The next thing he knew, Archer’s big hand curled around his wrist, lifting his arm out in front of him.
“About twenty yards that way.”
Atticus kept his breathing under control, ignoring how good Archer’s touch felt.
“Do we head that way?”he asked, keeping his voice low.
“I’d say we have to.”
Just as he was about to turn on the flashlight, headlight beams lit up the darkness to their right.
“Hold that thought,” Archer said, grabbing Atticus and moving them into a cluster of trees.
They crouched there, hiding behind a couple of skinny trees until the car moved past.There was no way whoever was driving wouldn’t see his truck, but there was nothing Atticus could do about that now.
“Is that her?”Atticus asked when they were shrouded in darkness again.
Archer’s phone screen lit up.A second later, he said, “No.”
“Really?So what?They left her out here to—Fuck.”
Realization dawned, causing him to stand up and move back to the road.He turned on the flashlight and scanned the area with the beam.
“Which direction?”he asked as they walked slowly.
“Keep going straight.”
Atticus moved slowly.
He had a bad feeling about this.A really bad feeling.
Archer directed Atticus a few more feet, then grabbed his shoulder to stop him.He saw her before Atticus did, the body discarded in a heap, her clothes ripped and torn from her body, legs bruised and mangled, arms askew.
But that wasn’t the worst of what they’d done to Allison Bogart.
A moment later, his partner muttered, “Son of a bitch.”
Yeah.
“They fuckin’ killed her.”
Yep.And based on the gaping wound on her throat and the blood oozing from it, there was no need to check for a pulse.
Atticus’s voice was weak when he rasped, “What the hell?”
Because he had no intention of being caught by the police, Archer grabbed Atticus’s wrist and dragged him back toward the road.He didn’t need the light because his working memory was actively guiding him.
“Call Brantley,” Archer told Atticus when they reached the truck.
When Atticus didn’t respond, he turned to see him standing there, eyes wide.
Archer didn’t need to be a doctor to know that Atticus was going into shock.
“Was that your first dead body?”he asked, stepping closer.
Atticus nodded.
Yep.Definitely in shock.
