Page 13 of Critical Doubt

"Any sign of blood or clothing torn on the door?"

"Not that I could see. Do you have more information on what happened?"

"There were skid marks coming down the end of the church driveway but nothing directly in front of the guardrail."

"He tried to stop, but then he didn't?"

"It was an odd pattern," she admitted. "I don't know if there was another vehicle that he might have swerved to avoid. He could have accelerated and then overshot the turn. I'm just speculating. The accident investigation will go through every possible scenario. Or Todd will tell us what happened when he's found."

"I heard him crash through the rail. You heard that, too, didn't you?" He hated that he couldn't trust his own brain.

"Yes. I heard the brakes and the crash."

"Who's running the operation?"

"Chief Ed Tanner. I spoke to him at the crash site. He's a former Marine. He'll do a thorough investigation. He'll want to get answers for a fellow soldier."

"He won't be alone. I'm not leaving Dobbs until I know what happened, or until we find Todd." He blew out a breath. "I shouldn't have let him leave the church. He was shredded by guilt over what happened to Paul."

"Abby told me that Todd was feeling that way, but she doesn't blame him. She said Paul was out of control. I didn't realize things were so bad. I haven't been the best friend to Abby."

"If you're going to feel guilty, you'll be in a long line."

"You, too?"

"Yes."

She nodded. "Well, you might not have stopped Todd from leaving, but you did jump into the river trying to save him. That's something."

"Too little too late."

"Well, if you're staying in town, you should come to Abby's house. She was headed there when I left. Chief Tanner said he'd come by her place with an update as soon as he has one. A lot of the people from the funeral will be waiting there as well."

The last thing he wanted to do was face Abby, who probably harbored as much anger and resentment toward him as Todd had expressed. But he wasn't leaving town until Todd was found, so it was her house or the police station. "All right."

As he followed Savannah up the rocky and somewhat steep hillside to the road, he felt pain in his knee, and had a feeling the rocks had done a little more damage. But he didn't regret going into the water. Todd would have done the same for him. They'd always had each other's backs.

Savannah scampered up the hill with an ease he envied and then gave him a thoughtful look as she waited by her car. "Are you hurt, Ryker?"

"Old wounds."

"Not so old. There's blood on your pants."

He glanced down at his knee, realizing for the first time that his slacks were ripped. "I didn't notice, but I hit the rocks a few times."

"Even more reason to get you to Abby's house. She'll have a first aid kit."

"It's nothing."

She opened the passenger-side door and handed him his shoes. He put them on as she walked around the car to get behind the wheel.

"I'm going to get the seat wet," he said, as he slid his arms into his coat, grateful for the warmth.

"It will dry. Don't worry about it." She started the car. "I was impressed with how fast you jumped into that beast of a river. You didn't hesitate for one second."

"I wasn't trained to hesitate."

"Do you miss the army?" she asked, as she drove down the road.

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