Page 83 of Not This Way

Suddenly she looked sharply at him. “You get him in custody?”

“Mhmm. Booked him a few hours ago. Been looking for you since. Your phone’s dead.”

“Yeah. Car’s dead too.”

Ethan leaned with one arm against the roof of the car, surveying her where she sat in the front seat.

She didn’t like this position. His shadow swelled over her. And while she liked Ethan, she didn’t know him yet.

Trust was earned. And earning took time.

She slipped out of the front seat, inhaling the cool, Texas air on the side of the abandoned road.

Rachel’s eyes scanned the surroundings, taking note of the spiky cacti and rocky hills. She felt a sense of relief that they had finally caught the killer, but her mind was still racing with questions.

“What do we know about Tyler Dobson?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“He’s a chauffeur at the firm, seemed like a pretty average guy. We did a background check on him, but nothing really stood out,” Ethan replied, his eyes scanning the area as well.

Rachel frowned, still not convinced. “But why would a driver suddenly start killing women?”

Ethan shrugged. “Six arrests on his old man. Child endangerment.”

“What?”

“His old man used to make Tyler run his night shifts.”

Rachel frowned.

Ethan looked off into the distance, his brow furrowed. There was something in his eyes that made Rachel think this was personal to him. He murmured, “His old man would drink. Have the kid man the controls. Apparently told his kid the world would end if he didn’t do a good job. Some shit like that.”

“Well…”

“Yeah. Well.”

The two of them leaned against the car now, both staring off into the distance, both lost in their own thoughts.

Rachel then shrugged. “I need a ride. And a tow for this car. My car is back at some abandoned diner.”

“Mhmm. Already called a truck.”

She flashed him one of her rare smiles, adjusted her hat, and then began moving back toward the SUV idling on the side of the road ahead of her.

Ethan fell into step a second later.

A case solved.

But another case… lodged in the back of her mind… kept haunting her, like a spirit that wouldn’t leave her side.

Her aunt’s words kept echoing.

The blame resting squarely on Rachel’s shoulders. She hadn’t solved the case.

She frowned, her smile fading once more as she approached the waiting car.

EPILOGUE

Rachel stood in the middle of her small, sparsely furnished apartment, her eyes darting from one bare wall to another. The space was a reflection of her own life—minimal and functional, devoid of unnecessary distractions. The only luxury in her otherwise austere surroundings was an impressive collection of weapons displayed on a meticulously maintained rack. Each of the weapons used to hunt some creature over the years.

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