Free Anonymously Yours by Shirley McCann Page B

staring at the peaceful river, now shrouded in semidarkness, a chill coursed through my body. I wondered if this could be the same river where Angelica Belmont’s body was discovered. I hoped not. A place so relaxing, so soothing, shouldn’t be the place for such tragedy.
    Justin seemed to sense my thoughts. “We’ll find out what happened, Denise,” he said, wrapping his arm around my waist. “We’ll get your uncle Bob to help out. He’ll know what to do.”
    I hoped so. I just hoped his help didn’t involve alerting the police. That would ruin everything. I knew I’d have to engage Uncle Bob’s help a little at a time.
    Justin went to shake out the blanket, then loaded up the cooler. “I hope you know how lucky you are,” he said, standing beside me again. “If you had walked into Michael Black’s house a few minutes earlier, you might have been found floating in a river too.”
    I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind of that horrible image. It was something I had already considered.
    “Let’s go,” he said. “Let’s get this gear loaded back into the car and get out of here.”
    I gathered up the poles and the tackle box and caught the flashlight he tossed to me. “Go on up,” he said. “I’ll check around and make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.”
    I followed the same rocky path we’d come down, but even with the flashlight’s beam, finding my way was difficult. Crickets, frogs, and unknown rustling noises made the short trip more frightening than it had been earlier. When I reached the top of the hill, I aimed the light toward the blue Malibu, then hastened my pace, stepping over small stones and thick brush.
    I leaned the poles against the back of the car when I suddenly noticed the glare of another vehicle’s headlights behind me. I raised my arms and shaded my eyes from the glare. The sudden peel of tires and a racing motor sent chills up my spine. The car sped toward me, but I managed to hurl myself away just seconds before I heard the crunch of the fishing poles and Justin’s rear bumper in the background.
    Frozen with fear, I could only watch while the deadly vehicle backed away, then sped off, scattering dust and gravel in its midst.
    “Denise? Are you all right?” From below, the staggering bounce of Justin’s flashlight glowed in the darkness.
    Breathing heavily, I struggled to my feet and brushed myself off. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was trying to kill me,” I said. I turned to Justin who had just emerged at the top of the hill. My heart pounded with fear. “You didn’t get a look at the license plate, by any chance, did you?”
    In the light of the moon, I noticed Justin’s pale face. He shook his head, then softly said, “No, I didn’t get a look at the plates. But I did get a good look at the car.”
    My breath caught in my throat. My knees felt like spindles about to collapse from the weight of my body. “Don’t tell me.”
    “You guessed it,” Justin said with a nod. “It was a red Toyota. It seems that we’re now being followed.”

Chapter Six
    “Really, Uncle Bob, please don’t make a fuss. I won’t be here that long. I have the day off, so I just wanted to spend some time with you.” My pleas went ignored while my uncle continued tidying up the guest room.
    Uncle Bob lived only about fifteen miles from my parents in an older neighborhood. Most of the houses in the subdivision were rentals. I always wondered why my uncle didn’t move to a more affluent section of town, but I figured that being a bachelor all his life, he wasn’t much for change. Uncle Bob and my parents rarely saw each other. I assumed it was because their work schedules seemed to conflict most of the time. Being a private investigator, Uncle Bob often worked odd hours.
    I sat on the edge of the bed, plugging my laptop into a wall socket, while Uncle Bob tried prying open the air conditioning vent on the floor beneath the window.
    “I’m afraid this room