Chapter 3 - The Secret Beside The Flooded Roadway
The rain had finally stopped, leaving behind a thick, humid mist that hung over the muddy banks of Miller’s Creek. Yellow police tape fluttered in the morning breeze as Natalie and Detective Miller waded through tall, flattened reeds alongside a heavy-duty tow truck.
The creek had receded significantly over the past twenty-four hours, exposing debris that the rushing waters had dragged downstream: broken tree branches, discarded trash, and tangled metal.
"Over there," Miller shouted over the sound of rushing water, pointing toward a steep embankment where a massive oak tree had trapped a pile of twisted debris.
Sticking out of the muddy bank was the crushed rear bumper of a dark blue sedan. The license plate matched Andrew’s registration perfectly.
Natalie’s heart hammered against her ribs as she scrambled down the slippery slope, sliding through the wet clay until she reached the driver’s side door. The windows were smashed inward by the force of the muddy torrent, and the interior was packed tight with silt and river grass.
"Miller, get the winch down here now!" she yelled, shining her heavy-duty flashlight into the murky cabin.
Working rapidly, the recovery crew hooked heavy steel cables around the chassis of the sunken vehicle. With a loud whine of gears and a groaning of stressed metal, the tow truck slowly dragged the battered sedan out of the water and up onto the paved shoulder of the road.
As the car settled onto flat ground, Natalie approached the driver's side door, her hands trembling slightly. The entire front end of the sedan was smashed against a concrete drainage culvert where the road had washed away without warning signs during the midnight flash flood.
Miller forced the driver's door open with a crowbar, letting a flood of trapped water spill onto the asphalt. Inside, slumped over the steering wheel with his seatbelt still securely fastened, was a man in his early thirties. His clothes were caked in dried mud, and his forehead bore a deep, severe cut from the steering column.
May you like
On the floorboard directly beneath the passenger seat lay a crumpled plastic grocery bag. Inside the waterproof inner lining of the bag sat a prescription bottle of pediatric medicine and a box of crackers, untouched and carefully protected.
Andrew had not run away. He had fought to the very last second to bring his daughter what she needed.
