Cereal Killer

automobiles by the manufacturer.
    “And you two would drive back in your car?” Savannah said.
    “That was the plan. But that damned van... it was always breaking down on my brother. It died, just up there—” She pointed to a small bridge ahead that crossed over a narrow arroyo about forty feet deep. The creek ran through the valley below, its bed a maze of rocks, worn smooth by the constant flow of water.
    Savannah pulled over to the side of the road and switched off the Mustang’s engine, giving it a rest from the climb.
    She turned to Charlotte, who still looked stoic, but was trembling. “Let’s do it,” she told her.
    “We’re not going to be able to go down there,” Charlotte said. “The cliffs too steep.”
    “We’ll try anyway,” Savannah replied as she got out of the car and tucked the keys deep inside her slacks pocket...just in case Nurse Charlotte decided to take a drive back to San Carmelita and leave her out here with the coyotes and prickly pears.
    And Tesla Montoya.
    They walked toward the bridge and just before they reached it, Savannah could see for herself the place where the van had left the road. Crushed sage bushes and a fresh slide in the dirt and rocks at the precipice edge marked the spot with sickening clarity.
    Savannah approached the drop with caution, watching her step while keeping an eye on the woman beside her. She still hadn’t decided how much she truly trusted Nurse Murray, and she had no intention of taking any unplanned trips over the edge herself.
    “There it is,” Charlotte said, pointing to a patch of white amid the brush and stones below them. “It landed down there on the rocks next to the creek.”
    Savannah could see the van; she could also see that without some sort of rock-climbing gear, there was no way anybody was getting to it.
    “See,” Charlotte said. “It’s nearly straight down.”
    “Uh-huh.” Savannah left her and walked across the bridge to the other side. Charlotte followed.
    “Where are you going?” she asked.
    “There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” Savannah replied, “but don’t ever say that around Diamante or Cleopatra.”
    “What?”
    Savannah didn’t answer. She had found what she was looking for: a way down that was less steep, a challenging path, but doable.
    “Come on,” she told Charlotte as she began her descent, hanging on to thorny bushes for balance.
    “I’m not going down there,” Charlotte called after her. “I... I just can’t.”
    I wouldn't want to either if I were you, Savannah thought Reality checks can be pretty painful.
    “Yes, you can,” she yelled back. ‘Just take it slow and easy like I am. You’ll be okay.”
    “I mean... I can’t see her. ”
    Savannah stopped and looked up at Charlotte, who was leaning over the edge watching her. “I know exactly what you mean, Charlotte. Come along now.”
    Charlotte shook her head. “I’ll wait here for you.” She glanced around her at the wilderness on either side. “Where am I going to go? You’ve got the keys in your pocket.”
    “Yes, I do. And we didn’t have anybody following us this time to give us a ride back, did we?”
    Charlotte winced, then withdrew from the edge. “I’m going to sit right here,” she said. “Be careful, because I’m not going to come down there to rescue you if you fall.”
    “I wouldn’t expect you would,” Savannah mumbled as she continued on down to the crashed vehicle below.
    She made it down the cliff in less than two minutes, reminding herself that the trip back up would be tough without the aid of gravity.
    When she reached the bottom, she still had to navigate her way across the creek to the other side. Halfway over, she decided that she would add the price of her loafers to Leah Freed’s bill. After slipping and sliding among the wet stones and wading in the foot-deep creek, they were bound to be a write-off.
    Her feet were nearly numb from the cold water by the time she reached the other side and the van.
    She had seen worse wrecks in her life. At least the van still looked like a van. But it was badly twisted, the front crushed so badly that she was dreading the sight she would find inside.
    Metal and glass could do such horrible things to the human body. She wished that people realized that fact when they went hurtling down the freeway at breakneck speed without wearing their seat belts.
    She found the side door ajar. Being careful not to cut herself on the broken glass and jagged