AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ethan's voice was tense as he scrolled through the article she sent: "Bardem's wife was killed in a drive-by shooting on an Indian reservation. The police say they're investigating, but everyone thinks they covered it up. They didn't find any evidence that it was racial motivation, just someone with a bloodlust."
Rachel's heart pounded as she connected the dots. "That's it", she whispered. "He's making the bomb to get revenge for his wife's death. The perfect storm. A year ago, his wife died. He's already having mental issues, but then he gets roughed up by his own. So he targets uniforms and their loved ones."
Ethan's voice was grim. "Find out who was behind that drive-by. That might be Bardem's real target."
"Ethan, look at the date on the article. August thirteen."
"Shit. Today is the anniversary of his wife's murder."
Rachel stared at the pressure cooker cardboard box. And then she glanced past it. There, on the ground, folded up were more boxes. Two... three... She nudged them aside with her foot. Seven. At least seven.
"He's got more than one bomb, and he's planning something big... I'd bet anything he does it today."
"So what then, how do we drag him out in the open?"
Rachel stared at the screen, tense. Her eyes lingered on a single, grainy photo at the bottom of the screen. A photo requesting anyone come forward if they recognized the vehicle. The shooter had never been found.
Likely never would be.
But the car?
It was a distinct vehicle. A bright red Cadillac.
The license plate was obscured, covered in mud. "I think... I think we can lure him out."
"How?"
"His wife's killer."
"You know who it is?"
"No. No clue. And I doubt I'll find out. Dawes is working it. For whatever else he is, he's good at his job."
"So how then?"
She paused, exhaling slowly, and briefly wondering if Dawes felt the same pressure to solve the year-old case as she felt every day to find out what had happened to her parents.
But she pushed it aside. She was here to catch the serial sniper.
Nothing else.
"We need a red Cadillac," she said simply.
"What do you have in mind?"
"We need to catch a predator... and so we're going to have to use some bait."
CHAPTER TWENTY
The red Cadillac cruised along the road, a stark line cutting through the arid expanse. Dust billowed behind them like a cape caught in the wind, visible for miles against the backdrop of the sprawling Texas plains. The sun hung high, unforgiving, casting long shadows that stretched out toward the horizon.
"Third pass," Ethan grumbled, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel. His gaze flicked to Rachel, searching for reassurance. "Think it'll work?" He was all sharp angles and tension, the muscles in his jaw working overtime.
Rachel's eyes never left the rearview mirror, watching the road unravel behind them. "It has to," she replied, her voice steady despite the flutter of doubt in her chest. "He's watching. He's always watching."
Ethan nodded, as if the motion could shake off the unease that clung to him like a second skin. They were exposed out here, two lone figures in a vastness that seemed to swallow sound and spit back silence.
"Like bait in the water," he muttered, his gaze flicking to the side view mirror now, to the endless nothingness that bordered the road.
