Deadly Evidence. Elizabeth Goddard

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       THREE

      Making their way to the falls, they trekked alongside the fast-moving river, Tori leading Ryan, who trailed a few paces back. The roar grew louder with their approach. The force of the falls up ahead compelled the river forward, causing it to be swift and dangerous. The memories of the moment Graveyard Falls pulled her down and over lashed at her insides.

      She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she could keep up the search for her kayak, and stopped to watch the river. While swirling in that vortex, she’d feared she would die.

      Had Sarah known she was going to die? What were her last thoughts? Tori hated to think of the terror her sister must have endured. Had Sarah also spoken someone’s name in those moments before her death? And if she had, whose name would she have said?

      A loved one’s?

      Or the killer’s?

      A shudder crawled over her.

      “You okay?” She was freed from her musings by the arrival of Ryan’s sturdy form next to her.

      “Sure.”

      Tori shook off the morbid thoughts and started hiking again. She turned her focus instead to this path next to the river and the unbidden memories floating to the surface. She and Ryan had hiked this trail on multiple occasions when they were seeing each other. Probably like the young couple who had pulled her from the river earlier in the day.

      Back then, it had been just the two of them. Hand in hand. Falling deeper in love with each passing day.

      And they’d shared more than one amazing kiss right here when no one else was around. Her chest grew tight.

      Was he thinking about those kisses, too? She hoped not, but when she glanced over her shoulder and caught his pensive gaze, she knew where his mind had gone—to them as a couple before she left.

      Pain cut through her at how different things were now. Instead of a couple in love enjoying a nature walk, they were now joined together only by the need to find a killer before he struck again. Was that why she’d said his name earlier? Because he was the investigator on Sarah’s case? Tori had thought she was going to die, and maybe she’d wanted to somehow let Ryan know that her death hadn’t been an accident. She’d thought of him—her last coherent thought before the greatest struggle of her life, and then, she’d huffed out his name when she came to.

      If she hadn’t said his name, they would probably be here together now anyway, since she would have gone to him to report the attack on her as soon as she left the hospital. That she’d said his name shouldn’t matter so much, but it bothered her and she wanted to know why. She would have to think about that later, though. Much more pressing matters needed her attention.

      She hiked forward, closing in on the falls.

      The flash of color on the other side of a rocky outcropping drew her attention. “There. I see a kayak.”

      “Fortunately it’s not across the river,” he said. “Are you sure it’s yours?”

      “It looks like mine, and if it’s not, then that could mean someone else went over the falls.” She didn’t think that was the case.

      Spotting the kayak exhilarated her. Now they were getting somewhere. Not that she feared he doubted her words—not anymore, at least—but the kayak with a bullet hole or two in it would go a long way to boost her theory, one she hoped Detective Bradley was also formulating.

      They made their way around boulders and roots, and then to the edge of the riverbank where the broken kayak had wedged between rocks. Tori gasped at the sight. She wrapped her arms around herself.

      That could have been her body. Broken and lifeless.

      Ryan’s frown deepened. He appeared shaken as he pressed his hand over his mouth then rubbed his chin.

      Then, seeming to pull himself together, he reached in the pocket of his jacket and tugged out a small camera. “Don’t worry. We’ll get Jerry, our tech, out here now that we know it’s part of a crime scene, but I want to take my own pictures just in case.”

      Ryan walked around the kayak and took photographs from various angles.

      She СКАЧАТЬ