Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Vienna took a deep breath and unlocked the driver’s door and then reached in to unlock all the doors. Sinking her teeth into her lower lip, she looked on the driver’s seat and backrest for signs of blood. Sure enough, there were small drops in several places, smears where Zale or Rainier had hastily wiped the leather down before they got out of the truck.
Shabina inspected the passenger seat. She looked stricken. “There’s quite a bit of blood on the floor mat and side of the door, Vienna. Some on the backrest, but not nearly as much.”
“None back here,” Raine reported. “It’s clean back here. We need to wipe the entire truck down to make certain there are no prints in it. We have to remove all traces of their blood. All of it. It isn’t easy to get rid of blood. Bleach doesn’t cut it like you think it would. I brought a small spray bottle with me that should do the trick, depending on how much they left behind.”
Shabina’s brows drew together. “Raine, really? You brought a small spray bottle of something that would remove blood? Who thinks of that? Why would you even consider we might need it?”
Raine shrugged. “We’re renting an Airbnb and we want our deposit back, right? I believe in being prepared. Someone is always getting hurt. Bloodstains are difficult to get out of anything, so I just mix up the miracle bottle and put it in my pack.”
“I would never have thought of that in a million years.” Shabina clearly admired her ingenuity. “There is a lot of blood on this side, Raine. I think Rainier might have been really injured.”
“Let me take a look,” Raine said.
Vienna rounded the truck to inspect the open door with Raine. Night was falling fast, and with it the light was waning. Diminishing light meant they would have to work fast. They didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that they were cleaning the truck right there in the overnight parking lot.
“Do you need help?” Harlow asked as she, Stella and Zahra walked over.
“You could start wiping down the inside of the back windows. You’ll need to wear gloves and do a very thorough job,” Vienna said. “The inside of the doors and door handles have to be wiped down, as well as the top liner. Once that’s done, finish the seats.”
“I can help too,” Zahra said, pulling on gloves.
“Once we do inside, shouldn’t we do the outside at a car wash?” Stella asked. “We could scrub the outside of the truck and the windows.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Raine said. “As long as we’re certain we remove all prints. They will have worn gloves and probably different prints, but still, we can’t take chances.”
“Does anyone have rags?” Shabina asked. “I didn’t think to bring anything like that.”
“I always travel light when we go climbing,” Stella admitted. “So, not in my backpack, but I always carry rags and towels in the 4Runner. After Bailey was attacked, I never want to be without a medical kit for the dog or extra blankets, towels or rags.”
Vienna couldn’t help but remember the terrible night Stella’s Airedale, Bailey, had been stabbed repeatedly by the serial killer and Stella and one of the sheriff’s deputies had made the hour-long run down the mountain to Knightly to the vet’s office. It had been a very long night with all of their friends gathered together, keeping a vigil as the vet performed emergency surgery on Stella’s dog.
Stella jogged over to her 4Runner and pulled open the front passenger door. Between the seats was a cargo hold where she’d stored a bundle of rags. Vienna could see, although she was good about bringing medical equipment, she needed to step up her game when it came to other practical items, especially if she was going to be in a committed relationship with Zale.
Stella handed out the rags, and Raine carefully saturated part of a cloth with the contents from her spray bottle and handed it to Vienna. She did the same with another cloth and gave it to Shabina for the backrest of the passenger side. Raine began to work on the passenger door.
Vienna went around to the driver’s side and meticulously went over the seat and backrest, careful to get every smear and drop of blood. She got down in the creases and wiped the sides of the seat as well. She didn’t see anything on the floor mat, but she wiped it clean and then went around to get more of the cleaning product before she started on the inside of the door.
It took some time with all of the women working to wipe the entire truck clean. It wasn’t easy to pronounce it finished. Each of them kept going back over and over to make certain they had gotten every spot. No one wanted to mess up and be responsible for leaving Zale and Rainier in a possible compromising situation. In the end, Raine was the one to call it.