Page 11 of Eden

It had been over an hour since she’d lost sight of him. She’d tried using the radio, but he wasn’t answering. She hadn’t heard any gunshots for a while, but she didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. The pit of her stomach churned, anxiety rising like bitter bubbles in her throat, but she pushed them down, refusing to let her worries cloud her mind. She’d returned to the crime scene, under the tarp, assuming he’d meet her back there.

Bethenny swept a dirty lock of hair from the woman’s cheek.

The rumble of the engines grew louder and hope flickered in her chest. Once the crime scene was secure, the team could look for Lachlan.

She sat on her heels, looking down at the victim.

Had she known her killer?

Such a brutal death.

Why, Lord?

It was a question she always asked, and the same answer always came.

Silence.

She didn’t know why bad things happened to good people. But she did know that it was possible to heal from anything with God’s strength. She’d witnessed it many times. Given her job, she often got to know the family members of the victims, and despite advice not to, every now and then Bethenny checked in on them—even years later. Sometimes she did so in person, other times using social media. It gave Bethenny hope: hope in the resilience of the human spirit, hope in God.

At the sound of vehicles approaching, her head snapped up to look at the angry sky. The thunder had quieted and the sheets of rain had reduced to falling drops. Bethenny hoped the worst of the storm had passed.

“Mitch!” Bethenny called out when the cars came to a stop. “Mitch, over here!”

She called out his name repeatedly until a team of officers came rushing toward her.

She exhaled the breath she felt like she’d been holding as she’d sat here alone with the dead woman. “There was a shooter in the woods. Lachlan has gone after him. I haven’t seen him for over an hour.”

Mitch’s eyes widened, then he nodded. “Let’s deal with the crime scene and hope he’s back by the time we’ve finished. I’ll send a few guys out now to canvass the woods. If there’s no sight of him by the time we’re done, we’ll launch a full rescue.”

Bethenny nodded her approval of his plan, though she wasn’t sure she actually had a say in it.

When Mitch came to stand beside her, she asked, “Does she look familiar?”

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her for a long moment. “No... but it’s a little hard to tell.”

She knew what he was saying: a dirty, dead body was hard to identify.

Bethenny blew out a breath. It had been a long day, and it was about to get even longer.

Her jaw ticked.

The shooter might’ve won the fight against the victim in the grave, but he was not going to beat her.

No, she was going to get justice.

Bethenny would find who was responsible—if Lachlan hadn’t already done the job—and she would make sure they spent every remaining day of their life locked in a cell.

“Take Nick and Aaron and see if you can find Lachlan,” Mitch said to the officer standing next to him. “Bethenny, did you see which way he went?”

“Through there,” she said, pointing. “But honestly, he could’ve gone in any direction after I lost sight of him.” Bethenny didn’t want to panic, but being lost in these woods was no joke. And in this weather... she had no idea if he even knew how to light a fire or find food.

Her worry compounded when the skies opened again, releasing an angry rumble.

She shook her head. “He’s been gone way too long.” The pit of her stomach swirled. She didn’t feel good about this.

Mitch chewed on his cheek. “Let the guys start looking while we finish with the crime scene.”

Bethenny’s eyes returned to the forensics team as they worked as quickly as possible. A body bag that was uncomfortably deflated at one end had been moved out of the way while the team worked on the crime scene. When they began packing up, Bethenny’s eyes returned to the woods.

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