Page 84 of All Wrong
Nick shot out of the Hummer like a bullet and ran to the SUV. It was empty. “Where the fuck is she?”
They found a protein bar wrapper and bandage packaging inside the SUV. Stains of reddish-brown had soaked into the cloth of the backseat.
Michael reached out and touched one with his fingers. “Still wet. She hasn’t been gone long.”
“Which means she couldn’t have gone too far,” Shane said. “Stay alert.”
They spread out. In the brightening daylight, it was easy to see that the scrubby grass had beentrampled flat. They found piles of rocks and wood shavings.
“Looks like she’s been here for some time,” Sean said, crouching down, running the shavings through his thick fingers.
Michael had a set of binoculars and was standing at the edge of a nearby drop-off, scanning methodically. Then, he stopped and kept his gaze fixed on something down below.
“What do you see?” Sean asked.
Nick’s head snapped up.
“Male, Caucasian, deceased. Looks like a broken neck, given the angle of the head. Based on the state of decomposition, I’d say two or three days ago at least.”
Sean took the binocs and whistled. “Fuck.”
“Buckman?” Nick asked.
“Hard to tell, but I don’t think so.”
“You could tell how long he’s been dead, but not if he’s Buckman?”
“The state of decomposition is easy to discern, given that the guy’s in his underwear. Can’t see his face though.”
Nick leaned away, fighting off the sudden urge to vomit.
“Hey, over here,” Shane called from the other side of the SUV. “I’ve got a trail.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CORINNE
Corinne was not a quitter. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d given up on anything. Girl Scouts, the first year after bridging up from Brownies. The swim and diving teams, when she moved up to the senior high and had to choose between them and dance. In more recent history, she’d all but dropped out of the dating pool after a long series of disappointments.
Now, she was about to add one more—and not by choice.
In retrospect, striking out before dawn fully broke wasn’t her best idea, but she was running out of time. The closer she could get to a road, thelikelier it was that she’d be spotted. She had no idea how far she’d have to travel. The ride in had been bumpy, and it seemed to take forever, but she’d been in and out of consciousness, so who knew?
Thus her decision to get an early start.
Unfortunately, she’d overestimated her abilities. She’d gone less than a mile, and she’d had to stop four times. Her muscles were cramping to the point of near paralysis, and that last stumble had taken her off the barely visible tracks her tires had made on the way in, sending her tumbling downward into a patch of brambles.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, stinging her dry, cracked lips. She couldn’t help wondering how crying was even possible when she hadn’t had anything to drink for so long.
What was the point? Even if she could manage to get herself untangled, she was pretty sure she’d cracked a few ribs on the way down. Every breath felt like a knife jabbing into her side.
Eventually, someone would find the SUV, but would they find her body? Or would she become one of those unsolved mysteries on some streaming service?
She thought about her parents, how horrible it would be for them to always wonder. Then, shethought about her sister and her brother. Both of them had been in situations worse than this, and they hadn’t given up. Could she do any less?
No. No, she couldn’t.
She was trying to summon the energy to free herself when the deep rumble of a heavy vehicle reached her ears, followed by the crunch of tires over rocks and scrub. Corinne tried to call out, but her dry throat only produced a croak.
