Midnight Sun by Basil Sands Read Free Book Online

junction with Rabbit Creek Road came into sight just beyond a dip in the pavement.

Chapter 5
    Mansion on Goldenview Drive
    Saturday, June 18th
    8:30 p.m.
    Blue skies, bright sun, and temperatures that felt more like Arizona than the Arctic had turned Harold and Maureen's wedding into a fantasy.   Arm in arm, they gazed at the mountains through the wall of glass in their friend ’ s cavernous living room.
    Harold commented to his smiling bride, “ It sure is nice to have rich friends. ”
    As the party wore on, the forty-something newlyweds broke themselves free from the crowd and got into their shiny new metallic-green hybrid SUV, a wedding gift from Maureen ’ s parents. The highly efficient lightweight vehicle was packed to its limit with wedding gifts and suitcases full of tropical clothing and suntan lotion. Hidden among the Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirts were a few very sexy bits of lingerie that Maureen was sure would make Harold ’ s heart race.
    They had to be at the airport no later than nine o ’ clock to make the twelve o ’ clock red-eye for the first leg of their journey to Bora Bora and two weeks of romance in a bungalow on the water. As Harold pulled out of the estate ’ s curved driveway onto Goldenview, he scanned left for oncoming traffic. At half past eight, the twenty-four-hour summer sun was still high in the sky. The road was clear as far he could see. That sight was limited by a dip in the road fifty yards away, plenty of distance for someone to slow down. Harold put his hand on Maureen ’ s thigh, and she caressed his fingers as he turned onto the road. He looked up in time to see Maureen's eyes register a spark of horror. He turned his head just as an old pickup truck flew up from the dip in the road and plowed into their thin-skinned Hybrid SUV .
    The explosive sound of metal on metal jolted the air like a clap of thunder. The wedding celebration abruptly ceased. Men and women rushed out. Mothers gasped and grabbed children playing in the front yard, some of whom had seen the whole thing. Thankfully, the distance obscured more than a glimpse of the gory details.
    Eight-months-pregnant Trooper Lieutenant Lonnie Johnson dialed 911 on her cellphone as she sprinted to the scene, the long, pleated skirt of her maternity dress flowing behind her like a warning flag. Men from the party were already in the wreckage, looking for the victims. There was no one to rescue. What was left of the bodies would require a DNA lab to put all the right pieces in each coffin. Torn limbs and bloody bits of internal organs lay strewn across the pavement among twisted sheets of steel , jagged aluminum and sparkling fragments of glass. The debris radiated out like a fan from the point of impact.
    Lonnie had been an Alaska State Trooper for more than twelve years. She was seldom fazed by scenes of gore, but this hit her differently. Between the hormonal imbalance of being pregnant and her friendship with the bride and groom, she found it difficult to keep her emotions in check as she spoke to the emergency dispatcher.
    A white Audi pulled up to the scene and several men got out. They rushed toward the remains of the truck. Lonnie turned to tell the men to stay back. One of the groomsmen picked something up, let out a sickened guttural sound, then bent over and vomited onto his glossy patent leather shoes. Lonnie turned toward him, cell phone still at her ear. He held something up to her. She put out her left hand and he dropped it in. A shiny new one-carat diamond sparkled brightly on the polished gold band that plopped onto her palm. It took a moment for her mind to realize that the ring was still tightly connected to Maureen's finger.
    ***
    The white Audi slowed as it pulled up to the mayhem. Men and women milled about through scattered chunks of jagged steel, ripped aluminum, and broken glass. Some dropped to their knees or stared in shock from the periphery of the scene. Others spoke on cell phones or consoled