No One Left to Tell Read Free

was not Maria, but Elena, her daughter-in-law – Ramon’s wife. Who would want to shoot—?
    ‘Oh God.’ Dread settled like a dark cloud. They’d had information. Her fear heightening, Paige looked over her shoulder for another car. Elena couldn’t have driven far in this condition. Whoever did this must still be close by.
    She unbuttoned Elena’s coat, trying to find a wound to attend, but there was too much blood. I don’t even know where to start . ‘Tell me what happened. Who did this?’
    ‘No cops.’ Elena’s whisper was too soft, her breathing too shallow. ‘Please.’
    ‘Don’t you dare die on me,’ Paige said harshly. Hands trembling, she undid Elena’s blouse. ‘Dammit. I can’t see where you were hit.’
    Then she jumped as Elena’s bloody hand grabbed her wrist. Elena’s eyes blinked furiously, trying to open. ‘No cops,’ she whispered hoarsely. ‘Just you. Promise me .’
    ‘Fine,’ Paige said desperately. ‘I promise. Who did this to you?’
    ‘Cops. Chasing me,’ Elena mumbled. ‘Bra.’
    Paige heard the sirens approaching. Thank you, Clay . If nothing else, it would scare away the shooter, if he was still nearby. She pulled her scarf from around her neck, pressed it to what looked like the worst of Elena’s wounds. ‘Help is coming.’
    ‘Flash. Drive.’ Struggling to breathe, Elena clawed at her own chest, fumbling with the edge of the bra that was now dark, soaked with blood. She reached for Paige’s hand, holding tight. ‘Tell Ramon. I love him.’
    ‘You can tell him yourself. You’re going to make it.’
    But Paige didn’t believe that, nor, from the agony in her eyes, did Elena. ‘Tell him I never stopped believing him,’ Elena begged, her voice almost inaudible. ‘ Tell him .’
    ‘I will. I promise. But you have to promise to hold on.’ Behind her the ambulance screeched to a halt and she heard the slamming of doors and pounding of feet.
    ‘Miss, you have to move,’ someone from behind her ordered. ‘Control your dog.’
    She glanced over her shoulder to see Peabody standing between her and a gathering crowd of onlookers, his teeth bared. But before she could move, she heard a whine like a mosquito and Elena’s hand went limp. Horrified, Paige stumbled back.
    There was a hole in Elena’s forehead that hadn’t been there before.
    Numb, she could only stare, her hands clenched into bloody, impotent fists. And as her heart started to beat again, she realized one fist clutched something hard. And small. A flash drive. Elena had hidden it in her bra. Had pressed it into her hand.
    Cops. Chasing me .
    Maria had been convinced the police had set up her son. It had sounded far-fetched at best. Now her daughter-in-law was dead, saying police had done it.
    Whatever Paige held in her hand had gotten Elena killed.
    Tuesday, April 5, 6.04 A.M .
     
    Silas lowered his rifle. His hands were steady, but his heart pounded in his throat. Goddammit . He hadn’t wanted to kill her.
    The woman with the long black hair backed away from the wrecked van, her footsteps far less steady than they’d been minutes before. He’d thought the woman a goner when she stood in the minivan’s path, and then she’d leapt like some kind of fucking ninja, dragging her monster dog with her.
    Who the hell was she? Had Elena said anything to her? He hoped not. He’d hate to have to kill the woman too. He almost had.
    Luckily she’d turned around when the medics arrived or he would have been forced to shoot her too, just to get her out of his line of fire. He wouldn’t have liked that. He hated to kill unnecessarily. Unfortunately, Elena had signed her own death warrant.
    He closed the lid on his rifle case, picked up the spent casing, dropped it in his pocket. People were screaming, just now realizing what he’d done. That Elena was dead. The paramedics were ducking behind their rig, per their procedure.
    And . . . there was the cruiser, screeching to a stop. Two uniforms sprang from