Last Winter's Taken by MJ LaBeff

Author:MJ LaBeff [LaBeff, MJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller Suspense
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
Published: 2018-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

December 22, 2011

10:30 a.m.

BABY DANBY 24 HOURS GONE

Rachel shimmied down the steep, snow covered ravine. Hand over hand she descended into the winter abyss tethered by only a rope hooked over the road’s ditch. She glanced above her. Nick stood on the precipice braced to spring into action should she lose her footing.

A crime scene tech had discovered the car’s fuse for emergency roadside assistance had been tampered with, turning the tragic accident caused by hazardous road conditions to a potential homicide.

The unidentified female victim crushed by crumbled metal suffered severe blood loss and the force of the airbag imploding had lodged shrapnel in her neck. Even so, the initial impact of the accident hadn’t killed her. According to the tech, she had managed to maneuver toward her cell phone and dial 9-1-1. Her mumbled last words were indecipherable. She hadn’t been able to give her location. Fortunately, the system had been able to track the call.

Rachel didn’t dare look down no matter how much she wanted to know if she were closer to the bottom. Her eyes held steady to Nick’s.

“Only a couple more feet to go,” he said.

Finally, her foot hit the ground. With her feet firmly planted into the snow, she released herself from the harness and trudged over to the mangled car. The vehicle had landed on the passenger side but the tires wedged into the snow bank had tilted it about forty-five degrees. She paused a foot from the vehicle and glanced up.

Broken branches, scuffed path from where the car had careened over the edge showed its clear route to destruction. The snow made it difficult for deputies to determine whether another car or road conditions had caused the crash. Burnt rubber left on the road from screeching tires trying to stop and avoid a collision weren’t possible to decipher since the pavement was covered in layers of snow and ice.

She looked at the car and slowly walked around the mangled wreckage. It must have rolled over three or four times before landing here. The windshield was a mosaic of crushed glass. The driver’s side and passenger windows had splintered into thousands of pieces too.

At five seven she couldn’t quite get a good view into the car from the driver’s side window. She walked to the other side then knelt down and peered through a gaping hole of broken glass. The victim’s slack body hung strangely toward the passenger seat. Arm extended in the direction of the cell phone. Rachel squatted closer to the ground determined to get a view of the female’s swollen face. Dark black hair matted with blood stuck to her bloodied, lacerated cheek. She leaned in closer. Her eyes zoomed into the nameless face.

Shock pummeled her back and onto her ass. Wet snow seeped through her pants. She scrambled to her feet and looked through the shattered glass again. She had to be certain before making a call.

The dead woman’s blood shot eyes stared back.

Rachel stood from her crouched position and blew out her breath.

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