Page 50 of Obsession

Then all noise vanished as his car flew over the side and plunged down the mountain.

37

Teddy’s speed wasn’t much slower than that of Kordo’s sedan. The difference was that his Porsche was a high-performance vehicle designed to take turns fast, while Kordo’s was not.

Teddy watched as the other car barely made it through the upcoming turn. When the road curved again, the car fought once more to stay in its lane, but the forces working against it were too great.

In a puff of dust, it disappeared over the side.

Billy pulled onto the narrow shoulder just past where the sedan had gone over and jumped out.

A pickup truck that had been coming down themountain joined him a moment later. Its driver, a man in his early twenties, hurried over to where Teddy was peering down the mountainside. “Oh, my God. Did you see that?”

Kordo’s car lay on its roof about a hundred feet below. Thankfully, the slope was not as steep here as it was a little farther up, or else the vehicle would have still been rolling downhill.

Teddy glanced at the other man. “Call 911. I’ll see if I can help him.”

“Dude, maybe I should do it.”

“I’ve got it. You make the call.”

“Okay, but wait a sec.” The guy ran back to his pickup and returned a moment later with a first-aid kit. “Take this.”

Teddy grabbed the kit and started down the slope. The front of the sedan was pointed uphill. This allowed him to approach the driver’s-side window without worrying that the car might tumble onto him.

Kordo hung upside down in his seat, his arms dangling toward the roof. Blood dripped down his neck and off his forehead.

Teddy reached through the broken window and checked the man’s pulse, then cursed.

The first-aid kit was unnecessary.

Teddy had needed Kordo alive. He had been the best chance to find out where Rebecca was being held.Hopefully, the guy had a phone. If so, then at least all might not be lost.

Teddy reached into the car again and searched the dead man.

Kordo had a gun hanging halfway out of a shoulder holster, and what felt like some money in a pocket of his pants. Teddy left both where they were.

He turned on the flashlight of his phone and shined it into the car. It didn’t take long to spot the glass face of a phone, lying on the roof, half covered by a crumpled piece of paper.

Teddy leaned through the window and grabbed both the phone and the paper. The phone was still working, but the screen was locked. As for the paper, it was one of those missing-person flyers Teddy had seen all day. Yet more proof that the guy had been hanging around the set.

Teddy held the phone in front of Kordo to try to unlock it, hoping the lacerations on the man’s face wouldn’t hinder the facial recognition software. But the phone remained closed. He’d worry about that problem later.

After stuffing the phone in his pocket, he took a step away from the car.

“How is he?” a voice from above called.

Teddy glanced up the slope. The driver who’d stopped earlier had been joined by three others. Teddy shook his head and started the slow climb back to the road.

By the time he reached the top, two Santa Barbara County sheriff vehicles had arrived.

“How many people in the car?” one of the deputies asked.

“Only the driver. He’s dead.”

“Is that your Porsche, sir?”

“It is. I saw him go over the side, so I stopped to see if I could help.”

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