Tears were running down Lisa’s face as Hannah climbed back in the truck. She reached over to pat Hannah’s hand and then she reached in her purse for a tissue. Hannah handed her the box that she always kept on the console.

“I’m glad you did that,” Lisa said, wiping her eyes.

“I had to,” Hannah replied, and then she began to shake almost uncontrollably. She knew it was a combination of the rain, the cold, and the wet clothing she was wearing. It was also the fact that despite her promise to her mother at The Cookie Jar, she’d found another dead body. And this time it was even worse because she’d killed him herself!

Chapter Three

It didn’t take long for the ambulance to arrive since the hospital was only a few miles away. Hannah watched from the driver’s seat as Doc Knight, clad in a yellow slicker and hat, checked for vital signs. It took him awhile, Doc was nothing if not thorough, but she knew there was no hope because of the grim expression on his face when he came around to her side of the car.

“He’s dead?” she asked, fearing the worst.

“Yes.”

But before Doc could do more than pat her on the shoulder, Mike Kingston and Lonnie Murphy pulled up. Even though Hannah dated Mike occasionally and usually felt a surge of excitement when she saw him, today it was different. She wasn’t sure why, but perhaps it was because she felt heartsick and guilty about the accident and the fact that a man had died. Looking back, she didn’t think she could have anticipated and avoided it, but she was utterly miserable all the same. Coupled with the fact that she was shivering almost uncontrollably from shock and thoroughly chilled from wearing wet clothing, there was no joy at seeing one of her boyfriends.

“Hannah,” Mike said and there was a warmth in his voice that she would have gloried in under any other circumstances. “What happened, Hannah?”

“It was raining really hard, and I wasn’t going fast, but my truck skidded when I tried to avoid that tree branch, and . . .”

“Hold it,” Mike ordered, reaching out to squeeze her arm as he pulled out his notebook. “Start from the beginning and don’t leave anything out. Lisa? Lonnie’s going to take your statement in the squad car, so please go with him.”

As Lisa opened the passenger door to get out of her truck, Hannah had the crazy urge to beg her not to leave. But before she could act on her impulse, Mike patted her shoulder.

“It’s okay. You’re going to be all right, Hannah. Just start from the beginning and tell me exactly what happened.”

The next period of time seemed impossibly long as Hannah described the details of the accident and Mike proceeded to ask questions. The volleys of questions and answers seemed endless and Hannah wished she could just go back to her condo, climb into bed, and pull the covers over her head. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. When she got up this morning, the sky was clear and she’d looked forward to the day. Now, less than four hours later, she was guilty of causing a man’s death!