Saved By The Sheriff

“Yeah, and one wrong move could send the vehicle the rest of the way down the slope and you with it,” Gage said.

Travis studied the car and realized Gage was right. “Get Search and Rescue out here. And a wrecker. We’ll have to stabilize the car, then get the women out.”

Gage made the call and then there was nothing to do but wait. Travis walked the roadside, studying the surface for clues to what had happened. Soon, Gage joined him. “You can see the skid marks where they went off here,” Travis said, pointing to the long tracks in the gravel.

“Doesn’t really look like an overcorrection, or like she was going too fast and missed the curve,” Gage said.

Travis shook his head. “Brenda’s not that kind of driver. Anyway, look at this.” He pointed to another set of skid marks behind the first, these veering away from the edge of the road.

“Another vehicle?” Gage asked.

“Yeah.” Travis walked a little farther and squatted down at a place where broken glass glittered amid the gravel in the road. “This is probably where it struck her car—broke the rear headlights.” He glanced back as the first of the Search and Rescue team arrived.

“Accident or deliberate?” Gage asked.

“They left the scene. That’s a crime, even if the collision itself was an accident. But this feels deliberate to me. The weather’s good, light’s good. No way a person traveling behind Brenda’s car wouldn’t have seen her.”

“Maybe the other driver’s brakes failed?”

Travis straightened. “How often does that really happen?”

He and Gage walked back to meet the SAR volunteers. Travis was relieved to see an orthopedic doctor who worked weekends at the emergency clinic in Gunnison, as well as a local mountain guide, Jacob Zander. “You remember Dr. Pete, right?” Jacob said.