Page 51 of Not This Soon

"Mercy," he chanted, his voice fading into the night. "Mercy, mercy, mercy..."

These two had died for their own sins.

Buther? She’d died for the sins of the others.

For what had been done. And soon, the cops would find her corpse.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Rachel’s eyes were laden with sleep. Her body ached. The bandages had been changed more than once, and now she wore a flannel over them. She stalked through the desert, though, like a lone wolf, her hat tipped low over her eyes.

A single bloody fingerprint streaked the rim of her low-hanging hat. Ethan spoke with the first-responders behind her, near the parking lot leading to the desert path. But she ignored all of it.

Her senses were honed, and her instincts were focused.

The Corpus Christi bridge loomed behind them, large and foreboding. Sirens wailed on the city streets as the police forlornly searched for the killer.

But he was in the wind, and she fixated on the crime scene ahead of her.

The desert path stretched before Rachel, a winding trail carved through the arid landscape. The moon cast long shadows across the barren earth. But Rachel paid no heed to the oppressive heat or the beads of sweat forming on her brow. Her attention was solely focused on the task at hand.

As she approached the crime scene, a glint of metal caught her eye. Rachel squinted, her gaze drawn to a small cage nestled in the sparse vegetation just off the path. She quickened her pace, her boots kicking up small clouds of dust with each purposeful step.

Upon reaching the cage, Rachel crouched down, her keen eyes taking in every detail. The metal bars were rusted and weathered, a testament to the harsh desert environment. But it was the contents of the cage that sent a chill down her spine.

Two dead rattlesnakes lay coiled within, their lifeless bodies still and unmoving. The sight was eerie and unsettling.

The placement of the cage so close to where the body was found couldn't be a coincidence. Rachel's instincts told her that the killer had left this macabre display for a reason.

She reached out with a gloved hand, carefully examining the cage without disturbing the evidence. The snakes' scales were dull and dry, indicating they had been dead for some time.

Rising to her feet, Rachel scanned the surrounding area, her senses on high alert. She heard a shuffling motion beside her and watched as a figure drew near.

She frowned back at the newcomer.

The coroner, a balding man in his fifties, crouched beside the metal cage, his latex-gloved hands working deftly to unlock the mechanism. Rachel watched him closely, her eyes darting between the dead snakes and the surrounding area.

A few feet away, a young forensic technician rummaged through the victim's purse, carefully cataloguing its contents. Rachel approached the tech, her boots crunching on the dry, sandy ground.

"What have we got?" she asked, her voice low and gruff.

The tech looked up, startled by Rachel's sudden presence. "Uh, victim's name is Eleanor Hartley. From Corpus Christi, according to her driver's license."

Rachel turned her attention back to the coroner, who had successfully unlocked the cage and was now gingerly removing the dead snakes with tongs.

The body of Eleanor Hartley lay on the dune just past the snakes in the cage.

Her body was a stark contrast to the barren landscape that surrounded it, her pale skin reflecting the harsh sunlight. The crime scene techs were still busy at work, carefully photographing and documenting each and every detail.

Rachel squatted next to Eleanor’s body, her eyes narrowing as she studied the gunshot wound to the head. Even though thebullet had ended Eleanor's life instantly, it was clear from the marks on her arm that she'd suffered before her death.

Scattered around Eleanor were several items spread out like an ominous picnic. A beat-up lipstick, a series of crumpled bills, a tarnished silver locket.

Rachel motioned to one of the forensic techs and pointed at Eleanor's purse. "Bag everything," she said flatly, "Make sure it's all in evidence."

The technician nodded, getting to work with a pair of tweezers and plastic bags.

Rachel crouched beside the body, her keen eyes scanning Eleanor's lifeless form. The needle marks on the victim's arm stood out in stark contrast against her pale skin, a series of tiny punctures that hinted at something sinister. Pulling out her camera, Rachel carefully documented the evidence, the shutter clicking rhythmically in the oppressive desert heat.

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