Scene of the Crime Deadman's Bluff - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,2
the other end of town,” the sheriff said as he raked a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.
Seth immediately assessed that the man appeared not to know exactly how to proceed. “We’ve got to get her to the hospital now.” Seth took control.
“Hey.” He focused on the dark-haired young man who’d helped uncover the victim. “You know where Linda and Samantha Willoughby live?” He shook his head, but the taller blond nodded. “I do,” he replied. Seth threw him his truck keys. “Load my bike and drive my truck to their place. Put the keys under the floor mat.”
Seth turned to the sheriff. “We’re going to put her in the back of your car and you’re going to drive us to the emergency room as quickly as possible. And you might want to contact some of your men to cordon off this scene so there’s no more contamination.”
He didn’t wait to see if anyone followed his orders. Instead he approached the unconscious woman and bent down next to her. He was aware that by picking her up, that by transporting her in the back of a car, he might be doing more harm than good, but her pulse had been weak and thready and he didn’t want to wait around for an ambulance that might never come.
He saw no visible wounds on her, no blood to indicate she had been wounded with a knife or by a gunshot. He knelt down beside her and gently scooped her up in his arms and then stood.
She was a tiny thing, short and slender and even though she was deadweight in his arms, he had no problem carrying her to the sheriff’s car.
The local lawman hurried in front of him and opened the back door to his cruiser. Once Seth and the woman were in the backseat, the overweight sheriff quickly made his way to the driver’s side.
He slid into the car and started the engine and only when they were driving away from the dunes did he radio in location and instructions for somebody named Raymond to grab a couple of men and get their butts out there as quickly as possible to protect the crime scene.
As he talked on the radio, Seth stared down at the woman in his arms. What had happened to her? How had she come to be buried in the dunes?
Despite the sand that clung to her, she was very pretty, with long dark lashes and a hint of cheekbones and shapely lips that at the moment hung slack and partially open.
He thought he’d never forget that moment when her eyes had first opened, when for just a moment her gaze had connected with his. In that first instant, he’d felt electrically charged, as if her eyes had held an appeal he had to answer.
It had lasted only a heartbeat before the terror of whatever she’d endured had obviously coursed through her, momentarily stealing away anything human inside her. She’d been a wild animal seeking escape.
“By the way, I’m Sheriff Tom Atkins,” the older man said from the front seat. “What’s an FBI agent doing in my town?”
“I’m here on vacation visiting my sister and niece, Linda and Samantha Willoughby. I just got into town this morning.”
“Hell of a way to start a vacation,” Atkins said.
“This woman is definitely having a worse day than me,” Seth replied. “Do you know her?”
“I don’t recognize her and this is a pretty small town where most faces are familiar to me.”
Seth once again looked down at the broken woman in his arms. “Hopefully when she comes to she’ll be able to tell you who she is and how she came to be buried in the sand. I’m assuming you’ll question thoroughly the boys at the scene. They are not only potential witnesses but also potential suspects, as well.”
“They’ll be brought in for questioning.” That was all Atkins said as they pulled up to the emergency room entrance. Seth lifted the woman out of the car and carried her in where he was relieved of his burden by an orderly with a cart.
Within seconds, the woman was taken back behind doors that forbade Seth’s entry. Sheriff Atkins had disappeared, probably headed back to the crime scene.
Seth sank down in one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room and drew a couple of deep, steadying breaths. He felt as if he’d been flying on a sickening surge of adrenaline since the moment he’d seen that haunting face in the sand.