AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Five minutes turned in twenty.
Eventually, Cranston flipped his turn signal on to exit the highway.
Theo gripped the steering wheel as he checked his rearview mirror. He’d hoped to find that someone else was taking the exit, but most of the vehicles were in the lefthand lane. He’d have a decision to make soon, because this exit seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. If he came to a stop behind Cranston, what were the chances that he would figure out that he was being followed?
Theo made the quick decision to pull up on the man’s right side, purposefully turning right instead of passing underneath the bridge of the highway. He wasn’t concerned that Cranston would see him due to the tinted windows on the Jeep. Considering it was quite dark outside with not a speck of moonlight, the only illumination came from the streetlamp on the opposite side of the road. There were no other vehicles around, so it wouldn’t be that difficult to catch back up with Cranston.
Theo kept his gaze glued to the rearview mirror until he was able to execute a U-turn. If he’d continued straight, he would have hit a small town with what looked to be a lot of strip malls. As Theo passed the offramp from the highway, he noticed that there was still no additional traffic.
The BMW’s taillights could be seen rounding a bend, so Theo sped up slightly to ensure that he didn’t lose sight of the car. He was at least a good quarter of a mile behind. If Cranston was to turn off anytime soon, there was a chance that Theo could miss it.
After he’d disconnected the call with Brook, music had once again started to spill from the speakers. He used the button on the steering wheel to completely turn off the radio. His parents had used to do the same thing when looking for a destination, and he used to think they were foolish for doing so. One’s hearing didn’t mean one couldn’t see what was right in front of them. He’d found himself doing the same thing recently, and he hadn’t even turned thirty years old.
The quiet hum of the warm air coming through the vents eased the tension in his shoulders. It had also helped that he’d caught sight of Cranston up ahead. The problem was that they were the only two on the road, and it would have been all but impossible for the doctor not to have noticed the headlights in his rearview mirror.
Making a quick decision upon seeing a road to his left, Theo slowed down and turned on his signal. He veered left while doing his best to keep an eye on the two red taillights. Theo managed to quickly execute another U-turn and douse his headlights. By the time that he was back on the road, he’d almost lost sight of Cranston’s car.
Fortunately, the man was currently in the midst of making a righthand turn.
“You’re going to get yourself killed with no headlights,” Theo muttered to himself, hoping that there wouldn’t be any oncoming traffic. They were far enough away from civilization that it had been at least two miles since they’d passed another vehicle. “Where are you going, Cranston?”
Theo witnessed the man’s brake lights illuminate even more so than his taillights as he pulled off the road into what looked to be some type of clearing.
Theo slowed to a roll and let his engine idle.
The distance was vast enough that he wasn’t worried about being seen or heard. It helped that he’d come to a stop underneath some low-hanging branches of a large tree. What turned out to be really beneficial was that Cranston hadn’t bothered to get out of his car.
There had to be close to two inches of snow on the ground that hadn’t been cleared away with a snowplow. Theo couldn’t make out if there was a building of sorts off to the left. All he could do was wait for Cranston to make a move.
Was he meeting someone out here in the middle of nowhere?
Once again, time slowly passed by until the warm air from the vent started to somewhat cool down.
Five minutes turned into ten.
Ten minutes turned into twenty.
Eventually, Cranston remained in his car for over thirty minutes before driving off. Theo wasn’t sure what had caused the change of heart, but he wasn’t going to follow. As a matter of fact, he quickly turned his Jeep around and drove back toward the main road. Something told him that Cranston was going to backtrack, and Theo didn’t want to be parked on the side of the road like a sitting lame duck.
Noting the time on the dashboard for his own notes, Theo eventually took the road that he’d veered off on originally. He made sure that he was close enough to monitor any passing vehicles, but far enough away to be discreet. It didn’t take long for Cranston’s BMW to pass by, heading back toward the highway.
He could have fallen right in behind without the doctor ever being aware that he was once again being followed, but something had Theo wanting to inspect the area where Cranston had been parked for over a half an hour.
Theo eventually made it back to the area, but he didn’t notice anything out of place. There were no buildings, no houses, and no structures off to the side. There was an abundance of trees of various kinds, but mostly Red Maples that had long since lost their leaves due to the cold weather.
Theo remained parked in the darkness for some time, mulling over the possibilities of why Cranston had driven this far for basically no reason. He couldn’t come up with a valid theory that didn’t lead down a dark and twisted road...not that he’d been searching for puns.
As Brook had mentioned on the phone, she’d been going through Sylvie’s notes from her interviews today. He’d had time to do so, as well, although not as in-depth as Brook was almost certainly doing at the moment. The only reason that Theo had Dr. Cranston on the list to speak to was due to what Sylvie had discovered today during her talk with Josh Perisot.
A young brunette had gone missing two years ago, and she’d never been found. Theo had read over the report, and the facts claimed that Cranston couldn’t have abducted Natalie Thorne.
What if that alibi hadn’t been double-checked by the officer in question? What was the likelihood of Cranston actually being the one responsible for the woman’s death? And what were the minuscule odds that he’d led Theo right to the burial site?
Theo placed another call to Brook.
It was his turn to not bother with a greeting.
“I’m not going to bother asking if someone owes you a favor at an independent forensics lab,” Theo stated wryly, constantly amazed by how many favors that Brook had collected during her time with the Bureau. “What I’m wondering is if you’re up for calling in a chip for a case unrelated to Jacob. There’s a very slim chance that I know the location of where Natalie Thorne’s body is buried.”
