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She stared at her hand, which trembled by the door handle.
She swallowed briefly, her frown etched into every groove of her face.
"What is it?"
She didn't reply to Ethan's query. Instead, she reached out and pushed the door open.
It was almost an inevitability, she decided.
As the door swung in, and as she stared into the dark, she went quiet and still.
There, lying lifeless on the cold, hard floor, was a woman.
Dead.
Blood seeping through her dress, staining her hair where it rested on the linoleum.
"God," Rachel choked out, her hand flying to her weapon. "Ethan, come here. Quick."
"Wha–" he stammered, rushing to her side. When he saw the grisly scene before them, his face paled. "Oh no."
The dim light from the flickering bulb above cast eerie shadows on the walls, amplifying Rachel's racing heart. She focused on the lifeless body before her, forcing herself to take deep, steadying breaths, despite the overwhelming scent of blood and decay. The woman's twisted form lay sprawled on the floor, her eyes vacant and unseeing, staring up at the ceiling.
"Rachel," Ethan whispered, his voice tight with shock.
"Careful," She said, "watch where you step. This is a crime scene."
"This is Jeb's house!"
"I remember you saying that."
"No... it means..." Ethan was staring at the woman on the ground. Specifically, Rachel realized he was staring at the woman's hand, twisted behind her back.
The hand is wearing a wedding ring.
"Oh shit," Rachel said softly.
Ethan nodded. "It's his wife. They were sweethearts. She looks... older now." He shrugged.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah. Very. She once kissed me behind the bleachers."
Rachel stared at him, but he wasn't looking in her direction. "I remember her..." He let out a faint breath. "Jeb's going to kill us."
"What?"
Ethan looked at her now, his face pale as if he'd seen a ghost. "Jeb wouldn't have done this. Silas neither. Body is in rough shape—she’s been dead at least a day, maybe two.”
“So Jeb would’ve known?”
“Nah. They argued a lot. He would sleep in his daddy’s barn on more than one occasion. Wasn’t rare for them to go without talking for days at a time.”
“Convenient for an alibi.”
Ethan shrugged.
Rachel frowned grimly. She realized the implications too. If this was Jeb's wife, and Ethan seemed certain, then the chances that he'd have killed her, left her in their own home, then casually taken potshots at groundhogs seemed very, very low.
