Witness Bares All

The sky was darker than anything she’d ever experienced. No streetlights, no neon signs, no blinding lights from headlights pointed in her direction from cars going home. Josie snuggled down further in the boat and laid her head on Donovan’s backpack. Thank goodness with the glow of the moon she was able to make out most of Donovan’s face or she’d go crazy.

The roar of the river seemed incredibly loud in the dead of night. In the day, the rush of water over rocks created a gentle lullaby that soothed and relaxed. At night, it could have been the background music for a low-budget horror flick with all its heavy footsteps and deep breathing.

“We just passed Bryce.” Donovan lifted the oars out of the water and gazed down at her. “He’s the last safety net. We’re on our own for the next hour or so.”

She chewed on her lip. Donovan was more than competent in his job. “How do we know when we reach the bottom of the mountain and what do we do when we arrive?”

He slipped the oars back into the water. “Once we reach the dam, we’ll walk about two miles to a little town called Yale. Bryce has arranged for us to have a car available to use.”

“Dam?” She shot up. The canoe wobbled, and Donovan lost control in the current. She shrieked and lunged over the bench seat for him. The dark, swirling waters frightened her more than toppling over the dam and killing herself did. “D-Donovan—”

A loud crack followed with Donovan’s dammit nearly stopped her heart. She let go of his arm and sunk down in the canoe. “What was that?”
“Lay flat.” He pulled the broken oar that was shot in half out of the ring holder and flung it in the water.

Afraid to move and rock the canoe more, she stretched out and tried to reach for Donovan. “Get down!”

“Don’t worry about me. We’ve got to get some distance between us and them.” He pulled the one remaining oar through the water before switching sides and repeating the action. “Get my cell phone out of the bag. See if it works yet.”

It wasn’t easy to turn around with the bench blocking her from the backpack. She wormed her way over and past. Her hands shook, and she struggled with the zipper on the side of the bag. Come on, come on…there!

She held the phone up in the air. “I got it.”

“Fuck.” He dropped the oar in the bottom of the canoe, dragged the pistol out of the holster under his arm, and kneeled down in the boat. “Stay down. I just saw movement up ahead.” He shoved the magazine in the pistol and pushed the safety off. “Take cover.”

The quick repetitive pop, pop, pop had her lying flat down on her stomach when the cell phone vibrated against her chest. She jerked back. Two bars showed up in the right top corner of the screen. She sat up, being careful not to rock the canoe. “It works!”

Standing up, she leaned over to hand their one lifeline for help to Donovan. Another blast came, she screamed, and her body pitched over the side of the boat...