Sour Grapes

ran it down there on the tarmac with a vehicle,” John added.
    Savannah nodded. “Yeah, it’s as flat as any roadkill I’ve ever seen. That’s for sure.”
    Catherine elbowed her way between them and looked at the mangled equipment in Dirk’s hand. “So, what does that mean?” she asked. “Do you think it has anything to do with the Matthews girl?”
    Savannah thought of what the family had said about Mrs. Matthews speaking to her daughter last evening on the cell phone... their last contract with her. “Yes,” she said, “I’m afraid it might”
    Once again their conversation was interrupted by new arrivals. But this time it was Tammy who burst through the door. She had a wild, frightened look on her face, as though she was being chased by a pack of rabid coyotes.
    Again Savannah felt the queasiness she frequently got in her stomach just before she was going to hear bad news. It was similar to the sensation of being aboard a jet that had just hit an air pocket
    “We... we found... her. Barbie Matthews,” Tammy gasped, bending double and sucking large gulps of air. Sweat dripped from her face onto the oak plank floor.
    Catherine Villa gave a small, shuddering cry, then said, “Is she... is she all right?”
    “No.” Tammy grabbed her sides and grimaced. Savannah could tell she was in a lot of pain from having sprinted heaven-only-knew how far. She could also predict her assistant’s answer. Tammy was a pretty levelheaded girl, and she wasn’t easily upset or frightened.
    “Calm down, sweetie.” Savannah reached for her friend and pulled her over to a bench against the wall. “Sit down and catch your breath.”
    Savannah could hear her own pulse pounding in her ears as she waited for what seemed like forever for Tammy to collect herself.
    Finally, Tammy looked up at them, and tears filled her eyes. “No,” she said. “Barbie’s not all right. While we were out jogging... along the cliffs by the river... we found her. She’s hanging halfway down a forty-foot embankment. She’s not moving. I’m pretty sure she’s dead.”

    Savannah was pretty sure that Barbie Matthews was dead, too. They had been standing on the edge of the cliff, looking down at her body, for several minutes, and the girl hadn’t stirred. Calling out her name had produced no response either.
    Savannah hated tragic endings—especially when it involved a young person. As always in these circumstances she mentally rehearsed what she was going to say to the parents, and even though she didn’t like Mrs. Matthews very much, she wasn’t looking forward to giving her such terrible news.
    Savannah had insisted that Catherine Villa stay behind, and John had volunteered to remain with her and calm her down. Tammy, Savannah, Dirk, and Ryan jumped into Savannah’s Mustang, and Tammy directed them to the spot, a little more than two miles from the complex. On the way they passed Tammy’s jogging buddies, a frightened group of wide-eyed beauties, running in the opposite direction, toward the winery’s center. Tammy had beaten them by several minutes.
    Farther down the road, Tammy pointed out a copse of oak trees growing near the edge of a cliff, overlooking the Santa Rosita River. Savannah parked near the grove, and they all got out of the Mustang and hurried over to the cliffs edge.
    That’s when they had seen her, hanging about twenty feet below them, her clothing caught on a dried sage bush, growing out of the side of the embankment. She was facing downward, away from them, so they couldn’t see if her eyes were open or closed, but the only movement they observed was the fabric of her torn dress rippling in the soft morning breeze.
    “I called Search and Rescue,” Ryan said, replacing his cell phone in his jacket pocket. He took another look at the still figure dangling from the cliff's face. “I guess I should have told them it will be more of a search and recovery.”
    “She could still be alive,” Tammy said hopefully. “Maybe she’s just unconscious.”
    “Yeah, and the Dodgers could win the World Series next year,” Dirk said.
    Savannah smacked him on the shoulder. “Hey, it never hurts to hold a good thought.”
    “All the positive thinking in the world ain’t gonna help that kid,” Dirk said. “I guess she meant to end it all, and looks like she did... even though she didn’t make it all the way to the bottom.”
    “What makes you so sure it was suicide?” Ryan asked. “Maybe someone pushed her