One Last Step by Sarah Sutton (free e books to read TXT) 📗

She knew it was a panic attack. That much was obvious to even Warren, but the cause of it was so much deeper. It bubbled up from a layer of herself she had always tried so hard to conceal. But she knew she couldn’t tell him. She would look weak, damaged, which she already did, and without the strength to speak of it, she could only remain silent.

 Warren waited a moment longer but then sighed.

“I’m going to take a look inside,” he said. “You should probably come too.”

Tara knew she had let him down once again and it sat like a rock in her stomach.

She followed behind him as they entered the cabin. They searched in silence as Tara tried to think of any way to explain her actions. She knew she messed up. It was a fear she always had, that her demons would somehow trickle into her present-day life, disabling her at her job. They had already trickled into her subconscious when she slept, but this was a new layer of it all. It affected her job. It was her worst fear coming to life.

They searched in silence for a while longer. The cabin was spacious, with many rooms, and it looked just as Tara would expect a hunter’s lair to look, with log-wooded walls, and deer head trophies mounted everywhere she turned. They searched in every corner of each room. For weapons, compasses, anything that would link him as a possible suspect.

“I found something,” Warren finally said.

They hadn’t been in the cabin long and Tara followed Warren’s voice to the garage.

The room had a musty smell and was mostly empty, except for a large black safe. But Warren stood on the other side of the room. Two crossbows hung on the wall, and he was carefully taking one down.

“We’ll get them to forensics, see if they could’ve fired the arrow found in the third victim,” he finally said.

Tara nodded before scanning the rest of the room. In the corner next to the wall of crossbows sat a canvas bag filled with arrows. She remembered what Reinhardt and the case file said, that the arrow found in the victim was a TenPoint. She pulled each one out, checking to see if the brand name was written somewhere, but she couldn’t find it anywhere.

“We’ll get those to forensics too,” Warren said as he saw Tara pull another arrow from the bag. “We got to get in here though,” he added as he turned around and walked toward the safe on the other side of the garage.

“You think he’d keep a crossbow in there?” Tara asked, knowing it was much more probable that it would be used to store a gun.

Warren shrugged. “It would be a better place to conceal a murder weapon than hanging it on the wall,” he replied before pressing a button to open the garage door. He was going to get the combination and Tara followed behind him as he walked to the car and flung the back door open.

“What’s the combination for the safe?” Warren demanded.

The man looked up at him, flustered, as he shifted awkwardly in his seat. “Uhh…” he started. “I’m not sure I remember.”

Warren gritted his teeth. “You are going to make this a lot worse for yourself if you don’t tell me.”

The man sighed but remained silent, his eyes now falling to his feet.

“Either way,” Warren began, “we’re going to get it open. We’ll blow the door off of it if we have to.”

The man finally blurted, “It’s 6801.”

Warren slammed the door as he turned back toward the garage. He was heated, but Tara knew it wasn’t just the suspect that got him to that point. He was still angry with her, and it gave Tara an unsettling feeling.

He walked over to the safe, tried the combination, and was quickly able to open the door. Tara moved closer and just over his shoulder, she could see a rifle. But Warren reached in and moved it aside, revealing arrows behind it. He pulled each one out, checking them for a brand name.

“Are they TenPoints?” Tara asked cautiously.

Warren sighed. “Doesn’t look like it, but I don’t know why he was hesitant to give me the combo. We should head back to the station and get these to forensics.” He began to collect the arrows in the safe, but then he spun around. “Did you have anything you wanted to say to me before we head back?”

Tara stood frozen. Again, she didn’t know what to say and she could feel her face growing hot at his glare.

“I…uh…” she started, but she couldn’t finish and her voice fell silent.

Warren shook his head and Tara’s heart sank. He turned back to the safe, collected everything, and then headed toward the car without speaking another word.

Chapter Nine

Tara stared at the man in the interrogation room. He sat in front of her, hunched over, sitting awkwardly in his seat, his eyes transfixed on the floor beneath him. Warren had just asked him his name and his reply only confirmed what they already knew.

“Greg Davis,” he had said, the same name of the man on the surveillance camera.

Tara’s stomach tightened into a knot as Warren continued to ask a series of questions. Normally, Warren would’ve let her start the questioning, but they hadn’t shared a word since they left the cabin, and when they walked into the room, Warren had opened his mouth without even a glance at her. It was as if she was only a shadow and she cowered in his presence like a light upon her.

Warren pulled out pictures of the three victims, slapping them down one by one on the table in front of him.

“Do these individuals look familiar to you?” he asked.

The man reached out his hand and pulled the pictures closer for a better look. He stared at them briefly before pointing at the first two victims and shaking his head. His