Everyone Loved Her: A Suspenseful Small Town Romantic Mystery Thriller (Rustdale Thriller Series Book 1) by Cassie Bowen

Author:Cassie Bowen [Bowen, Cassie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

“A woman was found shot to death beneath a rural bridge just off County Road 880. The body has been identified as thirty-three-year-old Sarah Armitage of Rustdale, Texas. Blaine County Sheriff’s Office is not releasing any other information as the investigation is ongoing. If you have any information on what happened to Sarah, please call the Sheriff’s department. We’ve listed their contact information on the screen.”

I stared at the television; Sarah’s face plastered across the screen for a few seconds longer. The news then switched to an arial shot of the crime scene after the fact, showing the old wooden bridge, the only crossing point over Hollow Creek. Nausea rolled over me as the camera zoomed down to the creek bed full of unmoving water. The anchor’s voice signified that was where she had been found. I shuddered at the thought of her body being left there—the audacity to just leave her like that.

Well, and then the other memories that went with that stupid bridge. I looked away from the TV, my eyes finding my hands folded in my lap. Garrett used to send a text to me, asking me to meet him at the fence, where the road dead ended. I’d ride Jett all the way there, cross the fence, and sit for hours with him, throwing rocks into the water below.

“It’s just horrible,” Mom said, her voice quiet but enough to break my thoughts. “They’re having the funeral service tomorrow at the church for her... I offered to make a casserole.”

I nodded, though I fought the urge to combat my mother’s need to supply food—like she wasn’t still in need of help herself. However, I decided to avoid it. “It feels so surreal that I literally just saw her,” I remarked instead, which was the truth. But before I could add to it, the sound of the side door opening caught my attention, and I looked over to my mom in her recliner. “Who is that?”

Mom’s eyes never left the television, her voice flat. “Just Blaze. He’s the only other one that has a key to the house.”

“Right,” I muttered, just as he stepped into the meager ranch-style living room.

“Hey, Mrs. Young,” he greeted my mom with a tip of his hat before turning to me. “Beth, I need to speak with you.”

I raised my eyebrows, unamused. “Why?”

His eyes bored into mine, unwavering and hard. “Apparently, there was an incident outside of Greg Martin’s law office today.”

My heart jumped. Uh oh.

“What in the world happened?” My mom gasped, her eyes going wide as they bounced between Blaze and me. “Beth, did you see something?”

“The details are a little fuzzy,” Blaze replied, his eyes still on me. “But according to Lucas Wilson, Beth thought it might be a good idea to nearly run him over after the two got into an argument of sorts.”

“That is not what happened,” I jumped to defend myself as horror filled my mom’s face. “He was shouting at me, and he punched the hood of the truck when I didn’t have the answers he wanted.

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