Friday Night Frights (Jack and Ashley Detective series Book 1)
Page 24
Buddy whirled just as he planned but was met with a round to his eye. The bullet passed through his brain, exploding out the back of his skull. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Ashley stood paralyzed, a far-away look in her eye with the gun still pointed toward where her brother had just breathed his last. The echo from the blast resounded through the forest. She felt a trickle of blood run from her ear from her burst ear drum. She stood in her own world for several seconds, the events of the last few moments even more terrifying than her worst nightmares.
“Is that my gun?” Jack asked feebly from the ground, snapping Ashley out of her trance as she heard people running into the forest.
“By the way, I think I’m hurt, sweetheart. Could you call my doctor?” Jack asked just before passing out.
EPILOGUE
Ashley refused to allow her brother to be buried in the family plot. Instead, she made arrangements for his burial at another cemetery, his final resting place kept from the public. While a monster, he was still blood. Her conscience would not allow him to be laid to rest in a pauper’s tomb. She would never visit his grave. She felt he lost the right to be called “brother” when he murdered their parents in their sleep.
She would tender her resignation to the rangers, realizing the controversy that would follow once the press got wind that Texas’ most brutal serial killer was the brother of a ranger. Major Cowell accepted her resignation with mixed emotions, realizing that while she had acted bravely in the face of overwhelming odds, the reputation of the agency had to come first. Ashley blamed herself for not making the connection between the murder spree ten years ago and the Friday Night Lights Murders, as they were named by the media. One of the less-reputable media outlets, sold in checkout lines around the country, even headlined the story “Sis, Boom, Die”, a title Ashley didn’t care much for.
There would be an investigation which would clear Ashley from wrongdoing. In the end, the investigating committee even recommended a commendation for service above and beyond the call of duty be issued to the departing ranger.
Despite the clearing of her name, it was with much sadness Ashley closed the door to her office for the last time a month to the day after that night in the forest. She paused to recall Jana as she walked by her departed friend’s former office. It was all so clear why Jana had held her tongue about the connection between the killer and the agency – she wanted to tell Ashley first before revealing Buddy as the suspect. Her intentions to do the right thing likely cost her life.
Ashley’s co-workers lined the office lobby as she made her final journey toward the door, carrying her last box of personal effects.
“We’re going to miss you, Agent Reynolds,” Major Cowell said, the big Texan almost ready to shed a tear. “You were a good agent. I hate it had to be like this.”
“Me too,” Ashley said, picking up her knee to steady the box while shaking her boss’ hand before heading out the door.
“You weren’t going to leave without saying bye, were you?” Randy said as he ran up the steps.
“Imagine that, Randy Cowell showing up at the strangest time again,” Ashley said, shooting him a grin. His bravery, even during direct disobedience to orders, led to his getting a commendation for bravery in the line of duty.
“So, have you figured out what you’re going to do?” Randy asked as he walked her down the steps of headquarters. “I’m sure Dad, I mean Major Cowell, will be glad to write you a recommendation to any agency you want to go to.”
Their goodbyes were interrupted as a car screeched to a stop, hopping the sidewalk near where they were standing.
“Come on, sweetheart, we’ve got places to go,” Jack shouted from behind the wheel of the blue Kia, giving Randy a wink as he popped the trunk for Ashley’s box.
“Don’t worry about me,” Ashley said with a smile as she climbed into the passenger seat of Jack’s car. The agent laid rubber in front of headquarters as they rode off into the sunset.
After all – that’s how they do it in Texas.
Jack and Ashley will return in
Paradise Ranch
SIX MONTHS LATER
PARADISE RANCH, ARIZONA
A second explosion hurled Ashley through the air before she could take a breath. She slammed against a metal container and fell to the concrete floor in a heap. The heat wave from the blast followed as she was trying to shake off the cobwebs.
“Jack! Jack!” she coughed through the billowing black smoke as she stood up on unsteady legs.
Before she could listen for an answer she felt a sharp pain on top of her head. Her hair was on fire!
She swatted at her head, resisting the urge to run as she pawed at her long, dark hair. She smothered out the fire even as she smelled the fragrance of her burning hair, the sweet scent making her sick at her stomach.
Get down, Ashley. Smoke rises.
Ashley dropped back to her hands and knees, hoping to get under the smoke that was now filling the room. She crawled toward an open spot in the advancing wall of flames. That’s when she found him.
“Jack!” she screamed, finding her partner lying unconscious, blood pouring from a wound to his head.
“Jack! Wake up!’ We’re going to die!”
About the Author
R.D. Sherrill, an award-winning journalist, has served as a crime and courts reporter at a small town Tennessee newspaper for nearly 25 years. While by-lining several thousand real-life crime stories over the years, his fiction career began in 2012 when he decided to follow a long-held dream to publish novels.
Sherrill’s varied, and occasionally bizarre, experiences reporting the goings-on of his small, southern town have provided inspiration for his stories and have helped bring his characters to life in his fictional works. His style of storytelling ensures readers will stay up deep into the night to find out what happens next.
Sherrill lives in Middle Tennessee with his wife and two sons.
His other books include critically acclaimed Red Dog Saloon and Average Joe. Both can be found on Amazon and Kindle.