Page 51 of Trail to Trouble

Her chest tightened. Something just didn’t feel right.

She dialed her brother Kane’s number, and he answered on the first ring.

“Hello.”

“Hi, it’s Hannah.”

“The number came up as Iron County Police. Are you okay? I’ve been trying to call you,” her brother replied.

The tension in her unexcitable older brother’s voice let her know her heart was right. Something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” she asked hurriedly.

The dead air scared her, but it was her brother’s audible swallow that horrified her.

“Are Mom and Dad okay? Is Lance okay?”

Kane cleared his throat. “Lance is fine, but Mom and Dad were in a car accident.”

“Are they...okay?” her voice squeaked.

Chief Ricco appeared in front of her. His curious gaze glued to her.

“No,” her normally confident brother’s voice cracked.

She felt hot. Her knees grew weak.

The chief grabbed her upper arm and steadied her as he yanked a chair from beside the table with his other hand and then motioned for her to sit.

Until she heard the chief speak, she hadn’t realized he’d taken the phone receiver from her.

“This is Chief Ricco from the Iron City Police Department. Who am I speaking with?”

Hannah heard her brother’s voice over the phone’s speaker.

“I’m Kane Rice, Hannah’s brother. Is she okay?”

Hannah nodded at the chief as if giving him permission to speak.

“She was involved in an incident today. She’s got a few scrapes and bruises, but physically she’ll be fine.”

“Incident?”

“We can get into that in a minute. I heard her ask you if they were okay. Who was she referring to, and what happened?”

“Our parents,” Hannah whispered in unison with her brother.

“What happened?” the chief asked.

Hannah drew in a breath, waiting for Kane’s response.

“They were...killed in an accident earlier today. From what I understand, they were run off the road. Their car rolled down a steep ditch, and the other driver sped away.”

Hannah buried her face in her hands and wept.

Her brother’s voice faded, and all she could hear were her uncontrollable gasps. Arms wrapped around her, and she clutched herself to the person.

“Shh. Oh my. I’m so sorry,” an unfamiliar female voice comforted.