The two boys looked sheepishly at each other and Jeff admitted, “We thought maybe there’d be a reward.”
“Can we go home now, Riley?” Ronald looked up at York, his young eyes pleading.
With genuine concern for the boys, she nodded. “Yeah, Ronald. Get on home. For now, I want you to keep this quiet. Not a word to anyone. Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the boys answered in unison.
“I mean it. Not your parents, your friends. Not even your dogs. Your mouths stay shut. And believe me, I’ll know if you talked.”
“Don’t worry, Riley,” Jeff assured her. “We just want to go home and forget it ever happened.”
The boy’s comment enraged Derek, but he understood. They were young, and they were terrified. He couldn’t blame them for that.
They started to walk away, but he stopped them. “Wait.”
They turned to face him.
“Show me where it happened.”
“Which part?” Jeff asked.
“Show me where the man”—he swallowed hard—“hurt Charlie.”
The two boys didn’t hesitate, clearly ready to get it over with and get home. When Ronald stopped, he turned around and looked back up at Derek.
“Here. She tripped over that branch there and landed here. This is where he hit her. Then he picked her up and took her back through there.” He pointed toward the direction Derek and the others had come from.
“Thank you,” Derek offered sincerely. “You’ve both been a big help.”
Without another word, Ronald and Jeff ran off through the trees while Derek began looking at the ground around them. There, in the collection of dead leaves, he saw it.
A fist squeezed his heart. “Jake.”
His team leader came over to where Derek was standing and followed his gaze. Drops of blood splattered the foliage near their feet. In the center of it all was Charlie’s locket.
On his other side, Coop ran his hand through his hair and down across his jaw. “Damn.”
Losing all emotion, Derek picked up the necklace. Closing his fist around it, he vowed, “I’m going to find him. And when I do...” his eyes locked with York’s. “I will kill him.”
Derek turned and walked woodenly back to the truck. The others had stopped at the edge of the road when Coop noticed a spot in the gravel shoulder that had recently been disturbed. Coop and Mac walked farther up the road. Looking for what, Derek didn’t know.
Thanks to their two eye-witnesses, they already knew what had happened. Charlie had tried to use the dangerous curve to her advantage, but it hadn’t worked, and she’d been beaten for her efforts.
When the two snipers returned to the group, Coop shared what they’d found. “There are skid marks that start just a few feet up that way and signs that the driver spun the tires again as they backed up in a hurry. She must have jumped ship here.”
There were several murmurs of disbelief, but Derek couldn’t speak. Knowing what was about to come, he left the others and made his way around the front of Jake’s truck. Just in time to start puking his guts up.
Bent over at the waist, his stomach continued to convulse until there was nothing left. When he was done, Derek stood straight and wiped his mouth with the back of his forearm.
He fought to think clearly, knowing it was the only way he’d ever be able to find her. It was no use.
His mind whirled with thoughts of mistakes and regrets until he simply couldn’t take it anymore.
Raising his fist, Derek brought his knuckles down onto the truck’s hood, leaving a large dent in its place. The skin on his hand split open and started to bleed, but he didn’t care.
It’s nothing compared to what Charlie’s already endured.
Derek drew his fist back, ready to hit the truck again but was stopped when Eric grabbed hold of his arm.
