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In the silence, she became aware of a faint grinding sound outside. Machinery. The pumps and generators that kept the oil flowing day and night, an endless rhythm like a heartbeat.
Ethan shifted beside her. “There were no gunshot wounds on the body, right?”
“Right.”
“So who fired the shot?”
“Maybe Ms. Beaumont.”
“You think our victim shot the killer?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel bagged the shell casing, brow furrowed. No sign of blood. No sign of anything else.
So who had left the casing?
Was it completely unrelated?
“What about the cameras?” he said.
“They’re off.”
“What?”
“No wires. No battery packs. Just for show.” She nodded at the ceiling.
He followed her gaze, then blinked in surprise. “Oh. Huh. Shit. Nice call.”
She gave him one of her rare smiles, nodding. He was a very cheerful man, and it was a nice improvement to her last partner’s glum attitude. Besides, Ethan was nice to look at.
Perhaps it would be alright to keep him around.
Though time would have to tell.
“We should go to the oil fields. They’re only a mile from here.”
“Alright. I’ll drive.”
She shrugged and led the way out of the study, the evidence bag with the small shell casing clutched in one hand.
CHAPTER FIVE
The vast Texas oil fields stretched endlessly into the horizon, broken only by the occasional pumpjack bobbing its head.
Rachel stared at the rust-colored earth, scuffed with boot prints and tire tracks. In the distance, the lights of the ranch flickered against the dusk—an estate carved out of the plains and sustained by the oil that flowed beneath it.
Most of the roughnecks would be hitting the bars about now, washing away the grit and grime of the day. The thought sent a pang of longing through her. It had been a long time since she’d had a drink with friends.
“Ranger Blackwood?” Her partner stood a few paces away, giving her a questioning look. She shook off her reverie and joined him.
Ethan studied the ground, hands in his pockets where he stood by the front door of their vehicle. “No discernible footprints. Tire tracks are a mess. We’ll have to get casts, but it looks like multiple vehicles have been out here recently.” He glanced at her. “You sure this is where the body was brought in?”
She nodded once.
They’d circled the field three times, each time looking at the fence. A well-maintained fence.
Only three gaps in it that she’d spotted. One obscured by a tangle of shrubs. Another one used by animals to purloin food from the barracks kitchen—on the opposite side of the fields from where the body was found.
