A Witness in Disguise (Sarah Woods Mystery Book 10) by Jennifer L. Jennings Page B

but I realized he was too strong for me.  I stopped fighting and went limp, pretending I was passed out.  I figured if he thought I was already dead, he’d just leave but no, he picked me up off the bed and carried me out of the house into the backyard.  He kept walking and I realized what he intended to do.  He was either going to bury me alive, or he was going to dump me in the river.  Thankfully, he chose the latter.”
    I shook my head, trying to imagine it .  “He probably figured the water would wash away his fingerprints or DNA.”
    She nodded .  “It’s hard to explain how I felt.  It was like a horrible nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from but, when I went under the water, I could feel my legs begin to move again.  I let the current take me downstream to an area where the vegetation is thick but fairly shallow.  I was able to grab a branch and hold onto it tightly, keeping my mouth just above the surface of the water.  That’s where I waited and nearly froze to death.  I have no idea how long I stayed submerged as the bugs buzzed around my face.  I thought I might go insane but I had no idea if Cliff was still waiting to make sure I didn’t surface.  Finally I couldn’t take it anymore.  I pulled myself up into the bank, climbed onto a rock and that’s when I heard the sirens.  I headed back to the house and hid behind a tree.  Cliff was still there, talking to the police.  I had no idea what he was telling them, but I could tell he was friendly with them.”
    When Meagan stopped talking, I realized that I had been holding my breath.  The fact that everyone had believed Cliff’s elaborate lie, including me, made my blood boil.  “What did you do?”
    “ I panicked.  I mean, I thought about walking right up to the police soaking wet and telling them the truth. Something stopped me from doing that.  They probably would think I was crazy.  They would never believe it was all because of a stupid fender bender.”
    I was starting to get the picture and everything began to fall into place .  “Cliff was afraid you’d eventually figure out who the guy was in his back seat, and that you might go to the police when the man was reported missing, or his body was found.  He couldn’t take that risk.  But why didn’t he just put Graham in the trunk?”
    “Because,” Carter chimed in .  “Have you ever seen a Porsche’s trunk before? You can barely fit a suitcase in there, let alone an adult sized body.”
    “Good point.” I turned back to Meagan .  “What did you do when you saw Cliff talking to the cops?”
    “I waited in the woods for nearly an hour, freezing my ass off, waiting for the m all to leave.  I supposed they were checking for prints and stuff like that.  Anyway, after they all left, I went back to the house to find that my cell phone and laptop were gone.  I wasn’t sure if the police took them, or Cliff.  I remembered I had kept my father’s cell phone and it was still inside my desk drawer.  I hadn’t shut off the service after he went to live at Holbrook, so I called Lizzy and told her to meet me at the gas station down the street.  I changed into some dry clothes, threw a few items into a backpack, and headed out. 
    “ So Lizzy picked you up at the gas station?” I said.
    “ Yes.  She and Neal brought me back to their house.  After I explained what happened, they tried to convince me to go to the police station and finally I agreed.  They drove me there and, as we approached the station, we saw Cliff standing outside, talking with a police officer.  They actually looked as if they knew each other - old buddies or something.  Then it occurred to me that maybe Cliff had friends in the department.  Keep in mind, I didn’t even know what Cliff’s name was or what he did for work at that point.  He could have been a cop for all I knew.  It wasn’t until the next morning’s article in the online paper, that I found out what his name was and