But her head hurt too much to express the fury that boiled under her skin. Not only at them. At herself.
What had she done? Why had she done it?
There had been good reasons, honorable ones to start with. But things never ended the way they began, did they?
Her vision swam, lines and colors bleeding together like wet paint dragged through mud. The darkness tunneled, narrowing her field of sight until all she could see was the wavering strip of road in front of her.
Headlights split her vision, blinding and brutal. She jerked the wheel, and her tires squealed when she clipped the edge of the road. Gravel sprayed, and she swerved wildly, nearly correcting before something, someone, flashed in front of her. Maybe just a shadow. Maybe a person. It didn’t matter. She jerked too hard and barely caught sight of the tree before she smashed into it.
The world came apart in a shriek of twisting metal and the brutal shatter of glass. Her head jerked back, pain ripping through her like a live wire—sharp, sudden, and then . . . nothing. The pain was gone.
Finally, silence and . . . peace.
Laurel drove slowly away from the quaint town of Elk Hollow, the misting rain adding a dull sheen to the blacktop. Walter sat beside her, unnaturally silent, his body a tense mass of grief and something more. Guilt, maybe. She kept her hands steady on the wheel, but she routinely checked her mirrors, searching for that black truck or anyone else hunting them down. So far, nothing.
“I truly am sorry about your brother, Walter,” Laurel murmured.
“Thanks, boss.” Walter’s voice came out gruff. “I just wish I’d kept in better touch. We just . . . didn’t.”
“Have you tried contacting Tyler’s father?” Laurel kept her tone casual, probing without pressing. Walter wasn’t the type to open up easily, especially about family, apparently.
He shrugged, the movement sluggish and heavy. “He and my mother divorced forever ago. Haven’t spoken to him in years, so I called an old number and got his secretary. Had to tell her the news. She called back and said that they’d take care of the burial arrangements.” Walter coughed. “But I will find out how he died. It’s the least I can do.”
She flicked a glance at him. “This isn’t our case. Not officially.”
“I know.” Walter sighed. “But if we can’t get jurisdiction, I can’t see what happened to Tyler through to the end.”
“That Detective Robertson seems like he’s got a good brain on his shoulders,” Laurel said, navigating the wet curves out of Elk Hollow. “But I felt like he was holding something back. Did you catch that?”
Walter huffed out a short breath. “I’m not at a hundred percent here, and you don’t go on instincts. What did you see?”
“There was something,” Laurel continued, her fingers tightening on the wheel. “A twitch in his expression. His eyes darted away from mine a little too quickly. He knows something he didn’t share.”
Walter lifted a shoulder. “That makes sense. We never tell witnesses everything in our investigations either.”
They drove on in silence for a while, and Laurel began to relax. Finally, she cleared her throat. “So . . . you enjoy wealth?”
Walter snorted out a laugh that was more pain than humor. “Not even close, Laurel.”
“Five million dollars is a significant amount of money.”
“Yeah, but neither Tyler nor I could touch that until Mom’s latest husband dies, and that guy’s fairly young. Figured I’d never see the money. Though, I guess if I have kids, they would.”
Laurel blinked. “You’re contemplating having children?”
“Yeah.” Walter stared out the rain-dotted window. “Ena wants kids. And hell, so do I. Near-death experiences tend to put things into perspective.”
He made a certain amount of sense. Laurel’s chest tightened, memory flashing back to Walter laid out on a hospital bed, pale and gasping through tubes. That bullet to his chest had nearly killed him only a few months ago.
And yet here he was. Living. Moving forward.
She hadn’t realized he and Ena had become so serious. “When I thought I was going to lose you, I swore I’d watch over the whole team better. But you, Walter . . . I should’ve made sure you had more time to heal.”
“Boss.” Walter shook his head. “You did everything right. I’m alive and healthier than ever because of this job, working with Nester, and even with falling for Ena. She’s a bit of a health nut.”
They drove for a few more minutes in silence, the rain turning heavier. Finally, Laurel pulled up to a square, two-story building near the county hospital.
Walter startled, like he hadn’t been paying attention. “We’re going to the coroner’s office?”
