He straightened and looked at her, his chest heaving as breath smoked from his lips. She could see now that he was holding a tire iron, the curved end covered in the trooper’s blood. She knew there would be bits of skull and brain matter on it if she looked, so she kept her focus up and away, watching as he rushed toward the police cruiser.
The cruiser’s engine died, and all the lights went out. As soon as they did, she could see his car parked behind the trooper’s, the lights off so they hadn’t seen him approaching. He ran back toward her and, without stopping, bent down and dragged the body until it was hidden from the road, next to the patrol car.
Cindy watched it all, frozen in place, unable to move. How could so much go wrong with such a simple plan? Things had spun so completely out of control, and they hadn’t even had a chance to get started. They’d murdered two people in one night. How could they ever turn back from what they’d done?
Trevor Foster had saved her from arrest, and at the same time, he’d punched her ticket to hell.
Okay. Panic.
She rode with him, but neither of them had spoken since they’d ditched the car with the body in the trunk. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cried silently in the passenger’s seat.
“It’s going to be dawn in a few hours,” Trevor said, looking out at the road as the radio played quietly in the background. “We should’ve been back at the house by now. Hagen’s going to be contacting us.”
“I know.”
“Listen.” His voice was calm, serious. “If we’re going to get through this, you have to be smart. Why were you speeding when you had a stolen car and a body in your trunk?”
“I didn’t realize I was going so fast,” Cindy choked out through her tears. “When I saw the trooper’s headlights, I thought they were yours. I thought you were telling me to hurry up.”
“That could’ve been bad. Real bad.” He ran a shaking hand through his hair. “All I want is for us to do what we have to do in order to get out of this mess. I didn’t ask to be dragged into a kidnapping, and I sure as hell didn’t ask to be part of two murders. I just want my life back, and I can’t have you screwing up that chance.”
“I’m sorry.”
“My wife and my kid are the only priority here. I don’t care about the old man or any of this garbage. I want my family returned to me safe, and I want to forget this ever happened. If you get in the way of that, I’ll kill you too.”
Cindy nodded and looked out the window. She knew he wasn’t kidding. No hyperbole. He’d kill her and the rest of them to save his family without a second thought. She would too. If she had any family left.
They were back on the highway now, blending in with a few other cars getting an early start on the day. The sky was beginning to lighten. They’d be at the house by sunrise.
“He saw the blood on my hands and pants,” she said. “The car too. I was just going to take the ticket and get moving, but he kept asking me what happened.”
“I told you to wash that off.”
“I tried. It’s not like I could take a shower. We had to get out of there.”
“Did he get a look at your license or anything?”
“No, we never got that far.”
Trevor nodded. “No doubt he called in his position and your license plate, though. That’s standard procedure.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Cindy said. “They won’t find the car.”
“Doesn’t mean they’ll stop looking. He had a dashcam. We’re on video. Let’s just hope there wasn’t a clear angle on your face, or this’ll be over before it begins.”
“A camera?”
“And a cop was killed. They’ll hunt like dogs to find us. They’ll trace the plate to Rebecca, so they’ll start looking for her right away. When they can’t find her, they’ll start pulling apart her life, and when they come to the old man, they’ll know something’s wrong. We didn’t leave things in the best shape back at his house.”
Cindy turned away from the window and stared at him, her eyes wet and swollen. “Then we have to stay hidden until it’s done. We can’t risk getting caught. If they know who I am, fine. But they’ll never find me until it’s over. We’ll just have to make adjustments on the fly until then.”
Trevor sighed, looking out ahead of them. “Okay, but know this: I won’t allow any more screwups. We get this done, and we move on. The faster this is over, the better. We stay hidden until we know what the cops know.”
“I’m sorry I got you involved.”
He nodded slowly, his lips curling back to reveal his oversized, jagged teeth. “Yeah, me too.”
2
Officer down.
All hands on deck.
State Police Investigator Susan Adler hopped from her car and made her way over to the crime scene. The mass of emergency vehicles filled both lanes of the northbound Taconic and one lane southbound, closing the parkway until further notice. The morning traffic was being diverted onto local roads and eventually onto Route 9. Normally they’d be looking to clear the scene and get things opened again as soon as possible. But this was a different circumstance, and the investigators involved would take as much time as they needed.
State police, EMT, Fire and Rescue, and uniforms from a few local departments milled about, trying to find something to do to be useful in a situation that was still too new to have a direction to go in. Susan crossed the road and walked toward her boss for an update.
The call had come in about an hour before her alarm was set. Ever since her mother had moved in full-time, it had become an unmentioned tradition for Beatrice to cook the morning meal, but with the twins at their father’s, Susan had been planning to sleep in. Instead, she’d grabbed a coffee to go and gotten to the scene as soon as she could. Everything else was put on hold.
Senior Investigator Jasper Crosby, a former college football player and respected supervisor throughout the state, was her mentor as well as one of her best friends. He gave her a quick nod when he saw her and broke away from the crowd he was speaking with.
“Thanks for coming.”
Susan looked past her boss and saw a covered body lying next to a patrol car. The forensics team was working on both.
“What happened?”
“Trooper Kincaid called in a routine 10-38. He reported the plate number and proceeded to investigate. No follow-up report after that, and after two location check-ins passed without dispatch hearing from him, they sent another car out. He appears to have been bludgeoned to death in the roadway, then dragged over there. No shots fired from the trooper and no indication that any firearms were used by the perp.”
“How long ago was the 10-38 called in?”
“About three hours.” Crosby walked her closer to the scene. “The car was registered to a Rebecca Hill. We got her address, and I need you to pay a visit. White Plains PD will be waiting for you when you get there. You go in and grab her. If she’s not there, see what you can find. A warrant has already been issued, and a BOLO is being circulated to all area departments.”
Crosby handed her a piece of paper with the address on it.