Chapter 40
FORTY
Katie and McGaven held on to each other for dear life. There was nothing else to hold on to. The trailer teetered as if trying to decide which way to go. It headed over the edge, which wasn’t a sheer straight-down drop. It had a little lift before hitting the water.
Katie felt her safety and her fate was down to whether the trailer held together or not. At least she wasn’t alone and was thankful that her partner and best friend, McGaven, was with her. He had been her guardian angel in so many moments, but she wondered if their luck had finally run out.
The ear-splitting scraping of the metal was the only sound she heard. Part of the side ripped away and she could feel the cold, rainy temperature envelop them.
There was a strange moment of quiet and the feeling of flying as the trailer carried them airborne. It felt freeing in an odd way. Katie didn’t see her life pass before her—it was just the opposite: everything abruptly stopped.
The trailer hit the stream with a splash.
Amazingly, it stayed mostly together, but Katie couldn’t help thinking they were in a metal tomb.
Her arm and head hurt, sending throbs throughout her body.
She still clung to McGaven. Now they were soaking wet as the trailer bounced off the creek’s side, sending them to rattle around more.
“You okay?” said McGaven. He had said it several times, but the sound echoing from the metal made it difficult to hear. “C’mon,” he said, pulling Katie with him. “We’ve got to get out now!”
Katie’s voice seemed to have stuck in her throat, so she could only nod.
There was now a wide opening on the side, which was pointing upstream. McGaven’s strong arms practically carried Katie to the opening. Their ride bobbed and weaved, bouncing them every time the metal made contact with the banks. Sloshing mini waves affected their ability to jump out.
Katie looked out through the torn siding and saw the creek was running fairly fast, but they had no other choice. They were heading for a sharp turn that would tear the metal trailer apart with them inside.
“Go!” said McGaven.
Katie took a deep breath and jumped. She felt dizzy but when she hit the ice-cold water it shocked her into a crystal-clear vision of where they were.
She slowly swam to the shore and finally felt the muddy bank beneath her.
McGaven had followed a few seconds later and was downstream a little ways from her.
Katie coughed and shivered at the same time as she managed to sit up, desperately looking for her partner. Tense seconds clicked on before she saw him staggering along the narrow banks trying to get to her.
There were sounds of metal crashing and screeching as the trailer was torn apart, some of it getting embedded along the banks while the rest of it continued its journey downstream.
McGaven made his way to Katie where he crumpled to the muddy ground next to her. Soaking wet and breathing hard, he managed to sit.
“You okay?” she said, still numb with her injuries and pain.
“I’m in one piece…” he said.
Katie hugged her partner again, but this time it was with relief, joy, and incredible happiness that they had made it out okay. “Thank you…” she barely whispered in his ear.
“For what? Going on a water ride with you?” Even under extreme circumstances McGaven always found a way to poke fun.
Katie smiled and looked at him. His forehead and the side of his face were bleeding. “You okay? Anything broken.”
“Maybe my head… No, I’m okay, but I’ll be hurtin’ when I get up tomorrow.”
Katie’s shivers were getting worse. “We need to get back to the car,” she said, her teeth chattering.
McGaven managed to stand. “Can you climb back up?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
The detectives succeeded in navigating the hillside.
There were divots from the trailer, which made it easier for them to climb.
Once at the top, Katie saw the empty spot where the trailer had sat only minutes ago.
There were low dead shrubs and branches beneath it that must’ve slowed their descent.
McGaven hurried to get to the car. He suddenly bent down. “Hey, here’s my cell phone. It must’ve fallen out of my pocket when I jumped.”
Katie was relieved. She still had her phone in her pocket, but it had been submerged in water and probably wouldn’t be functioning.
She heard McGaven talking to dispatch, explaining that two officers were down and needed assistance, and everything went numb in her body.
She couldn’t concentrate on what she was hearing and had to sit down again.
She looked at the trailer that was on the end: #13. She seemed to fixate on the number like it was a bad omen. They had found the last known residence of Ian Griffin Jr., but it was of no use and brought no new information to the case. Especially now with the trailer sailing down the river.
Katie blinked. In the mud, near the back of the last trailer, there was a lady’s purse. It was an expensive brand, dark leather with silver studding, and it looked as if someone had dropped it recently. She kept staring at it and still was when McGaven got to her and helped her up.
“C’mon, let’s get you some dry clothes. There’s a blanket in the car. And let’s get some heat on.”
“Wait,” she said.
“C’mon. We don’t want hypothermia setting in.”
“No wait… wait,” she said. “Look.” She pointed.
“This can’t wait,” argued her partner, trying to pick her up.
“Stop! Look!”
Katie and McGaven stared at where she indicated. Past the purse, there was a woman partially covered in mud, wearing a skirt and sweater, her extremities stiff, staring at the detectives with a corpse’s fixed stare.