Evans Creek Book 2: In Good Hands

Chapter 24

Rowdy smiled as he watched the dog carefully climb onto the little bed and curl up next to Brody. Making sure the baby gate was securely in place, in case Brody woke up in the night, he returned to his book and the library.

Madge called in with her weekly siting of one of America's Most Wanted. She said she saw that Philadelphia Killer at the park.

Rowdy turned off the scanner. It was a busy day with four calls in five hours. He glanced at the clock and smiled.

Somehow it felt a lot later.

The house phone rang.

There was only one, and it was downstairs. Glancing in his old room as he passed, he saw Brody and Win sleeping soundly. With a smile he hurried downstairs to catch the phone before it stopped ringing.

"Baker House."

"Is Suzie there?"

"Ger?"

"Yes, sorry. This is Ger. Can I talk to Suzie?"

"Sorry. She's not here. She has a shift at Dale's tonight. If you need to talk to her, you should try there."

"Oh...I thought maybe something came up at home, since she didn't come in."

"What?" Rowdy was sure he had misheard. "Ger, Suz left here about twenty minutes after she got your call. What do you mean she didn't come in?"

"I mean she didn't come in and she didn't call. I figured—anyway—we managed. I wanted to ask her if she'd come in early tomorrow so I called Dale's. She hasn't showed up there yet either."

"I have Brody but I'll leave here in a few minutes. As soon as you hang up with me, call the police and tell them what you told me."

"I will. But you'll probably run into her stranded on the road between Baker House and town. She'll be sitting half-frozen in that rotten car of hers with a dead cell phone."

"God, I hope you're right."

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Suz didn't wear a watch, but her phone was on the seat next to her. Reaching out she tapped the screen and the time appeared. With a frown she glanced at the speedometer. It was a cold wet day and the road was empty. Biting her lip, she decided to go just a little bit faster. She really needed to get to the café.

Flipping on the radio, she frowned. Today was one of the days when there was nothing but static on all four of the push buttons. She didn't want to fiddle with the dial so she turned it off.

Of course, as soon as she decided to go faster, she needed to brake for the turn at the bottom of the hill.

"What?" She frowned and pressed the brakes harder.

Her heart pounded as she realized the brakes weren't just going, they were gone. She couldn't stop, but maybe she could slow down enough to be able to make the turn. Then she could coast to a stop. The car jerked as she downshifted, but it was too little too late.

She couldn't make the turn.

With both hands on the wheel, she flexed her fingers and tightened her grip.

Change of plan.

The goal was simple. Miss the trees when she left the road and ruined some poor farmers field when her car plowed through it.

But it didn't quite work like that.

Suzie was keenly focused on keeping the car aimed at the narrow break in the tree line, which was approaching entirely too quickly, so she was completely unprepared when one of the tires hit loose gravel. Suddenly her car was drifting and she had just enough time to wonder how old the tree was before the side of her car slammed into it.