Washed Away by Carol Marinelli Read Free Book Online Page B

me.”
    There was the barn, just as Beth had said.
    Letting out a sigh of relief, Cheryl peered over the flat landscape at the massive, deserted barn Beth had assured her she couldn’t miss.
    “Where to now, huh?” Despite the demister, the windows were steaming up at an alarming rate. She wiped the windshield with the back of her hand and drove slowly, visibility decreasing with every slow lurch forward.
    She’d have to call Mitch and tell him she was lost. As if that wasn’t just what the guy needed right now! But Mitch must have been thinking along the same lines, because before she’d even pulled out the cell phone he had given her, it rang shrilly in her hand.
    There’s a bridge. Beth’s instructions played over in her mind as Cheryl pressed the answer button. There was a bridge, but not for much longer, Cheryl thought darkly, watching the swollen river rising, torrents of water sweeping along the banks, huge branches circling like tiny twigs as the current swept them along.
    Pressing the phone to her ear, she braced herself for a few sharp words from the fire chief.
    “Where the hell…” He got no further before his voice broke up.
    Cheryl shouted back, not sure whether he could hear. “I’m five minutes away, Mitch. Beth told me that thestorm’s heading this way!” She was at the edge of the river now, and pulled open the glove compartment. Finding a rag inside, she took a moment to wipe the windshield clear. “She told me a shortcut. I’m at Hansen’s Barn. I’m just coming over the bridge, so I should be with you soon.” Although she strained to hear, there was only a crackling noise, broken by occasional fragments of Mitch’s words.
    “I won’t be much longer, Mitch!” Cheryl shouted. “I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up. I’ll be back soon.” Putting the phone down, intending to resume the conversation once she was safely across the river, Cheryl edged the vehicle forward, her nose practically against the windshield now as she strained to see. She chewed her lip nervously as she eyed the rickety bridge. From what Cheryl could make out, the wooden structure looked about as stable as old Hansen’s Barn.
    But surely Beth would know, Cheryl reasoned. She was a local, for goodness’ sake, and already her directions had cut Cheryl’s journey in half.
    The windshield wipers might just as well have been off now. The river was rising with each passing moment and Cheryl’s mind flicked back to the triage area she’d set up at the station. Victims of the storm might already be there, injured and needing help.
    Urging the vehicle slowly forward, she glanced over at her little friend. Trusting, wide eyes looked back at her. “Almost there,” she said bravely, more for her own benefit than for Buster’s. “Almost there,” she said again. There was no thought of looking down. She was toodamn busy concentrating on keeping the vehicle straight on the narrow bumpy bridge. As the Jeep lurched violently sideways, her first thought was a blown tire.
    Terrified, she forced herself to look out the window and actually witnessed the side rails of the bridge snapping like taut string. Buster started barking in frenzied terror, and only then did the inevitability of what was about to happen finally register. Cheryl heard herself scream as the vehicle took a nosedive toward the water.
    She’d expected to witness drama and excitement here in Turning Point, and inevitable casualties, but not for a second had it entered her head that today she might die.

CHAPTER FOUR
    H E’D LEAVE THE RADIO ON .
    Loud.
    It was the only thing Noah could come up with, the only thing he could think of that might offer some comfort to the animals while he went back into town to help Mitch.
    It was almost beyond his comprehension that he would be leaving them. These animals were so much more than his livelihood, so very much more than a job to him. But people came first, he knew that deep down. And today he had no