Free Sudden Second Chance by Carol Ericson Page A

restaurant.
    They’d traveled just a half mile when traffic slowed down and the revolving lights of some emergency vehicles lit up the gray sky.
    “Traffic accident?”
    Duke craned his neck out the window. “I don’t see any cars except the ones on the road.”
    Beth powered down her own window and stuck her head out. “It’s a bike at the side of the road—a twisted bike.”
    Then she saw it—a gurney with a sheet covering a body...and a green baseball cap on the ground.
    Beth’s stomach churned and her nails dug into the seat of the car. “Oh, my God. It’s Gary Binder and I...I think he’s dead.”

Chapter Seven
    “What?” Duke slammed on the brakes and the car lurched forward and back. “How can you tell?”
    “That’s his bike up ahead and there’s a body on a gurney with a sheet covering the head.”
    “How do you know it’s Binder? Maybe his bike’s there because he stopped to help.”
    “It’s the hat—the green baseball cap. It’s on the ground next to the stretcher.” Beth covered her mouth. “We were just talking to him. Literally, he could’ve been hit right after he left the parking lot of the hotel.”
    “We don’t even know if he’s been hit. I still don’t see any cars stopped except for the emergency vehicles and all of us on the road.” He swung the SUV onto the shoulder of the road.
    “What are you doing?”
    “I’m still an officer of the law, and I’m going to find out what happened.”
    His tires churned up gravel as he hugged the shoulder, rumbling past the cars stuck on the road.
    A deputy stepped up to block his progress, so Duke threw the car into Park and grabbed the door handle. Turning to Beth, he said, “Stay here.”
    When he slammed his car door, he heard an echo from the other side and saw Beth heading toward the crash scene. Did he expect anything different from her?
    He caught her arm and whispered, “Let me do the talking.”
    “Folks, you need to get back in your car and keep moving.”
    Duke flashed his badge. “Special Agent Harper. I’m here on FBI business, Deputy, and I think the victim here is—was one of my witnesses.”
    As the deputy squinted at his badge, he said, “Gary Binder. Is that your man?”
    Beth stiffened beside him.
    Duke said, “That’s him. What happened?”
    “Hit and run.”
    Beth grabbed his arm and squeezed hard. “Any witnesses?”
    “Not yet. Follow me.” The deputy jerked his thumb toward the ambulance. “Damn shame since the guy was finally getting his life together.”
    Beth kept a grip on Duke as they walked toward the gurney, draped with a white sheet, the outlines of a body beneath it, a bloodstain near the head.
    Duke didn’t need to see Binder and Beth really didn’t need to see him. “Who called the police?”
    “Someone on a cell phone in a car. She noticed the bike first, and when she slowed down, she saw Binder’s body just off the road.”
    “Any evidence? Tire tracks? Brake skid marks?”
    “Nothing yet, but we’re going to let the accident investigators do their thing.” The deputy shook his head. “Timberline seems to be losing its civility ever since Evergreen Software went in—too many city folks bringing the hustle and bustle with ’em.”
    Duke swallowed hard. Was that what you called a hit and run out here? A lack of civility? “Maybe someone will step forward or the driver will have an attack of conscience.”
    “Do you need anything else from me, Agent Harper? We can forward the accident report to you once it’s complete.”
    “That would be helpful, thanks.” He started heading back to the SUV with Beth attached to his arm. Halfway to the car, he turned. “Deputy? What was Binder doing out here on his bike?”
    “Not sure. He’d been working as a handyman, doing odd jobs, but as far as I know, most of his work was in town. He always rode that damned bike. Someone had even given him a truck recently, but he stuck with the bike.”
    “To the very end.”
    Duke climbed