Genesis by Karin Slaughter Read Free Book Online Page B

then, the
road was not well traveled. That two cars managed to be here tonight
at the same time as the woman was wildly coincidental. That she had
at that point managed to walk onto the road into the path of one of
them was even more fantastical.
    Unless Anna had been waiting for them. Maybe she had stepped
out in front of the Buick on purpose. Will had learned a long time
ago that escape was sometimes easier than survival.
    He kept the Mini at a slow crawl as he looked for a side road to
turn down. He had gone about a quarter of a mile before he found it.
The pavement was choppy, the low-riding car feeling each and every
bump. An occasional streak of lightning lit the woods for him. There
were no houses that Will could see from the road, no run-down
shacks or old barns. No lean-tos sheltering old stills. He kept going,
using the bright lights at the crime scene as his guide so that when he
stopped, he found himself parallel to the action. Will pulled up the
emergency brake and allowed himself a smile. The accident site was
about two hundred yards away, the lights and activity making it look
like a football field in the middle of the forest.
    Will took the small emergency flashlight out of the glove box and
got out of the car. The air was changing fast, the temperature dropping.
On the news this morning, the weatherman had predicted
partly cloudy, but Will was thinking they were in for a deluge.
    He made his way on foot through the thick forest, carefully scanning
the ground as he walked, searching for anything that was out of
place. Anna could have come through here, or she could have been
on the other side of the road. The point was that the crime scene
should not just be confined to the street. They should be out in the
forest, searching within at least a mile radius. The job would not be
easy. The forest was dense, low-lying limbs and bushes blocking forward
progress, fallen trees and sinkholes making the nighttime terrain
even more dangerous. Will tried to get his bearings, wondering
which direction would lead him to I-20, where the more residential
areas were, but gave up after the compass in his head started spinning
toward nowhere.
    The grade shifted, sloping downward, and though it was still far
away, Will could hear the usual sounds of a crime scene—the electric
hum of the generator, the buzz from the stadium lights, the pop of
camera flashes, the grumblings of cops and crime-scene techs occasionally
punctuated by surprised laughter.
    Overhead, the clouds parted, sending down a sliver of moonlight
that cast the ground in shadow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a
patch of leaves that looked disturbed. He crouched down, the weak
beam of the light not helping him much. The leaves were darker
here, but he couldn't tell if that was from blood or precipitation. Will
could definitely tell that something had lain in the spot. The question
was, had that something been an animal or had it been a woman?
    He tried to get his bearings again. He was about halfway between
Faith's car and the crumpled Buick on the road. The clouds moved
again, and he was back in darkness. The flashlight in his hand chose
this moment to give up the ghost, the bulb going yellowish brown,
then black. Will slapped the plastic case against his palm, trying to
get some more juice out of the batteries.
    Suddenly, the bright beam of a Maglite illuminated everything
within a five-foot radius.
    "You must be Agent Trent," a man said. Will put up his hand to
keep his retinas from burning. The man took his time lowering
the flashlight to Will's chest. In the distant glow of the crime-scene
lights, he appeared to be the living embodiment of a Macy's Day
parade balloon—bulbous at the top, tapering to almost a point at the
bottom. The man's tiny little pinhead floated above his shoulders,
the flesh of his thick neck spilling up over his shirt collar.
    Considering his girth, the man was light on his feet.