Swept Aside (2010) by Sala Sharon

Author:Sala, Sharon [Sharon, Sala,]
Format: epub
Publisher: Mira
Published: 2011-01-14T19:08:43.265000+00:00

"I will, when he comes back," Edwards muttered. "In the meantime, I feel like shopping."

Agent Lord grinned at Agent Smith, and then they both stared as Edwards actually climbed up in the van.

"Are you serious?" Lord asked.

Edwards grabbed the orange sleeve sticking out of the clothing pile and pulled.

"Bingo," he said softly, then held it up so the others could see. "Look what we have here."

Within the hour, Edwards, Lord and Smith had found three other jumpsuits just like the first. And that was when they knew they were looking for live men, not gator-ravaged bodies.

"You gonna tell Porter?" Smith asked.

Edwards frowned. "They had their shot at searching, and this is our clue to follow. If we find out anything definitive, I might rethink it."

The agents bagged the jumpsuits as evidence, then headed for their SUV's. Now they knew the escapees were wearing regular clothes, the next thing the men would have needed were wheels. The agents spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon running down reports of missing cars. Dozens upon dozens of cars had disappeared during the storm and were slowly turning up all over the area. They needed to cross-check the records to see if any were still unaccounted for.

By the time they stopped to eat some lunch, they'd managed to clear all the reported cars except for two.

They grabbed some sub sandwiches from Pinky's Get and Go, while Edwards gassed up their two vehicles. Assuming the escapees had found something to drive, it was time to branch out. They split up into threes, then began checking all the small gas stations and houses in the surrounding area, checking to see if anyone had seen strangers on foot, or driving one of the two cars that were still missing.

Everyone they talked to made a point of telling them that they'd already spoken to Chief Porter or one of his men, but the agents persevered.

It was after three-thirty when Agents Edwards, Lord and Smith came upon a bridge spanning a wide, deep creek. As they started to pass, Lord suddenly yelled, "Stop! Big white Lincoln down in that creek! Wasn't one of those unaccounted for cars a Lincoln?"

Edwards, who was driving, put the car into Reverse and backed up. It wasn't until they got out that they began to realize the car had not been dumped in the creek by a tornado. There was a hole in a four-wire fence, and some small bushes had been broken off at ground level in a direct line with the car's trajectory. Which meant that someone had driven it--or pushed it--into the creek.

"Five days is a long time in this heat. I hope to God no one's in it," Smith muttered, as Edwards climbed down the steep slope and waded into the water.

Moments later, Edwards called back, "It's empty. Run the plates."

Smith ran back to their SUV and grabbed the list they'd been working.

"It was reported missing from Bordelaise!" he yelled.

"It was probably dumped by the storm," Lord said.

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