Half-Past Dawn

CHAPTER 6

Rider’s bridge was awash in emergency vehicles, while scores of people had gathered, lining the bridge rail, watching the search unfold. News trucks lay in wait at the bridge entrance, their cameras fixed on the arrival of an enormous crane. Two ropes were tied to and disappeared off the bridge edge, stretching down into the roiling waters below. A team of scuba divers held tight to the ropes, fighting the rushing current before slipping beneath the surface to continue their search.

A limousine arrived on the bridge, and all eyes turned. News cameras swarmed it. And what little noise was in the air fell away. All waited and watched. After three minutes, Sam Norris exited the rear of the car, accompanied by FBI director Lance Warren. The two tall men had always exuded power and leadership, but today they exuded only sorrow and pain.

They stared at the small numbered evidence markers along the roadway, the black skid marks that led to the missing guardrail. Without a word, they walked to the bridge edge, as everyone gave Mia’s father and Director Warren a wide, respectful birth. As Norris watched the activity below, he clenched his jaw, holding back his emotions. He knew what he would see. He knew it had been best to leave Pat at home; she was already inconsolable with grief.

Warren laid his hand on Norris’s shoulder. He had called him with the news, sparing his friend from learning about it from a newspaper or a cheery reporter on TV.

A man arrived at Warren’s side. Warren walked away with him so that Norris wouldn’t overhear.

“They found the vehicle.”

“But no bodies?” Warren asked.

“No, sir.” The man was young, efficient, and direct. “The dive team says with the heavy current, the search grid is large, it could take twelve or more hours.”

“What do we know on the bullet?”

“We don’t know yet. Everyone is working on possible scenarios.”

“How do we know they were in the car?”

“At least one airbag is deployed, the driver’s side. They don’t blow unless someone is in the seat.”

“Anyone think this was a hit? Because it’s looking that way, and if that’s the case… These were real good people, Sheldon.”

“I know, sir,” Sheldon said, nodding.

“If they were in the car, what are the chances they survived?”

Sheldon looked at Warren and shook his head.

Warren looked over at Norris, whose eyes were fixed on the dive team in the river. “Double our efforts.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Sheldon, Mia and I discussed an evidence case that had gone missing, a bureaucratic screw-up. Let’s be sure it was the bureaucracy and not something worse. Find out what cases she was working on. Hook up with Keeler’s office, find out what was going on with him. Call Deputy Director Tierney. I want him to handle this personally. If this was murder, I want the bastards found.”

Warren walked back over to Norris and looked out at the raging river. In unspoken understanding, the two men turned as if leaving a funeral. All eyes followed them. The press remained silent, microphones held down at their sides in respect. Warren held the door for his friend and got in behind him, and they drove away.