Chapter 17

Thank you for reading Enjoy.

I'm very close to the end of this book so I'm going to finish it up then get back to the other books that are going.

Chapter 17

Ethan

Walking around the tree line, I'm out of sight from the road. When a car comes down the road heading into town, I duck down as it slows to a stop right in front of me. For a moment I figured he saw me and that's why he stopped. But that wasn't it.

I stayed where I was and watched as the man I've known all my life turned on his flashlight and began looking around where the first car crashed. Keeping my light out, I watched from the shadows as he knelt down and picked something up.

Putting what gleamed in the moonlight into a baggy, he stood up and looked around before pocketing the knife. It must be the same knife that cut the brake line and slashed the tires.

How did he know just where it was?

Why didn't he pick it up earlier?

Because he was the one who put it there. All those pieces that I couldn't find just fell into place. How did we miss this? How did we not suspect the one person who had access and knowledge to everything and everyone?

I feel like a fool.

Watching him look on the other side of the road, I watch him pick up something else. Something small I can't make out. I watch him get into the trunk of his car and pull out a broom. Quickly, he covers any tracks around the road, along the sides where he walked and sweeps the dirt into the grass.

He's covering his tracks. Anyone who comes back in the morning to look around won't find anything. Even the skid marks are gone now. He must have helped her cut down the tree. He had to have been out here before the accident to know just where to look.

And doesn't that just connect the dots.

I waited knowing that I'm putting myself at risk more if I try to get out of here before he does. Twenty minutes turned into a half hour, a half hour turned into an hour before he got back into the car. I watched carefully and saw him examine his baggies before he started the car and took off. Only when I was sure he was gone did I move from my hiding spot.

The son of a bitch fooled us all!

I let this new information roll through my head. Putting the pieces together, there's so much that I understand now. How's and what's, when's and why are answered. I should have known this was happening. I should have seen it. Pushing on, I have a new plan.

It's pitch dark out here with only a thin slice of the moon to help guide me through the trees and brush. I brought my flashlight to track the bitch. I know she's out here. She won't get away this time. I'm going to finish it, once and for all.

I should have seen it in her. The crazy part that took her over. Looking back now I can recognize the difference between when she was lucid and when she began to lose it. It was the small stuff that sticks out to me.

She would get upset over the way I would remind her of conversations she wouldn't remember. Or comment on her changing her clothes two or three times a day. It was like she didn't realize she had been wearing something different not ten minutes earlier. I never thought twice about it. I should have.

So much makes sense now knowing there's a twin. I put it together at the accident scene. The way Lindsey spoke one minute she was queen of the ball and the next frantic. It was Dad's comment about Lindsey barely being able to drive the stuck with me.

Lindsey, the one I know, couldn't put gas in her own car without breaking a nail. She always had some poor fool do it for her. There's no chance in hell she would crawl under a car to cut the brake line. None.

I'm just not sure which Lindsey is which.

I don't think anyone knows that but her. Walking around out here following her footprints, it occurred to me she also wouldn't be caught dead in hiking boots. The woman was born in high heels. How long have we been dealing with this version of her? A year? Two? Or more?

I'm thinking it's years. There's those little things again that changed. A facial expression, a little hissy fit over nothing. The hissy fits weren't that different but what differed were what they were about. Why I hadn't stopped by after I told her I wouldn't be there, why I didn't meet her for dinner or come look at her car.

I should have put it together sooner.

My phone rings again. Looking down I see it's Dad. I can't ignore him. It could be word about Leo. I hope to God he isn't dead. Connecting the call, I stop walking to take the call.

"Dad, how is Leo?" I don't have time to talk. I have to catch Lindsey.

"He's still in surgery. Where are you, son? Brynn is worried sick about you. Why aren't you taking her calls? She said you two were back together. I know that's what you wanted. Why are you doing this?" His confusion is justified. I haven't told anyone about my suspicions or mentioned anything about what I'm doing. I can't risk any of them following me or talking me out of it. Not this time.

Sighing, I resigned to lie. "I'm following a hunch, Dad. I have to do this. For everyone. She's done too much. She crossed the line this time."

"I agree but you can't do this alone. Ethan, at least talk to Charlie, let him back you up." I thought of that and I rejected it when I saw him pocketing evidence earlier.

"Dad, he's involved in this." I hate being the one to say it. "I saw him pocket evidence tonight. I saw him do something I never thought he would do. He's involved with Lindsey."

I know Dad won't agree with me. He believes Charlie is on our side. I did too. Even Georgia believed it. That's why Lindsey has slipped through our fingers so easily. That's why we haven't been able to catch her. It all makes sense now.

"That's a hefty allegation, son. Do you have proof of this?" Of course he wants proof. I'm sure the FBI will too once I call them in with Cade's help.

"I will. I know you don't want to believe me. I don't either but I saw it, Dad. I saw him do what I never imagined possible." I acknowledge his hesitation. I don't blame him. He's known Charlie all his life.

"Charlie is married, Ethan. Be sure you're right before you make that decision. You will ruin their marriage if you're wrong." He's right there, but I think his marriage is ruined in any case.

"I'm not wrong. I'll prove it. Protect Brynn for me until I get back. Don't leave her alone with him. I don't trust Charlie." Making my last request I disconnect the call and shine my light around the area.

The creek is just off to my left. I can hear the water hitting the rocks. Looking up at the moon, the sky is clear, every star is out. It's a beautiful fall night. The crisp chill in the air says winter is just around the corner. Nights like this won't last much longer.

We'll get snow this year. The cooler temperatures tell me that much. If Lindsey lasts that long out here in the preserves, she has to have some kind of generator for heat, power. A cabin hidden in the woods maybe. She is too far away from town to get power from there.

She didn't hide her tracks well. Broken branches mark where she hurried through. Flattened grass shows where she stopped, watched, and rested. The muddy footprints are clear, especially closer to the creek.

Lindsey ran until she got here. She was far enough away from the scene to feel comfortable, safe. She must also be close to her hiding spot.

Getting my bearings, I realize where I am. Two miles east is Aubrey's house, a mile south is the road to town, three miles west is the accident site and the road to the hospital. She has been right in the middle of all of it this entire time.

How did we miss it?

After Aubrey's place burned down, we searched the preserve for signs of someone coming through there and found nothing. After we found the hidden passages in Georgia's place we searched again and found nothing. How did she conceal herself so well?

Pushing through thick bushes, I spotted a piece of material caught on a twig. The soft material is the same material as Lindsey would wear, no matter the personality.

The air changed once I passed the sweet smell of mint. There's smoke in the air. A fire. She's burning a fire. Looking up, I can just make out the smoke puffing out in the air. A fireplace. She has a cabin out here.

It's not on the main trail but deep in the woods. On land that shouldn't have any buildings. How did she manage to get a cabin built out here without anyone knowing about it?

It has to be here illegally. We would have been told. As volunteer first responders we would have been told about any construction, any residents that were moving out this far. She couldn't have done this on her own. Charlie would have had to help her get the permit to build, the pass through the legal red tape.

As I push my way through the brush I see it. There's a clearing, big enough to hold a small cabin and a big fucking dumpster.

How the hell did she get that up here?

Moving through the shadows, I creep my way to the side porch. A nice wrap around kind that allows you to relax in a rocker anywhere you please. Crouching down, I press myself against the side of the cabin and listen. There's definitely someone inside.

Slowly, I raise up, just a little. I can just see in the window between the curtains. What I see makes my stomach roll. It's sickening. The Mayor is laying in a pool of what I can only assume is his blood. His eyes are empty, staring at nothing. The man is dead.

"Holy shit!" I mumbled pulling my phone out and snapping a picture.

I have to document everything that I find. I need to get proof of my case. I know once I enter that cabin, I'm crossing the line. Once I move from this spot there's no going back.

It doesn't matter now what happens to me. In the end there can only be one outcome. She has to be stopped. This is the only way.

Backing away from the window, I try to keep the creaks in the wood plank flooring to a minimum. I don't want to be found out before I get documentation of everything. Stepping backwards off the deck, the leaves crunch under my feet. Another step back and I hear it, the sound of another set of feet behind me.

Turning around to face whoever is coming up on me, I barely see the wood log swing at my head before everything spins on me. Trying to keep my feet under me, I stumble back. My arms reach out for something to grab onto. Another hard swing connects with the back of my head and sends me spinning to the ground.

With a solid crack, I hit my head on the edge of the deck and everything went dark.

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