They arrived at the site of the crash about fifteen minutes later. Jade could see the tire tracks in the snow where the car ran off the road, but the crash site itself was too far down. “You wait here,” Ben told her. “I’m going to meet the team to see what they’ve found in the car.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Anything that could give us a clue why he was on the road to meet you or what he knew about your daughter’s disappearance. May as well tell you now that they’ve suspended the search back in Glennallen. The message just came through. This has turned into an official abduction case.”
Jade blinked, hardly registering his words. All she knew was that Keith Richardson had answers, but now he was dead.
What had God been thinking?
“Are the roads really icy?” she asked. “Was it an accident?”
Ben sighed. “Your guess is as good as mine right now. That’s another reason I want to get down. Just wait up here.” He pulled the keys out of his pocket. “You can run the car if you get cold. I’ll come up as soon as I know anything. Do you have phone reception here?”
She checked her cell. “No.”
“Okay, I didn’t think so. I’ll come back to fill you in as soon as I can, all right?”
Jade nodded. She felt like she owed Ben a thank you or an apology or something. She was just too confused to figure out why.
Sitting in the passenger seat of his car, she thought through everything she knew. Elder Keith wanted to get in touch with her. He was trying to tell her something about the case. If he’d kidnapped Dez for revenge or ransom, wouldn’t he have said so? Dez wasn’t in the car with him, thank God, but he was speeding to Glennallen to tell Jade something. What?
And was he going so fast that he lost control on the wintery roads and crashed down the ravine? It was possible. Jade always hated driving this stretch of the Glenn Highway, with its steep embankment and sharp turns and no guardrail in sight.
But what if someone else — someone who didn’t want Keith to tell Jade what he knew — was responsible? What if they’d messed with his car or drove him off the road or …
But who would do that? And if Keith hadn’t kidnapped her daughter, who had?
Faces and nameless images clashed around chaotically in her mind, and she realized she was hungry. Apparently even a breakfast as hearty as Mrs. Spencer’s didn’t do a whole lot after a night spent tramping around outside in the snow looking for her missing five-year-old.
Jade squeezed her eyes shut, visualizing for a moment a nice peaceful morning at home with her daughter. No sore feet, no aching back. Just her and Dez eating breakfast, watching a few silly animal videos on YouTube …
The passenger door flew open. She turned her head in time to see a figure dressed in black, pointing a gun at her through the window.
She didn’t have time to scream.
Searing pain splintered through her skull.
Then there was nothing.