Page 23 of Not This Soon

After a beat of silence, she asked, "Did Rebecca know this about Grant?"

Mr. Morris grimaced. "I... I don't know," he admitted. "She never mentioned him by name."

"But she was investigating him?"

Mr. Morris swallowed hard, clearly uncomfortable with the line of questioning.

"I… I guess so.” He fumbled with his hands as he spoke.

“And you think Grant found out?” Her eyes were fixed on Mr. Morris, observing his every micro expression.

“I don’t know…” He trailed off again. The silence stretched out between them, filled only by the distant hum of the air conditioning unit and the occasional sniffle from Mrs. Morris.

Rachel shifted in her chair, leaning back slightly as she absorbed the information before her. She regarded Mr. Morris with a steady gaze, her piercing eyes taking in the sweat on his brow and the tremble in his hand as he clenched and unclenched his fingers.

Three names.

But a fourth was obvious.

Morris himself.

Had one of them killed his daughter?

Only time will tell. But now, at least, she had a solid lead. She could only hope Ethan also had found something out in the search of the desert.

CHAPTER SIX

Morning came swiftly, and Rachel had spent half the night studying the game cams she'd placed at her Aunt's cabin.

Still no movement.

Now, she slammed the door to her F-150 and left the truck behind as her boots tapped against the concrete sidewalk.

The sun beat down mercilessly on the dusty street as Rachel approached the coffee shop. Ethan was already there, leaning against the brick wall, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. He straightened up as she drew near, a grim expression on his face.

"Mornin', Rae," he greeted her. He brightened a bit as she arrived, as he often seemed to do whenever she came around.

Rachel nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. "What's the word on the search?"

Ethan shook his head, frustration evident in the set of his shoulders. "Nothin' yet. We've been combing the desert for fifteen hours, but it's like lookin' for a needle in a haystack out there." Ethan sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "The desert's a big place, Rae. It could take weeks to cover all that ground."

Rachel's mind raced, considering the possibilities. The suspects, the motive, the vastness of the Texas landscape. She frowned, refocusing. The search teams would keep looking, but by now, the trail was likely going cold.

They needed to find a lead the old-fashioned way, with boots on the ground. Their destination was only a couple blocks down the street. Her eyes trailed to the giant office building with

"GRANT INDUSTRIES" emblazoned across its façade.

Ethan followed her gaze. He pulled out his car keys, jingling them absentmindedly. "So, who are we going to see?"

Rachel turned her attention back to him, meeting his eyes. "We have four suspects." She raised her fingers, ticking off each name as she mentioned them. "Mallory Standish, old oil man from Lubbock. Charles Thorne, tech investor from Austin. Elias Grant, real estate owner. And Morris,” she added after a pause.

Ethan's eye widened slightly at the last name, and he stared at her for a moment before breaking into a wide grin. "Morris? Rebecca's father?"

Rachel nodded once, her face neutral. "I want to keep an eye on him."

They walked in silence towards Ethan’s car park down the street. Despite the heat of the day, Rachel felt a chill run through her spine as she considered their next course of action.

Minutes later, they stood outside Elias Grant's office building downtown. The main entrance was swarming with construction workers in bright yellow helmets and orange vests - renovations were under way and the elevator was out of service.

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