The Bridge (Para-Earth Series) (9 page)

the impound lot

             
At the Impound Yard, a middle aged man was going over the vehicle under discussion.  Paul Chase had worked on vehicles since he was eight when his dad first handed him a wrench.  Since then he had worked on cars, trucks, motorcycles, limousines… the works.  He knew every part and square inch of most vehicles, including this model, and so far he had found nothing.  No hidden switches or alterations to the wiring.  Everything was as it should be.

             
He stood back and scratched his salt and pepper covered head.  According to Ronnie and the Medical Examiner, the driver and passenger had been dead for almost ten hours.  Two dark muddy patches on the front seat marked where the victims had been found.  And there was more all over the gas and brake pedals.  Chase took samples and set them aside for the lab to analyze, then stepped away from the vehicle to get some fresh air.  Wherever the victims had drowned, it had a nasty smell attached to it.  The entire vehicle reeked of something foul besides death.

             
This whole thing was starting to get on his nerves.  Cars didn’t drive by themselves with or without dead people in them.  Yet this one had been seen maneuvering curves at high speeds for miles.

             
He glanced around the yard nervously.  Ever since the wreck had been brought into the yard, he’d had the feeling of being watched. Even now he felt like someone was watching him.

             
At that moment Ronnie’s voice came out of the radio in his workshop a few yards away, making him jump. “Chase, you there?”

             
Shaking his head the mechanic went to answer, unaware of the eyes staring at him from one of the back seat windows of the wreck.  At the bottom of that same door water began to drip.  It formed a small puddle which slowly began to grow and stretch as if to follow him.

             
In the workshop, Chase picked up the mike and replied, “I’m here, Sarge.  You just had to send me a puzzle, didn’t you?”

             
“So you haven’t found anything yet?” he could hear the smirk in her voice.

             
“Nothing but an overwhelming stench that won’t quit,” he told her.  “Everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be.  There’re no secret black boxes or anything like that.”

             
“Cars don’t have flight recorders, Chase.”

             
“Then you haven’t heard about the mysterious black boxes that allow someone to take control of vehicles from a distance,” he teased. 

             
“No I hadn’t,” admitted Ronnie. “Maybe it’s disguised as an ordinary car part, so you won’t recognize it?”

             
“Honey, I’ve found drugs, booze, stolen items, etc. in vehicles.  Believe me.  I’d know if something wasn’t what it was supposed to be,” Chase replied making a face.  Was it his imagination or was that smell starting to seep in here?

              Back at the scene of the accident Ronnie rolled her eyes.  “If you’re so smart, Paul, how come you can’t tell when a superior officer is your coworker not your ‘Honey’?”

             
“Aw don’t be like that Sarge, you know I loves ya,” was Chase’s reply.

             
Ryan grabbed the microphone from his partner and said, “What about me, Chase?  Do you love me too?”

             
“Not since you broke my heart you bastard.”

             
“When did I do that?”

             
“When that ‘69 Camaro you had got trashed,” Chase replied with annoyance. “I told you I wanted to buy it.  But you said no.  Then some kid goes and steals it and hits a tree.”

             
Veronica looked at her partner and shook her head, “A cop who gets his car stolen and totaled?  I may have to trade you in.”

             
Ryan gave her a hurt look.  But, before he could say anything, a new voice came over the radio.  “I’ll trade all of you in if you don’t get back to work.”

             
Ronnie smiled and replied, “Must be a slow day if you’re checking up on us, Roy.”

             
“Actually I’m in the middle of an important meeting,” her boss replied stiffly. 

             
“But you accidentally pushed something against the radio button and left it on?” she smiled. 

             
The voice of Alice Peterson could be heard in the background, “She got you there, dear.”

             
All three officers were about to lose it when their chief’s warning came over their respective speakers.  “Anyone caught laughing or snickering will be on Crossing Guard duty for a month.”

             
Silence reigned.

             
“By the way Ronnie,” their boss continued, “I just got a call from your other half, he found another eyewitness to that vehicle that crashed this morning.”

             
Veronica frowned.  How the hell could Alex have found out anything?  He was supposed to be resting. 

             
“Seems the young lady you sent over to keep an eye on him was nearly run down by a vehicle that fit the description.  She also saw someone in the backseat.”

             
“Are we sure it’s the same car?” Ronnie asked quickly. 

             
“That’s what we’re waiting to find out,” replied Roy. “She’s coming here right now.  I’d like you to talk to her.”

             
“I’m on my way,” she told him.  “Chase, did you get all that?”

              Back at the Impound Yard Paul replied, “Sure did. I’ll take a look in the backseat and get back to you, as soon as I’m done.”

             
“Copy that,” Ronnie replied and signed off.

             
As he put the microphone back on the radio, Paul sniffed the air, the stench seemed to be getting worse.  He checked his hands and the bottoms of his feet but could not find the source. 

             
Looking out at the wreck he did a double take.  There was water trickling out one of the backseat doors.  “I think we might be on to something,” he murmured then froze.  For a moment, he thought he saw movement in the window of the backseat.

             
Within seconds he was at the wreck and pulling open the door.  Immediately he was assaulted by the powerful smell, only it was much worse now.  Covering his mouth with a rag he stuck his head inside the vehicle.  The backseat was empty but someone had been there.  A damp patch, similar to the ones on the front seat, was clearly visible.  Then he spotted something dark, coiled up in a puddle on the floorboard.  It looked like a rope.  Still covering his mouth and nose he knelt down to get a better look. 

              Julie had just arrived at the police station and was getting out of her vehicle when she spotted her friend’s motorcycle coming into the lot.  So she waited until Ronnie had parked and then called out to her. 

             
But instead of having her greeting returned, her friend shouted angrily, “Why didn’t you tell me that you were nearly run down this morning?”

             
Before Julie could think of a reply, Ronnie had her helmet off and was marching over to her saying, “I have a wrecked car with two dead teenagers in the front seat, who drowned sometime last night.  And now I find out my best friend was nearly run over by them, only she didn’t bother to tell me about it.”

             
Julie hated being talked down to. “Do we even know if we’re talking about the same car?” she demanded. 

             
“A white Toyota, late 1990’s?”

             
“Sounds like the same one,” the brunette admitted, still bothered by her friend’s attitude.

             
Veronica whipped off her shades and asked worriedly, “So why didn’t you tell me about it?  You could’ve been seriously hurt or worse.”

             
“I just thought it was a couple of kids having a bit of fun.  I didn’t think it was a big deal,” the younger woman replied. 

             
But Ronnie was shaking her head, “Look, even if someone’s just having a bit of ‘fun’, they can lose control of their vehicle.  And I don’t want anything happening to you or anyone else all right?”  Then her voice softened, “Next time, please tell me right away.  I don’t want to find out something happened to my best friend, because nobody reported a reckless driver on the road.”

             
The change in tone was not lost on Julie, who promised it wouldn’t happen again. She preferred getting this kind of speech from her friend, as opposed to being lectured to by a Police sergeant.  She knew Ronnie meant well, but it could grate on one’s nerves at times.

             
“Good,” Veronica nodded and asked, “Now tell me exactly what happened.  And I want time, place and anything unusual you saw.”

             
“Trust me, I’ve got something that fits the bill,” her friend murmured, then launched into her story.

             
She had been going for her morning jog and had only gone about half-a-mile when she heard the sound of a vehicle coming up behind her.  She hadn’t paid it much attention since she was jogging on the left hand side of the road, facing traffic.  It was only when a horn blared directly behind her that she realized something was amiss.  Instinctively, she dove out of the way as the vehicle went by just missing her. 

             
“Did you get a look at who was in the vehicle?” Veronica asked gently.

             
“Oh yeah,” Julie nodded slowly. “I saw the driver and passenger in the front seat.  They both turned and looked at me.  Their faces were pale and their hair was all wet.  But the way they looked at me,” here she paused and shuddered, “it was like there was nothing human behind those eyes.  And then I saw the other girl in the backseat and she…”

             
“There WAS someone else in the car?” interrupted Veronica excitedly.  “What did she look like?”

             
“Well,” Julie had to gather her thoughts for a moment, “she was in her teens, too, and had long black hair, kind of wavy.”

             
“Did she say or do anything?” Ronnie persisted.

             
“Well she glanced at me briefly and then turned back to the driver and passenger,” Julie remembered.  “She had the most intense look on her face as she stared at them.  It sent a chill down my spine.”

             
“I bet it did,” Veronica nodded, “Could you give a description of the girl you saw to our sketch artist inside?  We only found the two in the front seat.  The girl in the back might’ve been thrown clear of the wreck and could be lying unconscious or wandering around with a concussion or something.”

             
“Absolutely,” Julie told her fervently and then followed her friend into the station.  As they passed through the doors she paused and asked Ronnie the question that had been preying on her mind since she left Alex back at the house. “Ronnie?  Were the driver and passenger really dead since last night?”

             
For a moment the older woman didn’t reply.  But it was obvious from the look on her face that she was debating how to answer.  Finally, Ronnie nodded, “According to the coroner they drowned sometime around 10 o’clock.  But, the fact that you actually saw them moving raises new questions.  Namely, is he wrong?  Or is someone playing one sick and twisted game with all of us?”

              At the Impound Lot silence reigned. 

             
Ryan O’Connor noticed it as soon as he got out of his vehicle.  The place was eerily quiet, plus there was a very foul odor in the air.  

             
He hadn’t been able to reach Chase on the radio for the last two hours and had figured his friend must be out of earshot of the radio.  That or he’d found something really interesting and was tuning out the world while he examined it.  This had happened before. 

             
But the quiet was worrying him.  Usually you could find Paul by following the sound of power tools or cursing.  But there was nothing. 

             
He called out several times and got no response.  Then he tried his shoulder radio, only to hear his own voice coming from the receiver in the workshop. 

             
With a worried frown he called in to the station. “This is patrolman O’Connor, I’m over at the Impound Yard and I can’t find Chase anywhere.  Did he call in to say he was leaving?”