Cliffhanger (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book One)

Chapter 8

Bennett watched in horror as the car that had just cut in front of him bashed into the black Fiat, sending it careening through the intersection and straight for the corner of a shop. Fear and panic replaced his idle wondering what Belinda had done inside that house and why. He ran toward the smashed Fiat, grateful he'd followed them from the Ocean Walk.

He yelled at the dazed shop owner to call for help, swinging Belinda's door open. "Can either of you hear me?" he said. He thought Belinda moaned and her friend didn't make a peep. He couldn't help them and just stood there in frustration, waiting for the paramedics.

Belinda's eyes flickered as Bennett finally heard sirens. Fortunately, one of the police stations was not far away. Belinda and Victoria started to come to as the help arrived and Bennett was forced out of the picture as the police moved in and the paramedics braced up the two women and helped them into the ambulances. Belinda was in good hands and he made sure that they knew where to get in touch with Kyle before they whisked them away to the hospital.

Bennett glanced around as they drove off, catching sight of a camera under the overhang of the shop's roof. His eyes widened and he scrambled to get to the owner, whom he knew. The poor guy just stood in disbelief where the nose of the Fiat stabbed through the side of his shop.

"Is that camera working?" Bennett said, his arm stretched up at the device.

"Y-yes." The gray-haired man blinked like he answered before he truly understood the question. "Oh...oh!" He did a three-sixty in place and waved Bennett into the flower shop and toward the back where the camera connected to a computer. "I see what you want." He scuttled out of the way so Bennett could take a seat. "This thing might have seen the accident."

Bennett nodded while he clicked on the mouse, rewinding the footage to just minutes earlier. His heart raced waiting for them to come into view. The shop owner gripped the back of the seat, bending over, watching with the same fixated horror as he got to see how the car landed in his front window. Bennett rewound.

"That truck hit those two girls on purpose!" Mr. Trebor said in shock.

Bennett zoomed and froze on the truck that hit them. The camera caught it sideways, but other shop cameras on the strip may have gotten clearer footage.

Bennett watched it again with Jonas minutes later, knowing he would regret telling Jonas about trailing Belinda. But he might as well get it over with. Jonas would be all over that sooner or later. 

"I don't know what Belinda found," Bennett said. "But I'm positive it freaked her out."

"How did you come across this anyway?"

Bennett hesitated. If he told the truth, he'd never hear the end of it. "I...I've been following her."

Jonas' grin transitioned into a bittersweet smile. "I'll find out how they're doing after this." 

Bennett wanted to sigh in relief. Well, he could do that when he got home. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. We're checking around the intersection to see if there's any hope of other cameras filming the accident."

Bennett nodded vigorously. "I think there's an excellent chance of that. I've consulted with some of the businesses here and recommended outdoor cameras."

"If any of them listened to you, I'd be tempted to marry you."

"It's not mutual."

Jonas chuckled. "Fine. What if I said that Belinda would be tempted to marry you?" All Jonas could hear was some sort of grunt or growl. "We've got this. So," Jonas said, leaving his people to collect the video footage from Mr. Trebor, "you did your own little surveillance on Fawn Eyes, eh?"