wore a gray suit and checked on her grandmother. She was out gardening, and the sunlight was warm and the sky clear. Lake was pulling weeds in shorts and a large brimmed hat with a flower-print blouse. Dirt caked onto her work gloves, and her face was pale and sweating from the heat.

“Need help?” Piper said.

“In your suit?”

“I can change.”

“No, it’s fine, sweetie. Thank you. I enjoy doing it myself.” She took off her hat and wiped the sweat on her brow with the back of her arm. “Where you off to?”

“Seeing a judge.”

A smile came to her lips. “I love when you say things like that. You know how proud of you I am, don’t you?”

A pinch of embarrassment went through her. “Thanks, Grandma.” She kissed her grandmother’s cheek and told her she didn’t know if she would be back in time for dinner.

The courthouse was busy today, and Piper had to wait in line at the metal detectors to get in. She went to Judge Dawson’s courtroom and saw her on the bench, speaking softly to a young boy in an orange jumpsuit.

The judge asked the parents if there was anything they’d like her to know, and the father rose, his cheeks red.

“I’m sure you hear this a lot, Judge,” he said, “but I just wanna say he’s not a bad kid. He’s done some bad things, but he’s a good kid. I’m hoping this whole thing’ll get his head straight. But I’m gonna watch him as best as I can. Anyway, that’s all I got to say.”

“Thank you,” Judge Dawson said passively. She looked to the young boy. “Dustin, you are eleven years old and already have a criminal history that I see in boys much older than you. I know it’s minor things like shoplifting, but minor things turn into big things quickly without you realizing it. I haven’t sent you to juvenile detention because I think it would be counterproductive at this point, but do you want to be locked up?”

The boy said nothing until his guardian said, “You can answer.”

“No,” he said. “I wanna go home.”

She nodded. “I’m going to give you that chance. But make sure you stay out of trouble.”

“Okay,” he said quietly.

“The respondent will meet with P&P upon release and will be monitored for the next year. We will hold a review hearing three months hence. Court is adjourned for a brief recess.”

“All rise,” the bailiff bellowed.

Everyone in the courtroom rose as Judge Dawson went to the back entrance. She glanced at Piper and motioned with her head to follow.

Piper rose and went out back, stealing a quick glance at the bailiff to make sure he wasn’t about to tackle her for getting too close to the judge.

Judge Dawson went into her chambers and said, “Shut the door,” as she took off her robe, revealing a black suit, and hung the robe on a coatrack that looked like the branch of a white aspen tree.

Piper shut the door and sat down. Judge Dawson took a moment, one leg crossed over another, and she stared out the window for a bit. Piper took the chance to take the subpoena out of her satchel and placed it on the desk. The judge turned casually and looked at it. She picked it up and read it in what seemed like a few seconds. Piper thought there was no way she read it that fast, but then the judge asked, “There’s a new case out of the Tenth Circuit, Harvey v. Rosenblum , dealing with internet service providers and subpoenas. Have you looked at it?”

Piper nodded. The primary issues with subpoenas to internet service providers was that the appellate courts found they were too broad, giving the government too much power to track citizens. Piper had made absolutely certain that the subpoena in this case wouldn’t be overturned on appeal by keeping her request limited and specific.

“Yes, Judge. It can be distinguished. It was dealing with subpoenas in civil matters, and that ISPs are entitled to an expedited hearing if they object to the subpoena on grounds that it’s overbroad. The Court didn’t extend that protection to criminal subpoenas. Anyway, it’s moot because I made absolutely certain that the subpoena wasn’t overbroad.”

The judge nodded, and Piper knew she just wanted to see if she had actually read the case.

“Cannibalism ... interesting topic.”

“You don’t seem surprised, Judge.”

“Should I be?”

“I don’t know.”

She gave a mysterious smirk. “What do you think of Detective Holloway?”

“He’s ... very passionate about what he does.”

“He is that.” The judge kept her gaze on her, and it made her feel uncomfortable, but Piper didn’t fidget or squirm in her seat.

“How do you feel when you think about this? About a man seeing other people as food?”

“I don’t know. I don’t feel anything. Revulsion maybe.”

“It’s our darkest taboo. Academics avoid even researching it.”

Piper hesitated. “You could have told me.”

“Told you what?” she said, genuinely curious.

“That this case involved suspected cannibalism. You selected Lazarus for this because of Ava Mitchell. You knew where it was going, Judge.”

“Yes, I did know. Does that bother you that I kept it from you?”

“No. It’s just you selected him purposely for this grant. I’m guessing you selected me purposely, too. I just would’ve liked to have known why.”

“You’re wondering what I saw in you that would make you a good candidate for a case like this?”

“Yes.”

She thought for a moment. “The Calhoun case we spoke of before, it was quite brutal. I saw you on an interview in the news. They tried to elicit salacious details and you kept taking it back to the child, what it meant for her and how to help her. I was impressed. Not many guardians allow themselves to empathize with their wards.”

“It’s a necessity.”

The judge watched her a moment and then took a gold pen and signed the subpoena. Piper picked it up, thanked her, and rose. She was nearly to the door when she heard the judge say, “I did choose you for a reason. Show me that I was right in doing so.”