“You got it,” he lied, knowing there was no way he was getting his hands on either of those ingredients at this time of the night. “We’ll make sure you get it just how you like it.”
He thought he saw a hint of a smile.
When Jordan stepped forward again, Cara backed away, struggling to maintain her balance against the relentless push of a creek flowing at God-knew-how-many cubic feet per second.
She stumbled, her foot no doubt slipping on a moss-slick rock, and almost submerged.
Jordan lunged forward to catch her, but she regained her balance and stopped him with a glare.
“I’m not going back,” she said.
Now he was exasperated. “Listen, Ms. Campbell. I don’t want to fish out your dead body a few miles downstream. Let’s go back to my vehicle, warm up, and take a selfie to let everyone who loves you know you’re safe.”
He wanted to get out of the water, too, damn it.
She was almost within arm’s reach and could fall at any moment. It was now or never.
“Well, let’s talk, then,” he said, only to distract her as he forced himself forward and reached out to grab her.
His fingers closed on empty air.
Cara Campbell had thrown herself into the raging torrent. It all happened so fast, he didn’t even realize what she’d said until he had watched the frothing water carry her out of sight.
“I did not kill my husband.”
CALIFORNIA DEATH TRIP PODCAST
SEASON ONE, EPISODE ELEVEN
Hi, crime fam, it’s me, Dylan Danvers.I’m sorry for the crappy audio but I’m recording this on my phone, in my car, because this will not wait until I can get to the studio. I just heard from a very reliable source that Cara Campbell was in a crazy, horrible van accident on her way to prison this afternoon. Miraculously, she survived. And even more improbably, she escaped. If you’re just joining us for the first time, please do yourself a favor and go back and listen to the first ten episodes of Season One, “The Ojai Plastic Surgeon Hammer Murder,” which tells how influencer Cara Campbell was railroaded by a system that just couldn’t wait to convict a famous person for the crime of being famous.
I’ll be back with a full episode first thing tomorrow morning, but in the meantime, send me all your tips and theories, and links to any news you think I might have missed. This story is moving fast and it’s hard for one podcaster to stay on top of it. Cara Campbell is out there somewhere. She may be lost. She may be hurt. She definitely needs our help. So we’re going to find her. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. This is Dylan, signing off.
DAY TWO
ONE
JORDAN
VOLUNTEERS WANTED! Join the search for escaped fugitive Cara Campbell TODAY. Rendezvous at Bass Lake Recreation Area at 8:00 AM.
—Silverman for Sheriff Facebook page
Standing at the kitchen island well after midnight, Jordan used his fork to saw off a corner of the lasagna he hadn’t bothered to reheat. The cheese was cold and congealed, the pasta wading in a puddle of the Italian dressing he’d poured too fast over his handful of salad. But he had to eat. The moment he turned off his car in the driveway, adrenaline had begun flooding out of his body like a wave receding on the beach.
He lifted a bite to his mouth and forced himself to chew.
Seated on the opposite side of the breakfast bar, Amber scrolled on her oversized phone with tired, red-rimmed eyes. She wore an old cardigan over her nightgown and her dark brown hair was held in place with a half-broken banana clip.
He had driven out to Valley Children’s Hospital on his way home to see Steve and Joanne and get the latest update on Bree.She was finally out of surgery and doctors had placed her in a medically induced coma to give her the best chance to heal. Her physical survival seemed assured, but what lay next, no one knew. No one was celebrating her miraculous survival. Her parents’ stricken faces would stay with him forever.
When Sydney met Jordan at the door, her face alive with hope, he wrapped her in a hug that might have been the longest they ever shared. Certainly, she would not have tolerated it under any other circumstances.
“But she’s alive, right, Dad?” Sydney asked when he finally let go, studying his eyes for signs of evasion.
“She’s alive,” he confirmed. “Beyond that, we don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
