Chapter 16 - The Road Where Dad Died
Detective Ortiz took me to Route 18 two days later.
Nina hated the idea.
So did Samuel.
I went anyway.
The curve where Dad’s car left the road had been widened years ago.
The old guardrail was gone.
But county storage still held photographs from the crash.
Ortiz spread them across the hood of her car.
One image showed scrape marks on Dad’s rear quarter panel.
Another showed silver paint transfer.
“His car was hit?”
“Possibly.”
“By what?”
“We pulled the archived lab notes. The paint matched a 2008 Vance fleet color.”
George Vance drove a silver company SUV in 2014.
My hands went cold.
Ortiz did not overpromise.
“It isn’t enough by itself.”
Then she showed me a recovered insurance photograph.
George’s SUV.
Taken four days after Dad died.
The rear bumper had been replaced.
I looked away toward the trees.
For eleven years, I had imagined rain.
A bad curve.
My father alone.
Now I saw another vehicle behind him.
A man protecting theft with steel and speed.
My phone rang.
Samuel.
“Madeline, where are you?”
“Route 18.”
“Leave.”
His voice was urgent.
“Why?”
“Caleb escaped transport.”
Ortiz heard him through the speaker.
She reached for her radio.
Samuel continued.
“He took a deputy’s weapon.”
A truck engine roared behind us.
Ortiz turned.
A black pickup came around the bend too fast.
“MOVE!”
She tackled me behind the cruiser as the truck clipped the open driver’s door.
Metal screamed.
The pickup stopped thirty yards ahead.
A man stepped out.
Caleb Mercer.
Gun in hand.
He looked at me across the road.
“Your father should have burned the ledger.”
Ortiz raised her weapon.
“Drop it!”
May you like
Caleb smiled.
Then pointed the gun at my stomach.
