“Yes! I’m stuck here just waiting. She could be in trouble and maybe there’s something I should be doing.”
“The only thing you can do right now is try to relax. She’ll show up. It’s just a matter of time. Hannah wants to marry you. She loves you, Ross. She told me that. This wedding will start a little late, that’s all. And it’s only eight-fifteen.”
Hannah raised the lid and let it bang back down again. She’d been doing this for the past few miles, but the driver didn’t seem to hear her. It was probably because he had the radio in his cab turned up to full volume. It was tuned to a country-western station that played classic songs, and Hannah had listened to a man sing a plea to his girlfriend to send him the pillow she dreamed on, a woman who’d sung about her lost love and her broken heart, and several singers who’d lamented everything from cheating husbands to divorce, suicide, and accidental death. Right now, the subject was lonely nights and someone was wailing about it. Hannah just wished the next song would be something soft enough so that the driver could hear the lid on her Dumpster clanging shut. If he did, he might pull over to the side of the road, get out of his truck, and open the back to see what was making so much noise.
She banged the lid on the Dumpster until her arm was tired and then she stopped. It was no use. The radio was just too loud. And then she heard it, a siren coming up behind them. Could it be Mike? It just had to be Mike!
The Dumpster rolled as the driver pulled over to the side of the highway. Hannah’s foot slipped, and she fell against something wet and gloppy. Somehow she managed to stand up again and raise the lid on the Dumper just in time to see the back of the truck start to open.
“There she is! I told you she was back here. I’ll get her out.”
“No way, Officer.” The driver put his hand on Mike’s arm. “Looks like you’re all dressed up for a wedding or something, and it’s nasty in there. I got on my work clothes. I’ll get her out. How did she get in there anyway?”
“She was hiding from a killer,” Mike answered as the driver lowered the ramp and climbed into the truck.
“Figures. That’s the only thing that would get me into something like this.” The driver opened the lid of the Dumpster all the way and braced it open. “Give me your arms, lady. I’ll lift you out.”
It took three tries, but the driver was strong and he managed to lift her high enough so that she could climb out. He helped her down, and then he went to the back of the truck and came back to hand her a large orange garbage bag. “Better sit on this,” he told her. “Drape it right over the seat so you don’t get the officer’s car seat dirty.”
“Thank you,” Hannah said and made a move to hug him, but she noticed that unidentified goop was clinging to her clothing and she gave him a grateful smile instead.
Mike shook his head as he walked her to the cruiser. “Use that bag, okay? The car wash will never get my seat clean if you don’t.”
“Did you get Rodney?” she asked as she lined the passenger seat with the plastic garbage bag and sat down.
“Yes. He was waiting at the dump for you and he had a knife. Lonnie and Rick rushed him and took him into custody.”
Hannah reached for her seat belt, but a gesture from Mike stopped her. “You’ll never hear me say this again, but don’t use the seat belt. The car wash will never get that clean, either. I’m going to have to take your statement later, but I’ll wait until the wedding’s over.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s almost nine, but we’re only about fifteen minutes away. Don’t worry. They’ll wait another half hour at least, and we’ll be at the church before then as long as this constitutes an emergency. Does it?”
For a moment, Hannah was puzzled and then she understood. Mike could use his siren, but only in an emergency. “Yes, it’s definitely an emergency. It could even prevent another murder.”
“Another murder?”
“Yes. If I miss my own wedding, Mother will kill me.”
Mike laughed and, siren blaring and pedal to the floor, they sped down the freeway toward Lake Eden. Hannah took a deep breath and let it out in a shuddering sigh. Mike knew she’d been kidding about the attempted murder. Perhaps her mother wouldn’t have actually killed her, but she would have made Hannah feel guilty for the rest of her life.
“Hannah?”
“What is it, Mike?”
“Will you promise me that you’ll stop all this investigating once you’re married?”
Hannah stared at him in shock. “I was just about killed by a man with a knife, I had to dive into a Dumpster to save myself, and you’re trying to extort that kind of a promise from me?”
“Yes. Will you?”
“No!”
Mike sighed. “I didn’t think so, but it was worth a try.” He paused for a moment. “Hannah?”
“Yes, Mike.”
“What’s that in your hair?”
“I don’t know. What does it look like?”