Page 44 of Not This Soon

Ethan glanced at her. “Hmm?”

"He's involved, but he didn't call the hit on his daughter."

“You’re sure?”

She nodded a single time, her head bobbing.

Ethan gripped the steering well, double checking the address on his phone. “So who is this Diego, guy?”

“Lieutenant.”

“For which cartel?”

“A small one. Unknown. New kids on the block.”

“You think he’s involved in framing one of the larger cartels, with that pendant left at the last scene?”

“Could be. We still don’t know it was Diego.”

“If not Morris… then it’s gotta be someone involved in all this, yeah?”

“Not clear it’s Diego.”

Ethan frowned at her, studying the side of her face. “What makes you so sure Morris isn’t involved?”

“I looked him the eyes,” she said simply. “He thought he was a dead man. He was telling me the truth.”

“What if he was telling you what he wanted to in order to save his skin?”

“He wasn’t.”

“How can you be sure, Rachel?”

“I know predators, Ethan. Morris is prey. He’s all bluster.”

"But you can't rule him out entirely," Ethan pressed, his eyes flicking to Rachel's set face before darting back to the road.

Rachel didn't respond. She knew Ethan was right. She couldn't afford to rule out Morris entirely, but instinct told her he was not the one who had made the call.

"We need to find Diego," Rachel said.

"And if he doesn’t want to be found?"

"He will be." Rachel's voice was hard, her eyes steely as they stared out the windshield. "We're hunting a predator now."

Ethan offered no reply, his attention focused on navigating the dark highway. “This address is his last known location,” Ethan said simply. “Sister’s house?”

Rachel gave a single nod, running the towel across her face.

The cruiser's tires crunched the gravel of the driveway as they pulled up to a small, nondescript house on the outskirts of Austin. Rachel didn’t wait for Ethan to kill the engine. She was already opening her door.

Rachel moved quickly towards the front door, her hand reaching for her gun in one swift motion. Ethan followed a step behind, his hand automatically moving to his own weapon.

With a nod from Rachel, Ethan moved around the house while she stayed at the front door. She knocked loudly, then stepped back, positioning herself so her body wasn't immediately visible from inside.

No answer.

She frowned, glancing towards where her partner peered over a rickety, wooden garden fence. He briefly shone his flashlight into the backyard.

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