Risk It All - Raph X OC

The Ravine

Brooke's heart beat faster as Casey parked his truck. His GPS had shown them a road wound down the hill to the base of the ravine. Considering her ankle still ached, she was glad they didn't have to attempt that treacherous twenty-foot descent again. She would have done it if necessary, because nothing was going to keep her from helping Raphael look for his brother.

They exited the truck. Last night, the dark had made it impossible to judge the ravine's size, but today she could see it encompassed many acres. Acres that could conceal a dead body for a long time, if not forever.

"We'll cover more ground if we split up," Casey said, his voice grim.

Raph pointed to a water tower rising above the tops of the trees. "If we head ova there, we'll end up close to where we were last night."

Trust Raph to have made note of a landmark even under the circumstances. She'd been too busy running for her life.

"If ya see anything weird," Raph added, "don't get too close. We don't wanna fuck with the evidence, as Don would say."

Good advice, but she wondered how he could keep his emotions in check. If they'd been looking for Savannah's body, she wouldn't be showing such restraint. Her anxiety would have been written all over her face.

She set off, with the guys fifty yards away on either side. The day was overcast, the threat of rain lurking in the clouds overhead. The raw dampness quickly sliced through her clothes and settled deep in her bones. Within a few minutes, she lost sight of her companions in the woods. Thankfully, their footsteps could still be heard as they forged ahead. Given what she was searching for, it was a comfort knowing she wasn't alone.

She scanned the ground, her gaze sweeping in a wide arc as she walked. Her ankle throbbed, but she ignored it. Several times she changed direction to look underneath clumps of bushes and peer into dark hollows. Corpses weren't necessarily dumped in one piece, she reminded herself, and wildlife often tampered with the remains. Those morbid thoughts added to the chill she already felt.

After climbing over a fallen tree, she paused. A rancid odor permeated the air. Feeling queasy, she sniffed until she located its source. A crevice at the intersection of two large branches. She found a stick and gingerly brushed aside fallen leaves. The remains of a squirrel came into view, its belly exposed, its internal organs crawling with maggots. She dropped the stick and turned away in disgust.

If Leo's body were in the ravine, its condition could be the same or worse, depending on the manner in which he'd been killed. It would be horrible for Raphael to find him, horrible to have the memories of a lifetime tainted by a last, grotesque image. She would spare him that, if she could, even if the experience gave her more nightmares.

With renewed determination, she pushed on. If she hurried, she could finish searching her designated area and move into Raphael's.

Eventually, the ground began sloping upward, indicating she'd reached the base of the hill behind the houses. As she picked her way around a rusted oil drum, three broken chairs, a bed frame and various other castoffs, she inhaled a gross smell and braced herself for a gruesome discovery.

A flicker of movement drew her gaze. She stopped. Her heart gave a hard thunk, then began racing. Like a waving hand, a length of clear plastic fluttered in the breeze about twenty feet away.

It's probably nothing, she told herself. But her pulse kept up its maniacal pace, her body unwilling to accept that explanation.

She eyed the spot where the plastic appeared to be sprouting from the dirt like some weird vegetable. Part of the hill must have given away in the last night's rain, she realized, with the displaced earth trapping the plastic. She edged closer. Something caked in mud protruded from the muck. It was a matted down material. The object looked familiar...