Chapter 20 Jordan
TWENTY
JORDAN
I will forever be searching for Karl’s killer.
—@carasloveisgold
Cara Campbell would not obey Jordan’s order. Bringing her under control without backup, in the dark, would be a challenge. He sure as hell wasn’t going to shoot her, but he wasn’t going to allow her to stand in the water until she froze to death, either.
Handling noncompliant subjects was a gray area.
Law enforcement officers were supposed to keep themselves safe while preventing physical harm to prisoners, which was often easier said than done.
Again and again, Jordan had reminded all of his deputies that his number one rule was to never lay hands on a suspect without complete control of the situation.
On the other hand, Cara Campbell couldn’t weigh more than a buck-thirty, despite being somewhat tall for a woman.
He switched on his shotgun’s safety and set it down in the rocks. Behind his back, he unsnapped the handcuff pouch on his belt. Then, with his hands open and empty, he stepped into the water and started edging toward Cara.
The water that filled his boots and soaked his socks was so frigid, he didn’t know how she’d stood it as long as she had.
“Come out of the water, and I can take you back to my vehicle,” he coaxed her. “I can run the heater, and I’ve got a warm blanket. I can get you a cup of hot chocolate ten minutes down the road.”
“Tea,” she whispered.
He stopped three yards away, encouraged.
“Chai with unsweetened oat milk,” she clarified. “At least that’s what I used to like. Before all of this.”
“You got it,” he lied, knowing there was no way he was getting his hands on either of those ingredients at this time of the night. “We’ll make sure you get it just how you like it.”
He thought he saw a hint of a smile.
When Jordan stepped forward again, Cara backed away, struggling to maintain her balance against the relentless push of a creek flowing at God-knew-how-many cubic feet per second.
She stumbled, her foot no doubt slipping on a moss-slick rock, and almost submerged.
Jordan lunged forward to catch her, but she regained her balance and stopped him with a glare.
“I’m not going back,” she said.
Now he was exasperated. “Listen, Ms. Campbell. I don’t want to fish out your dead body a few miles downstream. Let’s go back to my vehicle, warm up, and take a selfie to let everyone who loves you know you’re safe.”
He wanted to get out of the water, too, damn it.
She was almost within arm’s reach and could fall at any moment. It was now or never.
“Well, let’s talk, then,” he said, only to distract her as he forced himself forward and reached out to grab her.
His fingers closed on empty air.
Cara Campbell had thrown herself into the raging torrent. It all happened so fast, he didn’t even realize what she’d said until he had watched the frothing water carry her out of sight.
“I did not kill my husband.”