Page 24 of Not This Time

"Yeah," she said, nodding a single time. The brim of her hat cast her eyes in dark shadow. "You don't wanna talk. Fine. You can walk."

"You can't do this!" he yelled, trying to reach into the truck and grab at the lock. But she rolled the window up so he couldn't reach.

"Hey!" he yelped.

"Tell me why you shot him!" she yelled.

"I told you! He's a killer! He got what was coming!"

"Fine... You can sort it out with the wolves. Hopefully, a bear doesn't come along. I hear the mountains are full of 'em. Maybe mountain lions too!"

Rachel was bluffing. She knew it. She hoped Ethan knew it. But the key was that Tomdidn't.

She kept her gaze fixated on him, refusing to budge.

He stared back at her, slack-jawed.

Rachel's dark eyes flashed with anger, the fire within her soul igniting as she stared down at Tom. He was a pathetic sight, handcuffed to a corpse and kneeling on the cold, unforgiving ground of the mountain road.

"Tell me everything," she demanded, her voice like thunder rumbling through the quiet night air. "Or I'll leave you here on this mountainside with nothing but the wolves for company." As if on cue, a distant howl echoed among the trees.

Tom's face contorted in fear, his gaze darting toward the shadowy forest surrounding them.

Suddenly, a twig snapped in the woods. Rachel's hand instinctively went to her holster. Tom's eyes darted towards the sound, fear etched across his face.

"Please," he whimpered, tears now streaming down his face. "Please don't leave me here to die."

Rachel's grip on the steering wheel tightened. She knew she couldn't leave him there.

"Tell me the real reason you shot Jack."

"Shit, fine, you psycho!" he wailed. "Just... just don't leave me..."

"Talk."

"It-It wasn't just about his wife," he choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Damn it... It was a moonshine deal gone bad."

Ethan watched warily from the side, his arms crossed over his chest. Rachel could tell he was struggling with her chosen tactic.

"Go on," Rachel urged, her voice hard and steady as stone.

"Jack owed money, a lot of it," Tom stammered, desperation clear in his voice. "The note you saw... I'm guessing it was a drop-off rendezvous. He got involved with us."

"Us who?"

"My family."

"Clarks?"

"Yeah. That's right. He thought he could make some easy cash. But when things went south, he couldn't pay up."

The wind whispered through the trees, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and pine needles. Rachel's mind raced. She imagined the weight of that debt pressing down on Jack, crushing him under its burden. How desperate must he have been to risk everything?

Was that why his wife had wanted to leave him?

"Did Jack's wife know about the deal?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"She didn't," Tom replied, shaking his head. "She was innocent in all of this."

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